Utility cutter
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving a material in a gap between a blade of a knife and a guide of the knife that is coupled to the blade near a proximal end of the blade, the blade coupled to a blade shuttle near a distal end of the blade;
extending, solely through engagement of the material with the guide, the blade a distance away from the handle of the knife greater than the gap;
exerting a compressive force on the material by the guide and a surface of a handle of the knife, by biasing the guide toward the surface of the handle with a biasing member that exerts a force on the blade shuttle; and
slicing the material with a cutting edge of the blade.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A knife includes a handle that includes a gripping surface; a blade slide positioned in a recess of the handle that extends from an opening of the handle through a cavity within the handle; a blade coupled to the blade slide near a proximal end of the blade and extending through the recess and into the opening when the blade slide is in the retracted position; and a guide coupled to the blade near a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end, the guide including a contoured surface configured to engage a workpiece to extend the blade slide a distance from the retracted position to an extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening of the handle, the blade slide biased to move from the extended position to the retracted position.
151 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving a material in a gap between a blade of a knife and a guide of the knife that is coupled to the blade near a proximal end of the blade, the blade coupled to a blade shuttle near a distal end of the blade; extending, solely through engagement of the material with the guide, the blade a distance away from the handle of the knife greater than the gap; exerting a compressive force on the material by the guide and a surface of a handle of the knife, by biasing the guide toward the surface of the handle with a biasing member that exerts a force on the blade shuttle; and slicing the material with a cutting edge of the blade.
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2. A method for slicing a material, comprising:
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engaging a first material with a guide coupled to a blade of a knife, the blade coupled to a blade slide biased to move the blade to a safe position substantially enclosed within a housing of the knife; extending, through engagement of the first material with the guide, the blade a first distance away from the housing of the knife from the safe position to a first cutting position; engaging the first material with the blade to slice the first material; disengaging the blade from the first material; and based on a user of the knife disengaging the guide or the blade from the first material, biasing the blade slide to move the blade from the first cutting position towards the safe position by urging the blade slide from the first cutting position towards the safe position by a spring. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 35)
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11. A method, comprising:
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receiving a material in a gap between a blade of a knife and a guide of the knife that is coupled to the blade near a proximal end of the blade, the blade coupled to a blade shuttle near a distal end of the blade; extending, through engagement of the material with the guide, the blade a distance away from the handle of the knife greater than the gap; exerting a compressive force on the material, that is compressed between the guide and a surface of a handle of the knife, by biasing the guide toward the surface of the handle with a biasing member that exerts a force on the blade shuttle; and slicing the material with a cutting edge of the blade. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 17)
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16. A knife, comprising:
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a handle that comprises a gripping surface; a blade slide positioned in a recess of the handle that extends from an opening of the handle; a blade coupled to the blade slide near a proximal end of the blade and extending through the recess and into the opening when the blade slide is in a retracted position; a guide coupled to the blade near a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end, the guide comprising a contoured surface configured to engage a workpiece to extend the blade slide a distance from the retracted position to an extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening of the handle, the blade slide biased to move from the extended position to the retracted position; and a biasing member in contact with the blade slide, the biasing member configured to exert a substantially constant force on the blade slide to bias the blade slide into the retracted position based on disengagement of the guide or blade with the workpiece. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34)
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18. A knife, comprising:
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a handle that comprises a gripping surface; a blade slide positioned in a recess of the handle that extends from an opening of the handle; a blade coupled to the blade slide near a proximal end of the blade and extending through the recess and into the opening when the blade slide is in a retracted position; a guide coupled to the blade near a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end, the guide comprising a contoured surface configured to engage a workpiece to extend the blade slide a distance from the retracted position to an extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening of the handle, the blade slide biased to move from the extended position to the retracted position; and a biasing member in contact with the blade slide, the biasing member configured to exert a substantially constant force on the blade slide to bias the blade slide into the retracted position without user action, the biasing member positioned in a trough in the recess and constrained at one end by a wall of the trough and at an opposite end by stops of the blade slide, the biasing member configured to exert the substantially constant force against the stops of the blade side to bias the blade slide in a direction opposite the guide.
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19. A knife, comprising:
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a handle that comprises a gripping surface; a blade slide positioned in a recess of the handle that extends from an opening of the handle; a blade coupled to the blade slide near a proximal end of the blade and extending through the recess and into the opening when the blade slide is in a retracted position; a guide coupled to the blade near a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end, the guide comprising a contoured surface configured to engage a workpiece to extend the blade slide a distance from the retracted position to an extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening of the handle, the blade slide biased to move from the extended position to the retracted position; and a biasing member in contact with the blade slide, the biasing member configured to exert a substantially constant force on the blade slide to bias the blade slide into the retracted position without user action, wherein the blade side is extended, solely through the engagement of the workpiece with at least one of the guide or the blade, from the retracted position to the extended position, and is automatically retracted, through disengagement of the blade and the guide from the workpiece, from the extended position to the retracted position by the biasing member.
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20. A method for slicing a material, comprising:
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engaging a first material with a guide coupled to a blade of a knife, the blade coupled to a blade slide biased to move the blade to a safe position substantially enclosed within a housing of the knife; extending, solely through engagement of the first material with the guide, the blade a first distance away from the housing of the knife from the safe position to a first cutting position; engaging the first material with the blade to slice the first material; disengaging the blade from the first material; and based on disengagement of the blade from the first material, biasing the blade slide to move the blade from the first cutting position towards the safe position by urging the blade slide from the first cutting position towards the safe position by a spring.
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21. A utility cutter, comprising:
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a handle that comprises a gripping surface and a face surface; a blade shuttle positioned in a recess of the handle that extends from an opening of the handle; a blade coupled, at a proximal end, to the blade shuttle and extending through the recess and into the opening when the blade shuttle is in a retracted position; a guide coupled to a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end and configured to penetrate a material and engage the material to extend the blade shuttle a distance from the refracted position to an extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening of the handle; and a biasing member configured to urge the guide toward the face surface of the handle by biasing the blade shuttle from the extended position toward the retracted position, the face surface and the guide separated by a gap when the blade shuttle is in the retracted position, wherein the blade shuttle is extended, solely through the engagement of the material with at least one of the guide or the blade, from the retracted position to the extended position, and is automatically retracted, through disengagement of the blade and the guide from the material, from the extended position to the retracted position by the biasing member.
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31. A utility cutter, comprising:
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a handle that comprises a gripping surface and a face surface; a blade shuttle positioned in a recess of the handle that extends from an opening of the handle; a blade coupled, at a proximal end, to the blade shuttle and extending through the recess and into the opening when the blade shuttle is in a retracted position; a guide coupled to a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end and configured to penetrate a material and engage the material to extend the blade shuttle a distance from the refracted position to an extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening of the handle; and a biasing member configured to urge the guide toward the face surface of the handle by biasing the blade shuttle from the extended position toward the retracted position based, at least in part, on disengagement of the guide or blade from the material, the face surface and the guide separated by a gap when the blade shuttle is in the retracted position. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 36)
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Specification