EP4217291B1

EP4217291B1 - Package for cutting tool

Info

Publication number: EP4217291B1
Application number: EP22772925.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Daniel KNOPF; Joscha Ringler; Michaela Lorenz; Petra JUNG
Original assignee: Husqvarna AB
Current assignee: Husqvarna AB
Priority date: 2021-11-26
Filing date: 2022-09-01
Publication date: 2024-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 2042-09-01
Also published as: WO2023094042A1; CN116685532B; EP4217291A1; CN116685532A

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a package for a cutting tool. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a package made of a recyclable material.

BACKGROUND

Cutting tools, particularly hand-operated cutting tools, generally include a pair of cutting blades pivotably secured to each other at a pivot joint. The cutting blades are coupled to corresponding handles of the cutting tools for improved ease and efficiency of manual operation. The cutting tools are usually packaged with a packaging, which includes a vertical hanging arrangement. This allows a potential buyer to better interact with different details and specifications of the cutting tools. The packaging generally includes a planar base member and a transparent plastic cover member secured to the base member in a manner such that it at least partially covers the cutting tool. In case of a packaging for the cutting tools such as secateurs, it is common that the transparent plastic cover member at least partially covers the cutting blades in the packaging state to minimize the risk of injuries. This transparent plastic cover may limit ability of the potential buyer to interact with the cutting tool. So, there have been many efforts to limit or avoid application of the plastic cover for the cutting tools.
Some packaging also allows the potential buyer to perform limited operations with the cutting tools without having to completely disassemble or open the packaging. However, this may pose certain security, safety threats for the potential buyer and may also have a bearing on the life of the packaging or cutting edges of the cutting tool. Further, there are constraints to better market the cutting tools, preferably with better utilization of the packaging of the cutting tools. These issues make a case to ensure better trial, showcasing of the cutting tool within the packaging, while limiting use of materials which are legally and socially less appealing such as the transparent plastic cover.
An example of a packaging for a cutting tool is provided in United States patent application 20,150,344,207 (hereinafter referred to as '207 reference). The '207 reference provides a blister card for holding a content item. The blister card includes a front panel with a back panel hingedly attached therewith. The front panel may further include an opening. A blister may be positioned into the opening on the front panel. The tool is placed into the blister, by simple dropping of the tool into a blister cavity. A movable handle extends into free space of opening of the front panel and the stationary handle, and tool jaws are received into the blister cavity. The panels may be made of paperboard and the blister may be made of plastics or paperboard. However, the '207 reference falls short of providing a packaging which is fully recyclable and formed in one-piece from a material that may be soft and molded into any desired shape. Such downsides may render the manufacturing of packaging to be time consuming, costly, and less sustainable. Further, the traditionally favored use of plastic may have some legal implications.
US 5,435,447 A (hereinafter referred to as '447 reference) discloses a holding/display member comprising a unitary, integrally formed housing within which a conventional pair of scissors is securely retained. The housing is formed from plastic material. Furthermore, the scissors are securely retained within the housing while a handle portion extends outwardly from the housing through an elongated portal. The housing further incorporates a handle holding and securing wall which is formed in and peripherally encompasses the elongated finger-receiving zone of the handle portion of scissors. Therefore, the handle portion is loosely fixed to the housing by the holding and securing wall. The '447 reference clearly discloses to retain the scissors by the contact between the holding and securing wall together with the interior scissor holding zone. In contrast to the present invention, the '447 reference does not disclose a packaging which is fully recyclable and formed in one-piece from a material that may be soft and molded into any desired shape. Additionally, the '447 reference does not disclose that a curved profile comprises a cut-out section, a cavity and a cover, wherein the curved profile is configured to snap-fit a portion of at least one of the one or more handles around a second end into the cover and configured to snap-fit a remaining portion into the cut-out section.
Thus, there is a need of an improved packaging for cutting tools, which may be formed from a recyclable material and have improved sustainability among other benefits.

SUMMARY

In view of the above, it is an objective of the present invention to solve or at least reduce the drawbacks discussed above. The objective is at least partially achieved by a packaging for a cutting tool. The packaging for the cutting tool includes a body and one or more cover portions. The one or more cover portions at least partially support the cutting tool with the body. The packaging is characterized in that the body and the one or more cover portions are integrally formed and made by fiber-based packaging. The one or more cover portion are a first portion and a second portion such that the first portion defines a wall profile with the body and the second portion defines a curved profile adjacent the body to at least partially support the cutting tool with the body.
The curved profile comprises a cut-out section, a cavity and a cover, wherein the curved profile is configured to snap-fit a portion of at least one of the one or more handles around a second end into the cover and configured to snap-fit a remaining portion of the at least one of the one or more handles into the cut-out section.
Thus, the present disclosure provides an eco-friendly and a sustainable packaging for the cutting tool that may be made from a recyclable material. The body and the one or more cover portions of the packaging may be integrally formed, and the recyclable material may be a paper fiber like material which may be easily molded to a desired shape. This may reduce complexities, time and cost involved in the manufacturing of the packaging. This may also reduce the weight of the packaging. Further, the soft paper fiber like material may not affect the shape, surface finish and ergonomics of the cutting tool. Furthermore, the one or more cover portions of the packaging, due to improved design, may improve cutting protection, theft protection and cutting tool trial function for applications with the packaging.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cutting tool defines one or more cutting edges around a first end and one or more handles around a second end. The first portion at least partially covers the cutting tool around the first end and the second portion at least partially covers at least one of the one or more handles around the second end. The first portion of the cover portion may prevent inadvertent movement of the cutting blades of the cutting tool and may thereby prevent or minimize injuries. Further, the second portion of the cover portion may support one of the handles of the cutting tool while allowing trial functionality with the other handle.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the wall profile at least partially covers the one or more edges of the cutting tool with the body and the curved profile at least partially covers at least one of the one or more handles of the cutting tool with the body. The wall profile and the curved profile of the cover portion may prevent inadvertent movement of the cutting blades of the cutting tool and allow improved cutting tool trial function with the packaging.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the body and the one or more cover portions are made of one or more of a paper pulp and a recyclable material. The packaging for the cutting tool may be made from the eco-friendly and recyclable material such as the paper pulp. The material may be easily molded to a desired shape. This may reduce the complexities, time and cost involved in the manufacturing of the packaging.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the packaging defines one or more hanging holes to hang the packaging. The packaging for the cutting tool may include a hanging portion that may further define the one or more hanging holes. The one or more hanging holes may facilitate hanging and showcasing of the packaged cutting tool in installations such as a shop.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a material of the packaging is selected from one or more of a paper, and a polymer. The material may be inexpensive, moldable, lightweight, recyclable, and eco-friendly.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the packaging is manufactured by paper injection molding or fiber casting. The packaging may be manufactured by any cost-effective method, which may produce little or no environmental waste.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the packaging further includes a film such that the film covers the cutting tool with the packaging. The film may be transparent and may prevent dust and other foreign elements from intruding into the packaging. Further, the film may improve visual appeal or showcasing of the packaged cutting tool. Furthermore, the film may also serve as an anti-theft protection.
Other features and aspects of this invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cutting tool within a packaging with cutting blades in a closed position, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a cutting tool within a packaging with cutting blades in an open position, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure; and
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a packaging for a cutting tool, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodiments of the invention incorporating one or more aspects of the present invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. For example, one or more aspects of the present invention may be utilized in other embodiments and even other types of structures and/or methods. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements.
Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the invention. For example, "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "side", "longitudinal", "lateral", "transverse", "upwards", "downwards", "forward", "backward", "sideward", "left," "right," "horizontal," "vertical," "upward", "inner", "outer", "inward", "outward", "top", "bottom", "higher", "above", "below", "central", "middle", "intermediate", "between", "end", "adjacent", "proximate", "near", "distal", "remote", "radial", "circumferential", or the like, merely describe the configuration shown in the Figures. Indeed, the components may be oriented in any direction and the terminology, therefore, should be understood as encompassing such variations unless specified otherwise.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrates a packaging 100 which may be used for packaging a cutting tool 150. The cutting tool 150 may be any hand-operated portable cutting tool 150 such as secateurs, a scissor, and the like. The cutting tool 150 includes a first end 160 and a second end 170. The cutting tool 150 includes a pair of cutting blades 162A, 162B defined around the first end 160. The pair of cutting blades 162A, 162B may be pivotably secured to each other via a pivot pin 182 at a pivot point 180 along an axis X-X'. The pivot pin 182 may allow removable coupling of the cutting blades 162A, 162B of the cutting tool 150 about the pivot point 180. The cutting blades 162A, 162B further include cutting edges 164A, 164B respectively. Furthermore, the cutting blades 162A, 162B define an open position "P1" and a closed position "P2". In the open position "P1" (as shown in FIG. 2 ) the cutting edges 164A, 164B are disengaged from each other. In the closed position "P2" (as shown in FIG. 1 ) the cutting edges 164A, 164B engage with each other, so as to perform a cutting action with an object say a branch and the like. The cutting blades 162A, 162B may be coupled to the handles 172, 174 defined around the second end 170 for manual operation of the cutting tool 150.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 , 2 and 3 , the packaging 100 for the cutting tool 150 includes a body 110 and one or more cover portions 120. The one or more cover portions 120 at least partially support the cutting tool 150 with the body 110. In some embodiments, the body 110 and the one or more cover portions 120 may be formed from a fiber-based recyclable and eco-friendly packaging material. Further, the material may be easily molded to a desired shape to reduce the complexities, time, and cost involved in the manufacturing of the packaging 100. Thus, the material may be one or more of a paper pulp, a finished paper, or a polymer. The soft paper pulp like material may not affect the shape, surface finish and ergonomics of the cutting tool 150.
In some embodiments, the body 110 and the one or more cover portions 120 may be integrally formed or manufactured by paper injection molding, fiber casting, or other manufacturing method, which may preferably be cost-effective and may produce little or no environmental waste.
The body 110 may include a front face 112, a back face (not shown) and a boundary wall 114. The front face 112 may also include the hanging portion 116. The front face 112 and/or the hanging portion 116 may carry relevant information such as product (or the cutting tool 150) information. The information may be the company name, company logo, cutting tool specification and the like. Also with the figures the front surface 112 is lowered in respect to the upper end of the boundary wall 114 and the wall profile 132 it is obvious to the one skilled in the art that the front surface 112 can be realized at any level between the boundary wall 114 and the wall profile 132. Thus if the front surface 112 would be in the upper most possible level an even surface would be realized that even would ease any information concerning company name, company logo or cutting tool specification. The hanging portion 116 further includes one or more hanging holes "H" to hang the packaging 100. The one or more hanging holes "H" may preferably be euro holes and may facilitate hanging and showcasing of the packaged cutting tool 150 in installations such as a shop. The potential buyer may better interact with or observe different details and specifications of the cutting tool 150 in hanging state. The one or more hanging holes "H" may be mounted with any wall hanging means such as nails, brackets, and the like. The back face may face the wall in the hanging state of the packaging 100.
In some embodiments, the back face may include suspension element (not shown) to couple the packaging 100 with at least a part of a clothing. The part of the clothing may be one or more of a belt, a strap, and a sling. The boundary wall 114 may fully or partially adapt to the shape of the body 110. The body 110 may have a square shape, rectangular shape or any other shape based upon the cutting tool 150, or any other implementation factor.
The first portion 130 defines a wall profile 132 with the body 110 and the second portion 140 defines a curved profile 142 adjacent the body 110 to at least partially support the cutting tool 150 with the body 110. The wall profile 132 include a front wall 134 and a pair of side walls 136. The front wall 134 and a pair of side walls 136 of the wall profile 132 may at least partially cover the cutting tool 150 around the first end 160. Thus, the wall profile 132 may at least partially cover the one or more edges 164A, 164B of the cutting tool 150 with the body 110. The wall profile 132 may prevent inadvertent movement of the cutting blades 162A, 162B of the cutting tool 150 and may thereby prevent or minimize at least to some degree, injuries to the potential buyer. Further, the curved profile 142 may include a cut-out section 144 (shown in FIG. 3 ), a cavity 146 and a cover 148. The curved profile 142 may at least partially cover at least one of the one or more handles 172, 174 (herein, the handle 172 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 , 2) around the second end 170 of the cutting tool 150 with the body 110.
The cutting tool 150 may be placed into the packaging 100 by sliding the at least one of the one or more handles 172, 174 (say, the handle 172) through the cavity 146 of the second portion 140. Upon sliding, a portion of the at least one of the one or more handles 172, 174 around the second end 170 may snap-fit into the cover 148 and the remaining portion may snap-fit into the cut-out section 144. The one or more of the cutting blades 162A, 162B may then snap-fit into the wall profile 132 of the first portion 130 of the one or more cover portions 120. Thus, the second portion 140 of the one or more cover portions 120 may support the at least one of the one or more handles 172, 174 (say, the handle 172) of the cutting tool 150 and the other handle (say, the handle 174) may be allowed to exhibit movement or manipulation by the potential buyer. This may improve the trial function of cutting tool 150 within the packaging 100. The cutting edges 164A, 164B confine within the side walls 136 and the front wall 134 during the trial of the cutting tool 150.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the packaging 100 may further include a film 190 such that the film 190 may cover the cutting tool 150 with the packaging 100. In some embodiments, the film 190 may be transparent and may prevent dust and other foreign elements from intruding into the packaging 100. Further, the film 190 may improve visual appeal or showcasing of the packaged cutting tool 150. Furthermore, the film 190 may also serve as an anti-theft protection. In some embodiments, the package may be provided with a lock (not shown). The lock may prevent theft or undesired access of the packaged cutting tool 150.
Thus, the present disclosure provides eco-friendly and sustainable packaging 100 for the cutting tool 150 that may be made from a recyclable material. The body 110 and the one or more cover portions 120 of the packaging 100 may be integrally formed, and the recyclable material may be the paper fiber like material which may be easily molded to a desired shape. Furthermore, the one or more cover portions 120 of the packaging 100 may improve the cutting protection, theft protection and the cutting tool trial function with the packaging 100.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed preferred embodiments and examples of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for the purpose of limitation of the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

LIST OF ELEMENTS

100: Packaging
110: Body
112: Front Face
114: Boundary Wall
116: Hanging Portion
120: Cover Portions
130: First Portion
132: Wall Profile
134: Front Wall
136: Side Walls
140: Second Portion
142: Curved Profile
144: Cut-Out Section
146: Cavity
148: Cover
150: Cutting Tool
160: First End
162A, 162B: Cutting Blades
164A, 164B: Cutting Edges
170: Second End
172, 174: Handles
180: Pivot Point
182: Pivot Pin
190: Film
H: Hanging Hole
X-X': Axis
P1: Open Position
P2: Closed Position

Claims

A packaging (100) for a cutting tool (150) comprising one or more handles (172, 174), comprising:
a body (110); and

one or more cover portions (120), wherein the one or more cover portions (120) at least partially support the cutting tool (150) with the body (110); and wherein the one or more cover portion (120) are a first portion (130) and a second portion i (140) such that the first portion (130) defines a wall profile (132) with the body (110) and the second portion (140) defines a curved profile (142) adjacent the body (110) to at least partially support the cutting tool (150) with the body (110)

characterized in that:
the body (110) and the one or more cover portions (120) are integrally formed and made by fiber-based packaging,

wherein the curved profile (142) comprises a cut-out section (144), a cavity (146) and a cover (148), and

wherein the curved profile (142) is configured to snap-fit a portion of at least one of the one or more handles (172, 174) around a second end (170) into the cover (148) and configured to snap-fit a remaining portion into the cut-out section (144).
The packaging (100) of claim 1, wherein the body (110) and the one or more cover portions (120) are made of one or more of a paper pulp and a recyclable material.
The packaging (100) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the packaging (100) defines one or more hanging holes (H) to hang the packaging (100).
The packaging (100) of any of the preceding claims, wherein a material of the packaging (100) is selected from one or more of a paper, and a polymer.
The packaging (100) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the packaging (100) is manufactured by paper injection molding or fiber casting.
The packaging (100) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the packaging (100) further includes a film (190) such that the film (190) covers the cutting tool (150) with the packaging (100).
The packaging (100) of claim 1, with the cutting tool, wherein the cutting tool (150) defines one or more cutting edges (164A, 164B) around a first end (160) and one or more handles (172, 174) around the second end (170), wherein the first portion (130) at least partially covers the cutting tool (150) around the first end (160) and the second portion (140) at least partially covers at least one of the one or more handles (172, 174) around the second end (170).
The packaging (100) of claim 7, wherein the wall profile (132) at least partially covers the one or more edges (164A, 164B) of the cutting tool (150) with the body (110) and the curved profile (142) at least partially covers at least one of the one or more handles (172, 174) of the cutting tool (150) with the body (110).