Cutting apparatus

• US 5,203,086 A
• Filed: 03/18/1992
• Issued: 04/20/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Elmer's Products Incorporated (Newell Brands Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hunt Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Dann, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Yost, Frank T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PAYER, HWEI SIU CHOU
• Application Number:
  US07/853,446
• Time in Patent Office: 398 Days
• Field of Search: 30/152, 30/162, 30/294, 30/286, 30/287, 30/289, 30/293, 30/335, 30/336, 30/340, 30/342, 30/317, 30/305, 30/304
• US Class Current: 30/293
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 29/06 Arrangements for guiding hand cutting tools guiding equipment or arrangements for specific cutting tools, see the particular places, e.g. for hair trimming devices A45D24/36, for saw blades B27B11/02, B26B13/10
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 5/00 Hand knives with one or more detachable blades

Abstract

A hand-held cutter especially for mat or foam board comprises a body, with handle, carrying a sliding blade holder so that a cutting blade mounted on it can be extended for cutting, or withdrawn for safety when not in use; the holder is adapted to carry two parallel, spaced-apart blades when it is desired to make two parallel cuts in a board, and the body has an inclined-plane nose so the region between the two cuts can be "plowed out" to form a channel for receiving another piece of foam board. Each blade is mounted on an outboard side of the body so the blade and cut line can be easily seen during use. A clip-on angulation device is provided which, when clipped onto the bottom of the main body, provides an angled guide surface on which the body can be slid, when an angled cut is desired.

Claims

1. Apparatus for making narrow, slitlike cuts extending along a cutting path in a material, comprising:

a blade-holding body having a grip portion adapted to be held in a hand of a user to enable drawing of said body along a predetermined cutting direction parallel to said cutting path;

a blade holder mounted on said body;

an adjustable cutting blade having a cutting edge and held in said blade holder for adjustable extension of said cutting edge into a cutting position in which it protrudes outward beyond an edge of said body and for retraction into a stored position in which it is entirely within the border of said body, the plane of said cutting blade and the plane of said cutting edge extending along said predetermined cutting direction;

said body having a planar guide surface at said edge thereof for holding said body at a fixed elevational angle with respect to the surface of said material adjacent thereto as said body is moved along said surface of said material to effect cutting of said material along said cutting path by said cutting edge of said blade;

said blade being mounted on an outer side of said body parallel to said cutting path so that it is readily visible to a viewer, another cutting blade having a cutting edge and held in said blade holder for adjustable extension and retraction of its cutting edge with respect to said edge of said body, said another blade being held for sliding motion parallel to and on the opposite side of said body from said first-named blade, whereby both blades may make simultaneous cuts,

wherein said another blade and said first-named blade are spaced apart by the thickness of said body, and said body has a nose portion extending between said blades and having an inclined-plane configuration, whereby after said cuts are made, said body portion can be moved along between said cuts to plow out the material between said cuts.

2. Apparatus for making narrow, slitlike cuts extending along a cutting path in a material, comprising:

a blade-holding body having a grip portion adapted to be held in a hand of a user to enable drawing of said body along a predetermined cutting direction parallel to said cutting path;

a blade holder mounted on said body;

an adjustable cutting blade having a cutting edge and held in said blade holder for adjustable extension of said cutting edge into a cutting position in which it protrudes outward beyond an edge of said body and for retraction into a stored position in which it is entirely within the border of said body, the plane of said cutting blade and the plane of said cutting edge extending along said predetermined cutting direction;

said body having a planar guide surface at said edge thereof for holding said body at a fixed elevational angle with respect to the surface of said material adjacent thereto as said body is moved along said surface of said material to effect cutting of said material along said cutting path by said cutting edge of said blade;

said blade being mounted on an outer side of said body parallel to said cutting path so that it is readily visible to a viewer, another cutting blade having a cutting edge and held in said blade holder for adjustable extension and retraction of its cutting edge with respect to said edge of said body, said another blade being held for sliding motion parallel to and on the opposite side of said body from said first=named blade, whereby both blades may make simultaneous cuts; and

an angulation attachment securable to said body and having an angulated guide surface extending at an oblique angle to the plane of said guide surface of said body, whereby a cut can be made at an oblique angle to said plane of said guide surface by sliding said body along on said angulated guide surface with said blade extended.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 2, comprising snap-attachment means on said angulation attachment and on said body, to permit easy attachment and detachment of said angulation attachment.