Portable cutting apparatus

Abstract

 ₅n7 The invention refers to a portable cutting apparatus for organic stalky waste materials originating in a home-farm (a croft) and a household, which has a feeding orifice and a rotary multiple-knife cutter roller (cutter block) cooperating with a stationary pressure plate. The apparatus comprises a chopping head (1) and a receptacle (5), disconnectably interconnected by means of a clamp (6), the receptacle (5) being at least partly covered by the chopping head (1). In stand-by manner a first microswitch (27) is activated. The drive of the cutter roller (21) is activated by the activation of a second microswitch (10), whose activation depends on the swinging positions of a flap (15) struck by a workpiece. In addition to an embodiment driven by an electric motor (battery), a manually driven apparatus is foreseen. Next to a chopping part (2) of the chopping head (1), a free-admittance part (3) is preferably foreseen. In an embodiment with the latter part being lower than the former one, the height difference is bridged by a handle (8), the receptacle (5) being equipped with an own handle (7). In an embodiment with the heights of said parts being essentially equal, it is foreseen that a carrying handle (35) of the receptacle as the only gripping element of the cutter also interconnects the chopping head (1) and the receptacle (5).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a portable cutting apparatus for cutting organic stalky waste materials originating in a home-farm (a croft) and/or in a household - having a feeding orifice and a rotary multiple-edge cutter roller (cutter block) cooperating with a stationary pressure plate.

[0002] A cutting apparatus of the kind set forth above is known from European patent specification EP 469 380 A1. A cutter roller operates like a milling cutter and cooperates with a constructionally complicated arrangement of an aluminum counter-knife as well as an additional arrangement of a device for removing cut pieces, which might not have been able to come out from the hollows between the running cutters in good time.

[0003] As prior art there has also been considered German patent specification DE 30 36 235 A1 relating to a hand-operated device for cutting garden and/or household waste materials, which device, however, can be attached to an electric drill as a driving motor.

[0004] Proceeding from a machine as set forth in the introductory section, it is an aim of the present invention to achieve that the cutting apparatus will not require more or considerably more work from the housewife than she would have by throwing the same waste into the garbage container, thus eliminating the need for temporarily collecting such waste and processing the accumulated material as well as making possible a prompt cutting of the waste. Consequently, the cutting machine becomes an everyday household appliance and is available to the housewife at any moment.

[0005] The object of the invention is linked to the supposition that the diameter of stems to be cut has a reasonable upper limit. This upper limit of the diameter is supposed to be at approx. 20 mm, which size is also normally considered for the use of gardening shears and should comprise the main part of all expected stalky organic waste.

[0006] It was surprisingly found that the organic decomposition ability of wood chaff is not weakened if cutting by milling is replaced by cutting by chopping, where the bindings between fibers are always broken anyway.

[0007] According to the invention, the above object is attained in such a manner that a portable cutting apparatus comprises a chopping head and a receptacle, the latter being disconnectably bound to and covered by the chopping head, wherein a drive for the multiple-knife cutter roller is accommodated, which drive is connected to an electrical battery for supplying a motor. In the chopping head a first microswitch is incorporated in front of the receptacle, the first microswitch being automatically activated when combining the chopping head and the receptacle, to which end at least one outer clamp is foreseen, whereat to the first microswitch a second microswitch is connected in series, which is activated and by which the electric motor drive of the cutter roller is started on the basis of a swinging movement of a yieldingly supported swingable flap, which swinging movement is initiated by entering a stalky waste workpiece into the chopping head. The swingable, yieldingly supported flap is arranged over the cutter roller and comprises a first plate section, which with a stationary wall plate forms a shaft being substantially convergent or, in the extreme position (by passing a specific position with a steady clearance of the shaft), divergent in the direction of entering the workpiece, and a second plate section, which with the stationary wall plate forms a shaft being divergent in the direction of the proceeding of the workpiece. The above-mentioned outer clamp is arranged over the first microswitch and is embodied as a two-armed lever, whose upper arm is pressed by a spring away from a housing of the chopping head and whose lower arm is terminated by a projection adapted to cooperate with an outer overhanging part of the receptacle and thus, at assembling the chopping head and the receptacle, the projection automatically snaps below the overhanging part and when the receptacle is removed, it shields the first microswitch. The chopping head is composed of a chopping part preferably located at one end of a generally oblong construction of the chopping head, and of a free-admittance part located next to one of its longitudinal sides, with the handle of the chopping head being located essentially in a vertical plane of the system, through the center of mass. The free-admittance part of the chopping head is lower than the chopping part, the difference of heights being bridged by the handle. In an area below the handle or behind or next to it a slot-type hole is arranged in the housing of the chopping head for a direct, non-cutting transfer of small waste material into the receptacle. The electric rechargeable battery is arranged in the area of the free-admittance part of the chopping head.

[0008] In a manually driven embodiment a shaft of a small gear wheel of a reducing gear extends to the left and/or to the right of the handle through the housing of the chopping part of the chopping head and is at its outer end provided with a winch for a manual driving of the cutter roller.

[0009] The invention also foresees an embodiment, wherein the heights of the chopping part and the free-admittance part of the chopping head are mutually essentially equal, said parts being connected to the receptacle by means of a carrying handle of the receptacle.

[0010] There follows a detailed description of the embodiments of captioned cutting apparatus, where either electrical or manual drive of the working organ is foreseen. The invention is in no way aimed to be limited to the embodiments shown in the attached drawings, wherein show:

Fig. 1 a three-dimensional representation of an electrically driven portable cutting apparatus of the invention, in stand-by state,

Fig. 2 an upper, autonomous unit, i.e. a chopping head of the cutting apparatus of Fig. 1, put on the floor,

Fig. 3 an orthogonal elevational view of a cross-section taken along line 3-3 of the chopping head of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 an orthogonal elevational view of a cross-section taken along line 4-4 of the chopping head and a receptacle of the cutting apparatus of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 the receptacle of the cutting apparatus of Fig. 1,

Fig. 1 a a three-dimensional representation of a manually driven portable cutting apparatus of the invention, in stand-by condition,

Fig. 2a an upper, autonomous unit, i.e. a chopping head of the cutting apparatus of Fig. l a, put on the floor,

Fig. 3a an orthogonal elevational view of a cross-section taken along line 3a-3a of the chopping head of Fig. 2a, and

Fig. 6 an electrically driven portable cutting apparatus as a modification of the cutting apparatus of Fig. 1.

[0011] Figs. 1-5. A portable cutting apparatus comprises a chopping head 1, which has a chopping part 2 and, optionally, a free-admittance part 3, which is not obligatory for the invention, as well as a socket frame 4. The chopping head 1 is adap- tably put on a bucket-type receptacle 5 and connected to the latter by means of a spring-loaded clamp 6, which is a single one if at the side of the chopping head 1 another diametrically opposite coupling device (not shown), sensibly a yet simpler one, is foreseen, or two of them are foreseen if in comparison to said simpler coupling device the clamp 6 of the invention is considered to be preferable, and there can also be foreseen a number of such clamps. The receptacle 5 advantageously has a swingably attached handle 7 (engaging only one hand), not excluding thereby the possibility of an embodiment with two handles (engaging two hands).

[0012] The chopping part 2 of the chopping head 1 is constructed to receive and to chop stalky waste materials, the free-admittance part 3 of the chopping head 1 is constructed to transfer organic waste materials which need not to be cut to the receptacle 5, and the receptacle 5 is foreseen to receive and to transport the prepared remains of organic materials, i.e. the materials that have been subjected to chopping, as well as the ones that do not need to be chopped.

[0013] The free-admittance part 3 of the chopping head 1 is lower than the chopping part 2 and the existing difference of heights is bridged by a stiff handle 8, which serves both to transport the whole cutting apparatus (or only the chopping head 1, respectively) as well as to possibly hold the apparatus in the course of its functioning, or to support the user at putting the stalky materials into the apparatus. Hence the handle 8 is preferably arranged essentially along a medium longitudinal vertical plane of the cutting apparatus (near to the center of mass of the apparatus).

[0014] The chopping part 2 of the chopping head 1 is positioned transversely to the longitudinal orientation of the cutting apparatus. In a roof wall of the chopping part 2 a slot-like orifice 9 is foreseen, whose length extends over the substantial extension of the chopping part 2 transversely to the longitudinal orientation of the portable cutting apparatus and whose width is determined by the greatest thickness of stems to be processed. At least a part of the roof wall around the orifice 9 is advantageously tilted down to the orifice 9 so as to resemble a hopper.

[0015] Coinciding with the long edge of the orifice 9 that is positioned farthest from the free-admittance part 3 of the chopping head 1 and below the roof wall of the chopping part 2 of the chopping head 1, a mantle surface of a vertical, preferably rectangular flat wall plate 10 is positioned, the said mantle surface essentially directly abutting upon the said edge. In its upmost area the said plate is provided with a pair of mutually coaxial trunnions 11, whose axis extends in parallel with main mantle planes of the wall plate 10. The wall plate 10 is, by means of trunnions 11, freely swingably suspended on two vertical housing walls (front walls) of the chopping part 2, directly abutted upon said plate 10.

[0016] The height of the wall plate 10 occupies the prevailing part of the inner height of the chopping head 1 measured beneath the orifice 9. In the housing interior of the chopping part 2 of the chopping head 1, next to the lower area of the wall plate 10, a traverse 12 is fixed, which supports a position-adjusting support assembly 13 for the wall plate 10. In a simple embodiment as shown, said support assembly 13 is a screw with a jam nut, which, however, does not exclude possibilities of using other approaches known per se, particularly e.g. an eccentric drive or a cam drive.

[0017] In front of the wall plate 10, at the side of the chopping part 2 abutting upon the free-admittance part 3 of the chopping head 1, a flap-switch assembly 14 is arranged beneath the roof wall of the chopping part 2. Said assembly is composed of a flap 15 which is - analogously to the wall plate 10 - freely swingably suspended beneath the roof wall of the housing of the chopping part 2 by means of a pair of its trunnions 16. The flap 15 comprises two plate sections: a first plate section 15' integrated with said trunnions 16 and a second plate section 15" connected to a free end of the aforementioned section 15', the two plate sections enclosing an angle of approx. 120°.

[0018] Preferably in the area of the corner between the plate sections 15', 15" of the flap 15 and possibly at other points of the extension by height of the flap 15, a pressure agent 17 is incorporated, suitably retained in position and guided, which agent is a spring in the simple embodiment as shown. By the action of said agent, the flap 15 is steadily pressed out of its stable hinging position into contact with the wall plate 10, which, as a result of said action, is also steadily pressed to its own support assembly 13. In such a position the wall plate 10 and the flap 15 mutually form a wedged convergent inlet shaft A in the area between the orifice 9 and their contacting line P and a wedged divergent transitory shaft B in the area below their contacting line P.

[0019] In the area of its trunnion section on the side oriented away from the wall plate 10, the flap 15 is provided with an arcuate cam 18, which is arranged coaxially with the trunnions 16 and extends over an arc of approx. 90 _° or more. In front of said arcuate cam 18, a second electrical microswitch 19 is stably arranged in the housing interior of the chopping part 2 of the chopping head 1, which microswitch is suitably of the kind with a roller. The latter is arranged so as to reside directly in front of the terminal edge of the arcuate cam 18 (the electrical circuit is broken) if the flap 15 contacts the wall plate 10, and to reside on the arcuate cam 18 (the electrical circuit is closed) if the flap 15 is displaced from the wall plate 10. The arcuate length of the arcuate cam 18 is determined so as to guarantee that the roller of the microswitch remains retained on the arcuate cam 18 even when the flap 15 is extremely dislocated (when the shaft A becomes divergent).

[0020] The free end of the flap 15 resides at a height of approx. 2/3 of the height of the wall plate 10 measured down from the orifice 9.

[0021] In the housing interior of the chopping part 2 of the chopping head 1 under the flap 15 and in the clearance between the wall plate 10 and a vertical partition wall of the chopping part 2, which partition wall separates the chopping part from the free-admittance part 3 of the chopping head 1, there is arranged on a through-shaft 20 a chopping cutter roller 21, which is known per se and is fastened to the said shaft and whose diameter essentially occupies all the above-mentioned clearance. The axis of rotation of the shaft 20 and of the cutter roller 21, respectively, resides at a height a little above the free edge of the wall plate 10. The wall plate 10 is, by its support assembly 13, reasonably approached to the cutter roller 21 and serves as a chopping-block for supporting the stem material. Since the wall plate 10 is exposed to wear and tear, it is made of a wear-resistant material.

[0022] As far as the driving of the cutter roller 21 is concerned, the respective solution does not exceed the scope of the prior art, hence a detailed disclosure thereof is considered to be superfluous. In order to realize the basic aim of the invention, i.e. to make a portable cutting apparatus as a household device, it is foreseen according to the invention that in the free-admittance part 3 of the chopping head 1 a chamber (not shown in detail) is arranged for installing a rechargeable electrical (e.g. 12 V; 6 Ah) battery 22 for supplying a (e.g. 120 W) motor (not shown), which in the representation according to Fig. 3 resides, together with an appropriate reducing gear (not shown either), in a separate compartment of the housing of the chopping part 2 behind a vertical wall - below the drawing plane.

[0023] In a suitable embodiment of the chopping head 1, said chamber for the installation of the battery 22 is foreseen next to and along a slot-type hole 23, which in the given case is situated in the area directly below or below and/or next to the handle 8.

[0024] It is clear that when using a rechargeable battery such as battery 22, an appropriate electrical terminal (not shown) is arranged at a suitable location on the chopping head housing for connecting to an electrical recharging device; possibly there can also be foreseen a reversing switch for altering the direction of the rotation of the cutter roller 21 as well as indicators or checking devices, everything in accordance with the currently valid safety regulations.

[0025] The socket part of the housing of the chopping head 1 should provide a sufficient rigidity. For manufacturing reasons and other reasons mentioned further below, the above-mentioned socket frame 4 is foreseen to increase the rigidity.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 3 and represented in detail in Fig. 4, said clamp 6 is substantially an upright two-armed lever, whose upper arm 6' is pressed away from the housing of the chopping head 1 by a spring 25 and whose lower arm 6" is terminated by a projection 26 for automatic snapping when assembling.

[0027] In the area of the lower arm 6" of the clamp 6, a housing wall of the chopping head 1 is, next to the socket frame 4, extended outwardly so as to form, on one hand, a support for said lower arm 6" of the clamp 6 and, on the other hand, together with said socket frame 4, a compartment C, where a first electrical microswitch 27 is stably arranged, providing an operational "stand-by" character of the apparatus. Said microswitch 27 is of the type with a pressure button oriented vertically downwards.

[0028] In a suitable embodiment, the number of compartments C is equal to the number of the clamps 6, whereas a single microswitch 27 may be sufficient. It is important that at removing the receptacle 5 from the chopping head 1, the microswitch 27 is protected against accidental switching-on by the projection 26 of the clamp 6.

[0029] In order to make easier the putting down of the chopping head 1 when removed from the receptacle 5 (Fig. 2), suitably yielding stands 28 are incorporated from below into its socket frame 4 at appropriate points, which stands project from below the lower edge of the socket frame 4. In the given embodiment, the chopping head 1 is rectangular in plan view and the stands 28 are arranged in suitably adapted bearings 29 in each corner of the socket frame 4.

[0030] It is self-evident that the knife edges of the cutter roller 21 do not project below the lowest edge of the chopping head 1.

[0031] As evident from Fig. 4, a joint border of the receptacle 5 is profiled in a stepwise/bent manner and is in accord with the socket frame 4, the stands 28 thereof and the clamp 6 so that in the assembled state the stands 28 abut upon an inner upright surface of a wall 5¹ of the receptacle 5, an outer surface of the socket frame 4 is completely encased by an adapted part 5" of the receptacle 5, an upmost border part 5¹¹¹ of the receptacle 5 retains the pressure button of the microswitch 27 in its pressed-in state (the electrical circuit is closed), and the projection 26 of the clamp 6 projects below an outer overhanging part 5^1v of the receptacle 5.

[0032] Separated from the chopping head 1 (Fig. 5), the receptacle 5 in principle serves as an ordinary bucket, i.e. to be emptied, it is transported independently from the chopping head 1. Essentially, it only differs from an ordinary bucket by its joint border, which is, according to the invention, specifically profiled and represents a bearing to accommodate the socket frame 4 of the chopping head 1 and a pusher for switching the microswitch 27, which joint border, however, does not impede the emptying of the receptacle 5.

[0033] As to the functioning, the portable cutting apparatus in the assembled state as shown and disclosed stands still and there are no switches on the outside, which could initiate an operation and thereby energy consumption. In order to start the apparatus, the flap 15 must be swung. This happens when a workpiece is inserted into and through the orifice 9. In principle, one's fingers cannot be inserted therethrough; if this should happen (which means starting the machine), the fingers cannot reach the dangerous sphere of the cutter roller 21.

[0034] The battery 22, the corresponding motor and the gear as well as the cutter roller 21 are chosen and mutually coordinated so as to achieve a normal functioning of a regularly used apparatus. An overload-protection (not shown) for breaking electrical supply is foreseen in case the apparatus is used contrary to instructions.

[0035] At inserting a stem-like object (workpiece) into the inlet shaft A, the flap 15 is shifted from the wall plate 10 and the drive of the apparatus is started. From this moment on, the workpiece is steadily pressed against the wall plate 10 and thereby retained in position. In the course of progressive moving, the workpiece enters the transitory shaft B and hereafter the working area of the cutter roller 21. After a first knife of the cutter roller 21 has struck the workpiece, the latter is being transversely cut and, at the same time, progressively drawn by the cutter roller 21. In the meantime there follows a second knife etc.

[0036] By being cut and drawn, the internal structure of the longitudinal fibers of cut pieces is altered (dislocated, i.e. torn) due to the spreading effect resulting from a wedged shape of knives, which positively influences the subsequent biological decomposition.

[0037] Figs. 1a-3a. The above portable cutting apparatus of Figs. 1-5 can also be embodied as a manually driven machine by removing all parts constituting an electrical outfit and by some insignificant constructional changes.

[0038] In the compartment encasing the motor and the gear at the electrically-operated machine, only a (suitably single-stage) reducing gear 30 is incorporated, whose great gear wheel 30' is fixed on a shaft 31 of the cutter roller 21 and whose small gear wheel 30" (pinion) is fixed on a shaft 32, which is arranged in an area above the cutter roller 21 by being shifted to the already mentioned partition wall between two parts 2, 3 of the chopping head 1. On either front side (since the operators can be right- or left-handers) or in another appropriate manner, a winch 33 is annexed to the last- mentioned shaft 32 and the length of the winch 33 is determined so that it does not reach below the bottom level of the receptacle 5. The reducing gear 30 makes it possible to turn the cutter roller 21 forward and backward and is advantageously dimensioned so as to realize two cutting strokes (one cutting stroke at moving/pressing the winch 33 downward and another at moving/drawing the winch 33 upward) per revolution of the winch 33.

[0039] As an auxiliary organ in this embodiment, preferably a single and alternatively two hinged footboards 34 are connected to the receptacle 5, onto which footboards the user can put his/her foot in order to relieve the strain on his/her hand holding the apparatus by its handle 8 in the course of chopping. Naturally, the footboard 34 and the winch 33 are arranged at the same side.

[0040] Finally, the handle 7 of the receptacle 5 of whatever embodiment disclosed above is advantageously constructed so as to make possible the carrying of the portable cutting apparatus as a whole.

[0041] Fig. 6. At the embodiments disclosed above two handles are foreseen: the handle 8 as a general handle of the machine and the handle 7 of the receptacle 5. On the other hand, the embodiment of Fig. 6 provides a single common arcuate handle 35, which is appropriately rigid and incorporates three functions: the carrying of the apparatus, the mechanical interconnection of the electrically driven chopping head with the receptacle, and the general "stand-by" activation of the electrical circuit.

[0042] The arcuate handle 35 is, as evident from the drawing, advantageously swingable to one side of the portable apparatus only. From the respective view there is also evident the location of a wall socket 36 for annexing an electric cable (not shown) for recharging the battery.

[0043] It is specific for this embodiment that the orifice 9 and the slot-type hole 23 are arranged essentially in the same level.

[0044] The invention foresees (irrespectively of the embodiment) a receptacle of 20 liters and a total mass of the apparatus of approx. 8 kg or less (only approx. 4 kg for the manually driven apparatus), which means that the cutting apparatus of the invention can be classified as a household device. It is a practical result of said facts that the machine comes to the waste material and not vice versa. The drive of the cutter roller 21 is designed to realize 2-0.5 cuts per sec., irrespectively of the size of the cutter roller 21.

Claims

1. A portable cutting apparatus for organic stalky waste materials originating in a home-farm (a croft) and/or in a household - having a feeding orifice and a multiple-knife cutter roller (cutter block) cooperating with a stationary pressure plate, characterized in that it comprises a chopping head (1) and a receptacle (5), the latter being disconnectably bound to and covered by the chopping head (1), wherein a drive for the cutter roller (21) is accommodated, which drive is connected to an electrical battery for supplying a motor.

2. The portable cutting apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that in the chopping head (1) a first microswitch (27) is incorporated in front of the receptacle (5), the first microswitch (27) being automatically activated when combining the chopping head (1) and the receptacle (5), to which end at least one outer clamp (6) is foreseen, whereat to the first microswitch (27) a second microswitch (19) is connected in series, which is activated and by which the electric motor drive of the cutter roller (21) is started on the basis of a swinging movement of a yieldingly supported swingable flap (15), which swinging movement is initiated by entering a stalky waste workpiece into the chopping head (1).

3. The portable cutting apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the swingable, yieldingly supported flap (15) is arranged over the cutter roller (21) and comprises a first plate section (15'), which with a stationary wall plate (10) forms a shaft (A) being substantially convergent or, in the extreme position (by passing a specific position with a steady clearance of the shaft), divergent in the direction of entering the workpiece, and a second plate section (15"), which with the stationary wall plate (10) forms a shaft (B) being divergent in the direction of the proceeding of the workpiece.

4. The portable cutting apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the clamp (6) is arranged over the first microswitch (27) and embodied as a two-armed lever, whose upper arm (6') is pressed by a spring (25) away from a housing of the chopping head (1) and whose lower arm (6") is terminated by a projection (26) adapted to cooperate with an outer overhanging part (5'^v) of the receptacle (5), and thus, at assembling the chopping head (1) and the receptacle (5), the projection (26) automatically snaps below the overhanging part (5Iv) and when the receptacle (5) is removed, it shields the first microswitch (27).

5. The portable cutting apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the chopping head (1) is composed of a chopping part (2) preferably located at one end of a generally oblong construction of the chopping head (1), and of a free-admittance part (3) located next to one of its longitudinal sides, with the handle (8) of the chopping head (1) being located essentially in a vertical plane of the system, through the center of mass.

6. The portable cutting apparatus according to Claim 5, characterized in that the free-admittance part (3) of the chopping head (1) is lower than the chopping part (2), the difference of heights being bridged (consumed) by the handle (8).

7. The portable cutting apparatus according to one of preceding Claims, characterized in that in an area below the handle (8) or behind or next to it, a slot-type hole (23) is arranged in the housing of the chopping head (1) for a direct, non-cutting transfer of small waste material into the receptacle (5).

8. The portable cutting apparatus according to one of preceding Claims, characterized in that the electric rechargeable battery (22) is arranged in the area of the free-admittance part (3) of the chopping head (1).

9. The portable cutting apparatus according to one of preceding Claims, characterized in that a shaft (32) of a small gear wheel (30") of a reducing gear extends to the left and/or to the right of the handle (8) through the housing of the chopping part (2) of the chopping head (1) and is at its outer end provided with a winch (33) for a manual driving of the cutter roller (21).

10. The portable cutting apparatus according to whichever of preceding Claims, characterized in that the heights of the chopping part (2) and of the free-admittance part (3) of the chopping head (1) are mutually essentially equal, the parts (2, 3) being connected to the receptacle (5) by means of a carrying handle (35) of the receptacle (5).

Drawing