WO2007139273A1

WO2007139273A1 - Automatic pruning shears machine

Info

Publication number: WO2007139273A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/000546
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gwang Jin Son
Original assignee: Kum Oh Electronics Co., Ltd
Priority date: 2006-06-01
Filing date: 2007-02-01
Publication date: 2007-12-06
Also published as: KR100645595B1

Abstract

The invention is about an automatic pruning shears machine which delivers mechanical power by means of a cam roller and a gear and can cut big branches. The invention is comprising of a driving gear which is rotatably mounted on one side surface of a bed; a following gear which is mounted on the bed perpendicularly with the driving gear and is rotated by the driving gear; a cam roller which is mounted to the following gear and rotates integrally with the following gear; a fixed blade whose base portion is mounted on the bed and whose knife edge is formed in the front one side edge thereof; a movable blade which is hinge-coupled with the fixed blade and whose knife edge is formed in the front one side edge thereof, in which the rear portion of the movable blade is formed of a bar-shaped portion so that the side surface of the movable blade contacts the cam roller; and a return spring to pressurize the bar-shaped portion of the movable blade to contact the cam roller.

Description

AUTOMATIC PRUNING SHEARS MACHINE

Technical Field

[1] TECHNICAL HELD

[2] The present invention relates to a pruning shears machine, and more particularly, to an automatic pruning shears machine which delivers mechanical power by means of a cam roller and a gear and can cut big branches using the curves of blades with one curvature.

[3]

[4] BACKGROUND ART

[5] Generally, pruning shears, pruning saws, pruning knives, etc., are usually used when pruning buds or sprouts of fruit trees, trimming forests and flowering grasses, or branching various kinds of fruit trees or ornamental trees. However, since the pruning shears, pruning saws, pruning knives, etc., very much require the manpower of operators, much time should not only be consumed but also a very hard work should be performed with difficulty, to accordingly cause a work efficiency to be degraded.

[6] This inventor already filed Korean Utility Model Application No. 2006-0005557 on

February 22, 2006 which were registered on May 12, 2006 as Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-416812, entitled "Automatic pruning shears machine" in order to solve the conventional disadvantages. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic pruning shears machine is comprised of a blade portion cutting branches of trees and an operating portion which automatically operates the blade portion. The blade portion is comprised of a support portion 11, a fixed blade 13 which is connected with the upper portion of the front portion of the support portion 11 by means of a bracket, and a movable blade 14 which is hinge-coupled in the fixed blade 13, in which the curvature of the blade curve is doubled. The operating portion is comprised of a motor which is connected to the rear bottom of the support portion 11 and is operated with an external power source, a rotating disc 15 mounted on top of the support portion 11, an operating rod 12 whose one end is connected to the one edge side of the rotating disc 15 and whose other end is connected to the rear end of the movable blade 14, and a gearing power transmission device which is connected with the rear side of the support portion 11 and delivers the power of the motor to the rotating disc 15. In the case of the movable blade 14, the curvature R2 of the blade in the base portion of the movable blade 14, that is, a hinge coupled portion between the movable blade 14 and the support portion 11, is greater than the curvature Rl of the front portion of the movable blade 14.

[7] When an electric power switch is turned on to operate the motor, in the case of the automatic pruning shears machine having the above-described configuration, the rotating disc 15 is rotated through a planetary reducer. In that way, the rotating disc 15 rotates the movable blade 14 through the operating rod 12.

[8] In order to cut the branches with the automatic pruning shears machine, an electric power source is firstly prepared and the electric power switch is turned on at the state where a tree branch or twig is positioned in the inner side where the movable blade 14 and the fixed blade 13 meet. The movable blade 14 is rotated toward the fixed blade 13 to then cut the branch. However, since the automatic pruning shears machine has a movable blade driving mechanism of a double link by a hinge-coupling between the operating rod 2 and a base protrusion 16 of the movable blade 14, many losses of the power have been caused by the double link.

[9] Moreover, there is a problem that the automatic pruning shears machine is unable to cut the branch, since the angular velocity of the rotating disc 15 does not coincide with that of the base protrusion 16 of the movable blade 14 due to the hinge-coupling double link.

[10] Moreover, there is a problem that when the pruning shears machine performs a cutting operation after the branch is positioned at the inside between the movable blade 14 and the fixed blade 13, the blades should be inserted into the branch while making a wound on the branch at a time. However, since the curvature Rl of the front portion of the movable blade 14 is smaller than the curvature R2 of the rear portion of the movable blade 14, the branch is slipped toward the front side of the blade whose curvature is small at the state where the blade has not been sufficiently inserted into the branch. Thus, there is a problem that the blade does not cut well a branch whose diameter is relatively thick. Moreover, the automatic pruning shears machine has a problem that a cutting power focuses on a hinge and thus the hinge is damaged, during cutting a branch.

[H]

[12] DISCLORURE OF THE INVENTION

[13] To solve the above conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic pruning shears machine which can cut branches or twigs automatically in which

[14] a movable blade is moved using a cam roller and a driving gear to thereby transfer power more reliably, and the blade curve of the movable blade is made to have a single curvature so that the branches or twigs are not slipped during cutting, and also manpower is not used but an electric power source of a separate back-carrying type rechargeable battery is used.

[15] To accomplish the above object of the present invention, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic pruning shears machine comprising: a driving gear which is rotatably mounted on one side surface of a bed; a following gear which is mounted on the bed perpendicularly with the driving gear and is rotated by the driving gear; a cam roller which is mounted to the following gear and rotates integrally with the following gear; a fixed blade whose base portion is mounted on the bed and whose knife edge is formed in the front one side edge thereof; a movable blade which is hinge-coupled with the fixed blade and whose knife edge is formed in the front one side edge thereof, in which the rear portion of the movable blade is formed of a bar-shaped portion so that the side surface of the movable blade contacts the cam roller; and a return spring to pressurize the bar-shaped portion of the movable blade to contact the cam roller.

[16] Moreover, the knife edge of the movable blade is formed of a single curvature.

[17] Moreover, a planetary reducer is further provided between the driving gear and the motor.

[18] Moreover, the electric power supplied to the motor is a separate back-carrying type rechargeable battery.

[19]

[20] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[21] The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[22] FIG. 1 is a configurational plan view showing a conventional automatic pruning shears machines machine;

[23] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an automatic pruning shears machines machine according to the present invention;

[24] FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing a blade portion and a driving portion in the automatic pruning shears machines machine according to the present invention;

[25] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a blade portion and a driving portion in the automatic pruning shears machine according to the present invention; and

[26] FIGS. 5 through 7 are plan views illustrating operational states of a blade portion and a driving portion in the automatic pruning shears machine according to the present invention, respectively.

[27]

[28] BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[29] Hereinbelow, an automatic pruning shears machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[30] An automatic pruning shears machine according to an embodiment of the present invention is usually used when pruning buds or sprouts of fruit trees, trimming forests and flowering grasses, or branching various kinds of fruit trees or ornamental trees. The automatic pruning shears machine includes a blade portion which can cut branches of trees, an operating portion which automatically operates the blade portion, and a back-carrying type rechargeable unit supplying electric power to the operating portion. The automatic pruning shears machine also includes a cover accommodating the con- figurational components of the operating portion and a case containing a planetary reducer and a motor.

[31] Referring to FIGS. 2 through 4, a driving gear 36 is mounted on one side of a r^eshaped bed 37. The rotary shaft of the driving gear 36 is formed to penetrate one side of the bed 37 so as to be driven with a planetary reducer 31. A following gear 34 which is arranged perpendicularly with respect to the driving gear 36 and is rotatably engaged with to the driving gear 36 is provided in the intermediate portion of the other side surface of the bed 37. The rotary shaft of the following gear 34 penetrates the bed 37. Respective bearings are installed at the rotary shafts of the following gear 34 and the driving gear 36 in order to smoothly perform the rotation of the following gear 34 and the driving gear 36. The driving gear 36 and the following gear 34 are formed of bevel gears, respectively.

[32] The cam roller 35 is mounted at an eccentric location on one side of the following gear 34. The fixed blade 22 is mounted on the front-upper portion of the bed 37. The fixed blade 22 has a hinge shaft groove which is formed in the intermediate portion thereof. The blade portion 20 is formed in the front portion of the hinge shaft groove and a U-shaped bracket is provided in the rear portion thereof. The number of teeth of the following gear 34 is greater than that of the driving gear 36. Accordingly, when a rotational force is delivered from the driving gear 36 to the following gear 34, the rotational speed is reduced.

[33] The movable blade 21 is rotatably combined through the hinge shaft groove in the fixed blade 22. The blade portion 20 is formed in the front portion of the hinge shaft groove and the bar-shaped portion 26 whose lateral surface is formed in a curve and a straight line is formed in the rear portion thereof. The knife edges of the movable blade 21 and the fixed blade 22 are formed of a curve, respectively.

[34] Moreover, a spring 23 is combined between one side of the bar-shaped portion 26 in the movable blade 21 and the inner surface of the cover 38. The spring 23 plays a role of pulling the bar-shaped portion 26 of the movable blade 21 all the time. Thus, the lateral surface of the bar-shaped portion in the movable blade 21 contacts the cam roller 35.

[35] The cover 38 accommodates the driving gear 36, the following gear 34, the cam roller 35, the return spring 23, and he bar-shaped portion 26 of the movable blade 21 among the components forming the operating portion and is coupled with the bed. [36] The operation of the automatic pruning shears machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 through 7. When the driving gear 36 rotates, the following gear 34 going in gear with the driving gear 36 rotates. Thus, the power transmission rotational direction is changed into 90°. When the following gear 34 rotates in this way, the cam roller 35 which is eccentrically fixed to the following gear 34 moves around the following gear shaft. Here, the spring 23 always pulls the bar-shaped portion 26 of the movable blade 21 and thus one side surface formed of a curve and a straight line of the bar-shaped portion 26 maintains to contact the cam roller 35. Therefore, the bar-shaped portion 26 moves up and down with the rotation of the cam roller 35. The movable blade 21 performs a seesaw operation around the hinge shaft groove and performs a scissoring with the up-and-down motion of the bar-shaped portion 26.

[37] While the cam roller 35 moves around the following gear shaft, the movable blade

21 reciprocally rotates within only a constant angular range and performs a scissoring together with the fixed blade 22, by the contact with one side surface of the movable blade 21 and the contraction of the spring 23.

[38] While the automatic pruning shears machine according to the present invention delivers the power more reliably using the cam roller 35 and the driving gear 36, the movable blade 21 operates to cause a less power loss.

[39] Moreover, the curves of knife edges of the movable blade 21 and the fixed blade 22 are extended from the curvature of the base portion as it is. As a result, the movable blade 21 and the fixed blade 22 have a single curvature (R). Therefore, if a branch is positioned at the inner portion between the movable blade 21 and the fixed blade 22 and the movable blade 21 is operated, the knife edge of the movable blade 21 is gradually and sufficiently inserted into the branch from the inside of blade. As a result, the branch is not pushed out due to the insertion of the knife edge into the branch, to thus make a cutting work facilitated to enable a bigger branch to be easily cut. That is, the curves of knife edges of the relatively big curvature in the movable blade 21 and the fixed blade 22 are form of a single curve, to thus bring about a phenomenon that the movable blade 21 pulls and embraces the branch during cutting.

[40] A general planetary reducer 31 is arranged in the rear side of the driving gear 36.

The planetary reducer 31 is connected with the motor 32 and slows down the number of rotations of the motor 32. The planetary reducer 31 delivers the power of the motor 32 to the driving gear 36. The planetary reducer 31 and the motor 32 are accommodated in a case or container. An electric power switch 33 which makes the motor switched on and off, is provided on the case or container. The case or container plays a role of a handle grip.

[41] The general pruning shears machine according to the present invention greatly reduces the high speed rotations of the motor 32 in the planetary reducer 31. In addition, the number of rotations delivered to the driving gear 36 is reduced again between the driving gear 36 and the following gear 34. The movable blade 21 is scissored at a speed like scissor blades of a pair of general pruning scissors, thereby exhibiting a big job torque according to a deceleration, that is, a big shearing force.

[42] The motor 32 is connected to an external rechargeable battery 41 by electric wire.

The rechargeable battery 41 is a back-carrying type which can be formed on a seat back 42 having a suspender. The rechargeable battery 41 includes a charging terminal 43 to enable to charge the rechargeable battery 41 through the charging terminal 43 at the night time or the quiescent time etc. Since the back-carrying type rechargeable battery 41 can be separated, the charging or the keeping is facilitated.

[43] The pruning shears machine according to the present invention uses a cam roller, a gear and a planetary reducer, to thereby slow down the number of rotations and deliver the power and uses one curvature as the curves of the knife edges of a blade portion and uses a back-carrying type rechargeable battery, to therefore cut a bigger branch easily and enable a pruning job to be conveniently performed.

[44] The pruning shears machine according to the present invention slows down the number of rotations of the motor secondarily using a gear and a planetary reducer. Accordingly, the pruning shears machine according to the present invention has the advantage that the power is transferred more reliably and the shearing force increases, to thereby cut a branch whose diameter is thick.

[45] Moreover, the pruning shears machine according to the present invention has the advantage that since the curves of knife edges of the movable blade are formed of one curvature, the branch is not pushed to thereby easily cut a branch whose diameter is thick.

[46] Moreover, the pruning shears machine according to the present invention uses a separate back-carrying type rechargeable battery so as to be moved conveniently. The pruning shears machine according to the present invention uses a power source of the rechargeable battery to thereby automatically cut the branches. As a result, the pruning shears machine according to the present invention has the advantage that operators can work with it on a long-term basis and anyone uses it easily.

[47] Moreover, the pruning shears machine according to the present invention has the advantage that the rechargeable battery is formed of a separate back-carrying type to thereby enable to carry it conveniently and to facilitate to charge it.

[48] However, the protective scope of the present invention is not defined within the detailed description thereof but is defined by the claims to be described later and the technical spirit of the present invention.

Claims

[1] An automatic pruning shears machine comprising: a driving gear which is rotatably mounted on one side surface of a bed; a following gear which is mounted on the bed perpendicularly with the driving gear and is rotated by the driving gear; a cam roller which is mounted to the following gear and rotates integrally with the following gear; a fixed blade whose base portion is mounted on the bed and whose knife edge is formed in the front one side edge thereof; a movable blade which is hinge-coupled with the fixed blade and whose knife edge is formed in the front one side edge thereof, in which the rear portion of the movable blade is formed of a bar-shaped portion so that the side surface of the movable blade contacts the cam roller; and a return spring to pressurize the bar- shaped portion of the movable blade to contact the cam roller.

[2] An automatic pruning shares machine of claim 1, wherein the knife edge of the movable blade is formed of a single curvature.

[3] An automatic pruning shares machine of claim 1 or 2, wherein a planetary reducer is further provided between the driving gear and the motor.

[4] An automatic pruning shares machine of claim 3, wherein the electric power supplied to the motor is a separate back-carrying type rechargeable battery.