Patent Application
20130340227
Embodiments of the present invention relate to tools configured to aid the separation of materials held together by static cling, materials previously compressed together, or otherwise maintained in close contact, and more particularly, to a tool configured to separate layers of materials in a safe and repeatable manner.
Many products using sheet-stock material, such as paper and plastic, are produced and supplied to customers in bulk quantities for use in environments such as offices, hospitals, grocery stores, etc. Products made from sheet-stock material may include items such as plastic bags and printing/copier paper. These products may be conducive to efficient packaging with little wasted space as the sheets and layers of materials may be tightly packed together; however, separating the layers of materials, whether it's separating sheets of paper, separating plastic bags, or opening plastic bags, may be difficult. The layers of thin, flexible materials of paper sheets and plastic bags may interface with adjacent layers of materials along a substantial surface area resulting in a strong adherence between adjacent layers. This adherence may be caused by static electricity in the form of static cling.
In the case of rolled items, such as thin-film plastic bags, such as those found in many grocery store produce sections, the individual bags may be separated from a roll of plastic bag with relative ease; however, opening the bags may prove difficult as the bag cavity may be difficult to access when the inner sides of the plastic bag cavity may cling together. The perforations that may be created between rolled thin-film plastic bags occur at an opening to the bag cavity and may exacerbate the difficulty in opening the plastic bag as the perforations may inadvertently create a bond between the sides of the plastic bag proximate the opening. It may be desirable to have a tool to aid the separation of layers of materials, such as layers of plastic or paper.
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to tools configured to aid the separation of layers of materials held together by a force, such as static electricity, and more particularly, to a tool configured to separate the materials in a safe and repeatable manner.
A tool for separating material layers according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a first arm including a first end and a second end; a second arm including a first end and a second end; a first material contact pad carried by the first arm proximate the first end of the first arm; and a second material contact pad carried by the second arm proximate the first end of the second arm. The second end of the first arm may be joined to the second end of the second arm, and the first material contact pad and the second material contact pad may be movable with respect to one another along two substantially orthogonal axes. The first end of the first arm and the first end of the second arm may define a gap there between, and the first material contact pad and the second material contact pad may be disposed within the gap. The first material contact pad and the second material contact pad may include a material that is of a different composition than a material of the first arm or the second arm. The material of the material contact pads may include rubber. The first arm may include a pivot connection disposed between the first end and the second end of the first arm.
According to some embodiments, the first material contact pad may define a material contact surface, where the material contact surface defines a material contact plane, and where the pivot connection is configured to permit rotation of the first material contact pad relative to the second material contact pad within the material contact plane. The pivot connection may include a torsion spring configured to bias the first end of the first arm to a position in which the first material contact pad is facing the second material contact pad. The first arm and the second arm may be joined proximate their respective second ends by a flexible portion. The first material contact pad may define a material contact surface where the material contact surface defines a material contact plane, where a first of the two substantially orthogonal axes is perpendicular to the material contact plane, and wherein a second of the two substantially orthogonal axes is parallel to the material contact plane. The first material contact pad and the second material contact pad may be configured to face one another and motion between the first material contact pad and the second material contact pad may be limited such that at least a portion of the first material contact pad overlies a portion of the second material contact pad.
Embodiments of the present invention may further provide for a tool for separating layers of material including a first material contact surface defining a first material contact plane, a second material contact surface defining a second material contact plane, where the first material contact surface faces the second material contact surface, and where the first material contact surface and the second material contact surface are separated by a gap. A first axis may be defined orthogonal to the first material contact plane and a second axis may be defined parallel to the first material contact plane, where the first material contact surface is connected to the second material contact surface by a body which permits motion between the first material contact surface and the second material contact surface along both the first and second axes.
The first material contact surface and the second material contact surface of embodiments of the present invention may include rubber. The body may include a first arm, a second arm, and a flexible portion connecting the first arm and the second arm. The first material contact surface may be on the first arm and the second material contact surface may be on the second arm. The flexible portion may allow the first material contact surface to move relative to the second material contact surface along the first axis. The first arm may include a pivot connection between the flexible portion and the first material contact surface, where the pivot connection allows the first material contact surface to move relative to the second material contact surface along the second axis. The pivot connection may include a biasing member configured to bias the first material contact surface into alignment with the second material contact surface. The biasing member may include a torsion spring. The flexible portion of the tool may include a material such as polyethylene or polypropylene.
Embodiments of the present invention may provide a method for separating layers of materials. The method may include positioning a first layer of material and a second layer of material between a first material contact pad and a second material contact pad, where the first material contact pad is carried by a first arm and the second material contact pad is carried by a second arm. The method may further include capturing the first material layer and the second material layer in response to pressing together the first material contact pad and the second material contact pad, and pivoting at least a portion of the first arm relative to the second arm in order to pivot one of the material contact pads relative to the other material contact pad. The method may also include moving the first layer of material relative to the second layer of material in response to pivoting at least a portion of the first arm relative to the second arm. Pivoting at least a portion of the first arm relative to the second arm may include pivoting the first arm relative to the second arm against a biasing force. Pressing together the first material contact pad and the second material contact pad may include pressing the first arm toward the second arm.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. The terms top, bottom, side, up, down, upwards, downwards, vertical, horizontal, and the like as used below do not imply a required limitation in all embodiments of the present invention but rather are used herein to help describe relative direction or orientation in the example embodiments illustrated in the figures.
Various embodiments of the present invention provide a tool for separating layers of material. Materials, such as thin-film plastics and paper, when interfaced with other materials, which may be the same or different, may be difficult to separate. Static electricity within the materials may result in static cling between layers of materials making them difficult to separate from one another. Thin materials lacking structure may be particularly difficult to separate as layers of material may tend to move in concert with one another. Additionally, when the surfaces of these layers of material have a low coefficient of friction, it may be difficult for a user to grip the materials and separate the material layers manually.
Example embodiments of the present invention may be used to separate layers of material, particularly thin materials that may otherwise be difficult to separate from one another. Such embodiments may provide assistance to a user in separating layers of materials when, for example, opening plastic produce bags or plastic bags in a medical environment. Conventional tools to open bags or to separate layers of materials may use air flow or sharp edges; however, these tools have drawbacks. For example, a blower configured to blow open bags or separate layers of material requires a power supply, the blowers tend to be noisy, and the blower would require some form of actuator to determine when to operate if the blower is to not run constantly. Tools that include knives or piercing portions may be inappropriate for applications for which example embodiments of the present invention may be used.
The use of sharp objects that may pierce skin or personal protective equipment (PPE) such as rubber gloves are often forbidden in areas of hospitals or pharmacies where secondary damage or contamination can occur due to an accident. For example, in clean rooms, in which operators may work with cyto-toxic drugs and other hazardous substances, sharp objects may puncture PPE worn by operators exposing the operator to dangerous chemicals and posing safety risks. Thus, sharp edges and tools are discouraged or forbidden. Similarly, sharp objects are discouraged in environments in which children may be present, such as in grocery stores. As such tools without sharp edges or points and tools that don't have the disadvantages of blowers may be beneficial in many environments.
An example embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in
A material contact pad 129 may be disposed proximate the first end 125 of each of the first arm 110 and the second arm 120. In the illustrated embodiment of
The flexible hinge 130 may be configured to permit relative motion between the first end 115 of the first arm 110 and the first end 125 of the second arm 120. The relative motion may be permitted, in some embodiments, only along an axis that is substantially orthogonal to a plane defined by the material contact surface of the material contact pad 129, such that the flexible hinge 130 permits the material contact pads 125 to be moved toward one another.
While the first arm 110 may be a unitary piece, the illustrated embodiment of
The pivot point 160 of the illustrated embodiment of
Example embodiments of material separating tools, such as the embodiment illustrated in
As the first material contact pad moves in an arc relative to the second material contact pad, about the pivot point 160, the material layer 210 that is gripped by the material contact pad of the first arm 110 moves in an arc, creating movement along two axes (arrows 230, 240) relative to the first layer of material, thus providing separation between the layers of material.
The friction created between the first material layer 210 and the first material contact pad 119, and the friction created between the second material layer 220 and the second material contact pad 129, in response to the user pressing the material contact pads together as shown in
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
