Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6324763
-
Patent Number
6,324,763
-
Date Filed
Friday, April 7, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 4, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 030 162
- 030 151
- 030 329
- 030 335
- 030 125
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
An improved structure art design knife comprised of a lower cover, a front upper cover, a rear upper cover, a blade mount, a blade, a release button, and a press button. The blade mount for the blade is contained in the blade mount channel of the lower cover, with a guide slot and a number of stepped engagement notches also disposed on the lower cover. A semicircular hole is formed at the other end of the lower cover, with a tab having a hook slot situated nearby. Formed in the front upper cover that fits onto the front end of the lower cover is an elongated hole having inserted within a retention button and a retention block, and the inner side of the retention block is tapered. Formed at the back end of the rear upper cover is another semicircular hole that corresponds to the semicircular hole of the lower cover. Two insertion nocks are formed along the center of the back side of blade. By utilizing these components when the present invention is utilized for cutting, it is only necessary to push the retention button forward to check the leftward and rightward movement of the blade and pushing the release button to the right causes the release block of the release button to also move rightward against the retaining element of the blade mount, releasing the retaining element from the insertion nocks of the blade and allowing the easy replacement of the blade.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to an improved structure art design knife that is easy to control during cutting operations.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventional art design knives are capable of cutting or slicing paper or twine of average thickness. For thicker cardboard or overlaid carded material, a larger model art design knife such as that shown in
FIG. 1
is required to facilitate cutting. However, when cutting with the blade
1
of such an art design knife, the blade
1
tends to wiggle because a clearance interval is required between the blade
1
and the guide slot
2
, which causes curvilinear drift or deviation from the intended line while cutting that requires additional corrective trimming or, in the case of serious inaccuracy, renders objects discardable. How to provide for very easy control and less skewing propensity is now the key objective requirement that must be achieved and in view of the said shortcomings and their causes, the inventor of the invention herein designed the present invention utilizing simple components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of the invention herein is to provide an improved structure art design knife that is convenient to operate and control that does not curvilinearly drift or deviate from the intended line while utilized for cutting to prevent additional corrective trimming or serious inaccuracy that renders objects discardable, and thereby reduce defect rates.
Another objective of the invention herein is to provide an improved structure art design knife wherein blade replacement is extremely easy, rapid, and safe and, furthermore, does not require any additional tools to accomplish.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an orthographic drawing of a conventional art design knife.
FIG. 2
is a cross-sectional drawing of
FIG. 1
as viewed from the perspective of line
2
—
2
.
FIG. 3
is an exploded drawing of the most preferred embodiment of the invention herein.
FIG. 4
is an isometric drawing of the most preferred embodiment of the invention herein.
FIG. 5
is an orthographic drawing of the invention herein without the first and second covers.
FIG. 6
is a cross-sectional drawing of the invention herein illustrating the operation of the retention button.
FIG. 7
is a cross-sectional drawing of the invention herein illustrating the operation of the release button as viewed from the perspective of line
7
—
7
in FIG.
4
.
FIG. 8
is a cross-sectional drawing of the invention herein illustrating the operation of the release button as viewed from the perspective of line
8
—
8
in FIG.
4
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to
FIG. 3
,
FIG. 4
,
FIG. 5
,
FIG. 6
,
FIG. 7
, and
FIG. 8
, the invention herein is comprised of:
A lower cover
10
having a design in which the thicker rear end is gradually diminished in dimension towards the front and, furthermore, is of a curved L-shaped profile (as shown in FIG.
3
); a blade mount guide channel
11
is formed along the center of the said lower cover
10
, with a blade mount
40
for the blade
50
contained in the said channel; formed at the upper exterior side of the lower cover
10
a guide slot
12
having a number of stepped engagement notches
13
disposed along its facing inner sides, with a detent notch
14
formed at the front end of the engagement notches
13
; additionally, a screw hole
15
is formed in the center of the curve and a partition element
16
projects from one side, with a mortise
161
formed in the partition element
16
; storage compartment
17
is situated next to the partition element
15
for the placement of a number of blades
50
and other articles; and a semicircular hole
18
is formed at the other end of the lower cover
10
, with a tab
19
having a hook slot
191
situated nearby.
A front upper cover
20
that fits onto the front end of the lower cover
10
, and formed in the exterior lateral surface of the front end of the front upper cover
20
is an elongated hole
21
having inserted within a retention button
22
and a retention block
23
; the taper of the inner side of the retention block
23
corresponds to the taper of the upper front cover
20
; the retention block
23
is positionally aligned with the blade mount
40
, the retention block
23
and the retention button
22
in the said elongated hole
21
are aligned, and the screw hole
15
of the lower cover
10
is aligned with a through-hole
24
in the said front upper cover
20
, thereby enabling the said front upper cover
20
and the lower cover
10
to be assembled into a unitary structure by means a fastening bolt.
A rear upper cover
30
that fits onto the rear end of the lower cover
10
, and situated at the front end of the rear upper cover
30
is a tenon
31
that is inserted into the mortise
161
in the lower cover
10
to form a unitary body, with a semicircular hole
32
formed at the very end that corresponds to the semicircular hole
18
of the lower cover
10
and thereby yields a circular hole upon conjoinment.
A blade mount
40
constructed of a thin sheet of contoured metal that has a retaining element
41
formed from angular bends at its upper extent and a limiter element
42
protruding in an erect manner from one side such that the retaining element
41
and the limiter element
42
are capable of securing a blade
50
in the blade mount
40
, and projecting from the upper end is an extender/retractor button
44
of an extension element
43
, with the extender/retractor button
44
reaching into and capable of forward and backward movement inside the guide slot
12
of the said lower cover
10
and, furthermore, a positioning element
45
of relatively wider width is situated at the tail end of the said extension element
43
to extend and thereby expose the length of the blade
50
in the engagement notches
13
.
A blade
50
of a thin trapezoidal shape having forward and rear cutting edges capable of interchangeable utilization as well as two insertion notches
51
formed along the center of the back side such that when a blade
50
is placed into the blade mount
40
, the retaining element
41
is engaged into the insertion notches
51
.
A press button
60
that is inserted into the circular hole resulting from the conjoinment of the semicircular holes
18
and
32
of the lower cover
10
and the rear upper cover
30
, respectively, and has at the interior side an L-shaped push plate
61
; a fastening screw
62
secures the longer end of the push plate
61
to an appropriate position on the inner side of the rear upper cover
30
and a hook
63
is formed at the end that fits into the hook slot
191
of the tab
19
, enabling the assembly of the rear upper cover
30
to the lower cover
10
.
A release button
70
that is inserted into the detent notch
14
of said lower cover
10
and, furthermore, a spring
71
is installed in between the release button
70
and the detent notch
14
, and a release block
72
protrudes from the outer side of the release button
70
.
To assemble the components shown in
FIG. 3
into the embodiment of the invention herein depicted in
FIG. 4
, a blade
50
is placed into the blade mount
40
and then the blade mount
40
is installed into the blade mount guide channel
11
in the lower cover
10
and, furthermore, the release button
70
is installed into the detent notch
14
of the said lower cover
10
, thereby causing the release block
72
of the release button
70
to become positionally aligned with the retaining element
41
of the blade mount
40
; the retention block
23
and the retention button
22
are positioned in the elongated hole
21
, the front upper cover
20
is fastened onto the lower cover
10
, then the push plate
61
is secured to the rear upper cover
30
, and finally the tenon
31
of the rear upper cover
30
is inserted into the mortise
161
of the lower cover
10
, and the hook
63
of the press button
60
is engaged into the hook slot
191
of the tab
19
, thereby enabling the assembly of the lower cover
10
to the front upper cover
20
and the rear upper cover
30
to form a unitary physical entity.
To utilize the invention herein for cutting, it is only necessary to press down on the extender/retractor button
44
of the blade mount
40
and thereby disengage the positioning element
45
of the blade mount
40
from the engagement notches
13
of the lower cover
10
, and push the extender/retractor button
44
forward to move the blade
50
outside the invention herein, and then release the extender/retractor button
44
to allow the positioning element
45
of the blade mount
40
to re-engage the engagement notches
13
at a new location; then, the retention button
22
is pushed forward and, since the retention block
23
of the retention button
22
is tapered and the front upper cover
20
has a corresponding taper, when the retention button
22
is pushed forward, it exerts pressure against the lateral surface of the blade
50
to eliminate the interval between the blade
50
and the lower cover
10
to check the leftward and rightward movement of the blade
50
for control against curvilinear drift or deviation from the intended line while cutting and thereby preventing additional corrective trimming or serious inaccuracy that renders objects discardable.
To retract the blade
50
of the invention herein, it is only necessary to execute the said operation in reverse order by pulling back the retention button
22
and thereby releasing pressure against the lateral surface of the blade
50
. Then, drawing back and thus opening the extender/retractor button
44
to return the blade
50
inward to prevent the occurrence of hazardous accidents.
As the blade
50
of the invention herein gradually become dulled due to repeated cutting, the blade
50
can be turned around to enable the usage of a different blade tip—in the case of multiple application blades—or the remaining fresh cutting edge of the same blade
50
by pushing the release button
70
to the right, thereby causing the release block
72
of the said release button
70
to separate from the retaining element
41
of the blade mount
40
, whereupon the said retaining element
41
is disengaged from the insertion notches
51
of the blade
50
and allows the blade
50
to be pulled out and slid back into the blade mount
40
to utilize a different application blade or the unused slicing edge of the blade
50
and, furthermore, the release button
70
in its opened state allows the retaining element
41
to re-engage the insertion notches
51
of the blade
50
and as such, the invention herein does not have to be disassembled to remove and exchange the blade
50
(as shown in FIG.
7
).
When spare blades
50
and other articles are extricated from the storage compartment
17
in the said lower cover
10
, it is only necessary to push down the press button
60
and thereby causing the push plate
61
to act as a lever such that the hook
63
of the push plate
61
is disengaged from the hook slot
191
of the lower cover
10
, allowing the separation of the lower cover
10
and the rear upper cover
30
for accessing blades
50
and other articles; then, the rear upper cover
30
is reinstalled and, furthermore, the hook
63
of the push plate
61
once again engages the hook slot
191
of the lower cover
10
to restore assembly.
As such, the invention herein is of a simple structure in which assembly, disassembly, and blade replacement is convenient, rapid, and safe and, furthermore, is equipped with a control surface that enables cutting ease and does not curvilinearly drift or deviate from the intended line while cutting, preventing additional corrective trimming or serious inaccuracy that renders objects discardable and thereby reduces defect rates.
In summation of the foregoing section, since the present invention is based on sound concepts and possess advantageous industrial value, the invention herein is lawfully submitted to the patent bureau in application for review and the granting of the commensurate patent rights.
Claims
- 1. An improved art design knife comprised of a first cover, a front second cover, a rear second cover, a blade mount, a blade, a release button, and a press button, wherein:the first cover has a thickness which gradually diminishes from a back towards a front and has a curved L-shaped profile; a guide channel is formed along a center of a front portion of the first cover, the blade mount mounting the blade in the guide channel; a guide slot formed at an upper exterior side of the first cover and having a number of stepped engagement notches disposed along facing inner sides, with a detent notch formed at a front end of the guide slot; a partition element projecting from the first cover with a mortise formed therein; a rear portion of the first cover adjacent to the partition element forming a storage compartment for a placement of a plurality of extra blades; and a first semicircular hole formed at the rear portion of the first cover with a tab having a hook slot adjacent thereto; the front second cover mounted onto the front portion of the first cover, and having an exterior lateral surface with an elongated hole, the front second cover having a tapered section, the front second cover mounted to the first cover by means of a fastening bolt; a retention button mounted on a retention block having a taper on an inner side corresponding to and in contact with the tapered section of the front second cover such that when pushed forward, pressure is exerted against a lateral surface of the blade, thereby eliminating a clearance between the blade and the first cover; a rear second cover mounted onto the rear portion of the first cover having a tenon inserted into the mortise in the partition element, and a second semicircular hole aligned with the first semicircular hole of the first cover and a push plate and a hook mounted on a rear end of the rear second cover; the release button is inserted into the detent notch of said first cover and a spring is installed between said release button and the detent notch, a release block protruding from an outer side of the release button to separate a retaining element blade mount to facilitate replacement of the blade, whereby pushing the retention button forward exerts pressure against a lateral surface of the blade to eliminate the clearance between the blade and the first cover to prevent lateral movement of the blade while cutting: and pushing the release button causes the release block to separate from the retaining element of the blade mount, whereupon the retaining element is disengaged from the blade to permit replacement of the blade.
- 2. The improved art design knife of claim 1 wherein the press button is placed into a circular hole resulting from the conjoinment of the first and second semicircular holes of the first cover and the rear second cover, and has at an interior side thereof an L-shaped push plate with a fastening screw securing the push plate to an inner side of the rear second cover such that the hook fits into the hook slot of the tab, thereby connecting the rear second cover to the first cover, whereby pushing the press button causes the hook to be disengaged from the hook slot, allowing the separation of the first cover and the rear second cover.
- 3. The improved art design knife of claim 1 wherein the blade mount has a retaining element formed thereon as well as a limiter element protruding from one side such that the retaining element and the limiter element secure the blade in the blade mount.
US Referenced Citations (8)