The key cutter includes a first handle terminating in a housing removably supporting a cutter assembly. A mounting means supports a stylus for rotation about its own axis to the handle at a given spacing from the cutter assembly. A second handle is pivoted to the first handle for operating the cutter assembly. The structure is completed by a key carriage in the form of a yoke holding blank and master keys in positions juxtaposed, respectively, the cutter assembly and stylus. The mounting of the key carriage to the first handle is such that it can effect in and out or rocking movements and transverse movements so that the stylus follows indentations in the master key and similar indentations can be cut by the cutter assembly in the blank key. A spring biases the master key against the stylus to facilitate the duplicating operation.
What is claimed is
1. A hand operated key cutter comprising, in combination:
2. a first handle terminating at one end in a housing;
3. a cutter assembly including a punch and die removably supported in said housing;
4. a co-operating second handle pivoted to said first handle for engaging said plunger to operate said cutter assembly;
5. a stylus;
6. mounting means supporting said stylus for rotation about its own axis;
7. coupling means holding said stylus on said first handle at a given spacing from said cutter assembly, said coupling means enabling adjustment of said given spacing; and
8. a guide rod extending transversely through and secured to said first handle at a point spaced below said cutter assembly and stylus means; and
9. blank key locking jaws for holding a blank key in a position adjacent to said cutter assembly; and
10. master key locking jaws for holding a master key in a position adjacent to said stylus; and
11. A hand operated key cutter according to claim 1, in which said housing is formed out of stamped metal parts bent to define a box like enclosure having an open front receiving said cutter assembly; and screw means passing through the rear of said enclosure to hold said assembly in said enclosure and enable easy replacement by removal of said screw means.
12. A hand operated key cutter according to claim 1, in which said mounting means for holding said stylus for rotation about its own axis comprises a tube having a transverse bore receiving said stylus; and a spring biased ball in said tube engaging the portion of said stylus passing through said transverse bore, said portion having diametrically opposite dimples so that said stylus is indexed to different rotative positions by said spring biased ball.
13. A hand operated key cutter according to claim 1, including a hook means coupled to said first handle for engaging said key carriage to hold it in a rocked position in which said stylus is furthest spaced from said master key locking jaws to facilitate manual insertion and removal of keys prior to cutting the same, said hook means being disengaged from said key carriage when a cutting operation is to be performed.
This invention relates generally to key duplicating devices and more particularly to a portable hand operated key cutter incorporating certain improvements for facilitating the duplication of keys.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Portable type hand operated key cutters are well known in the art. Generally these devices comprise two main components. First, there is provided a hand grip cutter including a first handle supporting a cutter assembly and a second handle pivoted to the first handle for operating the cutter assembly upon pivoted movement of the second handle. The first handle portion also includes a stylus held at a fixed position from the cutter assembly and a suitable guide means in the form of a transverse rod rigidly fixed to the first handle. The second component comprises a key carriage received on the guide rod for rocking in transverse movement. The key carriage includes blank key and master key locking jaws for holding a blank key and a master key in positions adjacent to the cutter assembly and stylus respectively. The arrangement is such that by causing the stylus to follow the indentations in the master key, the resulting rocking and transverse movement of the key carriage will result in proper positioning of the blank key with respect to the cutter assembly to enable corresponding indentations to be cut in the blank key by operation of the second handle.
A detailed disclosure of the foregoing general type of portable key cutter is set forth in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,226 issued Dec. 30, 1969 and entitled PORTABLE KEY CUTTER AND KEY CODER. In cutters of this type, it is difficult to replace the cutter assembly without dismantling the entire cutter or even providing a different cutter. Thus replacement of a damaged punch and die structure cannot readily take place nor can different types of punch and die structures making up the cutter assembly be utilized with the same components. In addition, the stylus cannot readily be replaced with a different configured stylus for specific types of key indentations. Other desirable features which are lacking in presently known devices include means for facilitating the actual rocking and transverse movement of the key carriage so that less skill is required in operating the device and suitable means for facilitating hand manipulation of the key carriage when inserting the removing keys.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention comprehends a portable type hand operated key cutter similar to that described in my heretofore United States Patent but which incorporates improvements overcoming the various problems outlined heretofore associated with such key cutters.
In accord with the present invention, the key cutter includes a first handle terminating at one end in a housing for removably receiving a cutter assembly made up of a punch and die. A co-operating second handle is pivoted to the first handle for engaging the plunger to operate the cutter assembly. A mounting means holds a stylus in a unique manner enabling rotation of the stylus about its own axis relative to the first handle. By this arrangement, different stylus surfaces can be readily positioned or a complete stylus changed very easily for certain types of key cutting operations.
A guide rod extends transversely through the first handle for receiving for rocking and transverse movement a key carriage in the form of a yoke. The key carriage includes blank key locking jaws and master key locking jaws for positioning juxtaposed to the cutter assembly and stylus respectively when assembled on the transverse rod. In accord with an improved feature of the present invention, the entire key carriage is biased in a rocking direction towards the cutter assembly and stylus so that actual key cutting operations are facilitated. In addition, a hook means is provided to hold the key carriage in its maximum spaced position relative to the cutter assembly and stylus thereby facilitating manual insertion of keys prior to a cutting operation.
In the improved version of the present invention, the housing for the cutter assembly can be made out of stamped metal parts which greatly reduces the cost of manufacture.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of the improved key cutter of this invention will be had by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the hand operated key cutter showing the basic components;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary assembled view partly in cross-section further illustrating features of the invention;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a stylus mounting in accord with the invention; and
FIG. 4 illustrates a master key and blank key to be cut from the master key by the key clipper of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring first to FIG. 1 the basic components of the hand operated key cutter include a hand grip cutter 10 and key carriage 11 shown separated from the cutter. The hand grip cutter 10 includes a first handle 12 terminating at its upper end in a housing 13. A cutter assembly including a punch 14 and die 15 is removably supported in the housing 13, the same being removable from the front of the housing for substitution of a different punch and die such as indicated at 14' and 15'. The manner in which this replacement can be made will become clearer as the description proceeds.
A stylus 16 is supported on a mounting means 17 for rotation about its own axis. The mounting means 17 in turn is coupled to an intermediate portion of the first handle 12 spaced from the cutter assembly in the housing 13 and a coupling means in the form of a lever 18 and indexing wheel 19 enables the spacing of the stylus from the cutter assembly to be adjusted. This coupling means is fully described in my heretofore mentioned United States Patent and since it does not form a feature of the present invention, further description is not deemed necessary except to state that swinging of the lever 18 will vary the distance of the stylus 16 relative to the cutter assembly, the stylus being indexed in a desired position by the indexing wheel 19.
A co-operating second handle 20 is pivoted to the first handle and includes a portion engaging the plunger 14 (not visible in FIG. 1) to operate the cutter assembly upon pivoting movement towards the first handle 12.
Below the cutter assembly and stylus structure there is provided a transverse opening 21 in the first handle 12 close to the pivot point of the second handle 20. This opening 21 is arranged to receive a transverse guide rod 22. A spring means 23 is connected to the first handle 12 and is shown with a free end which will normally engage the key carriage 11 when the components are assembled to bias the key carriage in a rocking direction about the guide rod 22 towards the stylus and cutter assembly. Also shown coupled to the handle 12 is a hook means 24 for engaging the key carriage 11 when it is assembled to hold it in its furthest spaced rocked position away from the cutter assembly and stylus.
Referring now to the key carriage component 11, this structure takes the form of a yoke 25 having aligned openings 26 and 27 on yoke arms which straddle the first handle 12 of the hand grip cutter after which the guide rod 22 is inserted through the openings and center hole 21 in the handle 12. It will be seen that the key carriage is then movable transversely along the guide rod 22 limited only by the spacing between the yoke arms. Also, the key carriage can rock about the rod 22.
The yoke 25 includes frame portions 28 and 29 carrying blank key locking jaw means 30 and master key locking jaw means 31. The assembly is completed by a cross rod 32 which cross rod is arranged to be engaged by the spring means 23 and the hook means 24 when the components 10 and 11 are assembled together.
A better understanding of the foregoing will be had by now referring to the assembled view of FIG. 2 which shows the component parts looking in the direction of the arrow 10 of FIG. 1. It will be noted in the center portion of FIG. 2 that the guide rod 22 is locked at its center portion by a suitable set screw so that assembly and disassembly of the component parts 10 and 11 is facilitated. Also, the pivoting of the second co-operating handle 20 to the first handle 12 is shown at 33 an intergral portion of the second handle 20 engaging at 34 the bottom of the punch cutter 14. This portion of the punch includes a lateral bar 35 engaging the bottom of a return spring 36 making up part of the cutter assembly so that when the second handle 20 is rotated about the pivot point 33 in a clockwise direction, the plunger will be raised to engage the die 15 and effect an indentation in a key carried in the blank key locking jaws 30 of the key carriage.
Still referring to the cutter assembly within the housing 13, the rear of the box like structure receives a screw 37 which holds the cutter assembly within the housing and by removal of the screw permits easy removal of the cutter out the front of the housing for interchanging with another punch and die such as described in conjunction with FIG. 1. A key scrapper element 38 may be secured to the rear of the housing 13 by the same screw 37. In interchanging the punch and die cutter assembly 14 and 15, the key carriage would be rocked away from the position shown in FIG. 2; that is, in a counterclockwise direction about the guide rod 22. It will be noted that this movement is opposed by the spring means 23 engaging the cross rod 32. In the extreme spaced position, the hook 24 can be coupled about the cross rod 22 to hold the key carriage spaced away from the cutter assembly for easy access.
Referring now to FIG. 3, details of the stylus mounting tube 17 for the stylus 16 will be described. As shown, the lower portion of the stylus 16 includes small diametrically opposite dimples 39 and 40. This portion itself is arranged to be received in a transverse bore 41 passing through the mounting tube 17. A co-operating ball 42, biasing spring 43 and end screw 44 serve to index the rotative position of the stylus 16 within the transverse bore 41. In the particular embodiment illustrated, the provision of two diametrically opposite dimples enable rotation of the stylus 16 180° to position an opposite stylus surface in a direction to engage a master key and follow the indentations therein. The structure is rendered more versatile since the entire stylus 16 can be removed from the transverse bore 14 and a new stylus configuration positioned in the bore.
FIG. 4 shows merely by way of example a master key 45 having a rear edge 46 arranged to be clamped in the master key clamping jaws 31 of the key carriage. The front identations are shown at 47 and the stylus 16 will follow these indentations upon rocking and transverse movement of the key carriage.
A blank key is shown at 48 in FIG. 4 having a rear edge 49 which is clamped in the blank key locking jaws 30 so that the front portion of the blank key shown at 50 in FIG. 4 will be juxtaposed the key cutter assembly.
In operation, assume that the key carriage has been assembled on the guide rod 22 of FIG. 1 and that the elements are in the position shown in FIG. 2. Initially, the key carriage 11 can be rocked in a counterclockwise direction as shown in FIG. 2 about the guide rod 22 and the hook means 24 hooked about the cross rod 32 to hold the locking jaws away from the cutter assembly and stylus respectively. It is then an easy matter to insert a master key in the jaws 31 and a blank key in the jaws 30, the clamps being hand operated in a conventional manner. The hook means 24 is then disengaged from the cross rod 32 and the spring 23 will bias the entire carriage in a clockwise direction about the guide rod 22 to bring the locking jaws in juxtaposed positions to the cutter assembly made up of the punch and die 14 and 15 and the stylus 16 respectively. The operator need then simply slide the key carriage in a transverse direction along the guide rod 22 until the stylus 16 falls into a first indentation in the master key. The operator will then pivot the second handle 20 about the pivot point 33 thereby raising the plunger 14 to clip or cut out a similar indentation in the blank key. The key carriage is then rocked and moved transversely, the stylus 16 following the various indentations in the master key and the second handle 20 being pivoted to operate the plunger at each indentation.
As mentioned heretofore, the housing structure 13 for the cutter assembly can be made from stamped metal parts thereby greatly reducing the cost of the entire construction. In addition, the improved features of being able to replace the cutter assembly, replace or rotate the stylus to provide new stylus surfaces, the biasing spring normally holding the master key in engagement with the stylus and the hook means for holding the key carriage separated from the cutter and stylus elements all result in a more versatile and useful portable hand key cutter device.