Carpet Cutter Blade Holder

Abstract

The invention relates to cutter blade holders and cutter blades for use in the manufacture of tufted carpets. The conventional strip like blades slide into the holders and are rigidly located therein by raised projections in the surface of the blade located in slots in the holder.

Description

The invention relates to cutter blades and holders for use in machines for cutting yarn in the manufacture of tufted carpets.

It is an object of the invention to provide a blade and holder in which the blade is adapted to be quickly and accurately replaced in the holder.

According to the invention there is provided a holder for retaining one or more blades, in which holder there is provided for each blade two grooves for slidably retaining a blade in the holder and abutment means provided on the holder and blade to restrict the sliding movement of the blade in the holder when the blade is correctly positioned.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a blade;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the holder; and

FIG. 3 shows a perpendicular view of a modified holder.

The blade 1 as shown in FIG. 1 has a cutting edge 2 at one end, a hole 3 at the other end and two flanges 4 and 4' near the perforated end of the blade.

The flanges 4 and 4' are stamped out of the sides of the blade 1 and are angled with respect to the blade by a determined amount.

The hole 3 is to enable a hooked tool to be inserted through the hole in the blade to facilitate its removal from the holder 5.

To insert the blade 1 into the holder 5, the blade is inserted into the grooves 6 and 6', the cutting edge 2 first, in the direction of the arrow 7 until the abutment or flange 4 is engaged in the slot 8 thus rigidly locating the blade in the holder.

When the blade 1 is inserted into the holder 5 the blade is flexed so that the abutment 4 passes over the shoulder 9, thus when the blade 1 is unflexed the abutment 4 is located in the slot 8 thus preventing any longitudinal movement of the blade.

A ramp 14 is provided so that the blade is simply pushed into the holder until the abutment 4 is located in the slot 8. This ramp 14 lessens the possibility of a person not inserting a blade to its fullest extent into a holder.

The blade is also firmly held at one end of the holder by the holder gripping the edges of the blade. This gripping action is effected by the blade forcing the grooves 6 and 6' apart so that the holder is tensioned at 10 thus causing the grooves to grip part of the longitudinal edges of the blade.

The tension effect between the holder grooves 6 and 6' at 10 is effected by bore 11 and slot 12 provided between the grooves. The grooves are slightly tapered towards each other so that the distance between the grooves is slightly less than the width of the blade. Thus when the blade 1 is inserted between the grooves 6 and 6' the grooves at 10 are forced apart, against the spring action of the holder 5, thus firmly gripping part of the longitudinal edges of the blade 1.

To remove the blade from the holder a hooked tool is simply inserted into the hole 3, the blade is flexed so that the abutment 4 is able to pass over the shoulder 9 thus allowing the blade to be withdrawn from the grooves 6 and 6'.

A groove 13 may be provided in the end of the holder so as to provide a shoulder against which a tool may rest and act as a lever to lift the blade out of the slot 8 prior to the withdrawal of the blade.

As shown in FIG. 3 a second slot 8', with a shoulder 9' may be provided so that the blade may be withdrawn in the holder to a position where it is nonfunctional that is to say in a noncutting position, without removing the blade from the holder.

The forward edge of the slot 8' is provided with a sloping ramp 15 so that the blade when it is located in the slot 8' can be pushed easily forwards in the direction of arrow 7 to locate it securely in its cutting position at 8.

A second blade may be disposed on the underside of the holder in a similar manner to that hereinbefore described.

Claims

I claim:

1. A cutter comprising an elongated strip blade having a rear end provided with a transverse projection and a forward end provided with a sharpened cutting edge, and an elongated blade holder for releasably but fixedly receiving therein said blade, said blade holder having a support surface adapted to support said blade, said blade holder also having wall means extending longitudinally along the opposite edges of said holder from a point located adjacent the forward end of said holder to a point located intermediate the forward and rearward ends of the holder, said wall means defining a pair of opposed grooves adjacent the forward end of the holder for slideably receiving the opposed edges of the strip blade when the blade is inserted from the rearward end of the holder to thus locate and hold the strip blade adjacent the blade support surface, said holder also having a recess formed therein between the rear end of said grooves and the rearward end of said holder, said recess being formed at least in part in said blade support surface for receiving therein said transverse projection when the cutting edge formed on the forward end of the blade projects from the forward end of the holder, said recess being defined by opposed longitudinally spaced walls adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of said projection for positively preventing movement of said blade relative to said holder in the longitudinal direction thereof when said projection is disposed within said recess.

2. A cutter according to claim 1, wherein the rearward end of said holder is provided with further wall means defining a cam ramp for causing resilient deformation of at least a part of said strip blade during insertion of the strip blade into the holder, whereby said projection is then resiliently snapped into said recess when properly aligned therewith.

3. A cutter according to claim 1, wherein said holder includes means associated with said wall means adjacent the forward end of said holder for resiliently and firmly gripping the opposite edges of said blade adjacent the forward end thereof.

4. A cutter according to claim 1, wherein said holder has a second recess formed therein longitudinally spaced between said first-mentioned recess and the rearward end of said holder, said second recess being aligned with and substantially identical to said first-mentioned recess and being adapted to receive therein said transverse projection when the blade is longitudinally slideably moved to a position wherein the cutting edge is in a retracted position wherein it is disposed within said holder.

5. A cutter according to claim 1, wherein the holder is provided with substantially identical structure on opposite sides thereof, and wherein there is provided two substantially identical strip blades disposed substantially parallel to each other and mounted on opposite sides of said holder.

6. A cutter according to claim 1, wherein said holder has a pair of substantially parallel and elongated slots formed therein adjacent the opposite longitudinally extending edges thereof, said slots extending inwardly from the forward end of said holder and terminating at a point spaced forwardly from the rear ends of said grooves, said slots causing the forward ends of said wall means to be connected to the remainder of said holder in a cantilever manner, and said wall means as extending longitudinally along the opposite sides of said holder converging toward one another in a direction toward the forward end of said holder, whereby the cantilever portions of said wall means are resiliently movable to resiliently but firmly engage the opposite edges of the blade to hold same in position within the holder.

7. A cutter according to claim 1, wherein said strip blade comprises an elongated plate-like member having a pair of transverse projections provided adjacent the rearward end thereof, said transverse projections being disposed adjacent the opposite longitudinal edges of said blade and projecting laterally outwardly in opposite directions, whereby said blade can be inserted into said holder with either side thereof constituting the upper surface of the blade.