Cutlery – Cutting tools – Plural cooperating blades
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-03
2002-05-07
Rachuba, M. (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Cutting tools
Plural cooperating blades
C030S240000, C030S206000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06381853
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a rotary cutting device in general, and to a rotary handpiece having a rotating blade or similar for cutting a variety of materials in particular. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hand held cutting device for use in the cutting and shearing industries, such as for example for shearing hair, fur, wool or the like from animals or humans, or for cutting other natural or synthetic materials such as metals, paper, textiles, fibres and the like. The handpiece is provided with a rotary cutting member in the for of a planar blade and a plurality of cutting elements in the form of elongate chips or blades which co-operate with the rotating blade so that material such as wool fibres or the like when located between the rotating planar blade and the chips is cut or severed. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to improvements in the handpiece by providing the handpiece with an adjustable tensioning means for adjusting the tension of the rotary cutting assembly, particularly the tension applied to the rotary planar blade in order to alter the cutting characteristics of the handpiece.
Although the present invention will be described with particular reference to a rotary handpiece for shearing sheep, in which the rotary handpiece has a cutting assembly comprising a planar rotating cutting member, a replaceable cartridge containing a plurality of cutting elements or chips and a means for adjusting the tension of the rotary cutting assembly, it is to be noted that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the described arrangement or embodiment but rather the scope of the invention is more extensive so as to include other arrangements of the rotary handpiece and uses for the rotary handpiece in other applications than those specifically described and to the use of the rotary handpiece for cutting a wide variety of diverse materials.
Additionally, it is to be noted that although the invention will be described with particular reference to a hand held headpiece, the present invention also applies to other forms of the handpiece having the cutting assembly, such as, for example, a robotically controlled handpiece having different forms of the cutting assembly, handpieces and cutting assemblies located at the end of a mechanical arm or similar, cutting assemblies provided with automatic shearing machines, and the like.
Currently, shearers almost universally use handpieces of the reciprocating or oscillating type, which have a fixed comb and a moveable cutter held in intimate contact with each other by a strong compressive force between the two. As the cutter reciprocates or oscillates in intimate contact with the fixed comb, material located between the cutter and comb is cut. However, as the cutter and comb must be held together with such force, heat due to friction between the two components is produced. This unwanted production of heat is undesirable.
Other disadvantages of conventional handpieces are caused by the cutter mechanism itself and the arrangement of the various components. The limitations of the reciprocal or oscillating motion are well known and include the problems of the cutter producing vibrations within the handpiece as it oscillates; heat build up due to frictional forces; the cutters and combs requiring regular replacement or sharpening; the need to provide sufficient lubrication; injury to and burning of the sheep and on occasions, the shearer; and, should the handpiece be dropped or knocked from the shearer's hand it can often continue operating in an out-of-control manner which is extremely dangerous for persons or animals in close proximity to the handpiece and may result in damage to the handpiece. In these cases the handpiece must be disconnected from its driving means before it can be approached and ultimately retrieved.
Efforts have been made in recent times to provide a handpiece having vibration characteristics which are less likely to cause injury and which are safer to use than conventional handpieces; which can operate at a lower temperature; which require no or little lubrication; and which are less likely to cause injury to shearers, shed personnel and to the sheep. Australian provisional patent application No. PN0883 amongst other applications describes a rotary handpiece which contributes significantly to overcoming the problems associated with the oscillating handpieces of the prior art. The rotary handpieces of Australian provisional patent application No. PN0883 have blades and chips which have a longer useful working life than those know previously, are relatively cheaper to maintain and are of such low cost that they maybe discarded when blunt and no longer serviceable and replaced by new blades or other cutters so that resharpening of the blades is not required. The rotary handpiece can be Mastered quickly even by novices. Co-pending Australian provisional patent application by the same applicant provides a rotary handpiece which comprises a rotary cutting member and a replaceable cartridge comprising a plurality of replaceable cutting elements or chips which co-operate with the rotary cutting member to sever material such as wool. The cartridge can be quickly and easily replaced as the chips become blunt and/or damaged and/or lost.
While these rotary handpieces provide important and useful advances over the cutting devices of the prior art, it has not hitherto before been possible to easily and quickly modify the action of the rotary cutting member in relation to the cutting elements to allow for use of the rotary handpiece to cut a wide variety of different types of materials requiring different cutting characteristics For example a shearer may want to modify or adjust the action of the rotary cutting member with respect to the cutting elements to allow for the different physical properties of different classes of wool or other materials using the one handpiece, such as, for example, to accommodate different grades of fineness of the wool, say from very fine to very coarse, and wool of different conditions, such as wool full of contaminants such as dirt particles, grass seeds, burrs and the like. Additionally, the handpiece may be used on cattle to shear hair from a cut line to clean the cut line of debris before the cattle is slaughtered in an abattoir. Thus, there is a need to be able to alter the cutting characteristics of a handpiece so that the one handpiece can be used to cut a wider variety of different and diverse materials, such as for example the range of different wool fibres and types of the various species of sheep and the hair or fur of other animals such as cattle, goats and the like. It has now been found that a rotary handpiece can be provided which allows the user to modify the cutting characteristics of the rotary cutting member and/or cutting element(s) quickly and easily by altering the tension of the rotary cutting assembly, particularly the tension applied to the rotary cutting member.
Thus, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a rotary handpiece provided with means for modifying the cutting characteristics of the handpiece, such as for example by providing the handpiece with an adjustable tensioning means for altering the tension applied between the rotating blade and the individual elongate cutters in order to accommodate a wider variety of different materials and/or different grades or thicknesses of the one material.
According to the present invention there is provided a rotary handpiece suitable for cutting or severing a material comprising:
a cutting member capable of rotary motion in a first direction, and
at least one cutting element capable of substantially linear movement in a second direction, said motion in the first direction being different to the direction of movement in the second direction, and
an adjustable tensioning means,
wherein the cutting member and the cutting element are arranged such that the cutting member and cutting element co-operatively interact with each other in use to cut material located thereb
Burr & Brown
Rachuba M.
Tran Kim Ngol
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