The present invention refers to the technical field of cutting tools packaging. Particularly, this invention consists in a safety cover to protect the head of a hand cutting tool, in order to maintain the safety during the transportation, display thereof on store shelves.
Currently the offerings in the market are a diverse plurality of hand tools, particularly cutting tools such as axes, picks, among others. During transportation, thereof, it is important to be careful with cutting or sharp parts of the heads of said tools.
Likewise, it is important to keep on being careful when the tools are displayed in both specialty stores and common stores, such as department stores or supermarkets. For example, this type of common shops is visited by all kinds of people, including children or seniors. Therefore, it is important to ensure the safeguarding of the sharp edges of cutting tools while they are displayed on shelves. To address this problem, some of the tools have protective packaging in the sharp edges and which ease the hanging tasks for the display thereof.
The prior art shows an example of a tool that can be hung for display or transportation as is described in US patent application US20160361812A1, which cites a multi tool with tool handle and head which can be hung in by an anchoring hook that adapts to a display or to the user. However, this invention is limited only to hanging the tool and does not provide any protection whatsoever from the sharp edge to the user either during transport or display of the tool.
Now, further considering the protection function, in the prior art there exist axe covers or cases manufactured of leather, fabric or plastic, which serve to wrap the cutting edge or edges of an axe head. Said covers are usually fastened with a strap of the same material and/or by a button or lock. In some cases, these covers can be fitted into the user's belt for transportation of the axe. However, this type of covers have existed for several decades now and can be an expensive or luxurious solution. In addition, the vast majority of these covers are generic and are not always correctly suited to all the shapes of the axes. Moreover, in any of these covers, an accidental opening of the strap or lock may occur thereby unintentionally uncovering the sharp edge of the axe. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,565,680, 4,621,753, 5,248,072, 5,465,889, 5,568,889 and utility model TW250739U may be cited as examples of this type of covers or cases.
In this regard, there are some other patent documents relating to protective covers for cutting tools. For example, utility model CN202825880U describes nighttime axe covered with a fluorescent layer, comprising an axe head, an axe handle with telescopic structure and a rubber protective sleeve. The protective sleeve allows preventing accidents with the sharp of the axe, but has no support or adjustment means, so it can be easily removable.
Additionally, US patent application US20160303731A1 describes a hand tool and a retainer cover, wherein the cover holds a pair of handles of the hand tool in a storage position. The retainer cover is manually adjusted to the hand tool when a user places the hand tool in a storage position. At least one of the handles includes a latch member for securing the retainer to the tool. The latch member includes a button that is exposed through an opening in the cover when the tool is retained in storage position. When the user presses the button, the hand tool is manually released from the retainer cover. The main disadvantage of this application is that it works with hand tools having at least two handles, being limited only to scissors or clamps. Another disadvantage is that the cover does not protect the user from the sharp edge of the tool. Finally, the mechanism and release button are elements which may increase the cost of a cover.
Now then, on its part, utility model CN205394478U discloses a hanging protective cover for an axe comprised by the contour of the ax head that matches said ax head. Furthermore, the cover has grooves matching the axe head and handle, and an anchor ring. The head groove is provided on both sides, respectively, with an axe blade locating and a rear resilient fastener of the axe, while the groove of the handle of the axe has resilient flanges. The cover as a whole can cushion a fall of the tool, reduce the power of an impact and improves the function of protection, safety, practicality and has an elegant appearance. However, the main disadvantage of this axe cover is that the contour of the head wraps the head but lacks any fastening element.
Finally, utility model CN203665560U describes an insertion-type safety axe head cover comprising a body provided with an inwards-concave cavity, wherein the shape and size of the cavity match those of the axe head. The axe can be placed in the cavity from one end of the cavity, while the other end of the cavity is provided with an end wall and an opening suitable for a helve to stretch out in the end wall is formed. The cavity further comprises two side walls and a bottom wall, at least two elastic pieces used for supporting the axe are arranged on the bottom wall, at least one blocking piece facing towards the interior of the cavity is arranged at the top end of each side wall, and at least one blocking piece facing towards the interior of the cavity is also arranged at the top end of the end wall. The entirety of the axe head can be set in the axe safety cover, the sharp of the axe is not exposed. Therefore, the axe can be more safely transported and stored. Meanwhile, the insertion-type safety axe cover is suitable for transportation and storage. This invention has the disadvantage that although the cover protects the sharp edge of the axe and allows hanging the cover, it is true that it lacks a fastening element.
So, there exists the need in the prior art of having safety covers that allow protecting the sharp edges of cutting tools to avoid any kind of accident during the transportation and display thereof. Also, there is the need for this type of protective covers to ease the hanging packaging functions to display the product. Finally, it is important for such cover to include snapping mechanisms to prevent the protective cover from being easily or accidentally removed.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a safety protective cover for the sharp edges of cutting hand tools during the transportation, and display thereof.
Another object of the present invention refers to the safety protective cover working as a hanging packaging for displaying the cutting tool.
A further object of this invention refers to the protective cover further including a snapping mechanism to prevent an accidental or inadvertent opening.
To provide a better understanding of the invention, the following drawings are appended:
The present invention will be described herein in accordance with a preferred embodiment that constitutes safety protective cover for cutting tool head, as will be explained below.
On its part, the front portion 12 is comprised by the main body 11 extending in its width to form a substantially parallelepiped shaped protective housing 20 comprised by four walls 21, 22, 23, 24 as seen in
Moreover, the middle portion 13 is substantially rectangular shaped and the rear portion 14 is substantially circular shaped. On the transition from the middle portion 13 and the rear portion 14, the body 11 also has a top projection 19 that is substantially rectangular elongated plate shaped. In the preferred embodiment, the end of the top projection 19 is capped by a hook 30 with a width that is greater than that of the projection, with a substantially elliptical ring shape. The hook 30 has a slot 31 in the middle part thereof. The slot 31 is arranged to receive fastening elements from a commercial display.
Finally, in the rear portion 14 of the main body 11, there is provided a locking mechanism 40 comprised by several technical elements extending perpendicularly to the surface of the main body 11 and which are to be described in greater detail below.
Attending
However, attending
The locking mechanism 40 also has openings made to the material of the main body 11 a first side opening 41A, a second side opening 41B, a stop opening 41C and a central opening 41D. Preferably, the openings 41A to 41D were made to the material of the main body 11. In a preferred embodiment, the first side opening 41A has a “C” shape extending towards the top and bottom of the locking mechanism 40 and continues to the outer face of the base of the locking arm 42. In a preferred embodiment, the second side opening 41B has a substantially radial shape to the center of the locking mechanism 40 and continues to the outer face of the base of the locking arm 43. In a preferred embodiment, the stop opening 41C has an inverted “C” shape, substantially shorter in length than the side opening 41A and is also radial to the center of the locking mechanism 40. In a preferred embodiment, the central opening 41D is circular to the center of the locking mechanism 40.
Additionally, in the preferred embodiment, each arm comprises at least one rib 46, 47 on the inner surface of the arms 42, 43, respectively. Similarly, the locking mechanism 40 comprises at the least one rim 48, 49 on the inner surface of the central opening 41D, respectively. In a preferred embodiment, both the ribs 46, 47 and the rims 48, 49 are located in a given angular position for the proper interaction with the elements of the snapping key 50 as described below.
The operation of the safety protective cover for cutting tool head will now be explained attending
Once the arms 42, 43 are placed in the locked position, the snapping key 50 housed in the central opening 41D at the inside of the arms 42, 43 is rotated, crossing from the main body 11 until before the latch 53 reaches the notches 44, 45, as illustrated in the views of
To complete the locking, the snapping key 50 is rotated from the grip portion 51 shown in
Once the tool is locked, the cover can be hung together with the cutting tool by means of the hook 30 in a store display. The sharp edge of the tool is protected inside the protective housing 20. Finally, the slot 58 can allow the user to use a coin or flat tool to engage it in the slot 58 to provide greater torque to the snapping key 50 when same rotated if required.
To release the cutting tool 60 of the safety protective cover 10, the snapping key 50 shall be rotated from the grip portion 51 thereof, from the locked position of
The second embodiment of the safety protective cover for cutting tool head, which can be preferably used for larger-sized cutting tools, is illustrated in
The housing portion 113112 describes a shape 113 that matches the shape of the cutting tool head sought for protection. Meanwhile, in the locking portion 114, a locking mechanism 140 is located. The locking mechanism 140 exactly matches the same locking mechanism 40 that has been described in previous paragraphs.
The frame 120 is comprised by a rear portion 121, a top portion 122, a front portion 123 and a bottom portion 124. Note that the bottom portion 124 of the frame 120 does not enclose the entirety of the main body 111 as the missing space allows the passage of the handle of the cutting tool. The top portion 122 of the frame 120 has a holding area 130 with functions facilitating transportation by way of handle, and also facilitate the display in a manner similar to the hook of the first embodiment. In the preferred embodiment, the holding are 130 has a holding projection 131 in the middle part thereof, which is arranged to receive fastening elements from a commercial display. The front portion 123 of the frame 120 further has a flange 125. The second embodiment likewise provides the use of the snapping key 50 as illustrated and described in the first embodiment. The operation of the second embodiment of the safety protective cover for cutting tool head will now be explained attending
To release the cutting tool 160 of the safety protective cover 110, the locking mechanism 140 is released in the same way as the first embodiment, made to be used by smaller cutting tools. Finally, the flange 125 functions as a guide when the cutting tool head is inserted or removed from 113.
Based on the above disclosure, certain embodiments and details have been described in order to illustrate the present invention, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.