Bag Cutter and Piercer
A bag cutter for opening a sealed package using at least one of a blade and a piercer. Preferably, at least one blade is disposed partially within a cutout of an arm in a manner that exposes an edge of the blade. A piercer can comprise an extension of a cutout edge or be located on any other suitable portion of an arm. Another blade can be provided that is substantially perpendicular to the blade within a cutout, and juxtaposable against a cutting surface.
1 . A cutting apparatus comprising:
a first arm and an opposable second arm;
a first blade coupled to an inner surface of the first arm;
a first cutting surface coupled to an inner surface of the second arm;
wherein at least a portion of the first blade is sized and dimensioned to physically contact at least a portion of the first cutting surface; and
a piercer having a blunted tip and coupled to at least one of the inner surface of the first arm and the inner surface of the second arm.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second arms are composed of a continuous piece of plastic.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first arm is continuous with the second arm.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a second blade coupled to at least one of the inner surface of the first arm and the inner surface of the second arm.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cutting surface is curved.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cutting surface comprises a raised portion at least partially enclosing an anvil.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the first blade has a long axis parallel or orthogonal to a long axis of the anvil.
8 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the anvil comprises a compound convex surface.
9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the first blade comprises steel.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the first blade comprises ceramic.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cutting surface comprises a rounded raised portion.
12 . A cutting apparatus comprising:
a first arm and an opposable second arm;
a first blade extending from an inner surface of the first arm;
a first cutting surface extending from an inner surface of the second arm;
wherein at least a portion of the first blade is sized and dimensioned to physically contact at least a portion of the first cutting surface; and
a piercer having a blunted tip and extending from at least one of the inner surface of the first arm and the inner surface of the second arm.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first and second arms are composed of a continuous piece of plastic.
14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first arm is continuous with the second arm.
15 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first blade is flat.
16 . The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising a second blade coupled to at least one of the inner surface of the first arm and the inner surface of the second arm.
17 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the cutting surface comprises a raised portion at least partially enclosing an anvil.
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the first blade has a long axis parallel or orthogonal to a long axis of the anvil.
19 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the anvil comprises a compound convex surface.
20 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the cutting surface comprises a rounded raised portion.