Abstract:
A punch device, comprising a lower housing and an upper housing pivotally connected to the lower housing. An impactor is positioned within the lower housing for selective action against a die, and at least one biasing member is positioned to bias the impactor towards the die. A lever arm selectively engaging the impactor and in contact with the upper housing. Actuation of upper housing causes the lever arm to move the impactor away from the die until the impactor disengages from the impactor and Upon disengagement, the impactor moves to towards the die so as to impart a force against the die.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to punch devices. More particularly, the present invention is related to portable punch devices for creating patterns in materials such as paper and cardstock.  
         [0002]     A wide variety of mechanisms are conventionally known for cutting various shapes into materials such as paper, cardstock and vellum. For example, there are several hand held devices comprising a pair of handles and die members that permit a user to “punch” a design into a piece of material simply by squeezing the handles.  
         [0003]     Although such devices are widely used, they suffer from a number of a significant drawbacks. For example, these devices often rely upon a proper alignment between mating die members to effectuate the punch. As a result, a relatively high level of tolerance is required during the manufacturing and assembly process, adding to the assembly costs. Additionally, such hand-held devices can require a high amount of force to punch a design in the materials to be manipulated. This can create difficulties for people such as the elderly and young children, who may have difficulty “squeezing” the handles together.  
         [0004]     Furthermore, it is often desirable to punch different designs into a single sheet of material. Many conventional punches only include a single, permanent die set, which therefore would require a separate device for each design to be punched. Other devices, while permitting the user to remove and replace dies on the same device, possess a number of drawbacks of their own. In particular, replacement dies must be carefully inserted into the device while also maintaining the high degree of tolerance as described above. Therefore it often requires a significant amount of force both to remove a die already in the device and to insert a new die. The amount of force required can cause significant problems for many people such as children and the elderly.  
         [0005]     Additionally, the above-described handheld punch devices also require the user to lift the material and place it between the mating die members in order to effectuate a punch. This can create difficulties in accurately locating the punch device on the material for the punch.  
         [0006]     It would therefore be desirable to develop a portable punch device that overcomes the above difficulties while remaining easy to manipulate by virtually any users.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved portable punch device that can be operated by a wide variety of users.  
         [0008]     It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved portable punch device that permits a user to quickly and easily change the designs that are to be punched using the device.  
         [0009]     It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved portable punch device that enables a user to exert a higher level of force for the punching action than occurs using conventional punch devices.  
         [0010]     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved portable punch device that can be assembled with a lower degree of tolerance than conventional punch devices.  
         [0011]     It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved portable punch device that is relatively simple to manufacture.  
         [0012]     It is finally another object of the present invention to provide an improved portable punch device that can be used on a wide variety of surfaces.  
         [0013]     In accordance with the above objects, the present invention is directed to a punch assembly comprising a lower body and an upper body. An impactor is positioned within the lower body and is biased towards the material to be manipulated by at least one biasing member. A lever arm is rotatably coupled to the lower housing and is positioned to be in selective engagement with the impactor. A separate biasing member is used to bias the lever arm away from engagement with the impactor. When a user presses against the upper housing, the lever arm is rotated into engagement with the impactor, lifting the impactor away from a punch die and a die retainer, both of which are positioned below the impactor. At a predetermined distance, the lever arm disengages from the impactor. The impactor then impacts the punch die at a high force, causing the die to punch the die&#39;s design into the sheet of material.  
         [0014]     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  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a punch assembly constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the punch assembly of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the punch assembly of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the punch assembly of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the punch assembly of  FIG. 1  as the impactor is being released for subsequent contact with the die; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a perspective exploded view of the die, die retainer and lower housing according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]     A punch assembly constructed according to the principles of the present invention is shown generally at  10  in  FIGS. 1-5 . The punch assembly  10 , constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises an upper housing  12  and a lower housing  14 . The lower housing  14  includes a rear pivot member  16  and an front pivot member  18 . The upper housing  12  is coupled to the lower housing  14  at the rear pivot member  16  by a rear pivot pin  20 . The rear pivot pin  20  permits the upper housing  12  to rotate relative to lower housing  14 .  
         [0022]     The punch assembly  10  includes a lever arm  22  that is rotatably coupled to the front pivot member  18  by a front pivot pen  24 . The lever arm  22  is also operatively connected to a lever arm biasing member  26  which is positioned about the front pivot member  18 . In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-5 , the lever arm biasing member  26  comprises a coil spring. However, various other conventional biasing members may also be used. The rear end of the lever arm  22  contacts an abutment member  28  on the inside of the upper housing  12 .  
         [0023]     The lower housing  14  also includes an impactor  30  positioned within a slot  32 . In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-5 , the impactor  30  also includes an impactor opening  34  on the inside thereof. The lower housing  14  also includes first and second impactor biasing members  36  and  38  that are positioned around a transverse member  40  on the inside of the lower housing  14 . In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second impactor biasing members  36  and  38  comprise coil springs, although other well known biasing members could also be used. It is also possible to include a single impactor biasing member instead of the first and second impactor biasing members  36  and  38 . Each of the first and second impactor biasing members  36  and  38  include a front end  42  and a rear end  44 . The front end  42  of each of the first and second biasing members  36  and  38  acts against the impactor  30  by resting within the impactor opening  34 , exerting a downward force against the impactor  30 . The rear end  44  of each of the first and second impactor biasing members rest against and act against the inside of the lower housing  14 .  
         [0024]     As is shown in  FIG. 4 , the punch assembly also includes a die  46  that is removably connected to the lower housing  14  via a die retainer  48 . The die retainer  48 , in one embodiment of the invention, comprises an o-ring. However, other retaining mechanisms could also be used. The die retainer  48  engages and holds the die  46  in place when the punch assembly  10  is and is not in use. When a user desires to remove the die  46  and replace it with another die, he or she simply manually pulls the die  46  out of the die retainer  48 . Preferably, this can be accomplished without the use of external tools. The die  46  is similar to many conventional dies, including an outline of the design to be punched into the sheet of material.  
         [0025]     In a preferred embodiment of the present invention and as shown in  FIG. 6 , the die  46 , the die retainer  48  and a nose  54  of the lower housing  14  include a built-in mechanism for aiding in the alignment and the securing of the die  46  to the die retainer  48  and the die retainer  48  to the nose  54 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , the die  46  includes a plurality of die indexing ridges  50  about the periphery of the upper portion of the die  46 . In a most preferred embodiment, the die indexing ridges  50  are positioned about every ninety degrees around the upper portion of the die  46 , although other arrangements are possible. Corresponding inner die retainer indexing ridges  52  are similarly located about the inner surface  56  of the die retainer  48 . The die indexing ridges  50  and the inner die retainer indexing ridges  52  are sized and positioned to allow the die  46  and the die retainer  48  to mateably engage with each other. The outer surface  58  of the die retainer  48  also includes a plurality of outer die retainer indexing ridges  60 , which mateably engage corresponding nose ridges (not shown) on the inner surface of the nose  54  of the lower housing  14 . The die indexing ridges, inner die retainer indexing ridges  50 , the outer die retainer indexing ridges  60  and the nose ridges, both aid in securing the die  46  to the nose  54  as well as permit the user to easily and repeatedly align the die in one of a number of set locations relative to the rest of the punch assembly  10 .  
         [0026]      FIGS. 1 and 5  show the process by which material is punched according to one embodiment of the present invention. As is shown in  FIG. 1 , at rest, the front end of the lever arm  22  abuts against the top of the impactor  30  via the impactor opening  34 . Furthermore and as previously discussed, the rear end of the lever arm  22  is positioned against the abutment member  28 . When a user desires to punch a design into a sheet of material, he or she first places the punch assembly on the material to be manipulated. The user then presses down against the upper housing  12 . This action causes the abutment member  28  to act against the rear end of the lever arm  22 , causing the lever arm  22  to rotate about the front pivot pin  24 . As a result of this rotation, the front end of the lever arm  22  acts in an upward manner against the impactor  30 , causing the impactor  30  to move upward within the slot  32 .  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  shows the result of the user pressing against the upper housing  12 , with the impactor  30  in a fully raised position. At this point, the front ends  42  of the first and second impactor biasing member  36  and  38  continue to act against the impactor  30  in an attempt to force the impactor  30  downward. At the point shown in the figure, the front end of the lever arm  22  has rotated to the point that it disengages from the impactor  30 . At this point, the impactor  30  is released and is forced downward by the front end  42  of the first and second impactor biasing members  36  and  38 , as well as by gravity. The impactor  30  then imparts a substantial force against the die  46 , strongly and quickly forcing the die  46  against the material to be cut. The die  46  then punches its respective design into the material.  
         [0028]     In one preferred embodiment of the invention, a cutting mat or similar material (not shown) is placed directly below the material to be punched by the punch assembly  10 . The purpose of the cutting mat is to absorb the force imparted by the punch assembly  10  during the cutting process in order to prevent the underlying work surface, such as a table, from being damaged during the punching process.  
         [0029]     After the cutting process has been completed, the user stops exerting pressure on the upper housing  12 . The lever arm biasing member  26  then acts to place the lever arm  22  into its original position. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the lever arm  22  is capable of a slight degree of movement relative to the front pivot pen  24 . This degree of movement permits the front end of the lever arm  22  to once again be positioned within the impactor opening  34  of the impactor  30 .  
         [0030]     The system and method of the present invention allows a user to quickly and efficiently impart a large amount of force on a die for the purpose of cutting a design into a sheet of material. The system can be used by users of varying ages, and also results in a very simple mechanism for replacing and/or exchanging the die from the punch assembly.  
         [0031]     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, a variety of different types of biasing members could be used to bias the impactor and/or the lever arm of the punch assembly. Furthermore, it is also possible that the impactor would not come into actual contact with the die, but instead have forced transferred to the die through one or more intermediate components. 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.