In the accompanying drawings:
With reference to the accompanied drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be explained below.
In
In other words, in the blade 1 of the present invention, the sloped surface 6 is only provided on one side of the blade edge 4 to form an asymmetry when the blade 1 is viewed from the side, which is an important characteristic of the invention. As long as the blade has such an asymmetrical form, an outer peripheral portion of the blade 1 may have a larger angle of inclination as shown in
Furthermore, the sloped surface 6 provided on one side of the blade 1 increases a thickness of the blade 1 on one side, which assures mechanical strength and thus supports the strength of the blade 1 when cutting.
An angle θ of the sloped surface 6 against the level surface 5 is 7 degrees or more. In order to maintain this angle after a long period of use, hardness of a metal forming the blade 1 may preferably be in a range from 62 to 64 in Rockwell hardness. It may also be preferable to employ a metal which has a relatively high viscosity.
Next, a cutter using the above blade will be explained below.
In a cutter 10 in
The contact pin 23 has the structure that a ball 25 made of a metal having a high wear resistance is buried in a distal end of a contact pin body 26. The contact pin body 26 is fixed on the supporting member 24 by screwing with threads formed on an outer periphery of the contact pin body 26. Inside the contact pin body 26, a spring member 27 is disposed behind the ball 25. In this structure, the spring member 27 is compressed by a screw member 28.
As a cutting operation progresses, when the handle 13 is turned to push the blade 1 toward a material to be cut, the shaft 11 rotates and moves in a direction approaching the blade 1. However, since the concave portions 22 are formed on the expanded portion 21 of the shaft 11 at regular intervals, the shaft 11 temporarily stops when the contact pin 23 fits one of the concave portions 22. From this position, when the handle 13 is further turned, the ball 25 moves along the expanded portion 21 with the spring member 27 being compressed. Then, when the ball 25 reaches a position where the contact pin 23 fits the next concave portion 22, the ball 25 is protruded by an elastic force of the spring member 27 and stops at the position corresponding to the concave portion 22.
Thus, while the handle 13 is turned, the position of the blade 1 is fixed in a step-by-step manner. Therefore, the position of the blade 1 is held without slipping when cutting a material by turning the cutter 10 with the handle 13. Accordingly, poor accuracy of a cut surface due to slipping of a blade can be prevented.
The ball 25 comes into contact with each of the concave portions 22 formed on the expanded portion 21 with a point contact. This causes hardly any wear on the ball 25 and enhances the durability. In addition, since the spring member 27 is disposed behind the ball 25 and compressed by the screw member 28, a length of the spring member 27 can be adjusted by varying a position of the screw member 28 so as to change an elastic force of the spring member 27. Consequently, the handle 13 can be made either easy to turn or hard to turn by simply adjusting the position of the screw member 28.
The present invention can be used as a cutter capable of cutting a pipe-shaped material so as to produce a cut surface which is almost perfectly perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the material. In particular, it is useful for cutting a pipe made of a relatively soft material such as a copper pipe. The cutter can be employed when cutting a pipe used for plumbing an air-conditioner, for example.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
JP2006-123679 | Apr 2006 | JP | national |