Utility cutter

• US 9,346,483 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2014
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ADCO Products Incorporated (Republic Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: ADCO Products Incorporated (Republic Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Davis, Raymond E., Hampton, Clifton Glenn
• Primary Examiner(s): Sanchez, Omar Flores
• Application Number:
  US14/336,841
• Publication Number:
  US 20140352157A1
• Time in Patent Office: 673 Days
• Field of Search: 83/39, 302/80, 302/94, 303/17, 303/14, 303/20, 30/2, 302/93, 301/62
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 1/08 with sliding blade with detachable blades B26B5/001
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 29/02 Guards or sheaths for knives
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 3/08 specially adapted for cutting cardboard, or wall, floor, or like covering materials
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 5/00 Hand knives with one or more detachable blades
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 5/001 with blades being slid out of handle immediately prior to use
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 5/003 comprising retraction means for the blade or the blade holder
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 5/005 specially adapted for cutting cardboard, or wall, floor or like covering materials
• CPC Class Codes: B26D 3/00 Cutting work characterised by the nature of the cut made; Apparatus therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 3/00 Steering gears power assisted or power driven B62D5/00; steering linkages B62D7/00; for non-deflectable wheels B62D11/00; gearing in general F16H
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/05 With reorientation of tool between cuts
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/0524 Plural cutting steps
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/0605 Cut advances across work surface

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.

Claims

1. A method for slicing a material, comprising:

engaging a material with a guide coupled to a blade of a utility knife near a proximal end of the blade, the blade coupled to a blade shuttle near a distal end of the blade, the blade shuttle positioned within a housing of the utility knife;

extending, through engagement of the material with the guide, the blade a distance away from the housing from a safe position substantially enclosed within the housing to a cutting position substantially out of the housing, the blade shuttle biased to move the blade from the cutting position to the safe position;

engaging the material with the blade to slice the material; and

based on a user of the utility knife disengaging the guide or the blade from the material, urging the blade shuttle to move the blade from the cutting position towards the safe position by a biasing member coupled between the blade shuttle and housing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein engaging a material with a guide comprises engaging the material with a pointed edge of the guide to penetrate the material.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising exerting a compressive force on the material compressed between the guide and a face surface of the housing by biasing the blade shuttle to move the blade and the guide towards the face surface of the housing.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

disengaging the blade from the material.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein urging the blade shuttle to move the blade from the cutting position towards the safe position by a biasing member coupled between the blade shuttle and housing comprises urging the blade shuttle by the biasing member without user action.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising actuating a trigger to move the blade shuttle such that the blade is extended from the housing from the safe position to the cutting position to engage the material.

7. A knife, comprising:

a handle that comprises a gripping surface;

a blade slide positioned in a recess of the handle;

a blade coupled to the blade slide near a proximal end of the blade and positioned in the recess 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 recess 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 slide into the retracted position.

8. The knife of claim 7, wherein the guide comprises at least one pointed edge along the contoured surface, the pointed edge configured to engage the workpiece.

9. The knife of claim 7, wherein the biasing member comprises a first biasing member, the knife further comprising a second biasing member in contact with the blade slide, the second biasing member configured to exert a substantially constant force on the blade slide to bias the slide into the retracted position.

10. The knife of claim 9, wherein at least one of the first or second biasing members comprises a spring.

11. The knife of claim 9, wherein at least one of the first or second biasing members is at least partially enclosed within the recess, the knife further comprising a cover coupled to the handle to selectively expose the at least one biasing member and the blade slide to an exterior of the handle.

12. The knife of claim 7, wherein the blade comprises a cutting edge configured to engage the workpiece when the blade slide is in the extended position.

13. The knife of claim 12, wherein the cutting edge comprises a first cutting edge, the blade further comprising a second cutting edge opposite to the first cutting edge, the second cutting edge configured to engage the workpiece when the blade slide is in the extended position.

14. A utility knife, comprising:

a handle comprising a cavity that extends through the handle;

a blade shuttle positioned in the cavity and configured to be movable within the cavity;

a blade coupled to the blade shuttle near a proximal end of the blade, the blade configured to be withdrawn into the cavity when the blade shuttle is moved towards a retracted position;

a guide coupled to the blade near a distal end of the blade opposite the proximal end, the guide configured to engage a material such that the blade is extended from the cavity and the blade shuttle is moved a distance from the retracted position to an extended position, the blade shuttle biased from the extended position towards the retracted position; and

a biasing member coupled to the handle and to the blade shuttle to urge the blade shuttle into the retracted position in response to disengagement of the guide or blade with the material.

15. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the guide comprises at least one pointed edge along a contoured surface of the guide, the pointed edge configured to engage the material.

16. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the biasing member is positioned in a trough within the cavity and constrained at one end by a wall of the trough and at an opposite end by the blade shuttle, the biasing member exerting the force against the blade shuttle to bias the blade shuttle towards the retracted position.

17. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the blade shuttle is extended, 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 retracted, through disengagement of the at least one of the guide or the blade from the material, from the extended position to the retracted position.

18. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the blade comprises a cutting edge configured to engage the material when the blade shuttle is in the extended position.

19. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the guide is separated from the handle by a gap sized to receive a portion of the material when the blade shuttle is in the retracted position.

20. The utility knife of claim 14, further comprising a trigger assembly configured to adjust the blade shuttle from the retracted position to the extended position such that the blade is extended from the opening to engage the material.

21. The utility knife of claim 20, wherein the trigger assembly comprises a trigger pivotally coupled to the handle through a first pin and pivotally coupled to a pawl through a second, different pin, the trigger configured to be actuated such that the pawl contacts the blade shuttle to urge the blade shuttle from the retracted position to the extended position.

22. The utility knife of claim 21, further comprising a biasing member in contact with the blade shuttle, wherein the trigger assembly comprises a second biasing member coupled to the pawl and configured to provide a first force against the pawl to counter a second force applied to the pawl by the biasing member through the blade shuttle when the trigger is actuated.

23. The utility knife of claim 21, wherein, based on engagement of the blade with the material, the blade and the blade shuttle are extended the distance towards the material such that the pawl is released from contact with the blade shuttle.

24. The utility knife of claim 14, further comprising a trigger pivotally coupled to the handle and configured to be actuated to rotate into contact with the blade shuttle to urge the blade shuttle from the retracted position to the extended position.

25. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the handle comprises a scallop adjacent a bottom edge of the blade, the scallop comprising a cut-out area of the handle configured to provide a space for receiving a corner of the material.

26. The utility knife of claim 14, wherein the handle defines a vertical direction, and the cavity is angled relative to the vertical direction such that the blade is extended at an angle relative to the vertical direction when the blade shuttle is moved from the retracted position to the extended position.