JP2024054048A - Opening cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an opening cutter that allows working housewives, elderly people with weakened eyesight or grip strength, or people who are unable to grasp a blade to safely and quickly open packaging bags and the like, and that allows scattered scraps to be collected and disposed of in a container. [Solution] A horizontally rectangular frame 2 is formed with a hollow interior by providing a concave groove 21a and an auxiliary plate 25 in a flat upper opening 20 and providing a step in a lower opening 26. A lid 3 equipped with a cutting mechanism C consisting of a slit 30, a guide rail 4, and a handle cutter 5 at the tip of the rectangular plate material is hinged to the upper opening 20. An opening cutter characterized in that a receiving container 6 for storing scraps B is provided with locking springs 62, 62 attached to both ends and inserted into the frame 2 via the lower opening 26, and further rubber magnets 7, 7 are affixed to the outer surface of the rear wall 22. [Selected drawing] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to an opening cutter that is installed on the wall of a kitchen or a refrigerator, etc., and opens a packaging bag held by a lid by sliding the cutter, and collects the falling pieces in a container.

Traditionally, in general households, when opening bags containing food, etc., scissors, knives, or other bladed tools are used, and bags with cut edges are opened by hand. Although recent packaging bags have become easier to open, it is still necessary to wash your hands every time you cook because your hands get oily, or wear glasses if it is difficult to see the cut edge. It has been particularly difficult for elderly people with weakened eyesight or grip strength, or those who have difficulty using scissors, to open packaging bags.

Nowadays, there are more sealed foods and ingredients, but on the other hand, in this aging society, there are more elderly people who cook at home and housewives who have less time to cook because both partners work, so it is said that people feel irritated and stressed when they have to take the time to open a packaging bag when they are busy cooking.To solve this problem, Patent Document 1 discloses an opening device that clamps the packaging bag with a lid attached to the device, instantly cuts the opening part with a cutting mechanism attached to the lid, and stores the resulting pieces in an inner container.

JP 2004-277006 A

However, when the opening device of Patent Document 1 is installed on a wall, when removing the inner container, the slider fitted to the guide rail hits the wall first, preventing the lid from being fully opened, and the user must follow a procedure of removing the slider from the guide rail to open the lid, removing the inner container, and discarding the scraps. Even if the packaging bag could be safely and instantly opened and the scraps could be stored in the inner container, there remains a problem that the troublesome operation of attaching and detaching the inner container places an unnecessary burden on the user.

In addition, the sliding body swings back and forth (slack) due to the bending of the center of the guide rail, and the installation position of the wire spring that prevents this is not accurate and the fixing method is not clear. Also, when the opening tool of Patent Document 1 is used on a table, there is a risk of spilling liquid when opening a package bag containing soup or the like.

The main problem that this invention aims to solve is to make it easier to attach and detach a container for storing scraps. Furthermore, in order to solve various problems such as the unstable guide rail's insufficient clamping force, the invention aims to provide an easy-to-use cutter for opening with a new concept and structure.

The present invention which solves this problem is as follows.
[The invention described in claim 1]
The opening device has a container for storing scraps, the container comprising a frame having front, rear, left and right face walls with a concave groove at the front and an auxiliary plate at the rear of the flat upper opening that is rectangular in plan view, a step at the lower opening to create a hollow structure on the inside, a lid having a slit that overlaps with and communicates with the concave groove along the longitudinal direction of the rectangular plate material and is hinged to the upper opening so as to be able to be opened and closed freely, a pair of stainless steel wires are hung between support members fixed to both ends of the container to face each other and bridge the slit, a handle cutter having a handle portion having a slide groove and a V-shaped blade that is inserted into the guide rail and causes the V-shaped blade to reciprocate within the slit and the concave groove, a receiving container having locking springs attached to both ends of the container and inserted into the frame via the lower opening, and a rubber magnet juxtaposed to the upper outer surface of the rear wall with a portion of it attached thereto.
This opening cutter is characterized in that the receiving container inserted into the frame is locked and held in place by the locking spring to prevent it from falling out, and the receiving container can be removed and attached by simply pulling it downward, and the detached receiving container can be inserted into the frame by simply inserting it into the lower opening.

[The invention described in claim 2]
2. The cutter according to claim 1, wherein the cover is hinged to the hinge using an adhesive tape.

[The invention described in claim 3]
3. An opening cutter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the vertical dimension of the rear wall is longer than the vertical dimension of the front wall so that, when the receiving container is inserted into the frame, the opening edge of the receiving container slides against the inner surface of the rear wall.

[The invention described in claim 4]
4. The opening cutter according to claim 3, wherein the width of the guide rail at the center portion is narrowed so that the clamping force of the guide rail against the handle cutter is strong even at the center portion of the rail.

[The invention described in claim 5]
An opening cutter as described in any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, when installed on a gently curved wall surface of a magnetic body, the unattached portion of the rubber magnet is bent so that almost the entire rubber magnet is attracted to the wall surface.

[The invention described in claim 6],
An opening cutter as described in any one of claims 3 to 4, characterized in that, when installed on a gently curved wall surface of a magnetic body, the unattached portion of the rubber magnet is bent so that almost the entire rubber magnet is attracted to the wall surface.

The receiving container can be easily attached and detached, the handle cutter can slide stably, and the use of adhesive tape for the hinge of the lid simplifies assembly and reduces manufacturing costs, while the wall-mounted design does not take up valuable space on the kitchen counter.

Furthermore, the comfortable feel of being able to instantly open packaging bags and the convenience of not scattering scraps are kind to working housewives, elderly people with weakened eyesight or grip strength, or people who cannot use their dominant hand and have difficulty opening them, and the unprecedented enjoyment of opening bags is also expected to have the effect of relieving mild stress.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entirety of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA showing the internal structure of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the rear wall of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a front view showing another embodiment of the handle cutter constituting a part of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a handle cutter forming a part of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a usage state of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the opening cutter 1 of the present invention is configured as a wall-mounted type and includes main elements such as a frame 2, a lid 3, a guide rail 4, a handle cutter 5, a receiving container 6, and rubber magnets 7, 7.

The frame 2, which is the base of the present invention, is formed in a horizontal rectangle in plan view by the front, rear, left and right side walls, and is about 80 mm high, 240 mm wide, and 50 mm deep, penetrating vertically. In front of the flat upper opening 20, i.e., on the upper edge of the front wall 21, a groove 21a with a cross section of about 2 mm wide and about 10 mm deep is cut vertically, leaving both ends unopened. In addition, an auxiliary plate 25 is attached to the upper edge of the rear wall 22 and the upper opening 20, blocking about 1/4 of the upper opening 20. On the other hand, the lower opening 26 has a step due to the vertical dimension of the rear wall 22 being longer than the vertical dimension of the front wall 21 (ratio of about 2:1), and this step is connected by the lower edges of the side walls 23 and 24 being cut in a curved shape.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inside of the frame 2 has a step 21b in the middle of the front wall 21, an upper part is about 8 mm thick to provide a space for the concave groove 21a, and a lower part is formed by the face walls 21, 22, 23, and 24 to form a horizontally rectangular hollow. This step 21b serves as a stopper for the inserted receiving container, but the step 21b may be replaced by a plurality of protrusions (not shown) to serve as the stopper. The inner corner of the upper edge of the front wall 21 is cut out in a fan-shaped cross section so that the cut off piece B does not come into close contact with it. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, a protruding edge 22a is formed on the outer periphery of the rear wall 22, and is provided so as to be flat with the thickness of the rubber magnets 7, 7 described later in order to stabilize the installed frame 2. Near both corners of the protruding edge 22a, there are provided hook holes 22b, 22b for mounting screws when the frame 2 is installed on a non-magnetic wall.

In addition, by reducing the depth dimension of the frame 2, it is possible to make it thin and less protruding when attached to the door (magnetic surface) of a refrigerator. By making the frame 2 thin, problems caused by packing in other parts and members do not occur. In addition, when molding the frame 2, the integral formation of the auxiliary plate 25 and the frame 2 and the thicknesses of the face walls 21, 22, 23, 24, etc. can be appropriately designed by the manufacturer, taking into consideration cost and performance.

The lid 3 is hinged to the upper opening 20 so as to be freely opened and closed, and presses and clamps the packaging bag B. As shown in Fig. 3, the thickness of the rectangular plate material is matched to the thickness of the auxiliary plate 25, and the periphery is matched to the periphery of the upper opening 20. About 4 mm inside from the tip 3a of the lid 3, a slit 30 overlapping and communicating with the concave groove 21a is formed with a gap of about 1 mm along the longitudinal direction. The material of the lid 3 is preferably synthetic resin, but since its surface is smooth and the clamped packaging bag B is likely to slip, a thin rubber-based anti-slip material 8 (see Fig. 2) is attached only to the back surface (elongated portion) of the tip 3a to prevent the movement of the clamped packaging bag B by friction.

Furthermore, support members 31, 32 of a required shape with a thickness of about 8 mm and a length of about 30 mm are placed facing the upper surfaces of both ends (not penetrated) of the slit 30, and the tips of the support members 31, 32 are aligned with the tip part 3a, and the outsides of the support members 31, 32 are aligned with the side parts 3c, 3d, and are adhesively fixed to both ends of the slit 30 (see FIG. 2). At positions 8 to 10 mm above the lower parts of the support members 31, 32, axial holes 31a, 31b and axial holes 32a, 32b perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support members 31, 32 are drilled in parallel with a required interval, and the center points between the axial holes 31a, 31b and 32a, 32b are provided so as to coincide with the extension line of the slit 30. Even when the cover body 3 and the support members 31, 32 are integrally formed, the center points between the axial holes are provided so as to coincide with the extension line of the slit 30.

The guide rails 4 are made by cutting a pair of stainless steel rods with a diameter of about 2.5 mm to the same dimension as the longitudinal direction of the cover body 3, and gently curving them around the center of each. The guide rails 4 are bridged between the shaft holes 31a and 32a, and between the shaft holes 31b and 32b, with the protruding portions facing each other, and the end 4b is fixed to the shaft hole 32a, and the end 4d is fixed to the shaft hole 32b, respectively, so that it cannot rotate or move left or right. When the handle cutter 5, which will be described later, is attached or detached from the center of the guide rail 4, the handle cutter 5 pushes the guide rail 4 apart to move the end 4a, 4c slightly left or right, so that the end 4a, 4c can slide freely along the shaft holes 31a and 31b.

As an example of the method for immobilizing the ends 4b and 4d, the inner diameter of the shaft holes 32a and 32b is expanded from the outside to about 2/3 of the inside to provide a space for receiving the ends 4b and 4d, and the guide rails 4 with the tips of the ends 4b and 4d flattened are inserted from the shaft holes 32a and 31a and from the shaft holes 32b to the shaft holes 31b, respectively, and the ends 4b and 4d are fixed by injecting a hardener into the shaft holes 32a and 32b with the protruding parts facing each other. This fixing method is one example and is not limited to this. Note that when fixing is performed, it is either the ends 4a or 4b or the ends 4c and 4d.

In addition, the aforementioned required spacing is the spacing between axial holes 31a and 31b and axial holes 32a and 32b that are drilled parallel to the support members 31 and 32 so that when the handle cutter 5 inserted into the guide rail 4 is abutted against the support member 31 or support member 32 and moved back and forth and left and right, the handle cutter 5 slides smoothly against the guide rail 4 without any rattling.

A guide rail 4 is bridged along the slit 30, and the handle cutter 5 is inserted into the guide rail 4 to provide the lid 3 with a cutting mechanism C. The lid 3 has an adhesive tape 9 attached along the contact point between the rear end 3b and the auxiliary plate 25, and is hinged so as to be freely opened and closed to the upper opening 20. To enable the hinge with the adhesive tape 9, the auxiliary plate 25 is attached to the upper edge of the rear wall 22 and the rear part of the upper opening 20 to move the hinge position of the lid 3 forward, and the plate thickness of the auxiliary plate 25 and the lid 3 is made flat to reduce the load on the hinge member, thereby enabling the hinge with the adhesive tape 9.

By making it possible to hinge the lid 3 with this adhesive tape 9 (except for paper), the assembly of the present invention can be simplified, manufacturing costs can be reduced, and a smart appearance without hinges can be achieved. However, if the hinged portion between the auxiliary plate 25 and the lid 3 is bent in a V-shape or an inverted V-shape or has a step, the restoring force of the adhesive tape 9 (which becomes flat) will come into play, making it easy for the lid 3 to peel off or slip out of place, making it unsuitable for hinged attachment of the lid 3 with the adhesive tape 9.

As shown in Fig. 6, the handle cutter 5 has a similar form to the sliding body known in Patent Document 1, and is composed of a handle portion 5a, slide grooves 5b, 5b, and a V-shaped blade 5c, and is provided so as to be slidable within the guide rail 4. The handle portion 5a is about the size of an eraser, and the shape is free as long as the upper part is easy to pick up. In the case of this handle portion 5a, it is made to have a shape that is easy to form symmetrically in the front, back, left and right, and any image may be printed on the surface of the handle portion 5a to make it easy to distinguish the front and back of the V-shaped blade 5c. Also, as shown in Fig. 5, the handle portion 50a may be formed to imitate the outline of a pet animal or the like, and a facial expression image L that matches this handle portion 50a may be printed to prepare a cute handle cutter 50.

The slide grooves 5b, 5b are V-shaped grooves cut horizontally and parallel to each other, sandwiching the front and rear of the lower part of the handle portion 5a, and the guide rail 4 is fitted and clamped in this V-shaped groove, so that the handle cutter 5 can slide left and right within the guide rail 4. The depth of the slide grooves 5b, 5b is appropriate to fit about half the diameter of the guide rail 4, and if the sliding contact between the guide rail 4 and the slide grooves 5b, 5b is cramped when the handle cutter 5 inserted into the guide rail 4 is moved toward the support members 31, 32, the slide grooves 5b, 5b can be cut to finely adjust. If the slide grooves 5b, 5b are U-shaped or concave grooves, it becomes difficult to determine the amount of cutting when finely adjusting.

The V-shaped blade 5c is a double-edged blade with a blade tip angle of 90° having a front and back surface (see FIG. 5), which is vertically disposed on the center line in the longitudinal direction of the bottom surface 5d of the grip portion 5a and protrudes about 10 mm. This V-shaped blade 5c is reciprocable within the interior where the slit 30 and the concave groove 21a overlap and communicate with each other, and is structured so that the blade is not exposed when it cuts into the opening portion of the clamped packaging bag B, and at the same time, the bottom surface 5d slides along the circumferential surface of the slit 30.

In addition, since the handle cutter 5 is attached and detached at the narrow central area of the guide rail 4, a gradient that gradually narrows toward the bottom surface 5d is provided on the front surface 5e and rear surface 5f below the handle portion 5a (see Figure 6), and further, the four corners around the lower periphery are cut away to narrow both sides of the bottom surface 5d, making it easier to insert into the guide rail 4.

When inserting the handle cutter 5 into the center of the guide rail 4, the handle cutter 5 is pushed in at an angle of about 45 degrees to the side, and at the same time, the tip of the V-shaped blade 5c is inserted into the slit 30 and the handle cutter 5 is returned to 0 degrees, so that the guide rail 4 fits into the slide grooves 5b, 5b and is inserted and fitted. When removing the handle cutter 5, it can be removed by tilting it at about 45 degrees to the side in the same place and pulling it out, and it can also be used as a normal cutter.

The receiving container 6 is known from Patent Document 1 as a container for storing scraps B. As shown in Fig. 2, the receiving container 6 is configured such that a flexible sheet member 61 is thermocompression-bonded to the U-shaped periphery of U-shaped side plates 60, 60 that face each other with a required gap, and locking springs 62, 62 are fixed to the upper outer sides of the U-shaped side plates 60, 60, and the receiving container 6 is inserted into the frame 2 through the lower opening 26. The locking springs 62, 62 serve to prevent the receiving container 6 inserted into the hollow formed by the vertical face walls 21, 22, 23, 24 from falling out and to hold the receiving container 6 in place, and are formed by curving the center of a rectangular thin plate, providing fixing parts 62a, 62a at one end, and forming the other end in a curved shape. As the spring material, PET resin material or a metal material having elasticity is preferable, and a locking member (not shown) formed in a minor arc shape (pan bottom) made of rubber or the like is also possible. The locking method is not limited as long as it can prevent the receiving container 6 from falling off and enable the receiving container 6 to be pulled out.

Since the sheet member 61 of the receiving container 6 is thin and the opening edges 61a, 61b (see FIG. 2) are bent outward, when the receiving container 6 is inserted into the frame 2, the opening edge 61a is inserted under the lower edge of the front wall 21 and the opening edge 61b is inserted by sliding it against the inner surface of the rear wall 22. Therefore, as described above, the vertical dimension of the rear wall 22 is longer than the vertical dimension of the front wall 21. If the lower opening (not shown) were flat, the opening edges 61a, 61b of the receiving container 6 would come into contact with the lower edge of the lower opening, making insertion difficult, and even if a resin-molded receiving container (not shown) with an opening edge that does not bend is used, it would be inserted blindly into the downward-facing lower opening 26.

As described above, the receiving container 6 inserted into the frame 2 through the lower opening 26 is prevented from falling off the vertical face walls by the locking springs 62, 62 and is held in the frame 2, so that the receiving container 6 can be removed simply by pulling it downward, and the removed receiving container 6 can be inserted into the frame 2 simply by inserting it into the lower opening 26. Thus, the main objective of the present application, that is, easy attachment and detachment of the receiving container 6, is achieved. Note that a gap of about 2 mm is provided between the face wall 23 and the U-shaped side plate 60 and between the face wall 24 and the U-shaped side plate 60, and the receiving container 6 can be prevented from falling off even if the locking springs 62, 62 are attached inside the face walls 23, 24 instead of on the receiving container 6 side.

The use of rubber magnets is widely known, and as shown in Fig. 4, the plate-shaped rubber magnets 7, 7 are juxtaposed and attached to the outer surface of the rear wall, so that they can be installed on the magnetic wall surface E (see Fig. 3) of a refrigerator or the like. However, since some refrigerators have door surfaces that are gently curved, the upper edges of the rubber magnets 7, 7 are abutted against the protruding edge 22a, and the opposing portions X, X (about 40%) are attached, while the portions Y, Y (about 60%) are left unattached. Therefore, by bending the unattached portions, almost the entire rubber magnets 7, 7 are attracted to the curved door surface.

In addition, the rubber magnets 7, 7 have a tendency to slide sideways, and it is expected that the frame body 2 will shift downward from the adsorption location if the pressing force when the handle cutter 5 slides is too strong. As a countermeasure, at least two pieces of double-sided tape 10 cut to an appropriate diameter can be prepared and attached to the surface of the X, X parts, thereby preventing the rubber magnets 7, 7 from shifting downward.

As described above, in this embodiment, the best mode of the opening cutter 1 has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the sheet member 61 of the receiving container 6 may be made transparent or semi-transparent so that the scraps B can be seen. In addition, convenience can be further improved by installing the cutter on the door of a refrigerator, which is the center of the flow line in the kitchen.

When using the present invention, it is attached to the wall at about chest height, the packaging bag B is sandwiched between the lid 3, and the handle cutter 5 is pressed and slid (in the direction of the outlined arrow) to open it. If the user is unable to use his/her dominant hand, the bag can be opened by sliding the handle cutter 5 with the palm of the hand, and the accumulated scraps D can be discarded simply by pulling out the receiving container 6. In addition, by attaching and detaching the handle cutter 5, it is possible to cut tape or string used to bind vegetables, etc., and film-like lids that are difficult to peel off, tape used to seal packaging boxes, etc.

1 Opening cutter 2 Frame body 20 Upper opening 21 Front wall 21a Concave groove 22 Rear wall 25 Auxiliary plate 26 Lower opening 3 Lid body 3a Tip portion 3b Rear end portion 30 Slit 31 Support member 32 Support member 4 Guide rail 5 Handle cutter 5a Handle portion 5b, 5b Slide groove 5c V-shaped blade 5d Bottom portion 6 Receiving container 60, 60 U-shaped side plate 61 Sheet member 62, 62 Locking spring 7, 7 Rubber magnet 8 Anti-slip 9 Adhesive tape 10 Double-sided tape B Packaging bag C Cutting mechanism D Scrap E Steel wall surface L Facial expression image

Claims (6)

In an opening device having a container for storing scraps,
A frame body having front, rear, left and right face walls with a flat upper opening that is rectangular in plan view and has a concave groove at the front and an auxiliary plate at the rear, and a lower opening that is stepped to create a hollow structure on the inside;
a lid body having a slit overlapping with and communicating with the concave groove along the front longitudinal direction of the rectangular plate material, the lid body being hinged to the upper opening so as to be freely opened and closed;
a pair of stainless steel rods are stretched across support members fixed to both ends of the slit to form a guide rail bridging the slit;
a handle cutter having a slide groove and a V-shaped blade inserted into the guide rail and causing the V-shaped blade to reciprocate within the slit and the concave groove;
a receiving container having locking springs attached to both ends of the container and inserted into the frame through the lower opening;
A rubber magnet arranged in parallel with the upper outer surface of the rear wall and partially attached thereto;
Equipped with
This opening cutter is characterized in that the receiving container inserted into the frame is prevented from falling out by the locking spring, and the receiving container can be removed by simply pulling it downward, and the detached receiving container can be inserted into the frame by simply inserting it into the lower opening. 2. The cutter for opening according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive tape is used as a member for hingedly fastening the lid body. 3. An opening cutter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the vertical dimension of the rear wall is longer than the vertical dimension of the front wall so that, when the receiving container is inserted into the frame, the opening edge of the receiving container slides against the inner surface of the rear wall. 4. The opening cutter according to claim 3, wherein the width of the guide rail at the center portion is narrowed so that the clamping force of the guide rail against the handle cutter is strong even at the center portion of the rail. An opening cutter as described in any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, when installed on a gently curved wall surface of a magnetic body, the unattached portion of the rubber magnet is bent so that almost the entire rubber magnet is attracted to the wall surface. An opening cutter as described in any one of claims 3 to 4, characterized in that, when installed on a gently curved wall surface of a magnetic body, the unattached portion of the rubber magnet is bent so that almost the entire rubber magnet is attracted to the wall surface.

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