Technical field of the present invention:
The present invention is generally related to a novel method of polishing the nail
cutter/clipper components, particularly grinding-cum-polishing inside a barrel during
mass production of nail cutters/clippers. Said method employs a motorized and
rotating cylindrical barrel for said grinding-cum-polishing operation, wherein
components of nail cutter/clippers in large number are placed inside said barrel,
alongwith steel/metallic balls and other grinding-cum-polishing additives therein. The
proposed grinding-cum-polishing operation inside the cylindrical barrel continues for
a prolonged duration, preferably for a period ranging from 48 hours to 98 hours.
Background and object of the present invention:
Nail cutters are usually made of steel but can also be made of plastic and aluminum.
Two common varieties are the pliers and the compound lever type. All are common
household objects. Most nail cutters usually come with another tool attached, which
is used to clean the dirt out of nails. A nail trimmer often has a miniature file fixed to it
to allow rough edges of nails to be manicured. A nail file allows for removal of any
excess nail that is jagged or has been missed. Nail cutters occasionally come with
a pocket knife or a nail catcher. The nail trimmer consists of a head which may be
concave or convex. The cutting head may be manufactured to
be parallel or perpendicular to the principal axis of the cutter.
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A nail cutter/clipper, made of metallic material, preferably of steel, is very prone to
rusting, mainly due to ineffective electroplating/polishing, environmental factors in
long duration, moisture and effect of palm carrying dirt/sweat/oil etc. Nail
cutter/clipper manufacture always try to make a coating of very thin electroplating to
save cost and to reduce the market price of the final product. Further, ineffective
surface treatment of the nail cutter/clipper components towards cleaning and
preliminary polishing before electroplating thereof, leads to less shining and smooth
surface and reduced life of final coating (by way of electroplating).
Further it is important to make all the surfaces and edges of the nail cutter/clipper
components so much blunt or rounded to make them safe for using at domestic
level. Conventionally this requirement towards nail cutter/clipper making is usually
ignored or ineffectively met to save cost therein.
The present invention is a novel attempt to get rid of such complications arising
during nail cutter/clipper manufacturing, mainly due to ineffective surface treatment
of nail cutter/clipper components.
Prime object of the present invention is to propose a novel method for grinding-cumpolishing
of the components of nail cutter/clipper, mainly during the large scale
manufacturing of nail cutters/clippers; wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation
is performed inside a rotating cylindrical barrel, in presence of steel balls and
supportive additives/lubricants.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a method for grinding-cumpolishing
of nail cutter/clipper components, which initially have sharp and rough
edges/surfaces; wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation makes the surfaces
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of nail cutter/clipper components very smooth and shiny and wherein said grindingcum-
polishing operation makes all the edges of said nail cutter/clipper components
blunt/rounded upto safest level.
Another object of the present invention proposes a method for grinding-cumpolishing
of nail cutter/clipper components inside the rotating cylindrical barrel;
wherein grinding-cum-polishing is achieved due to continuous friction and rubbing
between nail cutter/clipper components and steel/metallic balls.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a method for grinding-cumpolishing
of nail cutter/clipper components, wherein said grinding-cum-polishing
operation is continued for prolong duration, preferably for a duration ranging from 48
hours to 98 hours.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a method for grinding-cumpolishing
of nail cutter/clipper components, wherein the total duration of said
grinding-cum-polishing operation depending on various factors involved therein,
namely the diameter of the barrel, rotational speed of the barrel, total weight of the
mass, rotating inside the barrel, material of the nail cutter/clipper components and
the material of the balls used therein, fraction modifying agents/additives used
therein and nature of dry lubricants used therein.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a method for grinding-cumpolishing
of nail cutter/clipper components, which works as effective surface
treatment on nail cutter/clipper components towards removing all dirt, rust and
impurities effectively for performing long lasting, effective, thin, uniform and cost
effective electroplating on the nail cutter/clipper.
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Statement of the present invention:
The present invention is intended to propose:
• a novel method for grinding-cum-polishing of the components of nail
cutter/clipper, mainly during the large scale manufacturing of nail
cutters/clippers; wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation is performed
inside a rotating cylindrical barrel, in presence of steel balls and supportive
additivesllubricants;
• a method for grinding-cum-polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, which
initially have sharp and rough edges/surfaces; wherein said grinding-cumpolishing
operation makes the surfaces of nail cutter/clipper components very
smooth and shiny and wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation makes
all the edges of said nail cutter/clipper components blunt/rounded upto safest
level;
• a method for grinding-cum-polishing of nail cutter/clipper components inside
the rotating cylindrical barrel; wherein grinding-cum-polishing is achieved due
to continuous friction and rubbing between nail cutter/clipper components and
steel/metallic balls;
• a method for grinding-cum-polishing of nail cutter/clipper components,
wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation is continued for prolong
duration, preferably for a duration ranging from 48 hours to 98 hours;
• a method for grinding-cum-polishing of nail cutter/clipper components,
wherein the total duration of said grinding-cum-polishing operation depends
on various factors involved therein, namely the diameter of the barrel,
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rotational speed of the barrel, total weight of the mass, rotating inside the
barrel, material of the nail cutter/clipper components and the material of the
balls used therein, fraction modifying agents/additives used therein and nature
of dry lubricants used therein; and
• a method for grinding-cum-polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, which
works as effective surface treatment on nail cutter/clipper components
towards removing all dirt, rust and impurities effectively for performing long
lasting, effective, thin, uniform and cost effective electroplating on the nail
cutter/clipper.
Description of the present invention:
The present disclosure mainly describes a method for grinding-cum-polishing of the
nail cutter/clipper components towards smoothening the surfaces and
blunting/rounding of the edges of nail cutter/clipper components and towards
preliminary surface treatment of said components to remove all dirt, rust and
impurities effectively for performing long lasting, effective, thin, uniform and cost
effective electroplating on the nail cutter/clipper.
In the present invention, firstly all the components of nail cutter/clipper are slotted out
from the sheet of mild steel. Such initial components have very rough surfaces and
sharp uneven edges, which require effective treatment during the proposed grindingcum-
polishing operation. These slotted components of the nail cutter/clipper are
suitably shaped and then subjected to heat treatment (annealing) towards hardening.
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All these hardened and annealed nail cutter/clipper components, whether main body
or file or nail cleaner etc., are subjected to the present proposed grinding-cumpolishing
operation.
Said method of grinding-cum-polishing operation employs a motorized and rotating
cylindrical barrel for said grinding-cum-polishing operation. During mass production
of nail cutters/clippers, all the annealed/hardened components of nail cutter/clippers
are placed inside a large closable vessel, preferably a cylindrical barrel, wherein
whole mass inside the barrel rests on the cylindrical round surface. Apart from the
nail cutter/clipper components, sufficient volume of steel balls and certain other
optionally selected additives for performing grinding-cum-polishing operation, namely
dry lubricants, friction modifying agents, inorganic salts like common salt etc. are
also places inside said cylindrical barrel, particularly in a pre-calculated volume.
The cylindrical round surface of the cylindrical barrel is provisioned for making
continuous rotation, around the axis fixed parallel to the horizontal plane; wherein a
powerful motor supports the continuous rotational motion of the barrel, leading to
intermixing and continuous mutual rubbing of the nail cutter/clipper components and
steel balls.
For such grinding-cum-polishing operation, steel balls are selected to be fed inside
the cylindrical barrel in certain approximately calculated amount only. The main aim
is to create effective friction among the nail cutter/clipper components and said steel
balls in presence of supportive ingredients like friction modifiers, heat regulators and
dry lubricants. The steel balls are small in dimension, preferably of the size of small
pebbles ranging from 5mm to 30mm, and not specifically of round shape, but of
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irregular shape and size so that maximum friction inside the rotating cylindrical barrel
can be generated. With time, due to friction in grinding-cum-polishing operations, the
surfaces of these steel balls become smooth, but are still be reused in another
batches of such grinding-cum-polishing operations. These balls used in the present
operations are preferably of steel, but they may optionally be chosen from a range of
other metallic/alloyed materials of at least one type, which have high melting point
and which may support presently proposed friction based grinding-cum-polishing
operation, without getting consumed considerably therein.
The proposed grinding-cum-polishing operation inside the cylindrical barrel continues
for a prolonged duration, preferably for a period ranging from 48 hours to 98 hours.
The total duration of said grinding-cum-polishing operation depends on various
factors involved therein, namely the diameter of the barrel, rotational speed of the
barrel, total weight of the mass rotating inside the barrel, material of the nail
cutter/clipper components and the material of the balls used therein, fraction
modifying agents/additives used therein and nature of dry lubricants used therein.
On completion of the present grinding-cum-polishing operation, all the nail
cutter/clipper components, alongwith said steel balls and other ingredients (mainly as
discardable impurities/slag therein) are taken out of said barrel and subjected to
cooling. After that the nail cutter/clipper components are handpicked for cleaning and
drying and to be subjected for further treatment in the nail cutter/clipper
manufacturing process.
Such nail cutter/clipper components, which have received the proposed grindingcum-
polishing operation, have:
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• Completely blunt/round and safe edges;
• Very smooth and uniform surfaces, in both sides of the components;
• Very shiny metallic lustier (of steel herein) on the surfaces, in both sides of the
components;
• Completely dirt/rust/impurity free surfaces, in both sides of the components.
Thus the presently proposed method for grinding-cum-polishing of nail cutter/clipper
components, works as effective surface treatment on nail cutter/clipper components
towards removing all dirt, rust and impurities effectively for performing long lasting,
effective, thin, uniform and cost effective electroplating on the nail cutter/clipper.
In the present invention, the proposed friction based grinding operation inside the
rotating cylindrical barrel is also considered as preliminary polishing of the nail
cutter/clipper components.
Scope of the present invention:
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiment,
this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various
modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the
invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the
description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications can
be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as
defined.

We claim:
1. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components which is
basically friction base grinding-cum-polishing of the components of nail
cutter/clipper, wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation is performed
inside a rotating cylindrical barrel, in presence of steel balls and supportive
additives/lubricants.
2. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein said method is characterized as a friction based grinding
operation performed mainly during the large scale manufacturing of nail
cutters/clippers.
3. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein said method is characterized by said grinding-cum-polishing
operation making the surfaces of nail cutter/clipper components very smooth,
shiny, dirt/rust/impurity free and also making all the edges of said nail
cutter/clipper components blunt/rounded upto safe level.
4. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein grinding-cum-polishing is achieved due to continuous friction
and rubbing between nail cutter/clipper components and steel/metallic balls.
5. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation inside the cylindrical
barrel is performed on nail cutter/clipper components, preferably made of mild
steel and duly annelid towards hardening.
6. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein the motorized closable vessel or preferably the motorized
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cylindrical barrel is provisioned for making continuous rotation around the axis
fixed parallel to the horizontal plane, supported by a powerful motor towards
continuous rotational motion of said barrellvessel; wherein said rotational
motion of said cylindrical barrel is characterized by intermixing and continuous
mutual rubbing and grinding of bulk volume of the nail cutter/clipper
components, sufficient volume of steel balls and certain other optionally
selected additives for performing grinding-cum-polishing operation, namely
dry lubricants, friction modifying agents, inorganic salts like common salt etc.,
places inside said cylindrical barrel.
7. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein the steel balls applied with the nail cutter/clipper components
inside the closable vessel/barrel are small in dimension, preferably of the size
of small pebbles ranging from 5mm to 30mm, and not specifically of round
shape, but of irregular shape and size so that to create maximum friction
inside the rotating cylindrical barrel; wherein with time, due to friction in
grinding-cum-polishing operations, the surfaces of these steel balls become
smooth, but are still be reused in another batches of such grinding-cumpolishing
operations.
8. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein the balls used in the present operations of barrel polishing of
nail cutter/clipper compon(3nts are preferably of steel, but they are optionally
be chosen from a range of other metallic/alloyed materials of at least one
type, which have high melting point and which support presently proposed
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friction based grinding-cum-polishing operation, without getting consumed
considerably during the operation.
9. A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein at least one additive from available dry lubricants, friction
modifying agents, inorganic salts like common salt are optionally added in the
cylindrical barrel to support said grinding-cum-polishing operation.
10.A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein said grinding-cum-polishing operation is continued for
prolong duration, preferably for a duration ranging from 48 hours to 98 hours;
wherein the total duration of said grinding-cum-polishing operation depends
on various factors involved therein, namely the diameter of the barrel,
rotational speed of the barrel, total weight of the mass, rotating inside the
barrel, material of the nail cutter/clipper components and the material of the
balls used therein, fraction modifying agents/additives used therein and nature
of dry lubricants used therein.
11.A method for barrel polishing of nail cutter/clipper components, as claimed in
claim 1, wherein said method of barrel grinding-cum-polishing is characterized
as effective surface treatment on nail cutter/clipper components towards
removing all dirt, rust and impurities effectively towards supporting long
lasting, effective, thin, uniform and cost effective electroplating on the nail
cutter/clipper.