Nail clipper

Description

March 31, 1953 J. w. HUNT ET AL r 2,632,947

NAIL CLIPPER Filed Dec. 2, 1950 INVENTOR. JOHN W HUNT WILLIAM ,4. Hum- 4 7 TORN'V e uipm n .d t l -e idfilen v. being carried in pocketsp clothing, ladies handorf...tqi ailrs jwh q in use or? as handle" Patented Mar. 31, 1953 UNITED sm-"Es TIPKTENT OFFICE U NAIL CLIPPER:

I new; Hunt Pontiae, Mariana -William, A.Hunt, 'Chicagg,. 11.-

i u -cast; December 2, 1956, Serialhl iea'ssg T e new new" re ates. is "ma ic r F cula rly'to anirriprqved is well adapted for bags and the like,]and which has a cutting mechaeither, left, orjiightl hf ease and facili y-1 i. tis n bi c 9 v .videa imp ove 1 ith relatively great je jn ,ifivgmion'w prortrirnming fingernails includes a casing that can be used. interchang ably either for enclosing therilttinfgniechanis when thelatter is not nd supportingstructure for the ncnttingflmec anlsm henthe latter is tq'hensedfor i nm sparrow I It; ie bt er ,obie t': 9 inte ests? li n ien to proyi de a cutting'mechanism for a nail clipper, which cutting mechanism includes cutting jaws .swivelly mounted so that thejaws can be turned in any desired direction with respect to their supporting structure thereby permitting the .user to actuate the jaws when' the latter are in the most suitable'position to facilitate trimming "the nails of eitherth leftjor right hand.

It is 'stillanotheriobject of the present invention to provide aniimprq leiifnail clipper as described inthe preceding object wherein a lever arm canbe used whenin one position for actuating the cuttingfiaWsand in another position 30 as a nail file,' and further,,when the 9;lever arm a is in the latterflposition, it can be selectivelyused .as a filjelor can be inse ted int ithe cas n to be enclosed therein. l

It is still. another object oitthe present invention to provide. a nail clipper which can be constructed from relatively fewfland simple parts, thereby permitting production thereof at a rela- .tively low cost, and which is constructed and arranged-sothat a substantialportionthereof can be fabricated. from. suitable plastics, lightweight metals or the like; while" effectingj afrugged' but lightweight construction other objects of this .mverltl ii Twin ape in the following.description and appended claims, 'r'eference'being had to theaccompanyingdrawings forming a; part. of this jspecifieation wherein like reference characters designatejcorresponding parts in theseveral'views.

iirig. l/is a side esteem; 1 viewer a.. nail" Tclipper with thecapscrewed to the casingto encIQ h cut ns ,i wst e t ini g i we? a ham ni'sni permitting the userato trim the nails of 10 the line df ixofifiiig. 2:;

in Fig. 5: 12 .9.

s dam... with-12s) a rei erse position tothat of Fig. 1 so that the cuttir i'g gfaws 'are outsideithe casing, and the lever ar-in foriactuating theijawsiis" showirin its operative position as well asiiintiphantomin its nor- 5 mal position when"e'nclosed in said casing} Fig. 3 isan enlarged exploded fragmentary iew partly' in section ofthe cuttingmechanism of the iia'il clipperashowni in Fig. :2 F.

Fig-. i isa fragmentary ectional mew. takenhon Fig. dis a fragmentaryiviewl showinggaq modifled form of the cuttin "mechanism iorythenail c rs; and Y F Fig.6 is a top view f thermodificationashown Before expl ining; athe present invention in detail, it is toibe runderstood=..that the invention is not'flimit'ed inits application to'the' details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings; since theinvention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology'employed herein is' for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

A Reierring'to thedrawings, Fig. 1 shows an embodiment 'of" the" 'fiail 'cli'pper'in' its closed position, in which position it normally will be when earned by tne 'user in his or her pocket or in a iaaies' -na ebag, or the like. As seenin Figxl, 'thenail clipper" i ficludes a"cylindrical casing 1 l 0 having its One end' close'd and rounded as at 12. lhe otherend I4 is open and is closed bya cap i nember' l-6. The latter can be f'secured to: the ;casing it b ei rig retired .th'eretw or can be ft cried in all Ob sill'tlbl' mflnl Sdthat an ee easily nio'yed therefrom: The only ieqi-iii'ernen-t 6f the'eneans fdr attachingthe cap 0 hat' tiiere willbe no ag"inlto' the poclgetsor :This' featu1'e' of pro'v ida "also advantageous in thjat suchfa casing will ccupyent veiysmau space" wiiiie prp v iamg suificient rb'dm witliin for r housing: trie various parts cr menaii-ielipper. Also, the cylindrical shape is atiirantagecsus m 3 relatively light materials, such as plastics or other metals, and the tubular or cylindrical shape provides a relatively strong construction per unit of weight. If desired, however, the cross section of the casing It) may be square, rectangular, oval, or the like.

As can be seenin Figs. 2 and 3, a support bracket i8 extends outwardly from one end of the capmember IS. The bracket it has a square opening 20 formed therein through which a pin 22 extends whose cross section conforms to the shape of the opening 20. The pin 22 has an enlarged head 24 at its upper end and at its lower end a slot 26 is cut into one side thereof.

A pair of cutting jaws 28 made of spring steel, or the like, and having cutting edges 34 for trimming toenails or fingernails, are provided which are adapted to be swivelly mounted on the pin 22. The cutting jaws 28 have apertures 32 and 34 therein as can best be seen in Figs. 3 and 4. As there shown, these apertures are circular in shape so that the jaws can move axially as well as rotatably on the pin 22.

The upper jaw of the cutting jaws 28 has a depressed portion 36 into which the enlarged head 24 of the pin 22 is received and the lower jaw member has a raised portion 38 for receiving the lug 40 on the support bracket IS. The lug 40 has a serrate surface so as to frictionally resist rotation of the cutting jaws 28. The pin 22 is retained in place on the support bracket i8 by the lever arm 42 which has a rectangular aperture 44 at its one end. The end portion 46 of the lever arm 42 is placed in the slot 26 which extends transversely in the pin 22, and when it is desired to actuate the jaws 28, the lever arm 42 is pivoted about an axis co-extensive with said slot '26 to the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 2. The cutting jaws 28 are closed when the lever arm'42 and the casing II! are moved together by a pinching action. As is believed understood, the lever arm 42 will then pivot about the fulcrum point IBA on the bracket i8. This causes the pin 22 to be partially lowered through the aperture 20 in the support bracket 18 resulting in the enlarged head 24 of the pin 22 forcing the upper jaw of the cutting jaws 28 downwardly into engagement with the lower jaw. When pressure on the lever arm 42 is released, the jaws will return to their normally open position by virtue of the resilient properties of the spring steel of which they are made.

vAs is believed readily understood from the above description, the cutting jaws 28 can be turned in any desired position with respect to the support bracket 18 by virtue of the swivel mounting provided. The lever arm 42 and the casing I will always retain their relative position with respect to one another by virtue of the mounting construction of the pin 22 and the lever arm 42, since neither the pin 22 or the lever arm 42 can be rotated about the axis of the pin 22.

The lever arm 42 functions not only to actuate the cutting jaws 28, but also can be used as a nail file. The concave surface of the lever arm 4-2 is cut in the conventional manner to provide a file 42A, and when the lever arm 42 is pivoted to the position shown in phantom in Fig. 2, it can be used for this purpose. The lever arm 42 is suitably curved at 48 to provide the desired curvature for providing the optimum results in filing the nails. g

The position ofthe lever arm 42 shown in phantom in Fig 2 is the normal position of the latter when housed within the casing 10, and it is also the normal position when being used to file or clean the nails. The outer tip of the lever arm 42 is pointed in the conventional manner to provide for cleaning fingernails and the like. In order to provide a relatively sturdy nail file for these latter purposes, a wedging device is provided so that the lever arm 42 will be held rather rigidly when in the position shown in phantom in Fig. 2. This wedging action results when the end portion 46 of the lever arm 42 is pivoted into the angular slot provided in the support bracket at 52, Fig. 3. As is believed readily understood, when the lever arm 42 is pivoted to the position shown in phantom in Fig. 2, the outer end portion 46 will be wedged into the angular slot 52 to provide a rigid extension of support bracket l8.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This modification of the invention is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1-4 with the exception of the cutting jaws 54 which are pivotally connected as at 5B, and the coil spring 53 which serves to bias the cutting jaws 54 apart. In all other respects, this nail clipper is the same as that shown in Figs. 14.

From the above description, it is believed to be readily clear that the present invention provides a nail clipper which has no sharp edges or snags when it is carried in the closed position shown in Fig. 1. Further, it has swivelly mounted cutting jaws so that the user thereof can turn the jaws to the position which enables him to trim the fingernails or toenails with the greatest ease and facility. Also a rather simple mechanism has been provided for actuating the jaws so that a firm and positive grip can always be had when actuating said jaws, and further, this actuating mechanism can be enclosed within the casing of the nail clipper merely by being pivoted to a position forming an extension of the supporting structure. In addition, this nail clipper can be constructed from relatively few and simple parts permitting production thereof at low cost and it can be made with a majority of the elements being made of plastics or the like.

Having thus described our invention, we claim: I i. In a nail clipper, a support bracket, a pin mounted against rotation on said bracket, cutting jaws mounted on said pin for swivel movement above said bracket, a lever arm pivotally connected to the lower end of said pin and in engageemnt with a fulcrum point on the lower side of said bracket, said pin extending through the bracket and each of said jaws and having anenlarged head above the upper jaw whereby when said lever arm is pivoted about said fulcrum point the pin will be axially moved with respect to said bracket to open or close said jaws.

2. In a nail clipper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cutting jaws comprise a U-shaped spring steel member.

3. In a nai1 clipper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cuttingjaws comprise a pair of oppositely disposed jaws pivotally connected together and a compression spring is positioned therebetween for biasing said cutting jaws apart.

4. In a nail clipper, the combination of a support bracket having a substantially rectangular aperture therein and a fulcrum point on its lower side, a pin extending upwardly through said aperture and axially sl'idable therein, said piii being substantially rectangular in cross section to prevent rotation in saidaperture, a pair of cutting jaws positioned on the upper side of saidbracket and having round holes therein through which said pin extends whereby the jaws may be swiveled on said bracket, the upper end of said pin having an enlarged head, the lower end of said pin having a transverse slot therein, and a lever arm having its one end extending into said transverse slot and another portion in engagement with said fulcrum point for moving said pin axially on pivotal movement of the lever arm about the fulcrum point so that said jaws will be closed on lowering of said said pin with respect to said support bracket.

5. In a nail clipper, the combination as claimed in claim 4 wherein said cutting jaws comprise a U-shaped spring steel member.

6. In a nail clipper, the combination as claimed in claim 4 wherein said cutting jaws comprise a pair of opposite disposed jaws pivotally connected together, and a compression spring is positioned therebetween for biasing said cutting jaws apart.

7. In a manicuring device, the combination of a support bracket having an aperture therein, a pin extending upwardly through said aperture and axially slidable therein, a pair of cutting jaws positioned on the upper side of said bracket and having apertures therein through which said pin extends, the upper end of said pin having an enlarged head, the lower end of said pin having a transverse slot in one side thereof, a fulcrum point on the lower side of said bracket and on the opposite side of said pin from its slot, a lever arm having a transverse pivot member at its one end in pivotal position in said slot for actuating said jaws when said arm is pivoted on the fulcrum and for forming an extension of said bracket when said arm is pivoted to another position, and an angular slot formed in said bracket for receiving a portion of said transverse pivot member in wedging relation when said arm is pivoted to the other position.

8. A nail clipper comprising a tubular memher, a reversible closure member on one end of the tubular member carrying a support bracket, a pin extending through said support bracket, cutting jaws mounted on said pin, a lever arm pivotally connected to one end of said pin and in engagement with a fulcrum point on said bracket, said pin extending through said jaws and having an enlarged portion at its other end so that when said lever arm is pivoted in one direction about said fulcrum point the pin will be moved to open or close said jaws and when the lever is pivoted in an opposite direction to a position forming an extension of the bracket the cutting jaws, lever arm and pin can be housed within the tubular member.

JOHN W. HUNT. WILLIAM A. HUNT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 775,568 La, May Nov. 22, 1904 1,040,446 Smith Oct. 8, 1912 1,702,137 Schnefel Feb. 12, 1929 1,836,557 Seymoure Dec. 15, 1931 1,841,291 Kern Jan. 12, 1932 2,460,522 Miller Feb. 1, 1949