KNIFE WITH A RETRACTABLE BLADE

• US 3,857,176 A
• Filed: 12/10/1973
• Issued: 12/31/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Michel Quenot
• Original Assignee: Michel Quenot
• Inventors: Quenot, Michel
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Al Lawrence
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zatarga, J. T.
• Application Number:
  US05/423,084
• Time in Patent Office: 386 Days
• Field of Search: 30/162,293,335,329,163
• US Class Current: 30/162
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 5/001 with blades being slid out of handle immediately prior to use

Abstract

A knife with a retractable blade comprises a shell and a rigid side plate between which a blade carried by a blade carriage is held in a chosen position by means of a screw with an enlarged head against the side plate, a shank passing through registering slots in the plate and shell, and a nut slidably held in a channel in the shell. A spare blade magazine is slidably engaged in the rear end of the knife handle, and held by an integral resilient catch.

Claims

1. A knife handle comprising a hollow elongate shell, a rigid elongate side plate, a blade-carrying carriage movably mounted between the shell and side plate, and means for gripping the carriage between the shell and side plate in selected positions along the handle, said carriage gripping means including:

means defining registering elongate slots along the side plate and the shell, the slot in the shell communicating with an enlarged elongate rail-forming channel towards the outer face of the shell, a screw having an enlarged head bearing against the side plate and a shank passing through said slots into said channel, a nut threadably engaged on said shank, the nut being held in said channel for sliding movement therealong but against rotation relative to the shell, and means defining an aperture in the carriage for receiving said screw, said enlarged head being manually rotatable between a first position in which it can be moved bodily with the screw, nut and carriage by sliding of said shank along said slots, and a second position in which it is fixed with the carriage firmly gripped between the shell and plate in any given position of said shank along said slots, said carriage including blade engaging means for movement of a blade with the carriage and automatic blade releasing means operably responsive upon movement of said head toward and beyond said first position to release the blade from said blade engaging means without relative angular movement of said shell and said side plate.

2. A knife handle according to claim 1, in which said enlarged head is circular and knurled and has a diameter at least as great as the width of the handle in a direction generally parallel to the plane of said head.

3. A knife handle according to claim 1, in which said blade engaging means includes a projection for engaging with a blade, and said blade releasing means includes an integral curved resilient tongue adapted to be deformed by a blade engaging with said projection when the enlarged head is in said second position and to move the blade out of engagement with said projection as the enlarged head is rotated towards or beyond said first position.

4. A knife handle according to claim 1, comprising a spare blade support slidably mounted in said shell along the longitudinal direction of the handle, said support including an integral resilient catch cooperating with means on the shell foR selectively locking the support in a first position wholly within the handle and in a second position withdrawn from the handle.

5. A knife handle according to claim 1, in which said side plate is in stainless steel.