Abstract:
A device for cutting pieces of material comprising a base, a bridge assembly and a lever arm. The bridge assembly includes a gear assembly operatively connected to the base. The lever arm is coupled to the gear assembly, and a linking member is coupled to the gear assembly; A material clamp is operatively connected to the linking member, and a cutting blade is operatively connected to the linking member. The movement of the lever arm of the first position towards the second position results in the gear assembly and the linking member cooperating to cause the material clamp to move towards the base and affix the position of pieces of material located between the base and the material clamp. The cutting blade comes into contact with and severs the pieces of material after the position of the pieces of material has been fixed by the material clamp.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application is a continuation application which claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/291,280 which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention is related generally to devices for cutting materials. More particularly, the present invention is related to material cutters or trimmers that are capable of cutting a relatively large number of pages of material with a single cut.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     A number of different types of paper trimmers are conventionally known. One type of paper trimmer typically includes a cutting blade with a free end and fixed end, wherein the free end rotates towards or away from the material to be cut. Conventional trimmers of this sort are relatively simple in design and are reasonably effective at cutting one sheet or a few sheets of material at a time.  
         [0004]     Conventional trimmers of this sort, however, include a number of shortcomings. For example, users often desire to cut several sheets of material at a time. With conventional trimmers however, the individual sheets of material have a tendency to shift relative to each other while the cut is being made. As a result, users often have a difficult time creating straight and clearly defined cuts on multiple sheets of material. Alternatively, a number of conventional trimmers include a clamping mechanism for fixing the position of the materials to be cut. Such clamping mechanisms are structurally separate and disconnected from the actual cutting blade, however, and the user is required to first clamp the materials in place, then perform the cutting action and still later unclamp the materials. In addition to being a relatively cumbersome and multistep process, the manual clamping can still result in a relatively imprecise cut due to the shifting of the material during the cutting operation.  
         [0005]     Additionally, many conventional trimmers include a cutting blade on one side of a lever arm which is lowered directly onto the material to be cut. Because the lever arm rotates about the fixed end of the lever arm, however, the portion of the material closest to the fixed end of the lever arm is cut before the material farthest away from the fixed end. This also adds to the likelihood of an imprecise cut as material is capable of shifting while the cut is taking place. Furthermore, the cutting blade on the lever remains completely exposed when in the retracted position, creating a serious safety issue.  
         [0006]     For all of these reasons, it would be desirable to develop an improved material cutting device which both automatically constrains the material to be cut in a certain position, while also providing for improved safety as well as straight and more precise cuts relative to conventional material trimmers.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved material trimmer that is capable of cutting a relatively large number of pages of material with a single cut.  
         [0008]     It is another object of the invention to provide an improved material trimmer that automatically fixes the position of the material to be cut before the cutting action takes place.  
         [0009]     It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved material trimmer wherein each part of the material is cut simultaneously by the associated cutting blade.  
         [0010]     It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved material trimmer wherein the blade remains substantially unexposed to prevent injury to the user.  
         [0011]     It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved material trimmer that is simple to manufacture.  
         [0012]     In accordance with the above objects, a “guillotine” material trimmer according to the present invention comprises a base, a bridge assembly and a lever arm. A pair of gear members are operatively connected to the lever arm, and a linking member is operatively connected to one of the gearing members. When the lever arm is actuated, the cooperation of the gearing members and the linking member causes an associated clamp to fix the position of the material to be cut. Once the position is secured, a cutting blade operatively connected to the linking member uniformly cuts through the material.  
         [0013]     These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention, together with the organization and manner of operation thereof, will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements have like numerals throughout the several drawings described below. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a material cutter constructed according to the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the material cutter of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the material cutter of  FIG. 1  with the bridge cover and front bridge portion removed and the lever arm in a first, open position;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the material cutter of  FIG. 3  with the lever arm in a second, closed position; and  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a portion of the material cutter of  FIG. 1  with the bridge cover removed and the lever arm in the second, closed position. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     A material trimmer constructed according to the present invention is shown generally at  20  in  FIGS. 1-2 . The material trimmer  20  includes a base  22  with a cutting mat  24 . A bridge assembly, shown generally at  26 , is coupled to the base  22 . A lever arm  36  is operatively connected to and rests partially within the bridge  26 . A latch  42  is provided for securing the lever arm  36  to the bridge cover  32  when the material trimmer  20  is not in use.  
         [0020]     In one embodiment and as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cutting mat  24  can also include a plurality of indicia  25 . The plurality of indicia  25  can represent a variety of features including English and metric measurements, in addition to lines for aligning papers of different sizes (i.e. A4, legal, etc.). In one embodiment of the invention, the plurality of indicia  25  are included on a removable plate  27  such that different types of indicia can be used on the same material trimmer  20 . The cutting mat  24  may also include a removable, replaceable and deformable cutting strip  64  (see  FIG. 3 ).  
         [0021]     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lever arm  36  includes a handle  38 . The handle  38  has a gripping portion  40  that is oriented about a major axis that is substantially orthogonal to the major axis of the lever arm  36 . This positioning of the gripping portion  40  of the handle  38  provides the user with increased leverage on the lever arm  36  relative to conventional material trimmers, where the gripping portion of the handle  38  is substantially aligned with the major axis of the lever arm  36 .  
         [0022]     The bridge assembly  26  comprises a housing or bridge cover  32 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and a front bridge portion  28  and a rear bridge portion  30 , as shown in  FIGS. 3-5 . The front bridge portion  28  and the rear bridge portion  30  are coupled to each other by a plurality of fasteners  34  which can take a variety of forms such as screws, rivets, and other conventional such devices. The lever arm  36  is coupled to the front bridge portion  28  and the rear bridge portion  30  by a first pivot pin  39 , about which the lever arm  36  is capable of pivoting.  
         [0023]     As is shown in  FIGS. 3-4  the lever arm  36  is also coupled to a gear assembly, shown generally at  44 . In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gear assembly  44  comprises a first gear  46  and a second gear  48 . The first gear  46  includes a first toothed portion  47 , and the second gear  48  includes a second toothed portion  49 . The first toothed portion  47  and the second toothed portion  49  mateably engage each other. The second gear member  48  is coupled to a drive link  50 . The drive link  50 , in one embodiment of the invention, is coupled to a secondary link  51 .  
         [0024]     As shown in  FIGS. 3-5 , a cutting blade  60  and a clamp  62  are both located between the front bridge  28  and the rear bridge  30 . The cutting blade  60  includes a first bushing  66  and a second bushing  68  coupled thereto. The first bushing  66  and the second bushing  68  mateably engage and pass through a first slot  70  and a second slot  72 , respectively, within the clamp  62 . Additionally the front bridge  28  may include a plurality of corresponding gaps (not shown) to receive the first bushing  66  and the second busing  68  in order to prevent any interference between the individual components. A first biasing member  78  is positioned below and biases the first bushing  66 . Similarly, a second biasing member  80  is positioned below and biases the second bushing  68 . In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first biasing member  78  and the second biasing member  80  comprise coil springs, although other types of conventional springs or biasing members may also be used. The cutting blade  60  contacts a first roller  56  and a second roller  58  that are spaced apart from each other relative to the cutting blade  60 . The first roller  56  rotates about a second pin  52  that is coupled to the second gear  48 . Similarly, the second roller  58  rotates about a third pivot pin  54  which is coupled to the secondary link  51 .  
         [0025]     In one embodiment of the invention and as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the material trimmer  20  also includes a paper guide  90  which slides along the channel  92  in the base  22 . The paper guide  90  may be used to help align the material that is to be cut, in addition to making particular measurements.  
         [0026]     The operation of the material trimmer  20  is generally as follows. When the lever arm  36  is in a first, open position, as shown in  FIG. 3 , both the cutting blade  60  and the clamp  62  are physically separated from the cutting strip  64 . At this time, a user is able to place paper or other material underneath both the clamp  62  and the cutting blade  60 .  
         [0027]     Once the paper or other material has been properly positioned, the user rotates the lever arm  36  towards the cutting mat  64 . During this rotation, the first gear  46  and the second gear  48  and the respective first and second toothed portions  47  and  49  mateably engage and cooperate with each other, resulting in a counterclockwise rotation of the first gear  46  and a clockwise rotation of the second gear  48 . The clockwise rotation of the second gear  48  results in a similar movement of the drive link  50 , which also causes the secondary link  51  to move. The movement of the second gear  48  moves the drive link  50  about the second pivot pin  52  and the secondary link  51  moves about the third pivot pin  54 , applying a force against both the first roller  56  and the second roller  58 . In particular, this action causes the drive link  50  and the secondary link  51  to apply a downward force to the cutting blade  60 . Because the first roller  56  and the second roller  58  are separated from each other along the cutting blade  60 , the downward force applied to the cutting blade  60  is more uniform across the entire length of the cutting blade  60  than the force applied by conventional paper trimmers, resulting in the cutting blade  60  during use approaching the cutting mat  24  substantially uniformly along the entire blade  60 .  
         [0028]     As the cutting blade  60  is forced downwards towards the cutting strip  64 , the first bushing  66  and the second bushing  68  provide a downward force against the clamp  62 , while the first biasing member  78  and the second biasing member  80  act in the opposite direction against the first bushing  66  and the second bushing  68 . The downward force against the clamp  62  causes the clamp  62  to also move towards the cutting strip  64 . Because the lower portion of the clamp  62  is closer to the cutting strip  64  than the lower portion of the cutting blade  60  in the first position, the downward force on both the clamp  62  and the cutting blade  60  results in the clamp  62  coming into contact with the material to be cut before the cutting blade  60  comes into contact with the same material. The clamp  62  therefore effectively and automatically affixes or constrains the position of the material before the cutting action begins.  
         [0029]     Once the clamp  62  fixes the position of the material to be cut, the clamp  62  is incapable of additional downward movement. The cutting blade  60 , however, is capable of continued downward movement as the first bushing  66  and the second bushing  68  slide along the first slot  70  and the second slot  72 , respectively, against the first biasing member  78  and the second biasing member  80 . This arrangement permits the cutting blade  60  to continue moving downward, coming into contact and cutting the material whose position has been affixed by the clamp  62 .  
         [0030]     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when the lever arm  36  is in a second, closed position, the first roller  56  and the second roller  58  have forced both the clamp  62  and the cutting blade  60  to come into contact with the cutting strip  64 . Additionally, the first bushing  66  and the second bushing  68  have both moved downward relative to the clamp  62 .  
         [0031]     When the user lifts the lever arm  36  back towards the first, open position, the above actions will take place in reverse, with the cutting blade  60  first being raised as the first bushing  66  and the second bushing  68  move upward in the first slot  70  and the second slot  72 , respectively, in part due to the biasing action of the first biasing member  78  and the second biasing member  80 . This will be followed by both the cutting blade  60  and the clamp  62  moving upward, away from the cutting mat  24  as the lever arm  36  continues to move upward.  
         [0032]     It should be understood that the above description of the invention and specific examples and embodiments, while indicating the preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by demonstration and not limitation. For example, more than two rollers could be used for contacting the clamp  62 , and these rollers could be located in a variety of positions. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may therefore be made without departing from the spirit thereof and the present invention includes all such changes and modifications.