Patent Application
20090188115
The present disclosure relates to a knife having a snap-off blade. The present disclosure has particular applicability to knives with disposal blades.
Retractable sharp instruments are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,471 describes a scalpel which is provided having a handle with a longitudinally extending cavity therein, a blade carrier within the cavity and movable longitudinally relative to the handle between an operative position in which a blade carried thereby is exposed for use at an open end of the cavity and an inoperative position in which a blade carried thereby is retracted within the cavity in the handle.
One type of retractable blade is the snap-off knife. In a snap-off knife, the blades are typically stacked in a metal sleeve. A slide button on the side is used to extend the blade out of the bottom. The blade has break lines formed into it. When the blade gets dull, the user snaps off the old blade section exposing a fresh blade. To snap it off, it is often just pushed against a hard surface until it breaks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,356 relates to hand knives of the type comprising a hand grip which houses a strip steel blade with snap-off ends, which when worn can be removed to reveal a fresh operative blade tip. However, breaking the blade off has been a major safety concern for many users.
Other known knives of this type, for adjusting the position of the blade relative to the hand grip to vary the amount of projection of the tip of the blade from the leading end of the grip, require dismantling and opening up the hand grip, in a laborious operation, to allow the blade to be re-set.
To overcome the above-mentioned problems, the present disclosure is directed towards a snap-off knife that includes a safety cap for guarding against accidental exposure of the blade, and providing a safe method of breaking the blade.
One embodiment is directed to a snap-off knife comprising a metal sleeve, a blade contained within the metal sleeve and slidably extendable through a first terminal end of the metal sleeve to expose a portion of the blade, and a cap having a cavity such that the cap is capable of fitting over the first terminal end of the metal sleeve from which the blade extends. Additionally, the cap has a narrow slot for placing over the exposed portion of the blade and snapping off the exposed portion of the blade when the cap is grasped by the user. In another embodiment, the cavity in the cap is capable of fitting over a second terminal end of the metal sleeve located opposite the first terminal end of the metal sleeve.
In another embodiment, the blade contains a plurality of linear indentations each of which extend along substantially the entire width of the blade. The snap-off knife is additionally equipped with a slide button attached to the blade. Other embodiments of the metal sleeve have an open section for allowing the slide button to move along the open section of the metal sleeve in a direction parallel to the direction that the blade extends and retracts from the metal sleeve.
In another embodiment, the metal sleeve has a plurality of equally spaced ridges along the open section of the metal sleeve. The metal sleeve may additionally be equipped with a pocket clip for clipping the knife to a planar or semi-planar surface.
Additional advantages and other features of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from the practice of the disclosure. The advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
As will be realized, the present disclosure is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
Reference is made to the attached drawings, wherein elements having the same reference numeral designations represent like elements throughout, and wherein:
The cap 12 is optionally designed to fit over certain embodiments of the knife which contain a pocket clip 16.
In another embodiment, the protective cap 12 has a slot 12a, the width of which is greater than the thickness of the blade 11. As shown in
As is shown in
The present disclosure can be practiced by employing conventional materials, methodology and equipment. Accordingly, the details of such materials, equipment and methodology are not set forth herein in detail. In the previous descriptions, numerous specific details are set forth, such as specific materials, structures, chemicals, processes, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it should be recognized that the present disclosure can be practiced without resorting to the details specifically set forth. In other instances, well known processing structures have not been described in detail, in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present disclosure.
Only a few examples of the present disclosure are shown and described herein. It is to be understood that the disclosure is capable of use in various other combinations and environments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concepts as expressed herein.
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application 61/006,748 (Attorney docket No. 044208-0037) filed on Jan. 30, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61006748 | Jan 2008 | US |
