Cutlery – Cutting tools – Plural cooperating blades
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-24
2001-06-26
Goodman, Charles (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Cutting tools
Plural cooperating blades
C030S251000, C030S341000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249977
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a pair of scissors comprising two scissor halves joined at an axis of rotation, each of which has a cutting blade and a shank with a grip, where the grip of one scissor half is designed as a T-shaped grip with a web projecting roughly perpendicularly away from the shank in the plane of the scissors and with two opposite limbs extending more or less in the longitudinal direction of the shank on the end of the web facing away from the shank.
The grips provided on the scissor halves of a pair of scissors are usually adapted to the hand of the user in such a way that the one grip is guided by the thumb and the other grip by the other fingers of the hand. It is often sufficient to use the middle and ring fingers to guide the one scissor half.
A pair of scissors is known where the grip guided by the middle and ring fingers is of T-shaped design. When using these scissors, the web of the T-shaped grip is held between the middle and ring fingers. Due to the fact that the scissors can be manipulated very sensitively using the middle and ring fingers, it has proven advantageous to provide a web that can be grasped by these fingers. The scissor half can be precisely controlled via the web of the T-shaped grip.
One disadvantage of the known pair of scissors is that it cannot be adapted to different hand sizes and finger thicknesses.
The fixed grips of the two scissor halves very quickly cause painful pressure sores that can easily become infected, particularly in users whose hand deviates from the optimum hand size for these scissors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to design a pair of scissors which, while retaining the advantages of the known scissors, does not cause any pressure sores, even in frequent use, and can be guided accurately at all times. In addition, the scissors should be of simple design.
According to the invention, the object is solved in that the T-shaped grip can be adjusted and fixed in the longitudinal direction of the shank of the first scissor half and the grip of the other scissor half is fixed in the longitudinal direction of the shank, where the T-shaped grip is moulded to a handle section that is connected to the shank via a tongue-and-groove joint, the handle section of the T-shaped grip has a groove with two side walls, of which one wall has a through-hole for a screw that is aligned with a thread for the screw provided in the opposite side wall of the groove, and the shank, which is mounted in the groove of the handle section in sliding fashion, has a slot that is penetrated by the screw.
As a result of this design according to the invention, the relative position of the grips of the two scissor halves can be adjusted in the longitudinal direction such that an optimum grip position can always be set for hands of different size and the scissors always give the user an exact impression of the current scissor position during use.
In the event that the T-shaped grip is too small or too large for a user's hand, it can be removed and replaced by a T-shaped grip that fits.
The proposed connection between the handle section provided with the T-shaped grip and the shank ensures a simple design of the scissors. The two side walls of the groove of the handle section can be tightened towards one another with the help of the screw. In this context, the shank located in the groove is clamped by the side walls, thus forming a non-positive connection between the shank and the handle section of the T-shaped grip. The ends of the slot of the shank form stops for the screw that limit the adjustment range of the T-shaped grip, which can be adjusted in the longitudinal direction of the shank.
A pair of scissors with a grip connected to the shank by a tongue-and-groove joint that can be adjusted and fixed in the longitudinal direction of the shank is known from EP-A-0 244 829. The tongue is designed as a T-shaped Projection on the grip and engages a correspondingly shaped T-slot in the shank. The grip is fixed in the longitudinal direction of the shank by a locking screw running in the transverse direction that acts against the head of the T-shaped projection. The hole in the shank for the screw requires the shank to have a width that corresponds to that of the grip. In contrast, the pair of scissors according to the invention is based on a simpler design, since a flat shank can be used, such as is obtained with modern manufacturing methods for scissor blades, such as the punching method.
In order to improve the adaptability of the scissors to different hand shapes and hand sizes, and to avoid pressure sores, especially on the thumb of the guiding hand, the grip that is fixed in the longitudinal direction of the shank is designed as a rotating grip, which can be rotated about an axis running in the plane of the scissors and transverse to the longitudinal direction of the shank. The rotating grip improves the ergonomics of the scissors and prevents painful pressure sores on the thumb of the guiding hand.
For the sake of simplicity, the rotating grip is mounted on a handle section located on the shank. For this purpose, the handle section has an inside bearing, in which a bearing bolt mounted on the rotating grip can rotate. The variability of the proposed scissors can be enhanced if the rotating grip can be fixed in any desired rotational position. In a configuration of this kind, the rotating grip can be used in two operating modes, namely freely rotating or fixed in any desired rotational position. It can be set to the respective operating mode that is most expedient for the current application.
In order to be able to easily grasp the scissors with the thumb and to ensure effective guidance of the scissors, a rotation limiter is provided that restricts the rotational range of the rotating grip to an angular range.
In a preferred configuration, the rotation limiter displays a slot provided on the handle section, whose ends act as stops for a pin mounted on the rotating grip that projects into the slot. The user can guide the scissors particularly accurately by turning the rotating grip such that the pin contacts one of the two ends of the slot. In this position of the rotating grip, both the scissor half guided by the thumb and the one guided by the middle and ring finger are guided accurately. If the rotating grip is in a rotational position between the ends of the rotational range, the other scissor half provided with the T-shaped grip primarily takes over the function of guiding the scissors. However, if a rotational position of the rotating grip between the ends of the rotational range is also to permit very direct guidance by the thumb, the rotational grip can be fixed in this desired rotational position.
Expediently, the free end of the bearing bolt of the rotating grip passes through the handle section and a screw is screwed into this free end that fixes the rotating grip when screwed tight and permits the rotating grip to rotate when tightened only slightly.
The rotating grip is preferably of C-shaped design, if the thumb is to be easily inserted into the rotating grip. Alternatively, the rotating grip can be designed as a closed grip eye, if great importance is attached to particularly effective guidance of the rotating grip.
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Diller Ramik & Wight
Goodman Charles
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