Tubing cutter of selectable force

A hand operated tubing cutter adapted to apply a selectable force to tubing to be cut, said cutter having an elongate, substantially "C" shaped body member, said body member defining a central recess in which a piece of tubing to be cut can be placed, a spaced pair of rollers operatively mounted on said body member in said central recess, directly against which rollers a piece of tubing to be cut is to be placed, an elongate cavity disposed in said body member having an axis which intersects said pair of rollers, an elongate ram member slidably disposed in a non-rotatable manner in said elongate cavity, with one end of said ram member supporting a rotatable cutter wheel, said cutter wheel being supported on said ram member in an opposed relationship to said rollers, rotatable adjustment means located on said body member at a location comparatively remote from said pair of rollers, a compression spring disposed in said body member and operably interconnected with said ram member, said rotatable adjustment means being selectively rotatable to control the positioning of said ram member and therefore the positioning of said cutter wheel with respect to said rollers, the selective rotation of said rotatable adjustment means also serving to modify the force applied to said ram member by said spring, and therefore the force applied to said cutter wheel, thereby selectively controlling the amount of force consistently applied by said cutter wheel to tubing residing against said rollers, and motion limiting means utilized for limiting the amount of spring compression able to be brought about by rotation of said rotatable adjustment means, with further force applied by said rotatable adjustment means to said ram member during contact of said cutter wheel with the tubing bringing about the direct application of force to said ram, and therefore to said cutter wheel.

A hand operated tubing cutter adapted to apply a selectable force to tubing to be cut, said cutter having an elongate, substantially "C" shaped body member, said body member defining a central recess in which a piece of tubing to be cut can be placed, a spaced pair of rollers operatively mounted on said body member in said central recess, directly against which rollers a piece of tubing to be cut is to be placed, an elongate cavity disposed in said body member having an axis which intersects said pair of rollers, an elongate ram member slidably disposed in a non-rotatable manner in said elongate cavity, with one end of said ram member supporting a rotatable cutter wheel, said cutter wheel being supported on said ram member in an opposed relationship to said rollers, rotatable adjustment means located on said body member at a location comparatively remote from said pair of rollers, a compression spring disposed in said body member and operably interconnected with said ram member, said rotatable adjustment means being selectively rotatable to control the positioning of said ram member and therefore the positioning of said cutter wheel with respect to said rollers, the selective rotation of said rotatable adjustment means also serving to modify the force applied to said ram member by said spring, and therefore the force applied to said cutter wheel, thereby selectively controlling the amount of force consistently applied by said cutter wheel to tubing residing against said rollers, said rotatable adjustment means threadedly engaging said ram member, with rotation of said rotatable adjustment means in a tightening direction serving to move said cutter wheel closer to said rollers, and rotation in the opposite direction causing said cutter wheel to move away from said rollers, said rotatable adjustment means having a lower peripheral portion, a quantitative measurement scale utilized on an upper portion of said body member at a location adjacent said lower peripheral portion, with said scale on said body member identifying units of pressure, and a quantitative measurement scale on said lower peripheral portion of said rotatable adjustment means, latter scale identifying subunits of pressure, said scales together enabling a user to precisely preadjust said spring to a desired cutting pressure by appropriate rotation of said rotatable adjustment means, thus to enable the user of the tubing cutter to readily establish the degree of force being applied in a given instance by said cutter wheel to the tubing.

A hand operated tubing cutter adapted to apply a selectable force to tubing to be cut, said cutter having an elongate, substantially "C" shaped body member, said body member defining a central recess in which a piece of tubing to be cut can be placed, a spaced pair of rollers operatively mounted on said body member in said central recess, directly against which rollers a piece of tubing to be cut is to be placed, an elongate cavity disposed in said body member having an axis which intersects said pair of rollers, an elongate ram member slidably disposed in a non-rotatable manner in said elongate cavity, with one end of said ram member supporting a rotatable cutter wheel, said cutter wheel being supported on said ram member in an opposed relationship to said rollers, rotatable adjustment means located on an upper portion of said body member, at a location comparatively remote from said pair of rollers, a compression spring disposed in said body member and operably interconnected with said ram member, interconnection means attached to said rotatable adjustment means and provided with threads at one end, which threads are threadedly interconnected with said ram member, said rotatable adjustment means being selectively rotatable to control the positioning of said ram member and therefore the placement of said cutter wheel with respect to said rollers, the selective rotation of said rotatable adjustment means also serving to modify the force applied to said ram member by said spring, and therefore the force applied to said cutter wheel, thereby selectively controlling the amount of force consistently applied by said cutter wheel to a piece of tubing residing against said rollers, motion limiting means being utilized for limiting the amount of spring compression able to be brought about by rotation of said rotatable adjustment means, with further force applied by said rotatable adjustment means to said ram member during contact of said cutter wheel with the tubing bringing about the direct application of force to said ram, and therefore to said cutter wheel.