Patent ID: 9565806
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: A01G,B26B

Claim:
1. Manually actuated shears comprising: a first handle lever having a counter-knife rigidly fixed at a distal end of the first handle lever; a knife plate with a cutting edge pivotally connected to the first handle lever at a first articulated axle and configured to rotate about the first articulated axle, wherein the knife plate and the counter-knife define a blade arrangement; a second handle lever pivotally connected to the first handle lever at a second articulated axle and configured to rotate about the second articulated axle; a ratchet lever pivotally connected to the second handle lever and having a pin located at a distal end of the ratchet lever, the pin engaging a recess located in rear end of the knife plate defining a plurality of catch grooves corresponding to various stages of the ratchet lever; and a locking lever that is operably connected to the second handle lever, wherein the knife plate of the blade arrangement is movable between a fully opened and fully closed position, wherein the locking lever is configured to be shifted manually between a first functional position in which the locking lever is spaced from the knife plate and a second functional position in which the locking lever contacts the knife plate and the locking lever is configured to be held in the second functional position by a spring, wherein when the locking lever is in the first functional position, the ratchet lever is engaged with the knife plate such that the pin of the ratchet lever operably interacts with the plurality of catch grooves such that force exerted on the first handle lever and the second handle lever is transmitted to the blade arrangement and moves the knife plate of the blade arrangement between the fully open and the fully closed position, wherein the various stages of the ratchet lever are assigned to corresponding closing angle ranges defined by a position of the pin in relation to the plurality of catch grooves and the knife plate is movable in relation to the counter-knife between the fully open and the fully closed position through repeated opening and closing movements of the first and second handle levers to respectively insert the pin in different ones of the plurality of catch grooves corresponding to the various stages of the ratchet lever, and wherein when the locking lever is in the second functional position, the locking lever couples the first handle lever and the second handle lever with the blade arrangement such that force exerted on the first and second handle lever is transmitted to the blade arrangement through the locking lever and the knife plate of the blade arrangement is movable between a fully open and fully closed position with a single closing movement of the first and second handle levers.