Knife with integrated blade snapper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11198228-B2
Application number	US-201916687097-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2019
Priority date	Nov 18, 2019
Publication date	Dec 14, 2021
Grant date	Dec 14, 2021

Abstract

A knife includes a body, and a blade slider slidably mounted within the body, the blade slider configured to hold and slidably move a blade relative to the body. The knife further includes a blade snapper pivotally coupled to the body, positioned such that when the blade slider selectively positions the blade to be engaged by the blade snapper, pivotal movement of the blade snapper imparts a force on a blade segment of the blade to detach the blade segment from the blade.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A knife comprising:
a body;
a blade slider slidably mounted within the body, the blade slider configured to hold and slidably move a blade relative to the body; and
a blade snapper pivotally coupled to the body, positioned such that when the blade slider selectively positions the blade to be engaged by the blade snapper, pivotal movement of the blade snapper imparts a force on a blade segment of the blade to detach the blade segment from the blade;
wherein the blade snapper comprises an opening through which the blade selectively extends through movement of the blade slider; and
wherein the blade snapper comprises a magnet recessed in the opening for holding a separated blade segment, following separating the blade segment with the blade snapper until removed by a user.

2. The knife of claim 1 , wherein the blade snapper comprises a lever arm that extends along the body.

3. The knife of claim 2 , wherein the lever arm is flush with the body when the blade snapper is positioned for extension of the blade slider and selective extension of the blade for a cutting operation.

4. The knife of claim 1 , further comprising a blade snapper latch configured to selectively hold the blade snapper positioned for extension of the blade slider and selective extension of the blade for a cutting operation.

5. The knife of claim 4 , wherein the blade snapper latch has a latch spring biased into a holding position that holds the blade snapper against the body until a user actuates the blade snapper latch by pulling the latch away from the blade snapper against the spring bias of the latch spring.

6. The knife of claim 4 , wherein the blade snapper has a snapper spring biased into an actuated position away from a holding position that holds the blade snapper against the body until a user actuates the blade snapper latch.

7. The knife of claim 6 , wherein the snapper spring is configured to pivot the blade snapper away from the body to create a user engageable surface so that the user can position their fingernails or fingertips between the blade snapper and the body to initiate desired movement of the blade snapper.

8. The knife of claim 6 , wherein the snapper spring is configured to pivot the blade snapper away from the body with an external force to detach the blade segment from the blade.

9. The knife of claim 1 , wherein the blade comprises a plurality of snappable blade segments extending from a tang of the blade that couples to the blade slider, the plurality of blade segments extending from the tang such that as a forwardmost-blade segment of the plurality of blade segments is utilized it can be snapped off and discarded to expose a blade segment that is next to the forwardmost-blade segment.

10. The knife of claim 1 , wherein:
the blade has a main body with one or more mounting notches formed in a first linear edge and a cutting edge thereof opposite the first linear edge; and
the blade has one or more detachable blade segments mounted to the main body.

11. The knife of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a first body portion pivotally coupled to a second body portion at a body hinge, so that the body can be opened by pivoting the first body portion relative to the second body portion at the body hinge.

12. The knife of claim 11 , wherein the blade snapper is pivotally coupled to the second body portion at a blade snapper hinge.

13. A knife comprising:
a body;
a blade slider slidably mounted within the body, the blade slider configured to hold and slidably move a blade relative to the body; and
a blade snapper pivotally coupled to the body, positioned such that when the blade slider selectively positions the blade to be engaged by the blade snapper, pivotal movement of the blade snapper imparts a force on a blade segment of the blade to detach the blade segment from the blade;
wherein the blade snapper is configured to pivot relative to the body so as to take up a gap behind the blade adjacent to the blade segment so as to support or provide an opposing force to the blade relative to the force being applied by a segment engaging region of the blade snapper to the blade segment.

14. The knife of claim 13 , wherein a width of the gap corresponds to a width of a blade carriage portion of the blade slider.

15. A knife comprising:
a body;
a blade slider slidably mounted within the body, the blade slider configured to hold and slidably move a blade relative to the body; and
a blade snapper pivotally coupled to the body, positioned such that when the blade slider selectively positions the blade to be engaged by the blade snapper, pivotal movement of the blade snapper imparts a force on a blade segment of the blade to detach the blade segment from the blade; and
a blade segment removal tool configured to hold a separated blade segment following separating the blade segment with the blade snapper, the blade segment removal tool being configured to selectively move the blade segment into a position easily removed by a user.

16. The knife of claim 15 , wherein the segment removal tool includes a magnet positioned to magnetically attract and hold the separated blade segment.

17. The knife of claim 15 , wherein the segment removal tool is detachable from the knife.

18. A knife comprising:
a body;
a blade slider slidably mounted within the body, the blade slider configured to hold and slidably move a blade relative to the body; and
a blade snapper pivotally coupled to the body, positioned such that when the blade slider selectively positions the blade to be engaged by the blade snapper, pivotal movement of the blade snapper imparts a force on a blade segment of the blade to detach the blade segment from the blade;
wherein the blade snapper and the body comprise an interlock feature, wherein an arced body on one of the blade snapper and the body is selectively received in an arced recess on the other of the blade snapper and the body through pivotal motion of the blade snapper.

19. The knife of claim 18 ,
wherein the body comprises a first body portion pivotally coupled to a second body portion at a body hinge, so that the body can be opened by pivoting the first body portion relative to the second body portion at the body hinge;
wherein the blade snapper is pivotally coupled to the second body portion at a blade snapper hinge; and
wherein pivoting of the blade snapper relative to the body at the blade snapper hinge disengages the arced body from the arced recess, permitting pivotal movement of the first body portion relative to the second body portion at the body hinge.

Assignees

• Stanley Black & Decker Inc

Inventors

• Ranieri Eric
• Orsini Antony
• Lombardi Keith

Classifications

• B26B5/002 Primary

  segmented blades · CPC title

• B26B5/003

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