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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
NAIL CLIPPERS
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2003/077703
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A nail clipper (1) having a device for preventing flying of cut nail fragments includes an upper plate (3) and a lower plate (4), a support pin (6), a lever (2), and a tweezers are made of an elastic material and comprise a pair of finger portions (11) arranged to face each other to hold the fingernail or toenail inserted between the finger portions and inserted around the support pin, and a connection portion (12) integrally connecting the finger portions. The connection portion disposed between the support pin and the fixing pin, and the finger portions are supported by the upper and lower plates by elastically contacting the upper and lower plates.

Inventors:
JEONG CHANG-LOG (KR)
Application Number:
PCT/KR2003/000545
Publication Date:
September 25, 2003
Filing Date:
March 20, 2003
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
JEONG CHANG-LOG (KR)
International Classes:
A45D29/02; (IPC1-7): A45D29/02
Foreign References:
US4648415A1987-03-10
US4150481A1979-04-24
JP2000014441A2000-01-18
JP2001128729A2001-05-15
KR980006384U1998-04-30
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Lee, Young-pil (1571-18 Seocho-dong Seocho-gu, 137-874 Seoul, KR)
Download PDF:
Description:
NAIL CLIPPERS Technical Field The present invention relates to a nail clipper, and more particularly, to a nail clipper having a device for preventing flying of nail fragments.

Background Art In general, when a fingernail or toenail (hereinafter, the fingernail only is referred to) is cut by using a typical nail clipper, cut nail fragments fly off around a person. Also, the cut nail fragments that flied away are difficult to find with bear eyes and, since the range of flying of the cut nail fragments is difficult to assume, cleaning the cut nail fragments is inconvenient.

To solve the above problems, a nail clipper having tweezers as the nail fragments preventing means as shown in FIG. 1 has been suggested. The nail clipper has the same basic structure as that of a conventional nail clipper. That is, when a pair of blade portions 31 and 41 formed at one end of each of an upper plate 3 and a lower plate 4, respectively, are pressed by a lever 2 with respect to a support pin 6, the blade portion 31 descends so that a fingernail disposed between the blades portion 31 and 41 is cut. However, additionally, the nail clipper has tweezers 8 catching cut nail fragments to prevent flying of the nail fragments when a fingernail is cut. One side of the tweezers 8 is fixedly inserted around a fixing pin 5 with the upper and lower plates 3 and 4.

The other side of the tweezers 8 inserted around the support pin 6 is arranged between the upper and lower plates 3 and 4.

As it is well known, since the lever 2 coupled to the support pin 6 by a small insertion pin 7, the lever 2 is easily detached from the support pin 6 by pulling the insertion pin 7. Accordingly, the support pin 6 is

separated from the upper and lower plates 3 and 4. Also, since the lever 2 is coupled to the support pin 6 by another detachable coupling method, the lever 2 is easily detached from the support pin 6 by a simple manipulation of a user and the support pin 6 can be separated from the upper and lower plates 3 and 4.

However, in the nail clipper having the above structure, since the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4, and the tweezers 8 are simultaneously fixed by the fixing pin 5 as shown in FIG. 1, assembly of parts is difficult. Also, after the assembly of the nail clipper is completed, since the one side of the tweezers 8 is fixed to the fixing pin 5, although the support pin 6 is separated from the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 to relieve the tweezers 8 caught by the support pin 6, the tweezers 8 cannot be separated from the upper and lower plates 3 and 4. Thus, when the tweezers 8 have a defect, it is not possible to detach the tweezers 8 only so that the nail clipper itself should be disposed of. Further, since many parts are used for manufacturing of the tweezers 8, the cost for manufacturing a nail clipper increases.

Disclosure of the Invention To solve the above and other problems, the present invention provides a nail clipper having an improved structure so that the tweezers can be replaced, an assembly work is made easy, and a manufacturing cost can be reduced as the length of the tweezers decreases.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a nail clipper including upper and lower plates having one end portions coupled to each other by a fixing pin and the other end portions where blade portions are formed to cut a fingernail or toenail and arranged to face each other, a support pin provided opposite to the fixing pin and supporting the upper and lower plates by penetrating the upper and lower plates, a lever coupled to the support pin above the support pin

and pressing the upper plate, and tweezers provided between the upper and lower plates to prevent flying of nail fragments when the fingernail or toenail is cut by the blade portions, wherein the tweezers are made of an elastic material and comprise a pair of finger portions arranged to face each other to hold the fingernail or toenail inserted between the finger portions and inserted around the support pin, and a connection portion integrally connecting the finger portions, and the connection portion disposed between the support pin and the fixing pin, and the finger portions are supported by the upper and lower plates by elastically contacting the upper and lower plates.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating a conventional nail clipper having tweezers ; FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a nail clipper according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the tweezers shown in FIG.

2; FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating major portions of the nail clipper of FIG. 2 when a fingernail is cut by using the nail clipper ; FIG. 5 is a side view illustrating a nail clipper according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating tweezers of a nail clipper according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating tweezers of a nail clipper according to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Best mode for carrying out the Invention Referring to FIG. 2, a nail clipper 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an upper plate 3, a lower

plate 4, a support pin 6, a lever 2, and tweezers 10.

End portions of the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4 are coupled together by a fixing pin 5. A pair of blade portions 31 and 41 are arranged at the other end portions of the upper plate 3 and the lower plate 4, respectively, to face each other to cut a finger nail. The support pin 6 is provided at the opposite side of the fixing pin 5 and supports the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 by penetrating them. Like the lever 2 in the nail clipper described with reference to FIG. 1, the lever 2 is detachably coupled at an upper portion of the support pin 6 and presses the upper plate 3 so that the blade portions 31 and 41 can approach each other.

Since the structures and functions of the upper plate 3, the lower plate 4, the blade portions 31 and 41, the lever 2, the fixing pin 5, and the support pin 6 are the same as those of the conventional nail clipper, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. Instead, the tweezers 10 that is a characteristic feature of the present invention will now be described.

The tweezers 10 are made of an elastic material, for example, a thin metal plate or plastic and provided between the upper and lower plates 3 and 4. The tweezers 10 includes a pair of finger portions 11 and a connection portion 12.

The finger portions 11 include contact portions 13 elastically contacting the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 and supported thereby and a through hole 14 into which the support pin 6 is inserted. The diameter of the through hole 14 is made greater than that of the support pin 6 so as not to limit movement of the tweezers 10.

The connection portion 12 is a portion integrally connecting the finger portions 11. In the present preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connection portion 12 is made by bending an elastic material to have a shape shown in FIG. 4. Here, the bent portion is

referred to as the connection portion 12.

The method of using the nail clipper 1 according to the present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4.

First, a nail 21 to be cut is placed between the blade portions 31 and 41 and the lever 2 is pressed so that the blade portions 31 and 41 approach each other to contact the nail 21. At this time, the finger portions 11 disposed close to the rear side of the blade portions 31 and 41 contact the nail 21. Then, when the lever 2 is pressed with a more force, the blade portions 31 and 41 cuts the nail 21. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, while the tweezers 10 continuously hold a nail fragment, the finger portions 11 are elastically deformed so that the movement of the blade portions 31 and 41 is not limited. When the lever 2 is further pressed so that the blade portions 31 and 41 cut the nail 21, since the finger portions 11 are holding a nail fragment, the nail fragment 21 does not fly away. Then, when the force applied to the lever 2 is removed, the upper plate 3 returns to the original position and the tweezers 21 that are elastically deformed return to the original shape. Thus, the nail fragment 21 held by the tweezers 10 falls down, instead of flying away, as soon as the tweezers 10 elastically return to the original position and release the nail fragment 21.

The assembly method of the nail clipper 1 according to the present invention and the replacement method of the tweezers 10 are described below.

When the nail clipper is assembled, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 are coupled by the fixing pin 5. the contact portions 13 of the tweezers 10 are pressed and elastically deformed and then inserted between the upper and lower plates 3 and 4.

Simultaneously, holes (not shown) formed at the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 and the through hole 14 of the tweezers 10 are aligned in a line.

Next, the support pin 6 is inserted in the hole of the lower plate 4 by

penetrating the through hole 14 so that the upper portion of the support pin 6 is disposed above the upper plate 3. Then, the lever and the upper portion of the support pin 6 are coupled by the insertion pin 7.

The coupling method of the lever 2 and the support pin 6 is the same as that in the conventional nail clipper.

The assembly of the nail clipper 1 having the tweezers 10 is completed according to the above method. Thus, unlike the conventional nail clipper in which a position determination work between the tweezers 8 and the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 to simultaneously fix the tweezers 8 and the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 by using the fixing pin 5 is needed, since the tweezers 10 are not fixed by the fixing pin 5, the position determination work is not needed in the nail clipper 1 according to the present invention, Thus, the overall assembly work of the nail clipper can be easily performed.

Also, when the tweezers 10 needs to be replaced as a defect is found in the tweezers 10 after assembly, the lever 2 is separated from the support pin 6 and the support pin 6 is pulled out from the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 and the tweezers 10. By doing so, since the tweezers 10 are not fixed to the fixing pin 5, they can escape from the upper and lower plates 3 and 4 so that the tweezers 10 can be separated to be replaced.

In the conventional nail clipper, an overall nail clipper needs to be designed considering the shape of the tweezers from a product design stage. However, according to the present invention, since the tweezers 10 only can be installed additionally after a conventional nail clipper having no tweezers 10 is completed, load in the stage of designing a nail clipper can be reduced.

When the nail clipper 1 according to the present invention is adopted, since the connection portion 12 connecting the finger portions 11 is disposed between the support pin 6 and the fixing pin 5, the lengths

of the tweezers 10 are relatively reduced as shown in FIG. 2, compared with the conventional nail clipper in which the lengths of the tweezers 8 are as long as the distance between the fixing pin 5 and the blade portions 31 and 41 (refer to FIG. 1), so that the tweezers 10 can be made compact. Thus, less materials for manufacturing the tweezers 10 are needed so that a production cost of products can be reduced.

FIG. 5 shows a nail clipper according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The nail clipper 1 shown in FIG. 5 are the same as that of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 as a whole and the shape of the tweezers 10 only is different. That is, while the end portions of the finger portions 11 hold a nail fragment and the contact portions 13 are formed at the end portions of the finger portions in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in the tweezers 10 of the nail clipper 1 according to the present preferred embodiment, middle portions of the finger portions 11 hold nail fragment and the contact portions 13 are formed at the end portions of the finger portion 11. The nail clipper 1 having the tweezers 10 has the same operation and function as those of the nail clipper described with reference to FIG. 2.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 5, since members having the same references as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are the same members having the same functions, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 shows tweezers of a nail clipper according to another preferred embodiment. In FIG. 6, the tweezers 10 is the same as that of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2, as a whole, and only the shape thereof is different. That is, unlike the tweezers 10 of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 where the end portions of the finger portions 11 hold a nail fragment and the contact portions 13 are formed at the rear ends of the end portions, the tweezers 10 shown in FIG. 6 has a shape such that the end portions of the finger portions 11

are cut in a lengthwise direction and both end portions of each of the finger portions 11 are folded vertically. Middle portions of the cut end portions hold a nail fragment and the contact portions 13 are formed at both end portions thereof. The nail clipper 1 having the above tweezers 10 has the same operation and effect as those of the nail clipper 1 descried with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5. in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 6, since the elements having the same reference numerals as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 have the same functions, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 7 shows tweezers of a nail clipper according to yet another preferred embodiment. The tweezers 10 shown in FIG. 7 is the same as that of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2, as a whole, and only the shape thereof is different. That is, unlike the tweezers 10 of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 where the end portions of the finger portions 11 hold a nail fragment and the contact portions 13 are formed at the rear ends of the end portions, the tweezers 10 shown in FIG. 7 are the same as that of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG.

2 in that the end portions of the finger portions 11 hold a nail fragment, but different from that of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 in that the contact portions 13 of the finger portions 11 have the shape of conical protrusions protruding therefrom as shown in FIG. 7. The protrusions can be made in a well-known method according to the case in which the finger portions 11 are made of metal or plastic. The nail clipper 1 having the above tweezers 10 has the same operation and effect as those of the nail clipper 1 descried with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5. in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 7, since the elements having the same reference numerals as those shown in FIGS.

2 and 3 have the same functions, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described

with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention has the following merits.

First, since the tweezers can be separately assembled between the upper and lower plates, assembly of the tweezers is made easy.

Second, since the tweezers can be separately assembled between the upper and lower plates, replacement of the tweezers is made easy.

Third, since the tweezers can be manufactured with additional parts, load in the stage of designing a nail clipper can be reduced.

Fourth, since the tweezers are made compact compared to the conventional tweezers, a cost can be reduced.