The present invention relates to a utility knife and more particularly to a foldable utility knife in which the blade may be folded into the handle when the knife is not in use.
Utility knives have been used for a number of years. Some of the utility knives in use have blades that are mounted on a blade holder which is foldable within a handle when the knife is not in use. However, some of these utility knives have many movable parts which makes them difficult to use and expensive to manufacture. In addition, in some of these utility knives replacement of the blade is a complicated operation any may require special tools.
The present invention overcomes these problems and has for one its objects the provision of an improved utility knife in which the blade holder may be easily folded into a handle.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved utility knife in which the blade is held securely on the utility knife.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved utility knife in which improved means are provided for replacing the blade on the utility knife.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved utility knife which is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.
Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to described, or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.
A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein:
Referring to the drawings and more particularly to the preferred embodiment of
The handle 2 comprises a pair of handle halves 2A and 2B each having an outer side wall 11 an upper edge 7 and a lower edge 9. A rear spacer 4 is provided between the handle halves 2A and 2B to maintain the handle halves 2A and 2B separated and to create a space 5 between handle halves 2A and 2B. The spacers 4 and the handle halves 2A and 2B are held together by fasteners 6 which pass through the spacer 4 and the handle halves 2A and 2B in order to hold them together. The upper edge 7 of the handle halves 2A and 2B (i.e. the handle 2) has a finger notch 8 and a lower edge 9 of the handle halves 2A and 2B (i.e. the handle 2) may be undulated in order to permit the user's fingers to grip the handle 2. If desired, a clip 10 may be mounted on a side wall 11 of the handle halves 2A and./or 2B to permit the utility knife 1 to be fastened onto the user's belt or other convenient place.
Interposed between the handle halves at 2A and 2B and along the upper edges 7 of the handle halves 2A and 2B there is provided a lock lever assembly 15 (
The blade holder 3 of the present invention comprises a rear end 31 and a front end 32 which are integral with each other.
The rear end 31 of the blade holder 3 has rear edge 31A bottom edge 31B and upper edge 31C. The blade holder 3 is pivotally mounted in the space 5 between handle halves 2A and 2B on a pivot pin 30. A finger knob 41 may be provided on the rear end 31 to facilitate the pivotal movement of the blade holder 3 relative to the handle 2. The upper edge 31C of the rear end 31 has a groove 33 into which the downwardly extending lock finger 19 of the lock assembly 15 is adapted to enter when the blade holder 3 is in its extended or unfolded position.
The front end 32 of the blade holder 3 comprises a thin main wall 34 and a thin guard wall 35 pivotally mounted on the main wall 34 on pivot pin 36. The main wall 34 is adapted to hold a blade B which has a lower cutting edge 37 and spaced notches 38 in its upper edge 39. The main wall 34 has a pair of spaced protrusions 40 extending therefrom into which the upper notches 38 of the blade B are adapted to enter to hold the blade B in place on the main wall 34. It will be seen that when the guard wall 35 is in its closed raised position it covers and holds the blade B in place but when it is in its open downward position, it exposes the blade B.
A blade lock assembly 45 is mounted along the top edge of the blade holder 3 and is pivotally mounted on the rear end 31 of the blade holder 3 on pivot pin 46. The blade lock assembly 45 is in the form of a u-shaped clip having a segmented or interrupted top wall 48, a pair of side walls 49 depending for the top wall 48 and a front finger tab 50 extending forwardly therefrom. When the blade lock assembly or clip 45 is pivoted downwardly around pivot 46, its side walls 49 straddle the walls 34 and 35 of the blade holder 3 and its top wall 48 overlies the walls 34 and 35 as well as the blade B in order to lock te blade B in place. When it is desired to remove and replace the blade B, the clip 45 is pivoted upwardly by means of its finger tab 50 to release the walls 34–35 and the blade B. This permits the guard wall 35 to be pivoted away from the blade B (as shown in
In operation of the utility knife 1 shown in the preferred embodiment of
When it is desired to place the utility knife 1 into its folded inoperative position, the rear arm 18 of the lock assembly 15 is pressed down manually through the notch 8 against the bias of the spring 14. This causes the front arm 17 of the lock assembly 15 to be raised thereby moving the lock finger 19 out of the groove 33 to release the blade holder 3 and permit it to pivot downwardly around the pivot pin 30 (
When it is desired to use the blade B the reverse procedure is followed. The blade holder 3 is pivoted in the opposite direction. It may be desirable for the rear arm 18 of the lock lever assembly 5 to again be depressed manually to assist in unfolding the blade holder 3. The blade holder 3 is continued to be rotated counter-clockwise (as seen in
When it is desired to replace a blade B, the blade holder 3 is placed in its unfolded position (as shown in
Referring to its embodiment of the utility knife 1 shown in
In all respects the construction and operation of this embodiment is similar to the embodiment of
It will be seen that the present invention provides a utility knife in which the blade holder may be easily folded into a handle in which improved means are provided for securing the blade on the utility knife and for replacing the blade on the knife and which is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.
As many and varied modifications of the subject matter of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description given hereinabove, it will be understood that the present invention is limited only as provided in the claims appended hereto.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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02 2 88379 | Dec 2002 | CN | national |
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