Flower stalk cutter

The invention relates to a flower stalk cutter for bias cutting of flower stalks comprising a house with two side walls, a bottom wall and a top wall bounding a canal which is in line with it and into which in a lead-in direction to insert a stalk, that is to be cut off, and with one between the two opposite side walls placed and with a cutting edge provided with a knife blade orientated thus that it in the lead-in direction is running slantwise in the direction from the top wall to the bottom wall.

Traditionally, knives such as hobby knives are used for bias cutting of flower stalks. However, such knives have the disadvantage of often inflicting cuts on the user. Moreover, it is difficult to achieve the same bias cut using a knife since both the stalk and the knife are held in the hands.

Further, a flower stalk cutter of the said kind is known from EP 0383407 where a leaf spring is placed on the bottom wall bending out when a flower stalk, that is to be cut off, is lead in and presses the stalk against the cutting edge of the opposite knife which is a firmly placed and still knife whose cutting edge is situated with a considerable distance to the bottom wall. By the known cutter a completely bias cut has to be secured by the force of the leaf spring which presses the stalk operating with the knife. When cutting off hard and/or thin stalks there is a risk that the leaf spring does not apply a sufficient amount of force on the stalk to secure that the knife makes a complete cutting of the stalk. Furthermore, there is a risk to the known cutter that scraps of stalks and cut pieces of stalk accumulate in the area between the vacant end of the leaf spring and the bottom wall preventing the leaf spring from bending out when the stalk is lead in.

The object of the present invention is to provide a flower stalk cutter that reliably secures a complete and bias cutting of flower stalks.

To achieve this object the flower stalk cutter is, according to the invention, characterized by the facts that the cutting edge of the knife blade is in an unaffected starting position directly up against or in contact with the bottom wall, and that the edge of the knife blade at the lead-in of the flower stalk, which is to be cut off, fall back against the top wall by a spring effect. As a consequence of that, the knife falling back against the top wall by a spring effect when the flower stalk is inserted, the flower stalk will be pressed against the bottom wall and the edge of the knife blade will interact with the flower stalk. Subsequently, when the flower stalk is drawn back in the insert direction of the lead-in direction, the cutting edge of the knife blade, and thereby the knife blade, will be moved in the direction towards the bottom wall because of the intervention of the cutting edge against the stalk until the cutting edge is in contact with the bottom wall. Hereby a complete and bias cutting of the flower stalk is secured.

According to the present invention the spring effect can be inherent in the knife blade because it is fashioned to be springy in the form of a leaf spring.

Further, the knife blade can, according to the invention, be pivotally mounted inside the house in on an axis parallel to the edge of the knife blade.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the spring effect can be provided by a separate spring device which loads the knife blade prior to the assuming of its starting position.

Further, according to the invention, the knife can be pivotally mounted in respect of the house by means of an integral hinge.

The integral hinge can be fashioned thus that it has an inherent spring effect and keeps the knife blade in the starting position. In this way the integral hinge applies at least a part of the spring effect.

Advantageously the revolving axis is situated directly against or in the top wall.

In one embodiment of the invention, the knife blade and the top wall of the house are fashioned in one single piece. Hereby the flower stalk cutter as a whole can be shaped in one piece in plastic by injection moulding.

Moreover, according to the invention, the knife blade can be provided with an extension part.

The said extension part can be mounted in the top wall. Hereby it is possible to produce the entire flower stalk cutter in one work process by moulding the knife blade in an injection moulded house of plastic or in a pressure moulded house of a metal such as aluminium.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the extension hinge of the knife blade creates an angle with the knife blade itself in all essentials corresponding to the angle of the bias position of the knife blade in relation to the top wall.

Further, according to the invention, the knife blade can by a cross slit in the top wall stretch into the canal, that is comprised by the house, and the extension part be loosely mounted inside on the top wall using a

fastening device. Hereby the changing of worn knife blades is made possible.

The fastening device can be a slide which is placed movably on the top wall between a position for intervention, where it is positioned on top of the extension joint to the fixation of the knife blade, and a position of release, where the slide is not intervening connected to the extension part.

Alternatively, the extension part can be provided with at least one vacant hole and the mounting device can include a thread hole in the top wall and a corresponding screw which is put in the vacant hole and screwed in the thread hole.

Another variant of the mounting device is a tension belt which stretches around the house and is situated on top of the extension part.

The invention is explained in further detail below with reference to the drawing:

Fig. 1 isometric shows a first form of execution of a flower stalk cutter according to the invention,

Fig. 2 shows a vertical longitudinal section through the cutter in fig. 1,

Fig. 3 shows a section of a modification of the form of execution shown in fig. 1 and 2,

Fig. 4 shows a section of another form of execution of a cutter according to the invention, and

Fig. 5 shows a third form of execution of a cutter according to the invention

The form of execution of the flower stalk cutter shown in fig. 1 according to the invention comprises an oblong house 1 with two opposite side walls 2, 3, a bottom wall 4 and a top wall 5 which bounds a canal 6 which is in line with it. The house 1 has a lead-in end 7 into which, in the direction of the lead-in direction, a stalk, that is to be cut off, is inserted and which is shown dotted in fig. 2 inside the canal. Between the two side walls 2, 3 a knife blade 9 is placed which has a cutting edge 10. Opposite the cutting edge 10 is the knife blade 9 provided with an extension part 11. The extension part 11 and the knife blade itself form an angel with one another. In the top wall 5 of the house 1 a transverse slit 12. The knife blade itself 9 is inserted into the canal 6 in the house 1 through the slit, and the extension part 11 is connected to the exterior side of the top wall 5. The extension part is 11 is kept in place in connection with the top wall 5 by means of a fastening device which is a slide 13 in the shown form of execution. The slide 13 is placed slid able on the top wall between a position for intervention, where it is positioned on top of the extension joint to the fixation of the knife blade, and a position of release, where the slide is not engaged with the extension part. The displacement of the slide 13 along the house can for example be provided by the means of ribs on the slide in intervention with corresponding tracks inside the house (not shown). In fig. 1 and 2, for illustrative reasons, the slide 13 is shown in a middle position between its position for invention and its position for release. In the inserted and the fixated position of the knife blade 9 the knife blade 9 runs, seen in the lead-in direction, slantwise in the direction from the top wall 5 to the bottom wall 4 and its cutting edge is connected to the bottom wall. In the position shown in fig. 1 and 2 the knife blade is in a starting position where it is not affected by external forces, and the flower stalk is ready for use. When a flower stalk 8 is lead into the canal

6 of the cutter in the direction of the insertion I the knife blade falls to the side against the top wall as it is shown by the dotted lines in fig. 2. The knife blade 9 falls to the side or bends against a spring effect, which is latent in the knife blade in that it, as mentioned, is fashioned to be springy in the form of a leaf spring. This spring effect presses the cutting edge 10 against the flower stalk 8 pressing the flower stalk against the bottom wall. As a result of this, when the flower stalk is drawn back in the opposite direction of the insertion I ₁ the cutting edge will cut into the flower stalk and the stalk will be cut through on a slant with a bias cut. The penetration of the cutting edge into the flower stalk and the retreat of the stalk contribute, along with the spring effect, to moving the knife blade back to its starting position, where the cutting edge 10 is connected to the bottom wall.

Fig. 3 shows a section of a modification of the form of execution shown in fig. 1 and 2. Thus, the flower stalk cutter shown in fig. 3 has a house 1 and a matching slide 13 which are identical to house and the slide shown in fig. 1 and 2 except from the fact that the interior side of bottom wall 4 of the house is provided with a groove 14 in the area where the cutting edge 10 of the knife blade 9 is connected to the bottom wall.

This groove 14 is believed to contribute to securing a completely bias cut of the stalk 8, even if the cutting edge is suffering from a minor damage. The most important difference between the form of execution shown in fig. 3 and the one shown in fig. 1 and 2 are the knife blade 9 and the extension part 11 which is linked to it. In the form of execution shown in fig. 3 the knife blade 9 and the linked extension part 11 are connected to by means of an integral hinge 15, also called a film hinge, which is a reduction of the thickness of the stuff. The integral hinge 15 provides a revolving connection between the knife blade 9 and the extension part 11 on an axis fixed around the integral hinge 15, the axis is parallel to the cutting edge 10. When inserting a flower stalk 8, shown as a dotted line, into the canal 6 in the direction of the lead-in I ₁ the

knife blade 9 will fall to the side revolving around the integral hinge 15, as it is shown by the dotted lines in fig. 3. The integral hinge 15 can be fashioned in such a way, that it holds the knife blade in the full-drawn starting position thus providing a spring effect that holds the edge of the knife blade connected to the inner surface of the groove 14 in the bottom wall 4. The spring effect also causes the cutting edge to intervene with the inserted stalk 8 and press it against the bottom wall as it is shown by the dotted lines in fig. 3. When the stalk is drawn back in the direction opposite the direction of the lead-in I ₁ the edge 10 cuts into the stalk cutting it off with a bias cut in a manner which is similar to the description in the text related to fig. 1 and 2.

In fig. 3 yet another spring device in form of a separate spring element 16 is shown with a triangular cross-section. This spring element, which for instance can be made from an elastic rubber material, is placed between the upper side of the knife blade 9 and the underside of the top wall 5 and provides a spring effect that preloads the knife blade 9 to the assuming of the blade's starting position. Provided that the integral hinge 15 provide the wanted spring effect the spring element 16 can naturally be omitted. However, if the integral hinge 15 does not provide the wanted spring effect or the spring effect is insufficient the spring element 16 or a similar spring element can be employed. Likewise a spring element is employed in the form of execution that is not shown, where the knife blade 9 is pivotally mounted in the top wall or in the parallel side walls using a traditional hinge arrangement of the kind with the tap and the eye.

Further, it is worthy of note that the knife blade 9 in the form of execution of a flower stalk cutter where the knife blade 9 and its extension part 11 are fashioned in one piece and connected by an integral hinge 17 which is revolving at the upper end and forms an axis parallel to its cutting edge 10. The extension part 11 is moulded in the

top wall 5. The integral hinge 17 provides a spring effect to keep the knife blade 14 in the shown starting position where the cutting edge is in contact with the bottom wall 4.

The cutter shown in fig. 4 is principally working in the same way as explained above with reference to the form of execution shown in fig. 3.

In the modification of the form of execution of fig. 4 that is not shown the knife blade 9 and the house are fashioned in one piece by injection moulding in a type of plastic with a suitable hardness.

Fig. 5 shows a third form of execution of a cutter where the knife blade 9 and the extension part 11 linked to it are fashioned in one piece as a stiff unity. The top wall 5 of the house is, similar to the form of execution shown in fig. 1 and 3, provided with a cross slit 12 through which the knife blade 9 is inserted into the canal in the house. The extension part 11 has the starting position of the knife blade 9 in contact with the upper side of the top wall 5 as shown by the full-drawn lines in fig. 5. The knife blade 9 is kept in its starting position using an elastic band 18, such as a rubber band, that is led around the house and the outer end of the extension part 11. When a stalk 8 is inserted into the canal in the lead-in direction I the knife blade 9 will fall to the side revolving on an axis defined by the slit 12 as it is shown by the dotted lines in fig. 5. Because the knife blade 9 and the extension part 11 make a stiff unity, the knife blade 9 will by its rotation get turned away from and no longer be in contact with the top wall 5 extending the elastic band 18. The herby generated spring effect keeps the cutting edge of the knife blade in intervention with the stalk 8 and secures a bias cutting of the stalk in a manner similar to the one former described.