BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is an oblique drawing of the preferred embodiment of the invention, seen from above;
FIG. 2 is a side-view drawing showing the way in which the various guides interact in conjunction with the handle as it is moved forward to cut a laminate mounted to a substrate;
FIG. 3 is an oblique drawing of the preferred embodiment, seen slightly from below, showing the knife edge used for trimming purposes;
FIG. 4 is a drawing which shows the way in which the invention is used to trim a photograph or other laminate, with the blade cover removed to show the blade; and
FIG. 5 is a drawing of the clip used to hold the blade, held in position by the blade cover.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 is an oblique drawing of the preferred embodiment of the invention. The implement includes a handle 102, an upper guide 104 and an edge guide 107. These guides are rigidly connected to the handle through arms 116, 118. In the preferred embodiment, the arms 116, 118 space the handle 102 apart from the guides by a distance of an inch or more, to facilitate the trimming of laminated materials with edge selvedges on the order of up to a few inches.
The upper guide 104 is comprised of a roller support 106, which carries rollers 110, 112. The bottom surfaces of the rollers define a lower surface configured for traveling against the exposed front surface of the laminate as it is being trimmed. Note that instead of rollers, a surface could be used to facilitate sliding engagement. The upper guide 104 further includes a blade cover 108 held against the roller support with a knob 109 to expose a blade held by blade clip 114 as shown in FIG. 4. The edge guide 106 is mounted against an edge guide support 108, which includes a rod clamping assembly 120 holding a lower set of rods 118.
In terms of materials, any suitable durable or rigid material may be used. In the preferred embodiment, the implement is constructed mostly of machined metal, aluminum in particular, though rollers 110, 112 and edge guide 107 are preferably constructed from a more slippery material such as nylon, Teflon, or the like. Note that in place of rods 116, 118, bars of material may instead be used, which would preferably be transparent for visualization purposes. Rods 116, 118 are preferred, however, since they still allow for a great degree of visualization while providing a very rigid structure overall. Edge guide 107 is elongated to give the user a few inches of stabilized sliding against the edge of the substrate before and after the mounted laminate is trimmed.
FIG. 2 is a side view drawing showing the way in which the various guides interact in conjunction with the handle as it is moved forward to cut a laminate 202 mounted to a substrate 204. The trimmed laminate is shown at 206. FIG. 3 is an oblique view of a preferred embodiment, as seen from the underside, showing the tip of blade 300. Note that the tip 300 extends slightly below the plane defined by rollers 110, 112, while being immediately adjacent the surface of the edge guide 106.
FIG. 4 is a drawing of the preferred embodiment with the blade cover 108 removed, showing the blade 300 beginning to trim a laminate 402 mounted to substrate 404. FIG. 5 is a drawing of the clip 502 used to hold the blade 300, held in position by the blade cover 104. The use of the clip in conjunction with the blade cover allows for the quick interchange of blades with perfect or near-perfect registration during blade interchange. Although in the preferred embodiment a single-edge-injector type blade is used due to its low cost, other clips and blades may be accommodated, including X-Acto® blades, Dexter® blades, and so forth.
Patent Application
20070289146
