Patent Application
20120066910
Humans have been using knifes for thousands of years. Early knives were made of rock like flint and volcanic glass. Eventually humans gained the knowledge necessary to make knives from metals including brass, iron and eventually steel. Because of the ability to create sharp knives from metals, eventually knives were specially produced to meet particular needs.
A particular kind of knife is known as a utility knife or box cutter and is used for a variety of uses. It has a sturdy single edged razor type blade that is generally positioned parallel to the handle and can be used to open boxes, cut cardboard, drywall, Styrofoam etc. Another kind of tool that is very useful is a scraper. A scraper has the blade positioned perpendicular to the handle portion and can be used to remove paint, stickers, etc. While the blade portion of both of these tools is similar, because of the orientation of the blade, they are not easily used for both scraping and cutting applications. There is a need for a single tool that can be used as a utility knife as well as a scraper.
A multi-use knife scraper has a handle portion which pivotally retains a blade holder at one end. A single-edged blade is held therein and can be positioned between a knife position which is generally parallel to the handle and a scraper position which is generally perpendicular to the handle. In one embodiment, the blade can be rotated to fit within the handle to secure the blade safely. One embodiment uses single-edged razor blades and another embodiment utilizes utility blades. The knife position allows the knife to be used as a box cutter and general purpose knife while the scraper position allows scraping and other uses where the orientation of the blade needs to be perpendicular to the handle.
Other features and advantages of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.
In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the drawings in which reference numerals refer to like elements, and which are intended to show by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
Referring to
Handle 110 is made of a high impact plastic material, but of course it could be made of any suitable material such as metal. Additionally, handle 110 may be coated with a rubberizing material to aid in handling. Of course blade holder 135 is shown as merely holding blade 115, but it can also be configured to allow quick changing on blade 115 (not shown) as is known in the art by adding moveable detents that securely hold blade 115 in place and then release when pressed to allow blade change.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Other means for securing a blade are possible and should be considered to be within the disclosure of the instant invention as long as the blade can be pivoted from a standard knife generally parallel orientation to a scraper orientation which is generally perpendicular to the handle.
Although the instant invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art.
