Structure art design knife

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6324763
  • Patent Number
    6,324,763
  • Date Filed
    Friday, April 7, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 4, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Payer; Hwei-Siu
    Agents
    • Dougherty & Troxell
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.
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Number Name Date Kind
3577637 Braginetz May 1971
3765089 Ibata Oct 1973
4242795 Rollband et al. Jan 1981
5121544 Gilbert Jun 1992
5406707 Owens et al. Apr 1995
6161290 Takamasa Dec 2000
6163963 Huang Dec 2000
6192589 Martone et al. Feb 2001