An axe with foldable cutting heads

The present invention refers to an axe intended to be used for treating, cutting and cleaving wood material e.g. firewood. According to the invention said axe comprises at least two shafts, each of them being provided in an axe head, said axe heads are to at least some part provided at or against each other via at least one at that place existing fold- or joint function, active along at least one imagine rotary line pointing across to the shafts towards the wood material during a cutting. Each of said axe heads comprises at least one edge, which extends along a straight line, viewed towards the wood material at that moment, when the edges being cut down and penetrate into the wood material. Said shafts thereafter are angular movable away from each other by an user and as a consequence of this the line is angled, so that the axe heads are pressing apart the wood material at the same time as the same is cleaved.

For existing structures on the market of this type, usual axes are today used having an axe head. In order to be able to cleave a wood material, e.g. a chopping-block, the axe must several times be cut into and through the same in order to succeed with said cleaving. This is hard-working and time consuming for an user of the axe. Big blocks cannot be cleaved in this way, why wedges must be used, which are forced downwards into a groove which is constituted during the first strokes, which is extra difficult. Edge functions built into an axe head of different types are known before, e.g. in the patent publications WO 02062539 and US 4,372,360. Using such edge functions the user must cut deeply into the wood material several times in order to that the edge function shall act, which means several hard cuts before an user has reached such a long way. Furthermore these structures are expensive, complicated with a lot of parts, which can be broken. One can of course use motor driven cleaving machines but these are expensive, clumsy and difficult to bring to desired places, where the treatment shall take place.

One object of the present invention is to eliminate those drawbacks existing with the structures mentioned above, in providing an axe having two shafts each comprising an axe head and said axe heads are provided next to each other via a fold- or joint function located between them, along a rotary line across the shafts towards the wood material. Each of said axe heads comprises an edge, which extends along a line and at that moment, when the edges have been cut down and penetrated into the wood material, said shafts thereafter can be angled away from each other by an user at the same time as the axe heads are pressing apart the wood material.

Thanks to the invention a simple and uncomplicated, cheap and well functioning axe is provided, which easy cleaves a wood material such as a chopping block and also big ones, boards and the like after only one or tow cuts into the wood material of the user, whereby only the penetration of the edge into the wood material is enough in order to effect said cleaving. According to the invention the axe comprises two shafts, each of which is provided in an axe head, said axe heads are located next to each other and in a small distance from each other via a fold- or joint function, situated there between, which is active along at least one imagine rotary line pointing across to the shafts towards the wood material during a cutting. Each of the axe heads comprises an edge, which extends along mainly a straight line, viewed towards the wood material when the edges have been cut down and penetrated into the wood material. The edges are provided at the same distance from the wood material, so that they extend equally downwards into wood material during a cut. The shafts thereafter are angular movable away from each other around the rotary line by the user. As a consequence of this also the line is angular movable in at least one place around the rotary line. The axe heads are pressing apart the wood material at the same time as the cleaving effect is achieved. In a preferred embodiment example of the invention the axe heads look like conventional axe heads, each comprising two gables, two longitudinal sides, an upper portion and a lower portion. Said longitudinal sides are tapering at the lower portion to the edge and the shafts run near and above each other during the working or treatment and cooperate as one shaft, pointing in a

direction towards the gables across the rotary line, where they can be hold around by an user during the treatment as with a conventional axe. Each of the shafts are fixed in a gable. The fold- and joint function is provided between two of the gables in the form of hinge function, the rotary axis of which is orientated in the same direction as the rotary line. The axe heads are provided gable against gable. In an alternative embodiment example of the invention the upper portion at one of the axe heads, which is provided at the longest distance away from the shafts along the line, mentioned the further axe head, comprises an extension portion, which extends in over that axe head, which is located nearest the shafts, called the front axe head. The front axe head then has a lower height than the further height of the axe head in order to give space for the extension portion to move free over the further axe head when the shafts are pressed away from each other. The extension portion then makes that the shafts can be made in the same length and similar, so that they will be exposed to the same forces during the separation. The shafts are pointing during the treatment in one and the same direction, which is mainly in parallel with the line. In this embodiment example a first projection is provided under the extension portion pointing outwards from the gable, so that a space is constituted between the extension portion and the projection. A second extension from the gable of the front axe head next to the fold- and joint function, is provided to fit into and be movably rotary in said space around the rotary axis in constituting the hinge function by aid of a pin, which is provided through openings in the extension portion and the projections in a direction, which is the same or in parallel to the rotary line. In order to provide a fast and simple mounting of the shafts at a predetermined position in relation to the axe heads, the upper portions comprise a socket protruding from the gable, which looks like a tube pointing in the longitudinal direction of the shafts, at least one part of the mantle surface of the tube being made flat in providing a position control and a position fixing of said shaft in a predetermined position by inserting the same into an opening formation in the end of the shaft.

The axe according to the present invention is today used as an usual axe, when the user in a first step cuts the axe into a wood material. The two shafts then are handle as one shaft having the edges extending along a line, which then is mainly straight, when the axe is penetrating downwards into the wood material. In a second step the shafts can be separated from each other by an added force by that the user is gripping the shafts at different positions next to him as possible in order to get the best turning moment around the rotary axis, whereby the shafts are separated from each other in a level across the rotary line. Then an angle between the shafts being continuous increased around the rotary axis. The more the angle increases the more longer outwards towards each gable at the lower portions the press is working by the axe heads, so that the wood material is cleaving apart more and more in a direction outwards towards the sides by the cleaving effect, so that the wood material is separated into two parts in a third step.

The invention is described closer below by aid of some preferred embodiment examples with reference to the drawings enclosed, in which

fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an axe according to the invention cut into a wood material before cleaving,

fig. 2 shows the axe in a view from above, when the wood material is cleaved more and more as the angle is increased,

fig. 3 shows a translucent perspective view of a part of an axe head, where the shaft is in an insertion position to be mounted.

As can be seen from Fig. 1 and 2 an axe 1 according to the invention having two shafts 2 each provided to an axe head 3, a further axe head 15 and a front axe head 16. The further axe head 15 comprises an extension portion 14. The axe heads 3 are provided to each other via a fold- or joint function 7, which acts along at least one imagined rotary line 6 pointing towards a wood material 4. Each of the axe heads 3 comprise an edge 8, which mainly extends along a line 5, viewed towards said wood material 4. The shafts 2

can be angled apart around the rotary line 6, so that also the line 5 is angled. Each axe head 3 comprises two gables 9, two longitudinal sides 10, one upper portion 1 1 and one lower portion 12. The fold- or joint function 7 is provided between the gables 9 in the form of a rotary axis 13. The extension portion 14 extends in over the upper portion 11 of the front axe head 16. The front axe head 16 comprises a lower height 17 than the height 18 of the further height 15. Below the extension portion 14 a projection 19 is provided and two spaces 20 below the extension portion 14. The two projections 19 from the gable 9 of the front axe head 17 are provided to fit into and being movably rotary in the spaces 20 around the rotary axis 13in constituting a hinge function 26 by aid of a pin 22 provided through an opening 23 through the extension portion 14 and the projections 19.

As can be seen from Fig. 2 it is illustrated that the shafts 2 have been pressed apart of an user around the rotary axis 13, so that an angle 25 has been constituted between the shafts 2.

As can be seen from Fig. 3 the upper portion 11 comprises a socket 24 protruding from the gable 9 in the form of a tapered tube formation, constituting a position guide and a fixing into position of the shaft 2 by insertion of the socket 24 in a corresponding opening formation 21 in the same.