Nail Clipper Apparatus

Abstract

A remotely actuated nail clipping apparatus includes a nail clipper body having upper and lower jaws with opposed cutting surfaces. An actuating lever is remotely disposed from the nail clipper body. A linkage, which operably couples the actuating lever to the nail clipper body, passes through the upper jaw of the nail clipper body and interfaces with the lower jaw and enables the user to pull the lower jaw upward toward the upper jaw into a cutting configuration whereby the opposed cutting surfaces of the two jaws engage one another to thereby clip a nail disposed therebetween. Preferably, a hollow vertical shaft rigidly couples the upper jaw of the nail clipper body to the actuating lever and the linkage extends through the interior of the shaft. A platform is preferably secured to the top end of the shaft and provides a support surface for the actuation lever.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims benefits from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/825,594, filed Sep. 14, 2007, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates broadly to nail clippers. More particularly, this invention relates to nail clippers having an actuating lever that operates the clipper by means of a linkage in which the actuating lever is remotely disposed from the clipper.

[0004] 2. State of the Art

[0005] Nail clippers are well known in the art, and are most often used for clipping fingernails and toenails. People who are physically restricted, however, such as those suffering from osteoporosis, a sore back, a pulled muscle, etc., may have difficulty cutting their toenails with a conventional nail clipper because they are unable to bend enough to reach their toes. A number of extension devices are known in the art that allow these restricted users to operate nail clippers without having to physically reach the desired cutting locations.

[0006] One such device, which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,677, employs a conventional nail clipper connected at the first end of an elongate member. A pistol grip handle and trigger are integral to the second end of the elongate member. The trigger actuates the nail clipper via a pull chord that extends through a number of rollers housed by the elongate member. User activation of the trigger pulls the pull chord, which pulls down the end of the lever of the nail clipper, which in turn causes the other end of the lever arm to push down the top jaw of the nail clipper towards the bottom jaw of the nail clipper. This device is complex and expensive to manufacture. Moreover, the joint between the nail clipper and the elongate member is subject to high torque stresses, which can be difficult and costly to address by design and/or can possibly lead to unwanted failure of the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,587 discloses a similar device, which suffers from the same problems and limitations as set forth above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The problems of the prior art devices are solved by a remotely actuated nail clipping apparatus of the present invention. The apparatus includes a nail clipper body having upper and lower jaws with opposed cutting surfaces that engage one another to clip a nail. An actuating lever is remotely disposed from the nail clipper body. A linkage operably couples the actuating lever to the nail clipper body. The linkage passes through the upper jaw of the nail clipper and interfaces with the lower jaw, and enables the user to pull the lower jaw upward toward the upper jaw by pressing the actuating lever. The upward movement of the lower jaw toward the upper jaw brings the two jaws into a cutting configuration whereby the opposed cutting surfaces of the two jaws engage one another to thereby clip a nail disposed therebetween.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, a hollow vertical shaft is rigidly coupled to the upper jaw of the nail clipper body, and the linkage extends through the interior of the shaft. A platform is preferably secured to the top end of the shaft and projects outward perpendicular to the shaft. The platform provides a support surface for the actuation lever whereby the actuation lever pivots about the platform by user manipulation to cause upward movement of the linkage. Such upward movement pulls the lower jaw upward toward the upper jaw, which continues to the cutting configuration where the opposed cutting surfaces of the two jaws engage one another to thereby clip a nail disposed therebetween. In the preferred embodiment, the linkage comprises a cable, wire, rod or other suitable linkage mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a side section view of an embodiment of a remotely actuated nail clipper apparatus in accordance with the present invention, showing the upper and lower jaws of the apparatus biased apart in their normally open configuration.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a side section view of the remotely actuated nail clipper apparatus of FIG. 1 , showing the upper and lower jaws of the apparatus in their cutting configuration whereby the opposed cutting surfaces of the two jaws engage one another to thereby clip a nail disposed therebetween.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Turning to FIG. 1 , a remotely actuated nail clipper apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention includes a nail clipper body 2 . The nail clipper body 2 includes an upper jaw 9 and a lower jaw 10 having opposed cutting surfaces 9 a , 10 a . The upper jaw 9 and lower jaw 10 are configured in a normally open configuration by a spring hinge 2 a that connects first ends 9 b , 10 b of jaws 9 , 10 , respectively. The opposite ends of jaws 9 , 10 have the respective cutting surfaces 9 a , 10 a that oppose one another. In the normally open configuration, the cutting surfaces 9 a , 10 a are spaced apart to allow a user to insert a nail therebetween.

[0012] The top surface of the upper jaw 9 is rigidly attached to the bottom end of a hollow shaft 3 by adhesive means, welding or other suitable means. The top end of the hollow shaft 3 is rigidly attached to a platform 4 by adhesive means, welding or other suitable means. The platform 4 projects from the shaft 3 preferably in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the shaft 3 as shown. The platform 4 provides a support surface 4 a that supports an actuation lever 5 . The actuation lever 5 is preferably realized as a bent arm with a mating portion 5 a extending at an angle relative to a handle portion 5 b at a pivot section 5 c . The pivot section 5 c can be secured to the platform 4 by a joint (not shown) that allows for pivoting movement of the lever 5 . During operation, the mating portion 5 a of the lever 5 is oriented parallel to the support surface 4 a and the handle portion 5 b of the lever 5 extends upward at an angle relative to the support surface 4 a and the mating portion 5 a . The user pushes down on the handle portion 5 b (preferably by supporting the bottom side surface of platform 4 with a finger and pressing downward on the handle portion 5 b with a thumb). As shown in FIG. 2 , the downward movement of the handle portion 5 b (which is shown by arrow 21 ) causes the lever 5 to pivot about the pivot section 5 c , which moves the mating portion 5 a upwards.

[0013] A linkage 7 couples the mating portion 5 a of the actuation lever 5 to the lower jaw 10 of the nail clipper body 2 . In the preferred embodiment, the linkage 7 comprises a cable, wire or thread; however, other suitable linkage mechanisms such as rod can be used. The linkage 7 is connected to the mating portion 5 a adjacent the top end of the shaft 3 by a fastener 6 or other suitable connection means. The linkage 7 extends down through the interior of the shaft 3 and through an opening 12 in the upper jaw 9 to the lower jaw 10 , where it interfaces thereto. In the preferred embodiment, the linkage 7 extends through an opening 13 in the lower jaw 10 and an end lug 8 is fastened to the linkage 7 . The end lug 8 is sized larger than the opening 13 and thus provides a mechanical connection between the lower jaw 10 and the linkage 7 to allow for the linkage 7 to pull the lower jaw 10 upwards toward the upper jaw 9 . Other suitable mechanical connection means between the linkage 7 and the lower jaw 10 can be used.

[0014] FIG. 2 shows the nail clipper apparatus 1 with the n a closed configuration in accordance with the present invention. Here, the handle portion 5 b has been pressed downward toward the platform 4 (arrow 21 ), which has caused the mating portion 5 a to move upward relative to the pivot section 5 c . Such upward movement moves the linkage 7 upward and causes the lower jaw 10 of the clipper body 2 to move upward toward the upper jaw 9 with the upper and lower jaws ( 9 , 10 ) in the cutting configuration whereby the respective opposing cutting surfaces ( 9 a , 10 a ) engage one another. When a nail is placed between cutting surfaces ( 9 a , 10 a ) and the clipper body 2 is moved into the cutting configuration, the nail disposed therebetween is clipped.

[0015] When the user releases the handle portion 5 b of the actuating lever 5 , the spring bias force provided by the spring hinge 2 a causes the upper jaw 9 and lower jaw 10 to move apart to their normally open configuration, which moves the linkage 7 downward and returns the handle portion 5 b to return back to its resting state as depicted in FIG. 1 .

[0016] The length of shaft 3 (and by extension the wire/cable 7 ) can vary between 1″ and 60,″ preferably being 24″ to enable a user to clip toenails without bending down.

[0017] There have been described and illustrated herein an embodiment of a remotely actuated nail clipping apparatus. While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.