JP7628290B2 - scissors - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to scissors that can hold cut objects such as stems and branches.

Scissors are used to harvest citrus fruits such as mandarin oranges, grapes, apples, and other fruits, vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers, and to prune twigs from garden trees. However, when using ordinary scissors, the stems, branches, and other objects to be cut fall along with the fruit, vegetables, and branches, so it is necessary to hold the fruit, vegetables, or branches in one hand while using the scissors to cut the objects with the other hand. In particular, when cutting at high altitudes, both hands must be used using a stepladder, etc., which makes harvesting less efficient and also poses the risk of falling from the stepladder. As a solution to these problems, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses scissors that allow cutting work to be done with one hand by holding the cut stems, branches, and other objects to be cut.

These scissors have a pair of openable and closable scissors bodies, with the base end of the holding piece pivoted to one of the scissors bodies so that it is parallel to one side of the blade of the scissors body and faces the blade of the other scissors body, and a torsion spring wound around the pivotal part urges it in the opposite direction to the blade of the other scissors body, so that the cut stem, branch, or other cut object is elastically clamped between the holding piece and the other blade.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 53-79262 (page 1, Figures 5 and 6)

In the scissors described in Patent Document 1, the holding force of cut stems, branches, etc. depends on the biasing force of the torsion spring at the pivot of the holding piece, so while the holding force is strong at the base of the holding piece close to the pivot, there is a problem in that the holding force becomes weaker at the tip side, farther from the pivot, due to moment relationships. For example, if the stems of citrus fruits or fruit vegetables are cut at the tip of the blade and then held at the tip of the holding piece, there is a risk that the fruit will fall and be damaged. In addition, because the cut stems are held between the holding piece and the blade, they are easily damaged.

The present invention was made to address these problems, and aims to provide scissors that can securely hold stems, branches, and other objects cut at any position along the length of the blade.

In order to solve the above problems, the scissors of the present invention include:
A pair of scissors having a gripping portion and a blade portion are pivotally attached to one another so as to form an X-shape in a plan view, and the blade portions are opened and closed by operating the gripping portions so as to form an acute angle,
A spring holder extending in the direction of the blade portion is attached to the gripping portion of the scissors body located at the lower side in a plan view, preferably to an upper surface thereof, and a plate that comes into contact with an object to be cut is attached to the blade portion of the scissors body located at the upper side, preferably to an upper surface thereof, along the length direction of the blade tip;
A free end of one bent piece of a leaf spring bent into an inverted U-shape in a plan view is fixed to the spring holder,
The other bent piece of the leaf spring is characterized in that its free end is pressed against the plate when the blade portion is open, and is elastically pressed against the plate over substantially the entire length when the blade portion is closed.
According to this feature, when the blade section is closed, the object cut by the blade section is sandwiched between the plate and the other bent piece of the leaf spring and is held by the elastic repulsive force of the other bent piece. At this time, the elastic repulsive force of the other bent piece acts on almost the entire length of the plate, so that the object can be securely held regardless of where in the length direction the blade section cuts the object.

At least the other bent piece of the leaf spring is formed to a length that projects beyond the tip of the plate.
According to this feature, the elastic repulsive force of the other bent piece of the leaf spring acts approximately uniformly over the entire length of the plate, so that the workpiece can be more reliably held at any position in the length direction.

The plate is characterized in that it is provided with a restricting piece for restricting lateral displacement of the other bent piece, preferably the free end thereof.
This feature prevents the other folded piece, preferably its free end, from coming off the plate.

The free end of the other bent piece is bent toward the spring holder, and when the blade portion is closing, the bent free end abuts against the spring holder, and a pressing force acts from the spring holder on the leaf spring.
According to this feature, when the blade portion is closed, the other bent piece is strongly pressed toward the plate by the spring holder and strongly pressed against the plate, thereby increasing the holding force of the workpiece.

The free end of one bent piece of the leaf spring is detachably fixed to the spring holder.
According to this feature, the leaf spring can be easily replaced with one having a different spring force or width dimension in accordance with the length, thickness, type, etc. of the workpiece to be cut.

At least one of the contact surfaces between the plate and the other bent piece is characterized in that it is a rough surface.
According to this feature, the cut object is held by the frictional force of the rough surface, so that it can be reliably prevented from falling.

The leaf spring also functions as an opening spring that biases the blade portion in an opening direction.
According to this feature, there is no need to attach a separate opening spring to the scissors, which reduces costs.

1 is a plan view of scissors according to a first embodiment of the present invention with blades in an open state. FIG. FIG. FIG. FIG. 11 is a right side view of the same with the blade portion closed. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part in a state where an object to be cut is held. FIG. 11 is a plan view of scissors according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a plan view of scissors according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes how to implement the scissors of the present invention.

The scissors according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6. As shown in Fig. 1, the scissors 1 are provided with a pair of scissors bodies 2, 2 having a gripping portion 2a and a blade portion 2b. The opposing inner edges of the blade portions 2b, 2b are sharp blade tips 2c, 2c. The scissors bodies 2, 2 are pivotally attached by a pivot 3 so as to form an X-shape in a plan view near the base of the blade portions 2b, 2b, and are opened and closed by operating the gripping portions 2a, 2a so that the blade portions 2b, 2b form an acute angle, more specifically, so that the acute angle gradually decreases and finally becomes zero. In this embodiment, the maximum opening angle of the blade portions 2b, 2b is set to about 45 degrees, for example, by a stopper (not shown) provided at an appropriate position of the scissors body 2. The blade portions 2b, 2b are symmetrical in the shape of a substantially triangle with a vertex angle of 15 to 20 degrees, and have a small blade width. The blade width of the present invention is small, making it particularly suitable for picking and thinning fruits such as mandarin oranges and green peppers. This is because when harvesting mandarin oranges and green peppers, it is necessary to cut small branches near the object to be cut C.

The base end of a metal spring holder 4, which extends toward the blade 2b, more specifically toward the outside of the base of the blade 2b in plan view, is fixed by bolts 5, 5 to the upper surface of the gripping portion 2a of the lower scissors body 2 near the pivot 3. The spring holder 4 is bent upward in an L shape near the fixing portion so as not to interfere with the upper scissors body 2, and the tip side excluding the fixing portion is located higher than the upper scissors body 2 and is parallel to the upper scissors body 2 in a side view.

A metal plate 6 having approximately the same shape as the planar shape of the blade 2b is fixed by bolts 5, 5 to the upper surface of the blade 2b of the upper scissor body 2. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, an upwardly bent piece 6a is integrally connected to the edge of the plate 6 on the cutting edge 2c side, facing upward along the length of the cutting edge 2c. The upwardly bent piece 6a abuts against the object C to be cut, such as a stem or branch, and is elastically pressed against the other bent piece 7b of the leaf spring 7 (hereinafter also referred to as the holding member 7), which will be described later. When the blade 2b is closed, the base of the upwardly bent piece 6a faces the tip of the spring holder 4 (see Figure 3).

A restricting piece 6b that restricts the lateral shift (upward movement) of the other bent piece 7b of the holding member 7 is connected to the upper edge of the base end of the upward bent piece 6a so as to protrude beyond the cutting edge 2c, and prevents the free end of the other bent piece 7b from coming off upward from the upward bent piece 6a. If the thickness of the plate 6 itself is made equal to the bending dimension of the upward bent piece 6a, the upward bent piece 6a can be omitted. Meanwhile, in this embodiment, the plate 6 is lightweight because it has a thin plate structure.

The free end of one of the opposing bent pieces 7a of the holding member 7, which is bent into an inverted U-shape in plan view, is removably fixed to the tip of the spring holder 4. That is, the free end of one of the bent pieces 7a is sandwiched in a slit-shaped holding groove 4a formed at the tip of the spring holder 4, which opens in both the up and down directions and toward the tip, and fixed with fixing screws 8, 8 screwed toward the holding groove 4a, so that the free end of one of the bent pieces 7a is removably fixed to the spring holder 4. The overall length of the holding member 7 when fixed to the spring holder 4 is set so that it protrudes a required length from the tip of the blade 2b and the plate 6. The holding member 7 used in this embodiment has a width of about 5 mm and a plate thickness of about 0.5 to 1 mm.

As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, for example, one end of the leaf spring S, which has a gently curved shape before assembly, is fixed to the spring holder 4 with the blades 2b, 2b open, then bent toward the blade 2b, and the free end on the other end is pressed against the upward bent piece 6a of the plate 6, to form an inverted U-shape in plan view that curves at the curved part 7c between the bent pieces 7a, 7b. Also, a straight spring plate before assembly can be bent to form an inverted U-shape. If the thickness of the holding member 7 is relatively thick and the spring force is strong, one that is bent in advance into an inverted U-shape can be used.

The free end of the other bent piece 7b forms a small curved portion 7f in the shape of a small arc toward the tip of the spring holder 4, and the curved free end (tip) 7g separates from the spring holder 4 when the blades 2b, 2b are open, and abuts against the spring holder 4 when the blades 2b, 2b are closed. In addition, when the blades 2b, 2b are open, the other bent piece 7b forms a V-shape in plan view with respect to the upward bent piece 6a, and the small curved portion 7f separates slightly from the upward bent piece 6a, allowing the cut object C to be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the blades 2b, 2b are closed, the retaining member 7 is elastically deformed inward, so that the other bent piece 7b is elastically pressed against the entire length of the upward bent piece 6a. In addition, during the process of closing the blades 2b, 2b, the free end (tip) 7g of the other bent piece 7b abuts against the left side surface of the spring holder 4, so that when the blades 2b, 2b are completely closed, the other bent piece is strongly pressed against the upward bent piece 6a by the spring holder 4, and is strongly pressed against the upward bent piece 6a.

When the scissors 1 according to the embodiment 1 described above are used to cut the stem of a citrus fruit such as a mandarin orange as the object C, as shown in FIG. 6, the object C is clamped between the upward bent piece 6a of the plate 6 and the other bent piece 7b of the holding member 7 immediately after the start of cutting. As the blades 2b, 2b are closed, the other bent piece 7b tries to strongly press against the upward bent piece 6a elastically, so that the clamping force of the object C gradually increases. When the blades 2b, 2b are completely closed and the object C is cut, the elastic repulsive force of the other bent piece 7b becomes maximum, and the cut object C is firmly pinched and held between the upward bent piece 6a and the other bent piece 7b. At this time, the elastic repulsive force of the other bent piece 7b acts on the entire length of the upward bent piece 6a, so the object C can be securely held regardless of the position in the length direction of the blades 2b. Therefore, even when cutting at high altitudes using a stepladder or the like, the work can be done safely with one hand, and the fruit M can be prevented from falling, allowing for efficient harvesting work.

In addition, during the process of closing the blades 2b, 2b, the free end 7g of the other bent piece 7b abuts against the spring holder 4, and the other bent piece 7b is strongly pressed toward the upward bent piece 6a by the spring holder 4, so that it comes into strong contact with the upward bent piece 6a, further increasing the holding force of the workpiece C.

The free end of one of the bent pieces of the holding member 7 is removably attached to the spring holder 4, so that the holding member 7 can be easily replaced with one with a different spring force or width dimension depending on the length, thickness, and type of the workpiece C to be cut.

When the blades 2b, 2b are open, the free end of the other bent piece 7b of the holding member 7 is elastically pressed against the base end of the upward bent piece 6a of the plate 6, so the blades 2b, 2b are biased in the opening direction. Therefore, the holding member 7 can also serve as an opening spring for the blades 2b, 2b, and there is no need to attach a separate opening spring, which reduces costs and weight.

The scissors according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The same components as those in the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals and will not be described again. The scissors 1 according to the second embodiment have sawtooth grooves carved into the upward bent piece 6a of the plate 6, and the contact surface is roughened surfaces 9, 9. In this way, the cut object C is securely held by the frictional force of the roughened surface 9, so that it is possible to prevent the fruit M or the like from falling and being damaged. Although the sawtooth grooves are shown as an example of the rough surface, it may be a matte finish obtained by sandblasting or the like. The other bent piece 7b may also be roughened surface 9.

As shown in Figure 8, in the scissors 1 of Example 3, the other folded piece 7b is folded into a corrugated shape to form a rough surface 9. Even in this way, the frictional force of the rough surface 9 can securely hold the workpiece C.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and additions and modifications that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the free end of the other bent piece 7b of the holding member 7 is free, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the free end of the other bent piece 7b may be bent so as to be parallel to the tip of the spring holder 4 and fixed to the left side surface of the tip of the spring holder 4 with a screw. In this way, the restricting piece 6b that restricts the lateral shift of the other bent piece 7b can be omitted.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the spring holder 4 and the plate 6 are fixed using the bolt 5 and the fixing screw 8, respectively, but this is not limited thereto, and they may be fixed, for example, by welding.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the spring holder 4 and the plate 6 are fixed to the upper surfaces of the clamping bodies 2, 2 by the bolts 5 and the fixing screws 8, respectively, but this is not limited thereto, and they may be fixed to the side surfaces, for example.

In addition, in the above embodiment, when the blades 2b, 2b are completely closed, the other folded piece 7b is elastically pressed against the entire length of the upward folded piece 6a, but this is not limited thereto, and the other folded piece 7b may be elastically pressed against almost the entire length of the upward folded piece 6a (for example, over more than half the length of the upward folded piece 6a).

The scissors 1 of the present invention can also be used as high-altitude scissors used to cut objects at high altitudes, or as scissors used in automatic fruit and vegetable harvesters.

REFERENCE SIGNS 1 Scissors 2 Scissors body 2a Grip portion 2b Blade portion 2c Blade tip 3 Pivot 4 Spring holder 4a Holding groove 5 Bolt 6 Plate 6a Upward bent piece 6b Regulating piece 7 Holding member (leaf spring)
7a One bent piece 7b The other bent piece 7g Free end 8 Fixing screw 9 Rough surface C Object to be cut M Fruit S Leaf spring

Claims (7)

A pair of scissors having a gripping portion and a blade portion are pivotally attached to one another so as to form an X-shape in a plan view, and the blade portions are opened and closed by operating the gripping portions so as to form an acute angle,
A spring holder extending in the direction of the blade portion is attached to the grip portion of the scissors body located at the lower side in a plan view, and a plate that comes into contact with an object to be cut is attached along the length direction of the blade tip, preferably on the upper surface of the blade portion of the scissors body located at the upper side,
A free end of one bent piece of a leaf spring bent into an inverted U-shape in a plan view is fixed to the spring holder,
The other bent piece of the leaf spring is configured such that its free end is pressed against the plate when the blade portion is open, and is elastically pressed against the plate over almost the entire length when the blade portion is closed. 2. The scissors according to claim 1, wherein at least the other bent piece of the leaf spring is formed to a length such that it protrudes beyond a tip end of a lower end side of the plate in a plan view . Scissors according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the plate is provided with a restricting piece that restricts lateral displacement of the other bent piece. Scissors according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the free end of the other bent piece is bent toward the spring holder, and the bent free end abuts against the spring holder during the process of closing the blades, and a pressing force acts from the spring holder on the leaf spring. Scissors according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the free end of one of the bent pieces of the leaf spring is removably fixed to the spring holder. Scissors according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one of the contact surfaces between the plate and the other bent piece is roughened. Scissors according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the leaf spring also serves as an opening spring that biases the blades in the opening direction.

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