The present invention relates to nail clippers for cutting toenails or fingernails, or also animal claws.

More specifically, the invention is conceived for cutting nails in a safer manner and for preventing the generation of waste in the form of nail clippings.

Nail clippers are traditionally formed by tweezers with a spring which have two cutting blades at the ends which, when squeezed against one another, cut the nail that is located between them.

A drawback associated with traditional nail clippers is that they do not collect the nail clipping, and therefore the surrounding area becomes dirty with waste.

Another drawback is that these traditional nail clippers do not prevent the user from being able to accidentally cut his finger or toe instead of his nail.

Yet another drawback is that these traditional nail clippers are made in a single standard size and curve, such that they make no distinction between the different nails, such as the difference between the nail of an adult and that of a young baby, or the difference between the nail of a human being and an animal claw.

Another additional drawback is that with these traditional nail clippers the length to which a nail is to be cut cannot previously be adjusted.

The object of the present invention is to provide a solution for the drawbacks mentioned above and others.

To that end the invention relates to nail clippers formed by a container consisting of two parts that slide together, an inner part and an outer part, respectively, which are joined to one another by means of a spring element which separates the parts from one another when they are not squeezed together, and in which in the outer part there is arranged at least one opening in the form of a groove or the like through which the nail to be cut can be inserted and in which in the location of this groove in the outer part there is a first cutting blade, and in the location of a free edge in the inner part there is a second cutting blade which at rest is located at a certain distance from the first cutting blade and which, upon squeezing together the sliding parts, cooperates with the other cutting blade for cutting a piece of nail which is collected in the container, and in which in the outer sliding part (2) of the nail clipper there is a partition (6) for separating a compartment (8) which serves together with the inner assemblable part (3) for collecting and trapping the nail clippings.

An advantage associated with the nail clippers according to the invention is that the nail clipping is collected in the container, and therefore does not litter the living space.

The container can have any shape which allows sliding together two parts by shifting them when cutting nails, but the container will preferably be made as the two slidable parts of a cube.

The spring element is preferably arranged through an opening in the aforementioned partition such that the spring in the aforementioned compartment is protected with a jacket which extends through the aforementioned opening and prevents the nail waste from soiling or blocking the spring. The aforementioned compartment is preferably provided with means, such as a hatch, for opening it and removing the nail clippings, such that the compartment can be cleaned periodically.

The container, the groove and the cutting blades of the nail clippers are preferably adapted to the size of the nails to be cut.

The cutting blades can thus have a curved shape suited to the nails to be cut, and the container can have two or more openings or grooves with cutting blades, each one on one side of the container.

Thus, two or more of the aforementioned openings or grooves can be different in terms of the size of the openings or grooves, but also the cutting blades facing an opening or groove can have a shape and/or size that is different and/or are located at different distances from one another with respect to the cutting blades of another opening or groove.

An advantage associated with these multiple openings is that one nail clipping device can be used for cutting different types of nails. Thus, one groove could be intended for the nails of adults and another groove for the nails of young children, or one groove could be intended for the fingernails and another one for the toenails. Thus, one opening could be intended for animal claws having a suitable shape.

The distance from the cutting blades to the opening or groove is preferably adjustable, given that the blades are arranged such that they can shift on a support directed towards the inside of the outer part, or the inner part of the container, respectively.

An advantage associated with this embodiment is that the length to which a nail is cut can be preset, which allows cutting nails to the desired length.

The cutting blades are preferably mounted in a brace provided with an adjustment pin which extends through an opening in the outer part of the container.

The brace is preferably manufactured from a flexible material which must allow the container to be squeezed together.

An advantage associated with this embodiment is that the length to which a nail is cut can be preset with an adjustment pin, without the need to open or disassemble the nail clippers.

The opening or groove is preferably arranged in a hollow recess of the movable outer part of the container.

An advantage of this embodiment is that the finger, toe or paw can be brought close enough to the cutting blades, which prevents accidentally cutting the finger, toe or paw. Thus, one embodiment could be suitable for cutting the claws on domestic animals such as cats or dogs .

The container is preferably provided with a hollow recess in the upper half, and a hollow recess in the lower half for the placement of the fingers which will squeeze the cutting blades together.

These recesses allow having a firmer grip of the nail clippers during their use.

With the idea of better showing the features of the invention, a preferred embodiment of nail clippers according to the invention will be described below as a non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings in which: Figure 1 schematically shows a cross-section view of a nail clipper according to the invention;

Figure 2 schematically shows a cross-section view of the insertion of a nail in the nail clipper;

Figure 3 schematically shows a cross-section view of cutting a nail with the nail clipper;

Figure 4 shows a variant of Figure 1;

Figure 5 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of a device for adjusting the cutting length of the nail clipper.

Figure 1 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of a nail clippers according to the invention, in which the nail clippers are formed by a container 1, consisting of two slidable parts 2 and 3, each one provided with a cutting blade 4 and 5, between which there is located an opening or groove 7 for inserting the nail, and in which the container 1 is provided with a waste compartment 8, provided with a hatch 9 or drawer

10 with which the waste compartment can be opened. Aside from this, the nail clipper is provided with a hollow recess in the upper plane 11 and in the lower plane 12 and also in the opposing side planes 13 and 14. The nail clipper is also provided with a return spring 15 for making a telescopically fitting cylinder 16 of the jacket 17 return after squeezing.

Figure 2 shows a nail clipper in which a fingernail 18 is inserted between two cutting blades 4 and 5, whereas in Figure 3 the two cutting blades 4 and 5 are squeezed together and part 19 of the fingernail is cut.

The operation of the nail clipper according to the invention is simple and is as follows. In Figures 1, 2 and 3, a fingernail, toenail or claw 18 is inserted through the opening or groove 7 in the device, after which pressure is simultaneously exerted on the two halves 2, 3 of the container 1 of the device, placing two fingers, for example the thumb and forefinger which fit in the recesses 11 and 12, such that the cutting blades 4 and 5 are moved with respect to one another and cut the nail 18 located between them. The nail clipping 19 falls away from the cutting blades 4, 5 but remains in the container 1 of the device, where it is stored in a waste compartment 8, until it is emptied through a hatch 9 or through a drawer 10. The return spring 15 makes the device return to its initial position once the squeezing action has ended, after which the device is ready to cut nails again.

Figure 4 shows a variant 20 of a nail clipper according to Figure 1, in which the hollow recesses 13 and 14 in opposing sides are both provided with a groove 7 and 21 of different sizes and both grooves 7 and 21 end in a pair of cutting blades, 4, 5 and 22, 23 respectively.

The operation of the nail clipper according to Figure 4 is similar to Figure 1, except for the fact that now there are two openings or grooves 7, 21 provided with cutting blades 4, 5 and 22, 23, respectively, the openings or grooves 7, 21 being able to have different sizes and a different distance between the cutting blades 4, 5 and 22, 23 such that the two grooves are each suited to a different type of nail. Thus, one opening or groove 7 could be intended for fingernails and the other opening or groove 21 for toenails, or one opening or groove 7 can be intended for the nails of adults, whereas the other one 21 for the nails of children. Thus, one opening 7 could be conceived for animal claws, such as for cats or dogs.

It is clear that the number of different openings or grooves could also amount to more than two. It is also clear that the collection compartment 8 for waste and its opening 9 or 10 could have different shapes for the emptying, provided that the waste cannot leak out of the nail clipper in an unwanted manner.

Figure 5 shows a device for adjusting the cutting length, in which the pair of cutting blades 4, 5 can shift simultaneously with respect to the opening or groove 7, the cutting blades 4, 5 being mounted on a brace 24 which, by means of an adjustment pin 25 protruding outwardly from the side wall of the cube, can be shifted in a groove 26, and in which the cutting blades 4, 5 are shifted on guides 27, 28 located on either side of the inner edge of the opening or groove 7.

The operation of the device shown in Figure 5 for setting the cutting length is simple and is as follows.

When a finger, toe or paw with a nail or claw to be cut is inserted, the finger, toe or paw is stopped by the hollow recess 14, whereas the nail or claw to be cut is inserted through the opening or groove 7 between the cutting blades 4 and 5.

The device allows moving the cutting blades 4 and 5 further away from the groove such that the cutting length decreases and the remaining part of the nail or claw 18 in the finger, toe or paw is longer.

This device uses an adjustment pin 25 which can be shifted through a groove 26 on the surface of the container 1 of the nail clipper and which is connected to a brace 24, which is connected to both cutting blades and jointly shifts the cutting blades on two guides 27, 28 until the desired cutting length is obtained.

The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiment described as an example and which is shown in the drawings, but rather the nail clippers according to the invention could be made not only in many shapes and dimensions, but also in many materials, colors and finishes without departing from the scope of the invention.