Patent Publication Number: US-6711820-B2

Title: Transformable pocket knife

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates, in general, to cutting tools, and in particular to tools which can be folded into a compact arrangement for easy transportation. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Numerous types of tools, which fold into compact forms, are well known. For example, one type of tool is a folding knife having a releasable lock for holding the knife blade in an open position and for holding the blade in a closed position. In the closed position the cutting edge is housed in a knife handle. Such knifes may have one or more blades and may have other folding tools such as files, saw blades, scissors etc. A locking device is often provided to hold the knife or other tool in a fully open usable position. This locking mechanism or other device is also used to lock the knife or tool into a stored position typically inside the handle of the instrument. 
     Another tool is a multiple function combination business travel tool in which one of the tools is a scissors. This tool includes the first handle having a first implement channel and a first scissors channel, and a second handle having a second implement channel and a second scissors channel. First and second scissors blades are mounted respectively to the first and second handles at first and second axis, respectively. A scissors fulcrum axis rotatably mounts the first scissors blade to the second scissors blade. The first and second scissors blades are contained within the first and second scissors channels in an undeployed configuration. When the scissors blades are deployed, the first and second scissors blades are rotated about the first and second axis, respectively. This scissors tool is representative of those in the art and is deployable into only a single operating position. It is also to be noted that the axis for the blades is different than that for the attachment of the blades to the respective handles. 
     Although known types of the folding scissors are useful for certain applications, they have major disadvantages in that they are typically bulky and clumsy to use in that they do not have a normal scissors configuration. In addition it is a drawback of the prior art folding scissors that the scissors have only one open orientation. Different types of cutting functions require that the handles have different angles with respect to the blades. 
     Thus there exists a need for an improved folding scissors, which provides ease of use with a selectable range of positions of the handles relative to the scissors or knife blades. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One embodiment of the present invention is a cutting tool, or folding scissors, which has first and second knife blades and first and second handles. One feature is that each of the first and second knife blades and first and second handles may be positionable relative to one another. The knife blades and handles thus may effect at least the scissors cutting function in at least one open position of the tool. In particular the first and second knife blades and the first and second handles effect the scissors cutting function in each of a plurality of open positions of the tool. The tool also may have a locking assembly that locks the first knife blade and first handle in at least one first position and then locks the second knife blade and the second handle in at least one second position independently of the first knife blade and first handle. The first and second positions define the open positions of the tool. For multiple open positions the locking assembly locks the first and second knife blades and the first and second handles in different first and second positions. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the first and second knife blades and the first and second handles may all be attached at a common pivot axis. Thus the inventive tool overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and provides a tool that is simple and straightforward to use, and that operates similar to non-folding type scissors. 
     Furthermore the cutting tool of the present invention can be adjusted for different types of cutting operations by changing the position of the handles relative to the knife blades. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the company drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of a folding scissors. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded side view showing a specific embodiment of a folding scissors in an open or deployed position. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross sectional views of a specific example of the handles and respective blades depicted in FIG.  2 . 
     FIGS. 5,  6  and  7  are side views depicting embodiments of folding scissors with both blades deployed in FIG. 5, with only one blade deployed in FIG. 6, and with both blades in the closed position and contained within the handles in FIG.  7 . 
     FIGS. 8,  9  and  10  are cross sectional views of examples corresponding to FIGS. 5,  6  and  7 . 
     FIG. 11 is a front view of one embodiment of folding scissors in a first open position. 
     FIGS. 12 and 13 depict different orientations of the handles with respect to the blades in open positions of one embodiment of folding scissors. 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a blade suitable for the scissors of FIGS. 1-13, which has a flat surface on one side thereof. 
     FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view of the FIG. 14 blade. 
     FIGS. 16,  17  and  18  are views of an example of a first blade depicted in FIG. 16, a second blade depicted in FIG.  17  and both blades depicted in FIG.  18 . 
     FIGS. 19,  20  and  21  are a cross section of views of FIGS. 16,  17  and  18 , respectively. 
     FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a blade for use in the scissors illustrated in FIGS. 1-19. 
     FIGS. 23,  24  and  25  depict views of the FIG. 22 alternative blade in which FIG. 23 is a first blade, FIG. 24 depicts a second blade and FIG. 25 depicts both blades together. 
     FIGS. 26,  27  and  28  are cross sectional views of the blades depicted in FIGS. 23,  24  and  25 . 
     FIG. 29 schematically depicts one embodiment of a retractable gripping portion of a handle. 
     FIGS. 30 and 31 depict another embodiment of a gripping portion of a handle. 
     FIGS. 32 and 33 depict another embodiment of a gripping portion of a handle. 
     FIGS. 34 and 35 depict an alternative embodiment of a latching assembly for latching a blade in a predetermined orientation relative to its respective handle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     One embodiment of a folding scissors is depicted in FIG.  1 . The folding scissors has a first blade  101 , a second blade  102 , a first handle  103  and a second handle  104 . Each of the knife blades  101 ,  102  and the handles  103 ,  104  are rotated about a pivot location  105 . The folding scissors of the illustrated embodiment is depicted in an open position in FIG.  1  and in this open position the knife blades  101 ,  102  and handles  103 ,  104  effect at least a scissors cutting function. The first knife blade  101  has a lock engagement element  106 , which is a notch, on a raised portion  107  of the first blade  101  at an end  108  thereof (also see FIGS.  14  and  22 ). The first handle  103  has a locking element  109 , which engages the lock engagement element  106 , thereby locking the knife blade  101  in an open position relative to the handle  103 . For a closed position the knife blade  101  is rotated until it is adjacent the handle  103  and the locking element  109  engages the notch  110 , thereby locking the blade  101  in the closed position. The second blade  102  and the second handle  104  operate in similar manner. The locking elements and the lock engagement elements form a locking assembly. Other structures and element configurations can be used to form a locking assembly. 
     FIGS. 2,  3  and  4  depict a side view and corresponding cross sectional views of the FIG. 1 embodiment. It is to be appreciated that the first knife blade  101  is moved from an open to a closed position or vice-versa relative to the handle  103  independent of the movement and position of the second knife blade  102  and handle  104 . 
     FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the folding scissors in an open position with the handles  103 ,  104  and blades  101 ,  102  respectively adjacent one another. As is well known the cutting function produces a sheer along the portion of the blades that touch as the scissors is changed between the position depicted in FIG.  1  and the position depicted in FIG.  5 . FIG. 7 depicts the handles  103 ,  104  forming a housing, which substantially contains the knife blades  101 ,  102  in a closed position of the folding scissors. Also as depicted in FIG. 6, the first blade  101  is in the open or first position relative to its handle  103  and the second blade  102  is in the closed or second position relative to its handle  104 , the tool thereby being useable as a standard knife. FIGS. 8,  9  and  10  are cross sectional views of the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 5,  6  and  7 , respectively. 
     The folding scissors of the illustrated embodiments of FIGS. 1-10 may have a plurality of open positions for effecting the scissors cutting function. FIG. 11 depicts an open position with the knife blades  101  and  102  being in a first orientation with regards to respective handles  103 ,  104 . Handle  103  has an opening  113  for fingers of the user, and handle  104  has an opening  114 . It can be seen in FIG. 11 that each of the knife blades  101 ,  102  has a plurality of notches or lock engagement elements. For example, knife blade  101  has notches  120  that engage the respective locking element  122  on the handle  103 . Knife blade  102  functions with the corresponding handle  104  in a similar manner. The locking element  122  engages a selected notch  120  by means of lever  126 . A selected notch determines the open position of the knife blade relative to the handle, as well as, a closed position. 
     FIGS. 12 and 13 depict two other orientations of the knife blades  101 ,  102  with handles  103 ,  104 . It can be seen that the different open positions of the folding scissors allows the scissors to function for different types of cutting operations. For example, the orientation depicted in FIG. 11 is useable for typical cutting operations, such as cutting paper, whereas the orientation depicted in FIG. 13 is more suitable for cutting material as is known in the field of sewing. 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a knife blade illustrating a blade body  200  having a cutting edge  202 , a tip  204  and a tang  206 . The tang  206  has a plurality of notches  208  and has a pivot location  210 . FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view of the FIG. 14 blade  200 . The configuration of the blade  200  has a flat side  214  as is typically found in most scissors. It is to be understood that the term “flat side” refers to a side that may have a configuration that deviates from being perfectly flat, as well as to a side that is flat. Known scissors have blades with various configurations, but in general have a side that appears to be flat. The actual configuration of the such a blade may be only substantially flat. These knife blades are also referred to as shear blades or scissors blades. FIG. 16 (also see the cross sectional view in FIG. 19) shows a first blade  220  having a cutting edge  222  and being similar in shape to that of the blade depicted in FIG.  14 . FIG. 17 (also see the cross sectional view in FIG. 20) shows a second blade  224 , which has an edge  226  that is serrated. Each of the blades  220 ,  224  has a flat side  228 ,  230 , respectively. When assembled in FIG. 18 the flat sides  228 ,  230  of the first and second blades  220 ,  224  are adjacent (also see the cross sectional view in FIG.  21 ). 
     FIG. 22 shows an alternative embodiment of a blade. FIG. 22 shows a blade  300  having a cutting edge  304 , a tip  303  and a tang  306  having notches  308 . The blade  300  is pivoted about a pivot axis  310 . The blade  300  has the configuration of a typical knife blade as opposed to the scissors blade that has a flat surface. The cutting edge  304  of the knife blade  300  is orientated such that when two blades are used, such as depicted in FIGS. 23,  24  and  25 , at least portions of the cutting edges of the blades come together to form a shear or cutting function when the blades are operated by the handles. FIG. 23 shows a first knife blade  320 , FIG. 24 shows a second knife blade  322 , and FIG. 25 shows the first and second knife blades  320 ,  322  together. Corresponding cross sectional views to FIGS. 23,  24  and  25  are depicted in FIGS. 26,  27  and  28 , respectively. Because the knife blade  300  is at an angle relative to the tang  306  as depicted in FIG. 22, operation of the two blades  320  and  322  in FIG. 25 results in the cutting edges of the blades  320  and  322  to move along one another creating the shear or scissors cutting function. 
     In another embodiment as depicted in FIG. 29 a handle  400  has a gripping portion  402 . The gripping portion  402  in this embodiment has an aperture  404 . The gripping portion  402  is extended in an open position of the folding scissors and is retracted into the handle  400  in a closed position of the folding scissors. This provides for a more compact size of the folding scissors when in the closed position. Alternatively, the gripping portion  502  as depicted in FIG. 30 is hinged at hinge location  504  to the handle  500 . Again, this gripping portion  502  is depicted with an aperture  506  and for the closed position is rotated into an area  508  within the handle  500 . An end view is depicted in FIG.  31 . 
     A further alternative embodiment is depicted in FIG. 32 in which the gripping portion  602  is hinged along the face side to the handle  600  at hinge location  606 . The gripping portion  602  also has an aperture  604  and in a closed position is folded so that it lies alongside the handle  600 . An end view is depicted in FIG.  33 . 
     FIG. 1 depicts the lock engagement element as notches (notch  106 , for example) that are deployed around the pivot location  105 . In an alternative embodiment a knife blade may have a tang  700  as depicted in FIG.  35 . This tang  700  has a plurality of indentations  702  that are disposed about the pivot access  704 . The locking element  706  depicted in FIG. 34 has a tip  708  that engages the indentations  702  in the tang  700 . Numerous other types of locking mechanisms and assemblies are envisioned and usable with the present invention. 
     The invention is not limited to the particular details of the apparatus depicted and other modifications and applications are contemplated. Certain other changes may be made in the above-described apparatus without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention herein involved. For example, handles and gripping elements of various shapes and configurations are within the scope of the present invention. Also, various types and styles of knife blades, scissors blades, etc. are usable in the present invention. These handles and blades can be formed from a wide variety of materials as would be familiar to one skilled in the art. Furthermore, although it is an advantage of some embodiments of the present invention that the inventive scissors can be folded into a small compact size, such as would fit in a pocket, there is no restriction regarding the use of the present invention on a much larger scale for various other applications. The present invention thus overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and fulfills a need in the prior art for a folding scissors, which can be oriented at various angles with regards to the knife blades and handles. The folding scissors of the present invention also overcomes one of the disadvantages of the prior art by having only a single pivot point for the knife blades and handles. The single pivot point provides a design that is simple, reliable and convenient to use. It is intended, therefore, that the subject matter in the above depiction shall be interpreted as illustrative and not a limiting sense.