Retractable utility knife

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10994428-B2
Application number	US-201816188108-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2018
Priority date	Dec 19, 2012
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

A utility knife configured with a retractable cutting blade that is extended and retracted by a blade actuation mechanism. The blade actuation mechanism includes a slider button assembly and a blade carriage assembly that are operably connected in variety of configurations, including a configuration with a rack-and-pinion arrangement between the slider button assembly and the blade carriage assembly. The rack-and-pinion blade actuation mechanism is configured to automatically retract the cutting blade as the cutting blade is lifted from the cutting surface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An automatically retracting utility knife, comprising:
a blade actuation mechanism comprising a slider button, a slider rack, and a blade carriage configured to retain a cutting blade, wherein said slider button is detachably connected to said slider rack and said slider rack is operably connected to said blade carriage such that when said cutting blade is engaged with a cutting surface, said blade carriage is pulled forward thereby causing said slider rack to move rearward and disconnect from said slider button thereby interrupting an indirect connection between said slider button and said blade carriage and permitting said blade carriage to be automatically retracted by a tension component when said cutting blade is lifted from said cutting surface regardless of where said slider button is positioned.

2. The automatically retracting utility knife of claim 1 , wherein said slider rack and blade carriage are operably connected in a rack-and-pinion arrangement via a pinion gear.

3. The automatically retracting utility knife of claim 1 , further comprising a pinion gear operably connecting said slider rack to said blade carriage in a rack-and-pinion configuration and a blade outlet formed in said utility knife from which said cutting blade extends, wherein said rack-and-pinion configuration facilitates said slider button being pulled in a direction away from said blade outlet in order to extend said cutting blade through said blade outlet in a direction that is opposite of which said slider button is moved to place said cutting blade in an extended position.

4. An retracting utility knife, comprising:
a blade actuation mechanism comprising:
a blade carriage configured with a first linear gear configured to retain a cutting blade that can be movably extended from a blade outlet formed in said utility knife; and
a slider button assembly comprising a slider button extending outside of a housing of the retracting utility knife and a separately formed slider rack configured with a second linear gear,
wherein said slider rack is slidablv detachable from said slider button and said slider button is indirectly connected to said blade carriage via a pinion gear and said slider rack,
wherein said slider rack and said blade carriage are discrete components that are operably connected in a rack-and-pinion arrangement through the pinion gear that operates between the first linear gear and second linear gear such that pulling said slider button in a direction away from said blade outlet causes said cutting blade to be extended through said blade outlet.

5. The retracting utility knife of claim 4 , wherein a tension component attached to said blade actuation mechanism causes said cutting blade to be automatically retracted when said cutting blade is lifted from a cutting surface regardless of whether said slider button has been released from a blade extending position.

6. The retracting utility knife of claim 5 , wherein moving said cutting blade across said cutting surface causes said slider button to disengage from said slider rack.

7. The retracting utility knife of claim 4 , wherein said slider button is reversibly connected to said slider rack via a slider pin disposed on said slider button.

8. The retracting utility knife of claim 7 , wherein said slider pin reversibly connects with a lever arm formed on said slider rack.

9. An automatically retracting utility knife, comprising:
a blade actuation mechanism comprising a slider button assembly with a slider button and a blade carriage assembly configured to retain a cutting blade, wherein said slider button and blade carriage assembly have an indirect detachable connection via a slider rack such that extending and engaging said cutting blade with a cutting surface causes said blade carriage assembly to be pulled forward and said slider button to reversibly disconnect from said slider rack thereby interrupting said indirect detachable connection between said slider button and said blade carriage assembly and permitting a tension component to automatically retract said blade carriage assembly and said cutting blade when said cutting blade is lifted from said cutting surface regardless of whether said slider button has been released from a blade extending position.

10. The automatically retracting utility knife of claim 9 , wherein said slider button assembly and said blade carriage assembly are operably connected via a pinion gear that enables a rack-and-pinion movement relationship between said slider button assembly and said blade carriage assembly.

11. The automatically retracting utility knife of claim 10 , further comprising a blade outlet formed on a front portion of said automatically retracting utility knife, wherein said blade actuation mechanism is configured such that said slider button is pulled in a direction away from said blade outlet toward a rear portion of said automatically retracting utility knife in order to extend said cutting blade through said blade outlet.

12. The automatically retracting utility knife of claim 9 , wherein said slider button is reversibly connected to said slider rack via a slider pin disposed in a recess on said slider button.

13. The automatically retracting utility knife of claim 12 , wherein said a portion of said slider pin extends through said recess on said slider button and reversibly connects with a lever arm formed on said slider rack.

Assignees

• Slice Inc

Inventors

• Gallegos Robert Joseph
• Scimone Thomas John
• Herbst Scot

Classifications

• B26B5/003 Primary

  comprising retraction means for the blade or the blade holder · CPC title

• B26B1/08 Primary

  with sliding blade {(with detachable blades B26B5/001)} · CPC title

• B26B5/001

  with blades being slid out of handle immediately prior to use · CPC title