Utility knife
First Claim
1. A utility knife of the type adapted to support a retractable blade having an upper non-cutting edge and a lower cutting edge, the utility knife comprising:
- a handle having an internal cavity for housing the retractable blade, a first slot in an end thereof through which the blade may be extended and retracted, and a carrier glideway extending within the cavity from the first slot, the first slot having opposed first and second lateral sides and opposed upper and lower edges extending between the first and second sides;
a blade guard secured to the handle and extending along the upper edge and over at least a portion of the first and second sides of the first slot;
a blade carrier configured to support the blade and movable along the carrier glideway within the cavity; and
an actuator including an actuating arm pivotally coupled to the blade carrier and an actuating button, the actuating button being movable along an elongated second slot in the handle to extend and retract the blade, the actuator also including a protrusion extending therefrom and engagable in notches within the handle for selectively securing the blade in extended and retracted positions.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A utility knife includes a hollow handle, for retractably housing a blade mounted on a blade carrier. The blade carrier is pivotally coupled to an actuator. A user can extend or retract the blade through a front slot by depressing an actuating button and sliding the actuator along an actuator glideway and blade carrier along a carrier glideway to a desired position. Once in the desired position a resilient member on the actuator urges protrusions on the actuator into engagement with detents provided within the handle. The blade carrier glideway is provided in an non-parallel orientation with respect to the actuator glideway to obtain a beneficial force transmission to the actuator that tends to maintain engagement between the actuator and the detents. A blade guard at least partially surrounds the front slot to resist upward forces on the: blade during cutting, while a carrier guard contacts a portion of the cutting edge of the blade within the handle to protect the carrier from damage by the blade. The blade carrier and the actuator include abutment surfaces for effectively transmitting axial compression forces on the blade from the carrier to the actuator without exerting excessive force on the joint between the carrier and the actuator. The actuator is substantially rigid and is urged into engagement with the detents by a resilient member, thereby avoiding deflection of the actuator as a result of axial compression forces exerted on the blade.
116 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A utility knife of the type adapted to support a retractable blade having an upper non-cutting edge and a lower cutting edge, the utility knife comprising:
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a handle having an internal cavity for housing the retractable blade, a first slot in an end thereof through which the blade may be extended and retracted, and a carrier glideway extending within the cavity from the first slot, the first slot having opposed first and second lateral sides and opposed upper and lower edges extending between the first and second sides; a blade guard secured to the handle and extending along the upper edge and over at least a portion of the first and second sides of the first slot; a blade carrier configured to support the blade and movable along the carrier glideway within the cavity; and an actuator including an actuating arm pivotally coupled to the blade carrier and an actuating button, the actuating button being movable along an elongated second slot in the handle to extend and retract the blade, the actuator also including a protrusion extending therefrom and engagable in notches within the handle for selectively securing the blade in extended and retracted positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A utility knife comprising:
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a handle having an internal cavity for housing a retractable blade, a first slot in an end thereof through which the blade may be extended and retracted, and a carrier glideway extending within the cavity from a point adjacent to the first slot; a blade carrier configured to support the blade and movable along the carrier glideway within the cavity; and an actuator including a substantially rigid actuating arm having an end pivotally coupled to the blade carrier and an actuating button, the actuating button being movable along an elongated second slot in the handle to extend and retract the blade, the actuator also including a protrusion extending therefrom and engagable in notches within the handle for selectively securing the blade in extended and retracted positions. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A utility knife comprising:
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a handle having an internal cavity for housing a retractable blade, a first slot in an end thereof through which the blade may be extended and retracted, a carrier glideway extending within the cavity from a point adjacent to the first slot and an actuator glideway extending in a non-parallel orientation with respect to the carrier glideway; a blade carrier configured to receive the, blade and movable along the carrier glideway within the cavity; and an actuator pivotally coupled to the blade carrier and supported on the actuator glideway, a portion of the actuator extending through an elongated second slot in the handle for selectively extending and retracting the blade, the actuator being slidable along the actuator glideway and substantially maintaining a predetermined orientation with respect to the actuator glideway as the actuator is moved between a blade-extended position and a blade-retracted position. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A utility knife of the type adapted to support a retractable blade having an upper non-cutting edge and a lower cutting edge, the utility knife comprising:
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a handle having an internal cavity for housing a retractable blade, a first slot in an end thereof through which the blade may be extended and retracted, and a carrier glideway extending within the cavity from the first slot; a blade carrier configured to support the blade and movable along the carrier glideway within the cavity, the blade carrier including a lower ledge for supporting the cutting edge of the blade; a carrier guard disposed on the blade carrier adjacent to the lower ledge thereof for contacting the cutting edge of the blade; and an actuator including an actuating arm having an end pivotally coupled to the blade carrier, a portion of the actuator extending through an elongated second slot in the handle and movable along the second slot to selectively extend and retract the blade, the actuator also including a protrusion extending therefrom and engagable in notches within the handle for selectively securing the blade in extended and retracted positions. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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22. A utility knife comprising:
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a handle having an internal cavity for housing a retractable blade, a first slot in an end thereof through which the blade may be extended and retracted, and a carrier glideway extending within the cavity from a point adjacent to the first slot; a blade carrier configured to support the blade and movable along the carrier glideway within the cavity, the blade carrier including a first abutment surface for transmitting forces exerted on the blade to an actuator; and an actuator including an actuating arm and an actuating button, the actuating arm being pivotally coupled to the blade carrier at a pivot joint, the actuating button being movable along an elongated second slot in the handle to extend and retract the blade, the actuator also including a protrusion extending therefrom and engagable in notches within the handle for selectively securing the blade in extended and retracted positions, the actuator further including a second abutment surface separate from the pivot joint and configured to contact the first abutment surface to accept from the blade carrier forces exerted on the blade from the blade carrier. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification