Abstract:
A pair of herb shears includes blades that are sufficiently sturdy to trim herb stems, particularly including woody stems. The shears include a pair of opposing posts formed on the handles in which the posts join to form a channel as the handles are pivoted toward one another. The stem of an herb can be passed through the channel while applying a desired force against the stem, thereby stripping leaves away from the stem

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/934,938 filed Feb. 3, 2014; the contents of which are incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to scissors and shears, particularly for use in food preparation. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    When cooking with leafy herbs and similar plant matter, it is often desirable to separate the leaves from the stems, and likewise to trim thicker woody stalks away from thinner, more tender portions of the stalks. Standard kitchen shears work well for trimming, but there is no available tool to aid in removing leaves from the stems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention comprises shears having blades that are sufficiently sturdy to trim herb stems, particularly including woody stems. The shears include a pair of opposing posts formed on the handles in which the posts join to form a channel as the handles are pivoted toward one another. The stem of an herb can be passed through the channel while applying a desired force against the stem, thereby stripping leaves away from the stem. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings: 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of a preferred pair of herb shears. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a top perspective view of a preferred pair of herb shears, shown with the blades pivoted apart. 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is an end view of a preferred pair of herb shears, shown looking toward the handles and with a leaf stripper positioned to form a large enclosed channel. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is an end view of the herb shears of  FIG. 3 , shown with the leaf stripper forming a large intermediate channel. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is an end view of the herb shears of  FIG. 3 , shown with the leaf stripper forming a small intermediate channel. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is an end view of the herb shears of  FIG. 3 , shown with the leaf stripper forming a smallest sized channel. 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is an exploded view of a preferred pair of herb shears. 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  is a top plan view of a preferred pair of herb shears, shown in the process of stripping a representative herb. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0014]    A preferred pair of herb shears is illustrated in top plan view in  FIG. 1  and in perspective view in  FIG. 2 . In accordance with a preferred version of the invention, the shears  10  are formed by a pair of opposing blades  22 ,  32 , each of which is integrally formed with a corresponding handle configured as a finger ring  20 ,  30 . In the illustrated version the finger rings are elongated to accommodate more than one finger in each ring, though in alternate versions the finger rings may be smaller, and designed for a single finger. Likewise, in yet other versions the scissors blades may each terminate in a handle that is configured for grasping but which does not include a finger ring. The blades are attached to one another at a pivot point  60  to enable scissors cutting action by moving the blades apart and toward one another about the pivot point. 
         [0015]    The handles  20 ,  30  include a leaf-stripping feature, preferably formed at a proximal end of the handle, with the proximal end being defined as the end of the handles farthest away from the pivot point  60  (and thus the distal end of the handles will be relatively closer to the pivot point). The preferred leaf stripper is configured as a closed channel  45  (as best seen in  FIGS. 3-6 ) that is formed by complementary shapes positioned on each of the two handles  20 ,  30 . In the preferred version, the closed channel  45  is formed by a pair of opposing prongs forming open channels  43 ,  44  which, when joined together, form a closed channel  45 . 
         [0016]    As illustrated, the closed channel is formed by a pair of prongs, each of which is formed on a post  41 ,  42  mounted to the handles  20 ,  30 . Most preferably, each post is inwardly-directed such that the post  42  on the first handle  20  extends toward the second handle  30 , and the post  41  on the second handle  30  extends toward the first handle  20  when the two handles are positioned adjacent one another in the closed position such as illustrated in  FIG. 1  (with the blades thereby also being pivoted to a closed position fully adjacent one another). In alternate versions the leaf-stripping channel may be formed with different mating shapes, such as an open channel formed on one handle that mates with a flat or slightly rounded surface carried on the other channel. 
         [0017]    Preferably, the posts  41 ,  42  carrying the open channels  43 ,  44  are axially offset from one another such that one of the posts  41  is slightly closer to the proximal end of the scissors (and likewise closer to the pivot point  60 ) than is the other post  42 . The resulting overlying arrangement allows the posts to slide along one another, thereby allowing for controlled variability in the size of the closed channel  45  formed by the combination of the two closed channels  43 ,  44 . As shown in the illustrations, the prongs on the posts are preferably long enough to form a large oval or oblong shaped channel  45   a  (see  FIG. 3 ), one or more intermediate sized channels  45   b ,  45   c , (see  FIGS. 4 and 5 ) and a very small channel  45   d  (see  FIG. 6 ). The variation in the channel size allows for the accommodation of stems of different sizes, and likewise allows the user to increase or decrease the pressure asserted against a single stem that varies in diameter along its length. 
         [0018]    The preferred version of the scissors is formed with a spring positioned to assert a force urging the handles (and therefore the blades) apart from one another, as best seen in  FIG. 7 . Preferably a coil spring  63  is formed with a pair of terminal ends  63   a ,  63   b  that are angled radially outward from the short cylinder formed by the coil. The spring is positioned within a recess  62  formed within the scissor halves, with the terminal ends  63   a ,  63   b  of the spring being positioned within grooves  62   a  formed within the outer sidewalls of the recesses  62 . In the exploded view of  FIG. 7 , one such recess  62  and groove  62   a  is shown; the opposing scissor handle  30  preferably is formed with a similar shape (that is, a recess having a groove) to receive and retain the coil spring  63  and the second terminal end  63   b  of the spring within the corresponding groove. 
         [0019]    The scissor halves are joined together about the coil spring by an axle  67  having an integrated cap  61 , which may be in the form of a screw, bolt or rivet in various versions of the invention. A mating nut  65  or other retaining cap  65  is provided on the opposite side of the scissors to secure the axle in place. 
         [0020]    The spring and terminal ends are positioned within the scissor halves under a pre-biased force configured to urge the handles into an open position (such as the position shown in  FIG. 2 ), thereby requiring a user to impart a force to compress the spring and bring the handles close to one another and into a closed position (such as the position shown in  FIG. 1 ). This allows the user to better control the size of the closed channel  45  and to provide a resistance against squeezing too hard and closing the channel to the point of doing damage to the herbs as leaves are being stripped. 
         [0021]    Because of the spring biasing the scissors to the open position, in one version the scissors may include a lock, such as an optional hook  50  and ring  51  positioned on opposing handle portions to hold the scissors in a closed position for storage. In the illustrated version, the ring is formed on a post  52  mounted on one of the two handles at a location between the pivot point and the distal end of the handle while the hook  50  is positioned on the opposing handle between the pivot point and the distal end of the handle. In other versions, alternate clips, hooks, or other closing mechanisms may be used. 
         [0022]    In use, such as shown in  FIG. 8 , a leafy stem  70  having one or more leaves  71  is positioned between the open channels carried on the posts  41 ,  42  attached to the handles. The handles are pivoted toward one another to form the closed channel  45 , in which the closed channel  45  is sized as appropriate to surround and abut the stem  70 . The user urges the channels toward one another to apply a desired amount of force on opposing sides of the stem in order to strip away the leaves as the stem is pulled through the channel. Once positioned within the channel, the stem is pulled through the channel (preferably in the direction of the arrow A in  FIG. 8 ), thereby stripping away the leaves as the stem is pulled through. This action separates the leaves from the stems so that the leaves may be used separately in cooking. 
         [0023]    While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.