US2437433A - Cable bending pliers - Google Patents

Description

March 9; 1948. E, P, MC NAI 2,437,433

CABLE BENDING PLIERS Filed April 12/1946,

Arrows/15y:

Patented Mar. 9, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,437,433 7 CABLE BENDING PLIERS Eric P. McNairyMattoon, 111.

Application April 12, 1946, SeriaI'No. 661,580

This invention relates to an improved bending and cutting tool and especially to a tool for bending and cutting flexible articles such as cables, wires and the electrical conduit commonly referred to as BX.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simplified tool for accomplishing the bending and cutting of such things as BX and the like.

It is also an object of this'invention to provide an economical tool which is easy to make and easy to use.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a tool for the bending and cutting of BX with means for first bending the BX leaving exposed a section of the flexible metal wrapping around the BX and with cutting means for then shipping the exposed section and finally with additional flat cutting means for trimming the rough edges or cutting through the wires running through the BX conduit.

The tool of this invention is much simpler and easier to use than any tool on the market used for a similar purpose. All those presently on the market are complicated in structure and involve complicated means for simultaneously cutting and bending the flexible cable and if the two means are not properly adjusted, the combined bending and cutting operation will not readily" occur.

All the tools presently on the market are supposed to bend the cable and cut the cable in one operation. This has proved unsatisfactory because the tool is hard to keep adjusted and because the present tools tend to flatten and smash adjacent sections of the cable which are not cut. Furthermore, such tools weigh several times as much as my tool and are too heavy to be readily carried around by the electrician. The present tool is light in weight, can be readily carried around by the workman and overcomes the objectionable features of the tools of the prior art.

The general type of my tool is the pivoted cross lever type which is placed in closed position preparatory to bending the cable and placed in open position preparatory to cutting.

1 Claim. (Cl. 81--15) Other advantages and objects of my invention will become apparent by referring to the drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tool, Figure 2 shows the closed position of the tool for inserting a BX cable preparatory to bending book shoulder portion and a bearing portion. The bearing portion or end is fastened to the lever arm I by means of the nut 4. The opposite end of the pivotal means is in the form of the book 5 which is larger than the pivotal portion 3 thus providing a shoulder which bears against the shoulder ll of the lever arm 2. A similar hook 6 is provided and the hook 6 is fixedly attached by welding or other means to the shoulder ll of arm 2 at point I. The two hooks 5 and 6 are in parallel aligmnent when the tool is biased in closed position in order that a flexible cable, like the ,BX cable 8, may be inserted in both of the hooks preparatory to bending or breaking 'as will be hereinafter described:

The jaws or cutting end of the tool are closed when the tool is in position as shown in Figure 2. The jaws 9 and III are provided with straight cutting edges l I and with curved cutting edges l2 such that when the tool is closed the curved cutting edges l2 overlap as shown in Figure 2.-

The device works as follows for bending and cutting the flexible metal wrapping from the section of BX cable leaving exposed the wires l3 which run through the cable. The cable 8 is placed in the U-shaped hooks 5 and 6 as shown in Figure 2. It should be noted that one arm or leg of the hooks, namely the arm which is attached to the levers, is longer than the other arm leaving a space between the shoulder l1 and the ends I4 of the hooks in order that the cable 8 may be inserted as shown in Figure 2. The tool is shown in a position of Figure 2 preparatory for bending the cable and is in the normally biased closed position. In Figure 3 the tool has been opened practically to its maximum extent which bends the cable 8 in the form of a U thereby separating the flexible metallic wrapping l5 leaving an exposed section [6 which is not only exposed but is separate from the rest of the metallic wrapping although it is not yet severed or cut in two. After the cable is bent in the form shown in Figure 3, the tool is partially closed and then the cable 8 of Figure 3 can be readily removed from the hooks. The tool can now be used as a cutting instrument. It can be opened wide enough to take in the exposed section [6 and the curved cutting edges 12, which come to points as shown in Figure 1, can be used to snip the section l6 and therefore a portion ofthe flexible cable 8 can be removed leaving the insulated wires l3 exposed. The flat cutting edges H besides serving their normal function for cutting in a tool of this general kind, serve two special functions in working with flexible cable like BX. The

aeszaee flat cutting edges II can be used to trim any jagged edges of the snipped portion l6. Further- I more, the wires l3 after a portion of the BX cable has been removed, may be cut by the flat portions I I. Therefore, I have provided a tool having a particular cutting pair of jaws which provides a complete unitary tool for any work that has to be done in regard to cutting and preparing BX cable for wiring installations.

The levers l and 2 which also serve as handles up to the pivotal point or as a matter of fact up to the jaw portions of the cutting edges H and 12 may be of any suitable material such as steel, iron and the like as long as it provides sufiicient strength. It may be made by drop forging, casting and the like. The jaws 9 and II] are preferably of heat treated steel which is customarily used for providing good cutting edges. The U-shaped hooks 5 and 6 can very Well be made of the same material as the levers I and 2 or may be made of other suit-able metal which is sufficiently strong for the purpose. The type of metal used in this tool is well known by experienced tool makers.

I claim as my invention:

In a tool of the pivoted, cross-lever type, pivotal means about which the levers pivot, said pivotal means fixedly attached to one lever and journalled in the other lever to provide for pivoting, each of said levers having a shoulder adjacent the pivot point, a first U-shaped hook in which one side of the U is attached to said pivotal means and extends outwardly from the shoulder of the other lever, the other open side of said hook extending inwardly toward the shoulder of said other lever, the other open side of said hook being shorter than the side attached to the pivot thus providing a gap between the open side of the U-shaped' hook and the outer face of said other lever, a similar second hook attached to the outer face of the shoulder portion of said other lever

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