Patent Publication Number: US-2010126025-A1

Title: Loppers

Description:
The present invention relates, in a general sense, to devices to assist those having neither the ability, nor the inclination to bend over to perform gardening tasks and is, more particularly, to a novel, manually operable, device for cutting and trimming unwanted plant material such as small trees, shrubs and brush. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     In practically every yard there are plants which are, at a minimum, undesirable. Such plants include, but are not limited to, small trees, brush and shrubs. This is not to say that all undesirables are weeds. In many areas of the country, fugitive plants spring up from seeds carried by wind or birds and are neither planned nor hoped for. 
     In another scenario, property owners occasionally re evaluate their plantings and may change their view of their yard. They may decide that a particular planting needs to be removed or relocated. Options available to the owner, other than hiring another to do the work, include digging up the planting and cutting it off. 
     Persons wanting to do yard work such as just described, may be arthritic, suffer from back problems or, in some fashion, find it difficult to impossible to bend over to a sufficient extent in order to cut off plants which one wishes to have removed. 
     How then can a person charged with cutting off such plants accomplish the task without undue discomfort or injury? The present invention answers the question. 
     2. Overview of the Related Art 
     Virtually everyone is generally familiar with the venerable lopper which has been used by gardening afficionados for years. The tool features powerful jaws and long handles for leverage. 
     There being no genuinely related art, a search migrated into the art of shears used primarily for cutting metals. Among that art was found Aufderheide U.S. Pat. No. 518,129 having linkage to create a mechanical advantage. The mechanical advantage permits the user to multiply the force he is able to apply to a sheet of steel or the like to cut or shear it, despite the fact that it is a tough material. 
     Of general interest is the horn U which is inserted into the bench upon which it is used [Col. 1, lines 42-45]. 
     Swan U.S. Pat. No. 818,578 is a plate shear, similar in construction to Aufderheide, absent the horn, but similar in purpose to that patent. Burkett U.S. Pat. No. 993,646 is but a simple metal cutting shear. 
     Roush et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,857 is of interest only to the extent that it suggests a means of increasing the leverage of a conventional bolt cutter by putting one of its handles in a vice. 
     It should be evident that all of this patent art has its utility in the metal arts, and none of these patented devices are capable of accomplishing the objectives of the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is expressly designed and constructed to meet a specific need. More particularly, it has as it general objective, providing those who, for whatever reason either can not, or do not wish to, bend over close to the ground to trim or cut out unwanted plant material without resort to expensive power equipment. 
     It is another objective of the present invention to permit the efficient and effective removal of unwanted shrubs, small trees and the like by anyone, irrespective of the level of their ability to flex and bend. 
     As an adjunct to the foregoing, it is an additional objective to provide relief to those who wish to do certain lawn work, but for whatever reason are otherwise less able to do so, by providing a tool which permits them to do what they otherwise could not do. 
     Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the forthcoming detailed description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a pictorial view of the improved lopper of the present invention, viewed from the perspective of the user; and, 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevation of the lopper of  FIG. 1 , illustrating the structure from a slightly different perspective. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, an improved lopper is shown at  10 . The lopper  10  includes a set of jaws  12 . The jaws  12  comprise a pair of blades  14  and  16  which reside in the same plane, and are movable toward and away from one another between an opened and closed position. 
     Each of the blades  14 ,  16  is provided with a sharpened edge  18 ,  20 , respectively. When the jaws are closed, in the cutting mode, the sharpened edges  18 ,  20  are engaged in a longitudinally extending plane and are capable of shearing off plant material that has been positioned between them. 
     In furtherance of the objectives of the novel lopper  10 , one blade, in this instance the blade  14  of the jaw  12 , is removably anchored to the ground. This is accomplished by means of a foot anchored plate  17 . The plate  17  is formed, or otherwise provided, with opposed foot receiving steps  21  and  23  supported by an elongated extension member  25 . The extension member  25  is affixed to the jaw  14 , holding the jaw  14  at right angles to the plane of the extension member  25 . In a similar fashion, the plate  17  is secured at right angles to the extension member  25 . 
     It is a feature of the invention that the sharpened edges of the blades are in substantially the same, or parallel plane as the plate  17 , thereby permitting the jaws to be positioned at essentially ground level. It will occur to those skilled in art that a minor adjustment in the angular disposition of the extension member  25 , would result in a change in the height of the jaws relative to the ground in order to accommodate uneven or obstructed terrain while retaining the planer attitude of the jaws  12 . 
     The lopper  10  is rendered operative as one of the blades, in the illustrated case, the blade  16  of the jaw  12 , is rotatable about a pivot point defined by a bolt  27  between an opened and closed position. As illustrated, the pivot bolt  27  creates a pivot point, preferably located relatively perpendicular to the plane of the blades by attaching the blade  16  to the extension member  25 , so as to be rotatable relative thereto. The pivot point is precisely located in order that the sharpened edge of the blade  16  will, in the closed position, be aligned and engaged with the sharpened edge of the blade  14 . 
     The blade  16  is formed, or otherwise provided, with an arm  32 , and the blade  16  is provided at one end thereof, where it projects at an angle to the arm in order to be coplanar with the blade  14 . At the other end of the arm  32 , a handle  34  is affixed, in any suitable manner, to the arm. The arm has an angular terminus  36  which is formed at an angle a, and the handle  34  projects upwardly from the arm and, as illustrated, is, thus, disposed at the same angle, which is chosen to be especially ergonomic for the average user of the lopper  10  and is in the neighborhood of 45 degrees. Clearly, it is within the contemplation of the invention that the handle may be at a somewhat different angle so long as it functions in substantially the same way as described. 
     Operation of the lopper  10  should now be clear. The user finds plant material which he/she wishes to remove. The jaws  12 , which is parallel to the ground, is placed on or very near the ground with the blade  14  adjacent the plant material to be removed and the jaws opened. One or both feet of the user are placed on the plate  17  at step  21  or  23  in order to anchor the blade to which it is attached. The handle  34  is then pushed downwardly by the user, rotating the movable blade  16  in a line transverse to the plane of the blades, and the blade  16  is, thus, closed, cutting the plant material at ground level. The excision is accomplished without the user having to bend over close to the ground, thus accomplishing the objectives of the invention. 
     Those versed in the art will perceive some variation in the several elements of the lopper and its operation. It will be understood, however, that such variations are within the contemplation of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims, wherein: