Patent Grant
12194648
Not Applicable.
This invention relates to knives, and more particularly to a utility knife with integrated blade storage and quick deployment.
Utility knives, sometimes also referred to as “box cutters” or “box cutting knives,” are well known tools for facilitating the cutting of all types of objects, such as carboard, carpet, vinyl flooring, straps, string, and the like. Frequently the razor-blade type blades of such knives quickly become dull, requiring the blade to be flipped over internal to the knife or, if both sides of the blade are dull, replacing the blade with a new one. However, conventional utility knives require two half-shells to be separated by unscrewing a screw, removing the blade or flipping the blade over, and reassembling the two half-shells. Not only might this process require a screwdriver in most cases, but removing and reinstalling the blades in such conventional utility knives is difficult as a blade must be precisely aligned with a blade carrier, which is often challenging.
Therefore, there is a need for a utility knife that allows a user to quickly deploy, retract, exchange, or flip-over a utility blade. Such a needed device would allow for convenient deployment of the blade with either the left or right hand, and would allow for convenient removal and replacement of the blade, also with either the left or right hand. Such a needed invention would also be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and intuitive to use. The present invention accomplishes these objectives.
The present device is a utility knife for use with a blade of the type having a sharpened first edge and at least one retaining notch in an opposing second edge. The utility knife includes a housing that has a first side, a second side, a front end, a rear end, a top side, an open bottom side, and an interior space that is accessible through the open bottom side. The front end of the housing includes a pivot aperture traversing the first side and the second side.
The top side of the housing includes a retention mechanism that preferably includes a rocker arm that has a proximal end, a distal end, and a central pivot aperture. The distal end is adapted to retain the blade holder in the extended position until retracted from the rear end of the blade holder by depressing the proximal end downwardly from the top side of the housing. A retention spring urges the proximal end of the rocker arm upwardly.
A blade holder has a first side, a second side, an open front end, a rear end, a top side, a bottom side, and an interior space accessible through the open front end. The rear end of the blade holder includes the pivot aperture traversing the first side and the second side and aligned with the pivot apertures of the housing. A pivot pin traverses all of the pivot apertures to enable pivotable movement of the blade holder with respect to the housing, between an extended position, wherein the housing and the blade holder are generally aligned, and a retracted position, wherein the blade holder is at least partially received within the interior space of the housing through the open bottom side. The blade holder further includes an elongated spring clip slot, a first spring clip aperture traversing at least the first side of the blade holder, and a second spring clip aperture traversing at least the second side of the blade holder.
The utility knife further includes a spring clip that has a first end rotationally fixed with the first spring clip aperture, and a second end rotationally fixed with the second spring clip aperture. An actuator section of the spring clip spans at least partially across the blade holder and traverses the spring clip slot at a traversing section. The first spring aperture and the second spring aperture are mutually offset, causing the spring clip to be urged towards the bottom side of the blade holder into an inward position, wherein the spring clip engages the blade with the traversing section thereof engaging the at least one retaining notch of the blade, inhibiting the blade from sliding within the interior space of the blade holder. The spring clip, when moved towards the top side of the blade holder into an outward position, clears the at least one notch of the blade, releasing the blade within the interior space of the blade holder such that the blade can be pulled out of and away from the blade holder.
In use, with the blade holder in the retracted position, the blade holder can be moved into the extended position by pressing against the actuator section of the spring clip, a force needed to overcome the retention mechanism being less than a force needed to move the spring clip from the inward position to the outward position. The utility knife can be used in this manner with either the left or right hand.
The present invention allows a user to quickly deploy, exchange, or flip-over a utility blade. Such a needed device provides for convenient deployment of the blade with either the left or right hand, and allows for convenient removal and replacement of the blade, also with either the left or right hand. The present invention is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and intuitive to use. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. The following explanation provides specific details for a thorough understanding of and enabling description for these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list. When the word “each” is used to refer to an element that was previously introduced as being at least one in number, the word “each” does not necessarily imply a plurality of the elements, but can also mean a singular element.
The utility knife 10 includes a housing 30 (
The top side 38 of the housing includes a retention mechanism 50. Preferably the retention mechanism 50 includes a rocker arm 51 (
A blade holder 60 has a first side 64, a second side 66, an open front end 62, a rear end 68, a top side 69, a bottom side 61, and an interior space 65 accessible through the open front end 62. The rear end 68 of the blade holder 60 includes the pivot aperture 40 traversing the first side 64 and the second side 66 and aligned with the pivot apertures 40 of the housing. A pivot pin 45 traverses all of the pivot apertures 40 to enable pivotable movement of the blade holder 60 with respect to the housing 30, between an extended position 70 (
The blade holder 60 is cooperative with the retention mechanism 50 of the housing 30 to maintain the blade holder 60 in the extended position 70 when the blade holder 60 is in the extended position 70, and to maintain the blade holder 60 in the retracted position 80 when the blade holder 60 is in the retracted position 80.
The blade holder 60 further includes an elongated spring clip slot 90, a first spring clip aperture 91 traversing at least the first side 64 of the blade holder 60, and a second spring clip aperture 92 traversing at least the second side 66 of the blade holder 60.
The utility knife 10 further includes a spring clip 100 that has a first end 102 rotationally fixed with the first spring clip aperture 91, and a second end 108 rotationally fixed with the second spring clip aperture 92. An actuator section 104 of the spring clip 100 spans at least partially across the blade holder 60 and traverses the spring clip slot 90 at a traversing section 105 (
In use, with the blade holder 60 in the retracted position 80, the blade holder 60 can be moved into the extended position 70 by pressing against the actuator section 104 of the spring clip 100, a force needed to overcome the retention mechanism being less than a force needed to move the spring clip 100 from the inward position 110 to the outward position 120.
Preferably the blade holder 60 comprises a first side section 140 (
Preferably the rocker arm 51 further includes at least one thumb stud 230 projecting laterally away from the distal end 58 thereof, whereby pushing up on the at least one thumb stud 230 to release the blade holder 60 to pivot from the extended position 70 to the retracted position 80. Preferably the at least one thumb stud 230 includes two of the thumb studs 230, each projecting laterally away from each other and the distal end 58 of the rocker arm 51. The first side 34 and the second side 36 of the housing 30 each include a notch 240 adapted to receive a portion of one of the thumb studs 230 therethrough. Additionally, ridges 250 (
While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.
Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention.
The above detailed description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above or to the particular field of usage mentioned in this disclosure. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Also, the teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.
All of the above patents and applications and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention.
Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above “Detailed Description.” While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Therefore, implementation details may vary considerably while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated.
While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventor contemplates the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/359,825, filed on Jul. 9, 2022, and is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20030150116 | Scala | Aug 2003 | A1 |
| 20090165309 | Kamb | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| 20190015996 | Dechant | Jan 2019 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63359825 | Jul 2022 | US |
