US 5,894,978 AGranted

Flexible material cutter

AssigneeJeffrey M. Welch

InventorsJeffrey M. Welch, Brian K. Balzum

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Abstract

A cutter for cutting flexible material held on a roll thereof. The cutter has a frame that mounts a drop in roll of flexible material and a drop in tensioning roller in an open end of the frame. The cutter has a cutting area that is generally enclosed and houses a plurality of slitting knives and a tear off cutting blade. The cutting area has an entrance and exit slot for the material with the slitting knives slitting the material as it passes through the cutting area. The slit material can exit through the exit slot. After a predetermined length has been pulled forwardly relative to the cutting blade the slit material can be cut into pieces by tearing it against the cutting blade. A length determining gage allows pieces of a precise length to be cut. The material is pulled through the cutter by a set of feed rollers contained within the cutting area.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A cutter for cutting pieces of flexible material from a roll of flexible material, which comprises:

(a) a frame having means for rotatably supporting a roll of the flexible material on the frame such that the flexible material can be pulled off and unwound from the roll, the frame further having a pair of rotatable feed rollers for pulling the material off the roll and feeding the material through the frame, at least one of the feed rollers having a sticky outer surface that is able to grip and pull the material;
(b) a cutting area on the frame for carrying cutting elements comprising:
(i) at least one slitting knife which is arranged longitudinally relative to the flexible material to slit the material lengthwise as the material is pulled past the at least one slitting knife;
(c) wherein the cutting area of the frame includes spaced side walls connected at one end to a front wall and a top wall, the side walls, top wall and front wall of the frame forming the cutting area of the frame, wherein the at least one slitting knife is substantially enclosed inside the cutting area of the frame and is carried inside the cutting area beneath the top wall thereof, and wherein a top slot is carried in the top wall of the frame with the top slot extending across the top wall between the side walls of the frame;
and
(d) wherein the at least one slitting knife has means for adjusting the at least one slitting knife inside the cutting area from above the frame, wherein the knife adjusting means comprises a handle on each slitting knife protruding upwardly through the top slot to allow each slitting knife to be moved transversely and angularly within the cutting area.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.