Abstract:
A cutting apparatus providing a flat material with a curved edge is disclosed. The cutting apparatus includes a main body, a center member and an arm. The center member is mounted to the main body. The arm engages with the center member and has a cutting part thereon. The cutting part cuts the flat material to have the curved edge by rotating the arm about the center member.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a two dimensional cutting apparatus for cutting a flat material such as paper to impart the cut paper various shapes.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Nowadays, people need to use various apparatus to accomplish different works. For example, people use a cutting apparatus to cut paper into small sheets neatly and conveniently. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional cutting apparatus is depicted. The cutting apparatus  10  includes a rail  11  and a slider  12 . The rail  11  has a passage  111  thereunder for receiving a flat material (not shown) such as paper. The slider  12  movable along the rail  11  is depicted in FIG. 2. The slider  12  includes a cutting part  121  in the bottom thereof, which is pressed downwards to reach and cut paper while the slider  12  is moving along the rail  11 .  
           [0003]    Apparently, the cutting apparatus can cut paper in one dimension only under the guidance of the linear rail. For some cases that a curved edge is required, the conventional cutting apparatus helps little. So far, a cutting apparatus that can cut paper to have a curved edge is still unavailable. Therefore, it is necessary to develop such a cutting apparatus.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cutting apparatus that is capable of creating a curved edge for the cut material.  
           [0005]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting apparatus that is capable of creating a curved edge of various curvatures for the cut material.  
           [0006]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a cutting apparatus that is capable of creating both linear and curved edges for the cut material.  
           [0007]    In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cutting apparatus for providing a flat material with a curved edge. The cutting apparatus includes a main body, a center member and an arm. The center member is mounted to the main body. The arm engages with the center member and has a cutting part thereon. The cutting part cuts the flat material to have the curved edge by rotating the arm about the center member. Preferably, the cutting apparatus is a trimmer.  
           [0008]    For example, the flat material is paper or fabric or plastic. Preferably, the flat material is paper.  
           [0009]    In an embodiment, the center member engages with the arm by a screw. The cutting part, e.g. a blade, is removably mounted on the arm so that a position of said cutting part on the arm is changeable to change a size of said curved edge. Alternatively, the center member may movably engage with a rack of the arm so that a distance between the cutting part and the center member is adjustable to change a size of the curved edge.  
           [0010]    Preferably, the arm is rotated by manipulating the center member.  
           [0011]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cutting apparatus for providing a flat material with an edge with a required curvature. The cutting apparatus includes a main body, a securing member, a center member and an arm. The securing member fixes the flat material on the main body. The center member is mounted to the main body. The arm engages with the center member at a first position thereof, and has a cutting part at a second position thereof. The distance between the center member and the cutting part is adjustable according to the required curvature, and the cutting part cuts the flat material to have the edge by rotating the arm about the center member.  
           [0012]    Preferably, the securing member is a rail. The main body engages with and travels along the rail to cut a certain portion of the flat material.  
           [0013]    In an embodiment, the center member securely engages with the arm at the first position, and the distance between the center member and the cutting part is adjusted by detaching the cutting part from the second position and re-attaching the cutting part to the arm at a third position.  
           [0014]    In another embodiment, the cutting part is secured to the arm at the second position, the center member movably engages with a rack of the arm, and the distance between the center member and the cutting part is adjusted by having the center member moved in the rack to a fourth position of the arm.  
           [0015]    Preferably, the arm is rotated to move across the flat material by rotating the center member.  
           [0016]    In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cutting apparatus for providing a flat material with an optional linear and/or curved edge. The cutting apparatus includes a main body, a passage, a center member and an arm. The main body has a rail thereon. The passage is for receiving the flat material into the main body therefrom. The center member is mounted to the main body and movable along the rail. The center member has a first cutting part thereon for cutting the flat material to have a linear edge while moving along the rail. The arm engages with the center member, and has a second cutting part thereon for cutting the flat material to have a curved edge while the arm is rotating about the center member.  
           [0017]    The rail may have a straight or a wave-shaped slit for the center member to slide therein. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional cutting apparatus.  
         [0019]    FIGS.  2 ( a ) and  2 ( b ) are a bottom and a front views illustrating the slider of the cutting apparatus of FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the cutting apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0021]    FIGS.  4 ( a ) and  4 ( b ) are a side and a top views illustrating the engagement of a center member and an arm of the cutting apparatus of FIG. 3.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating the engagement of a center member and an arm of the cutting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the cutting apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]    The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiment. It is to be noted that the following description of preferred embodiment of this invention are presented herein for the purpose of illustration and description only ; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the cutting apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The cutting apparatus can provide a flat material with an optional linear and/or curved edge.  
         [0026]    The cutting apparatus includes a main body  3 , an arm  32  and a center member  33 . The main body  3  includes a platform  30  for placing thereon a flat material (not shown) to be cut, and a rail  31  for guiding the center member  33  to move therealong. The flat material enters a passage  311  between the platform  30  and the rail  31 , and is secured therein.  
         [0027]    The arm  32  has a blade  321  mounted to the end thereof, as shown in FIG. 4( a ). When a curved line is to be provided for the flat material, the center member  33  is turned, and the arm  32  will thus rotate to transmit the blade  321  to cut the flat material to have a curved edge. The size of the curved edge depends on the length of the exposed arm that substantially equals to the radius of the realized circle. The center member  33  engages with the arm  32 , but is relatively movable in the rack  322  of the arm  32 , as shown in FIG. 4( b ). In other words, by pushing or pulling the arm  32  in a direction as indicated by the arrow, the length of the exposed arm is changed. Thereby, the distance between the blade  321  and the center member  33 , i.e. the radius, is adjustable, and curved edges of various sizes or curvatures can be obtained.  
         [0028]    The cutting apparatus of the present invention can cut the flat material with different sizes of the curved edge by moving the arm  32  relative to the center member  33  so as to change the distance between the center member  33  and the blade  321 , as mentioned above. In another embodiment with reference to FIG. 5, the blade  321  is detachably mounted on an arm  42  so that the position of the blade  321  on the arm  42  is changeable, and thus the distance between the blade  321  and the center member  33  is adjustable, thereby changing a size of the curved edge. The attachment/detachment of a blade on/from an elongated arm is well known, so it is not to be redundantly described herein.  
         [0029]    Please refer to FIG. 4( b ) or  5  again. The center member  33  engages with the arm  32  by a screw  331  through a fixing block  34 , which is disposed under the rail  31 . When the center member  33  is turned, the screw  331  rotates therewith, and serves as a shaft to transmit the arm  32  or  42  and the blade  321  to rotate. The fixing block  34  is used for maintaining the engagement and functions like a washer.  
         [0030]    In the embodiments illustrated hereinbefore, the flat material is cut with the blade disposed on the arm. Another blade, however, can be additionally and detachably provided under the center member, as shown in the prior art FIG. 2( a ) or  2 ( b ). In this case, a linear line and a curved line can be optionally created by using either of the blades  321  and  121  as the cutting blade. It is to be noted that in addition to a straight line, the linear line can also have some variation. For example, the linear line can be a wave-shaped linear line, as shown in FIG. 6, by arranging a wave-shaped slit  60  in the rail  61 .  
         [0031]    Certainly, the cutting apparatus of the present invention can be applied to cut several kinds of flat materials. For example, the flat material is made of paper, fabric or plastic. Preferably, the cutting apparatus is used as a trimmer to cut paper. Apparently, the cutting apparatus of the present invention is capable of not only creating linear edges for flat material as the conventional cutting apparatus, but also imparting curved edges to flat material. Consequently, the cutting apparatus will help a lot in daily lives, and will be popular in the market.  
         [0032]    While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangement included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims that are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modification and similar structures.