Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to an improved nail catcher
for attachment to a nail clipper to provide an improved nail
clipper, of the type which retains nail clippings during the
process of clipping.
Finger and toenail clippers having means for collecting nail
clippings durin8 the clipping process are known. For example,
U.S. Patent 3,855,698 patented December 24, 1974 by K.R. Crosby
provided an enclosed nail clip and an enclosing case having a
reservoir structure for the clipped nails. The clipping lever
was enclosed but had an exposed lever-end accessible for applying
finger pressure thereto to close the clipper blades. The casing
structure p~rovided a concavely-shaped aperture following the
opposing blades providing access to finger ends carrying nails to
be clipped. The enclosure was openable for emptying collected
nail clippings.
U.S. Patent No. 3,997,966 patented December 21, 1976 by
J.J.A. Sertore provided a nail clipper which had upper and lower
handles to facilitate holding the unit and maintaining it in the
desired position. It had cutting jaws on three sides to allow
nail clipping for different and more convenient angles, and a
clipping-receiving receptacle with a removable lid for
surrounding the unit and holding the nail clippings.
U.S. Patent ~o. 3,169,312 patented February 16, 1965 by C.H.
Fink provided a nail guard for mountlng on a nail clipper. The
nail guard possessed sufficient flexibility so as to enable a
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slight outward flexing of the side panels which was sufficient to
allow the positioning of the lower ~aw member between the detents
and the bottom panel. Means were provided for pivotally mounting
the guard on the nail clipper for movement between a first
position where the side panels were positioned on opposite sides
of the space between the ~aw members so as to enclose this space,
and a second position wherein the guard was oriented below the
lower jaw so as to open the space between the jaws, and providing
a barrier for retaining the cut nails within the enclosed space.
U.S. Patent No. 2,970,376 patented February 7, 1961 by C.S.
Kuo provided a nail clipper device including a pair of normally
parallel upper and lower blade members of equal width, a block
integrally connecting one end of the blade members together, the
opposite ends of the blade members being deformed toward each
other and defining cutting edges, and a U-shaped closure member
normally closing the sides of the device between the blade
members. The closure member was slidably mounted on the device,
the closure member together with the blade members and the block
normally defining a storage compartment for storing removed nail
portions.
U.S. Patent No. 3,031,754 patented May 1, 1962 by E.J.
Pocoski provided a nail clipper including opposed elongated
flexible ~aw members, and a single element associated with the
jaw members and consisting of a peripherally continuous
rectangular sleeve of resilient material having aligned openings
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in each of a pair of opposite sides thereof. The sleeve enclosed
the jaw members near the cutting end thereof. The ~aw members
had openings aligned with the openings of the sleeve. During a
cutting stroke, the sleeve flexed with movement of the jaw
members and defined an enclosure for confining nail clippings.
U.S. Patent No. 3,031,753 patented May 1, 1962 by E.J.
Pocoski provided a nail clipper including opposed, elongated
flexible jaw members fastened together at one end and having
cutter jaws at its other end. Guard means were associated with
the cutter jaws, the side walls of the guard means together with
the jaw members defining an enclosure for confining clippings
during a cutting stroke.
U.S. Patent No. 2,995,820 patented August 15, 1961 by E.J.
Pocoski provided a nail clipper including opposed, elongated
flexible ~aw members fastened together at one end and having
cutter ~aws at the other end, and a single guard element secured
to the jaw members. The guard element included two opposed side
walls defining with the jaw members. An enclosure was provided
for confining clippings during a cutting stroke, and a flexible
tongue was integrally connected to the side walls and extended to
the point of connection of the jaw members. The tongue was
sufficiently flexible with respect to the cutting ~aw ends to
permit the guard element to be flexed away from the ~aw members
by manual pressure to open the enclosure substantially
completely.
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U.S. Patent No. 2,799,923 patented July 23, 1957 by H.
Senshu provided a nail clipper including top and bottom walls,
means resiliently connecting the top and bottom walls, the walls
having opposed jaws at the ends thereof, means for moving the
jaws toward and away from each other, and a channel-shaped
closure member having side walls and a bottom connecting member.
Means pivotally connected the channel-shaped member to the sides
of the clipper, the channel-shaped member being movable between a
position in which the side walls block the side openings between
the top and bottom walls, and a position in which the side walls
clear the side openings between the top and bottom walls.
Min U.S. Patent No. 4,219,929 issued September 2, 1980,
Young U.S. Patent No. 4,341,015 issued July 27, 1982 and Hannon
U.S. Patent No. 4,380,120 issued April 19, 1983, all describe and
illustrate nail clippers of a conventional type but additionally
having receptacles for retaining the clipped-off fingernail or
toenail portions. In the Hannon and Min devices, the retainers
are formed with retaining walls about the sides of the nail
clipper, so that the nail clippings are retained between the
plates of the clipper to which the cutting edges of the clippers
are attached. In the Min device, the retainer comprises a
tubular housing for virtually the entire clipping.
U.S. Patent No, 3,943,948 patented March 16, 1976 by J.J.A.
Sintore provided a case for a nail clipper comprised of a
generally-longitudinally-tubular portion in which a nail clipper
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can be inserted therein, The case conformed to the same general
outline of the nail clipper which it housed and was shell-like in
appearance. It included internal pressure catches captively to
hold the nail clipper in place, It had provision in its top wall
to allow for the free movement of the operating handle and
provision for a file, placed on a transverse to the longitudinal
portion, and also contained a closeable and sealable front lid,
Canadian Patent No. 1,201,884 issued March 18, 1986 to T,C.
Webe provided an alleged improvement in a nail clipper including
a stationary plate means and a plate means relatively movable
with respect thereto, the plate means being joined at one end and
the opposite ends having nail cutting edges, and a pivoted lever
means associated with the movable plate means for movement
thereof, In the improvement, a nail clipping retainer means was
secured to and positioned below the stationary plate means, The
retainer means had walls defining a chamber for receiving and
holding the nail clippings below the stationary plate means, and
an aperture behind the nail cutting edges of the stationary plate
means communicating with the chamber to receive nail clippings
and enable them to pass to the chamber,
All of the above described devices are sub~ect to failings
of one type or another, including the fact that nail clippings
tend to collect between the plates, and must subsequently be
dislodeed, for proper operation of the clipper plates, by removal
of the retainer of a portion thereof,
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Accordingly, an object of a broad aspect of this invention
is to provide an improved nail catcher case for use in
combination with a nail clipper to provide a receptacle for
.collecting and retaining nail clippings.
An object of another aspect of this invention is to provide
such an improved combination of such nail catcher case and nail
clipper.
By a broad aspect of this invention, a nail catcher case is
provided which is adapted to contain a nail clipper, the nail
clipper having forward nail clipping jaws, the nail catcher case
being constructed of a synthetic plastic material and comprising:
an upper roof, a lower floor and a pair of side walls, each of
the roof, the floor and the side walls being of trapezoidal shape
and being joined together to provide a hollow truncated pyramid
for sliding over the nail clipper, the forward end of the nail
catcher case including a pair of forwardly-extending, gently-
inwardly-curved, flexible gripping walls, the walls being of
. sufficient longitudinal length fully to enclose the sides of the
nail clipper when the nail clipper is slipped in the nail catcher
case, thereby to enable the nail catcher case to be universally
usable in many different kinds of nail clippers, the forward end
of the forwardly-extending, gently-inwardly-curved, flexible
walla also being angled sharply inwardly at their forward termini
and also being provided with vertically-extending, arcuately-
shaped, forward ends, and with upper and lower curved surfaces;
the gripping walls extending only as far as the nail clipping
jaws, thereby enabling the provision of a receptacle within the
nail clipper for catching nail clippings.
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By another aspect of this invention an improved nail clipper
combination is provided comprising: a nail clipper comprising
upper and lower nail clipping members fastened at one end forming
a bifurcated portion, whose opposite end contains spaced-apart
jaws formed in opposing relationship to each other, an operating
handle rivet being placed through aligned openings located near
the jaws, and an operating handle associated with the rivet and
controlling the movement of the jaws through the nail clipping
members; and a slip-on nail catcher case, enveloping the nail
clipper, the nail catcher case being constructed of a thin
synthetic plastic material and comprising: an upper roof, a lower
floor and a pair of side walls, each of the roof, floor and side
walls being of trapezoidal shape and being joined together to
provide a hollow truncated pyramid slid over the nail clipper,
the forward end of the nail catcher case including a pair of
forwardly-extending, gently-inwardly-curved, flexible gripping
walls, the walls being of sufficient longitudinal length fully
to enclose the sides of the nail catcher case thereby to enable
the nail catcher case to be universally usable in many different
kinds of nail clippers, the forward end of the forwardly-
extending, gently-inwardly-curved, flexible walls also being
angled sharply-inwardly at their forward termini and also being
provided with vertically-extending, arcuately-shaped, forward
ends, and with upper and lower curved surfaces, whereby such
forward end conforms to the shape of the end of the nail clipper
jaws; the gripping walls extending only as far as the nail
clipping jaws, thereby enabling the provision of a receptacle
within the nail clipper for catching nail clippings.
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The present invention differs in material respects from the
catcher case of U.S. Patent 3,943,948. One difference is in the
forward end of the case. In the present invention, the nail
catcher case is universally adaptable to a wide variety of nail
clippers.
Another difference is in the forwardly-extending, gently-
inwardly-curved flexible gripping walls. Because of such walls,
the forward end of the nail is universally usable in many
different kinds of nail clippers, regardless of the configuration
of the front end of the nail clipper. Since the gripping walls
extend only as far as the nail clipping jaws, a receptacle is
provided within the nail clippers to catch nail clippings.
A further difference is that, because the rear end of the
nail catcher case is open and does not extend the full length of
the nail clipper, a nail file will rest atop the case and thus
be in full view, as distinct from that of U.S. Patent 3,943,948,
where the file is only partly seen through an opening in the top
wall.
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The pre~ent invention also differs from the case for the nail
clipper as taught in ~.S. Patent 3,943,948. That case included a
closeable and slidable front lid. As distinct from the present
invention, because of such front lid, the case was not univer~ally
usable on many different kinds of nail clippers.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a per~pective view of the nail catcher case of one
embodiment of this invention;
Figure 2 a side elevational view of the intermediate stage of
the combination of the nail catcher case and a nail clipper;
Figure 3 is a top plan view of the intermediate stage of the
combination of the nail catcher case and a nail clipper;
Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the combination of
the nail catcher case and the nail clipper providing another
embodiment of this invention: and
Figure 5 is a top plan view of the combination of the nail
catcher case and the nail clipper providing another embodiment of
this invention.
As seen in Figure 1, the nail catcher case 10 includes a top
roof 11, a bottom floor 12 and a pair of side walls 13. The floor
12 is somewhat longer than the roof 11. Each of 11, 12 and 13 is
in the shape of a trapezoid, 80 that when the four elements are
integrally united, the nail catcher case 10 i~ in the form of a
hollow, truncated pyramid, with an open front end 14 and an open
back end lS. The top roof 11 is provided with a forward central
notch 20 whose purpo~e will be described later. The open back end
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15 provides an opening for a nail file (not shown), also common to
nail clippers, to protrude.
The side walls 13 are each provided with an extending,
S gripping wall 17, each wall being gently curved, and being flexible
and/or resilient. The forward end of each wall 17 is pr~vided with
an arcuate cut-out 18. The walls 17 also each have gently curved
upper and lower corners 19.
The nail catcher case 10 is made of a synthetic plastic
material, e.g. polyethylene, nylon, polyvinyl chloride, etc. and is
sufficiently thin-walled to enable the forward walls to be flexible
and/or resilient.
As seen in Figures 2 and 3, the nail catcher case 10 is
partially slid over a nail clipper 30. The nail clipper 30 is of
conventional design including a pair of sprung upper and lower nail
clipper jaw~ 31, 32 secured together by any conventional means ~not
shown) at their rear end~ 33, and provided with an operating handle
rivet 34 placed through aligned openipgs 35,36 in the upper and
lower jaws 31,32, the rivet including a cam cut-out 38, within
which an operating handle 37 is ~ecured.
As seen in Figures 4 and 5, the nail catcher case 10
completely encases the nail clipper 30. The rear end 33 of the
nail clipper protrude~ out through the back end 15 of the nail
catcher ca~e 10. If the nail clipper 30 i~ provided with a nail
file, that nail file would also protrude out through the back end
15 of the nail catcher case 10. The notch 20 in the front end of
the upper roof 11 of the nail catcher case 10 accommodate~ the
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operating handle rivet 34. The forward arms 17 extend along as far
as the nail clipping jaws 3~,32. The floor 12 stop~ short of the
nail clipping jaws 31,32.
Thus, the pair of forwardly-extending, gently-inwardly-curved,
flexible gripping walls 17, enable the nail catcher case to be
universally usable in many different kinds of nail clippers, even
those whose jaws are provided with a "short angle" face, a "no
angle~ face or a "sharp angle" face. The flexible gripping walls
17 are angled inwardly to allow the walls to move inwardly or
outwardly according to the shape of the nail clipper. The tips of
the flexible gripping wall~ 17 also angle in slightly more, to
conform to the shape of the nail clipper jaws. Since the back end
15-of the nail catcher case 10 i~ open, the nail catcher case can
fit a nail clipper with or without a nail file. The file can, in
fact, rest atop the top roof ll of the nail catcher case lO. Since
the forwardly-extending, gently-inwardly-curved, flexible gripping
wall~ 17 extend as far as the nail clipping jaws, a receptacle i~
provided to catch the nail clippings.
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