MXPA04004480A - Utility knife. - Google Patents

Abstract

A utility knife having a handle and a blade holder which is pivotally mounted on the handle for movement from an unfolded position to a folded position. The handle has a space adapted to receive the blade holder when the blade holder is in its folded position. The blade holder includes a main wall and guard wall pivotally mounted on the main wall to pivot from an open position to a closed position overlying the main wall. The main wall being adapted to hold a blade so that a blade is interposed between the main wall and guard wall when the guard wall is in its closed position.

Description

UTILITY POCKET BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a razor to be used and more particularly to a utility knife capable of being bent in which the e can be bent towards the handle when the knife is not in use. Utility knives have been used for a number of years. Some of the utility knives in use have es that are mounted on a e holder that is capable of bending inside a handle when the e is not in use. However, some of these utility knives can have many moving parts which makes them difficult to use and expensive to manufacture. In addition, in some of these utility knives the replacement of the e is a complicated operation any may require special tools. OBJECTS The present invention overcomes these problems and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved utility knife in which the e carrier can be easily bent towards a handle. Another object of the present invention is the provision of a utility knife in which the e is held securely in the utility knife.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved utility knife in which improved means for replacing the knife in the utility knife is provided. Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved utility knife that is simple to use and economical to manufacture and maintain. Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages not mentioned herein will occur to an expert in the field during the use of the invention in practice. Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention has been selected for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a utility knife made in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof. Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3, showing the utility knife in a partially bent position. Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3 showing the utility knife in a fully folded position. Figure 6 is a plan view of one side of the utility knife showing how to remove and replace the e. Figure 7 is a plan view of the opposite side of the utility knife. Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modified version of the utility knife of the present invention. Figure 9 is a top plan view thereof. Figure 10 is a plan view of one side of the utility knife showing how to remove the e. Figure 11 is a plan view of the other side of the knife. DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings and more particularly to a preferred embodiment of Figures 1 to 7, the utility knife 1 of the present invention comprises a handle 2 and a e holder 3. The handle 2 comprises a pair of handle halves 2A and 2B each having an outer side wall 11, an upper edge 7 and a lever edge 9. A rear spacer 4 is provided between the handle halves 2A and 2B to maintain the separate handle halves 2A and 2B and to create a space 5 between the handle halves 2A and 2B. The spacers 4 and the handle halves 2A and 2B are held together by fasteners 6 which pass through the spacer 4 and the handle halves 2A and 2B in order to hold them together. The upper edge 7 of the handle halves 2A and 2B (ie the handle 2) has a finger groove 8 and the lower edge 9 of the handle halves 2a and 2b (ie the handle 2) may be corrugated to allow the user's fingers to hold the handle 2. If desired, a staple 10 can be mounted on a side wall 11 of the handle halves 2A and / or 2B to allow the utility knife 1 to be held on the user's belt or other convenient location. Interposed between the handle halves at 2A and 2B and along the upper edges 7 of the handle halves 2A and 2B there is provided a clamping lever assembly 15 (Figures 3 to 5) which is pivotally mounted between the halves 2A and 2B of handle on a pivot pin 16 extending through the two handle halves 21A and 2B and the clamping lever assembly 15. The clamping lever assembly 15 is a two-arm lever having front and rear arms 17 and 18, respectively. The front arm 17 is provided with a gripping finger 19 extending downward. Beneath the rear arm 18 of the clamping lever assembly 15 is a spring 14 (which is u-shaped in shape) which normally rests against the lower edge of the rear arm 18 to force the rear arm 18 upwardly and the arm 17 forwardly downwards about the pivot 16 so that the rear arm 18 protrudes above the notch 8. It will be seen that when the rear arm 18 of the grip lever assembly 15 is pressed down manually through the notch 8 against the action of the spring 14, the front arm 17 will be raised. The blade holder 3 of the present invention comprises a rear end 31 and a front end 32 that are integral with one another. The rear end 31 of the blade holder 3 has the trailing edge 31A, the lower edge 31B and the upper edge 31C. The blade holder 3 is pivotally mounted in the space 5 between the handle halves 2A and 2B on a pivot pin 30. A finger handle 41 can be provided at the rear end 31 to facilitate pivotal movement of the knife holder 3 relative to the handle 2. The upper edge 31C of the rear end 31 has a slot 33 to which the finger 19 holds extends downwardly of the fastening assembly 15 is adapted to enter when the blade fastener 3 is in its extended or non-bent position. The forward end 32 of the blade holder 3 comprises a thin main wall 34 and a thin protection wall 35 pivotally mounted on the main wall 34 on the pivot pin 36. The main wall 34 is adapted to retain the blade B having a lower cutting edge 37 and notches 38 spaced at its upper edge 39. The main wall 34 has a pair of spaced protrusions 40 extending therefrom toward which the notches 38 of the blade B are adapted to enter to retain the blade B in place in the main wall 34. It will be seen that when the guard wall 35 is in its closed raised position, it covers and retains the blade B in place, but when in its open down position, exposes the blade B. A blade holder assembly 45 is mounted along the upper edge of the blade holder 30 and is pivotally mounted at the rear end 31 of the blade holder 30 on the pivot pin 46. The blade clamp assembly 45 is in the form of a u-shaped clamp having a segmented or interrupted upper wall 48, a pair of side walls 49 depending on the upper wall 48 and a front finger tab 50 that is extends forward therefrom, when the knife or staple holder assembly 45 is pivoted downwardly around the pivot 46, its side walls 49 mount the walls 34 and 35 of the knife holder 3 and its upper wall 48 lies on the walls 34 and 35 as well as the blade B in order to hold the blade E in place. When it is desired to remove and replace the blade B, the staple 45 is pivoted upwardly by means of its finger tab 50 to release the walls 34-35 and the blade B. This allows the protection wall 35 to pivot away from blade B (as shown in Figure 6) to expose blade B and allow blade B to be removed and replaced. In operation of utility knife 1 shown in the preferred embodiment of Figures 1 to 7, the utility knife is placed in its operative unfolded position with the blade holder 3 unfolded and ready for use. The blade B is retained in the main wall 34 by protuberances 40 extending towards the notches 38 in the upper edge 39 of the blade B. The holding finger 19 of the front arm 17 of the clamping lever assembly 15 in its lower position (due to the pressure of the spring 14 in the rear arm 18) and is placed in the slot 33 in the blade holder 3 in order to retain the blade holder 3 in its unfolded position. The rear arm 18 of the clamping lever assembly 15 is in its raised position and protrudes above the finger groove 8 in the upper edge 7 of the handle 2. When it is desired to place the utility knife 1 in its inoperative bent position, the rear arm 18 of the clamping assembly 15 is pressed down manually through the notch 8 against the deflection of the spring 14. This causes the front arm 17 of the clamping assembly 15 to be lifted thereby moving the clamping finger 19 outside the slot 33 to release the blade holder 3 and allow it to pivot down about the pivot pin 30 (Figure 4). This can be achieved by pushing down on the finger holder 41. The blade holder 3 is then pivoted down completely into the space 5 between the handle halves 2A and 2B (Figure 5). when the pressure in the rear arm 18 is released, the spring 14 moves the rear arm 18 back to its original raised position by the tension of the spring 14. This causes the clamping finger 19 to bear against the rear edge 31A and the edge 31B lower of the blade holder 3, thereby retaining the blade holder 3 in its bent position. When you want to use blade B, the inverted procedure is followed. The blade holder 3 is pivoted in the opposite direction. It may be desirable that the rear arm 18 of the clamping lever assembly 5 is again manually depressed to assist in unfolding the blade holder 3. The blade holder 3 is continued to rotate in a counterclockwise direction (as seen in Figure 4) until the clamping finger 19 of the front arm 17 enters the slot 33 at the rear end 31 of the blade holder 3 In order to retain the blade holder 3 in its extended position. When it is desired to replace the blade B, the blade holder 3 is placed in its unfolded position (as shown in Figure 6) and the clip 45 is raised around the pivot 46 by means of the finger tongue 50 thereby releasing the protective wall 35 and allowing it to be pivoted downwardly around the pivot 36 to expose the blade B. The blade B can then be moved out of the blade holder 3 and a new blade B can be placed thereon. of protection is again pivoted upwardly back to the position on the blade B and the clip 45 is lowered to hold the blade B and the walls 34 and 35 in place. Referring to its Utility Knife 1 mode shown in Figures 8-11, this mode is similar to the utility knife mode shown in Figures 1-7 and similar parts will be identified with the same reference numbers. . In all aspects the construction and operation of this embodiment is similar to the embodiment of Figures 1 to 7, however, in this embodiment, the pivotable protection wall 35 of the blade holder 3 is held in place by a member 55. threaded extending through the pivoting protection wall 35 in the wall 35 towards the main wall 56. When it is desired to remove the blade B, the threaded member 56 is removed and the protective wall 35 is pivoted downwardly around the pivot 36 to expose the blade B which can then be separated and replaced. After replacing blade B, Wall of protection is pivoted again around its pivot 36 towards its operative position on the blade 3 and the threaded member 55 can be placed again through the openings 57-56 to retain the protective wall 35 and the blade B in place. It will be seen that the present invention provides a utility knife in which the knife holder can be easily bent towards a handle wherein improved means are provided for securing the knife in the utility knife and for replacing the knife in the knife and which is simple to use and economical to manufacture and maintain. Since many and varied modifications of the subject matter of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description provided in the foregoing, it will be understood that the present invention is limited only as mentioned in the appended claims to the present.

Claims (44)

1. CLAIMS 1. - A utility knife comprises a handle and a blade holder, the blade holder being pivotally mounted on the handle for movement from a unfolded position to a bent position, the handle having a space adapted to receive at least a portion of the blade holder when the blade holder is in its bent position, the blade holder comprising a main wall and a protective wall pivotally mounted on the main wall from an open position to a closed position remaining on the main wall, the The main wall having means for retaining the blade therein, whereby a blade is interposed between the main wall and the protective wall when the protective wall is in its closed position.
2. 2. - A utility knife according to claim 1, wherein the knife holder comprises a rear end and a front end, the front end comprising a protective wall and the main wall, the rear end being pivotally mounted to the handle and having upper and lower edges.
3. 3. - A utility knife according to claim 2, wherein the protective wall is pivotally mounted to the main wall in a pivot adjacent to the lower edge of the rear end.
4. 4. - A utility knife according to claim 3, wherein a knife holder assembly is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the main and guard walls from an open position to a closed position remaining on the main wall and the protection wall.
5. 5. - A utility knife according to claim 4, wherein the knife holder assembly is pivotally mounted at the rear end adjacent the upper edge.
6. 6. - A utility knife according to claim 5, wherein the blade holding assembly comprises a u-shaped staple having an upper wall and a pair of side walls, and wherein the side walls mount the wall main and a protective wall when a staple is in its closed position.
7. 7. - A utility knife according to claim 6, wherein the staple has a front finger extending therefrom.
8. 8. - A utility knife according to claim 7, wherein the rear end has a finger handle extending therefrom.
9. 9. - A utility knife according to claim 8, wherein the handle comprises a pair of spaced handle halves and wherein the handle has a pivoted clamping lever assembly mounted in the space in the handle and wherein the handle The clamping lever assembly has a front arm and a rear arm and a clamping finger that extends from its front arm.
10. 10. - A utility knife according to claim 9, wherein the trailing end of the blade holder has a slot therein adapted to receive the clamping finger when the blade holder is in its unfolded position.
11. 11. - A utility knife according to claim 10, wherein spring means are mounted under the rear arm of the clamping lever assembly to deflect the rear arm upward and to deflect the front arm downward to allow the clamping finger enters the slot, whereby pressing the rear arm against the tension of the spring means will cause the front arm to rise and the clamping finger to move out of the slot allowing the blade holder to pivot relative to the handle from an unfolded position to a folded position towards the space in the handle.
12. 12. - A utility knife according to claim 11, wherein the handle has a notch at its upper edge, and wherein the rear arm protrudes above the notch., whereby the depression of the rear arm in the notch allows the front end to rise upward and cause the grip finger to move out of the holding slot.
13. 13. - A utility knife according to claim 12, wherein the blade holding means comprises a pair of protrusions in the main wall of the blade holder, the protuberances being adapted to enter corresponding grooves in a blade.
14. 14. - A utility knife according to claim 3, wherein threaded means are provided for retaining the protective wall in place on the main wall when the protective wall is in its closed position.
15. 15. - A utility knife according to claim 14, wherein the threaded means extend from the protection wall and towards the main wall.
16. 16. - A utility knife according to claim 14, wherein the handle comprises a pair of spaced handle halves and wherein the handle has a clamping lever assembly mounted in the space in the handle and. wherein the clamping lever assembly has a front arm and a rear arm and a clamping finger extending from its front arm.
17. 17. - A utility knife according to claim 16, wherein the trailing end of the blade holder has a slot therein adapted to receive the clamping finger when the blade holder is in its unfolded position.
18. 18. - A utility knife according to claim 17, wherein the spring means are mounted below the rear arm of the clamping lever assembly to deflect the rear arm upward and to deflect the front arm downward to cause the clamping finger enters the slot, whereby pressing the rear arm against the tension of the spring means will cause the front arm to rise and the clamping finger to move out of the slot allowing the blade holder to pivot relative to the handle from an unfolded position to a bent position towards the space in the handle.
19. 19. - A utility knife according to claim 18, wherein the handle has a notch on its upper edge and, where the rear arm protrudes above the notch, by which the rear arm is pressed into the notch it allows the front end to rise upward and cause the grip finger to move out of the retaining slot.
20. 20. - A utility knife according to claim 29, wherein the blade holding means comprises a pair of protuberances in the main wall of the blade holder, the protrusions being adapted to enter corresponding grooves in a blade.
21. 21. A used blade comprises a handle and a blade holder, the blade holder being pivotally mounted on the handle for movement from a unfolded position to a bent position, the handle having a space adapted to receive at least a portion of the handle. blade holder when the blade holder is in its bent position, the blade holder comprising a main wall and a protective wall mounted on the main wall and movable from an open position to a closed position remaining on the main wall, the The main wall having means for retaining a blade therein whereby a blade is interposed between the main wall and the protective wall when the protective wall is in its closed position.
22. 22. - A utility knife according to claim 21 wherein the knife holder comprises a rear end and a front end, the front end comprising the protective wall and the main wall, the rear end being pivotally mounted to the handle and having upper and lower edges.
23. 23. - A utility knife according to claim 22, wherein a blade clamping assembly is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the main and guard walls from an open position to a closed position remaining on the main wall and the protection wall.
24. 24. A utility knife according to claim 23, wherein the knife holder assembly is pivotally mounted at the rear end adjacent the upper edge.
25. 25. A utility knife according to claim 24, wherein the blade clamping assembly comprises a u-shaped clamp having an upper wall and a pair of side walls and wherein the side walls mount the wall main and a protective wall when a staple is in its closed position.
26. 26. A utility knife according to claim 25, wherein the staple has a front finger extending therefrom.
27. 27. - A utility knife according to claim 26, wherein the rear end has a finger handle extending therefrom.
28. 28. - A utility knife according to claim 27, wherein the handle comprises a pair of separate handle halves and wherein the handle has a pivoted fastening lever assembly mounted in the space in the handle and wherein the handle The clamping lever assembly has a front arm and a rear arm and a clamping finger that extends from its front arm.
29. 29. A utility knife according to claim 28 wherein the trailing end of the blade holder has a slot therein adapted to receive the clamping finger when the blade holder is in its unfolded position.
30. 30. - A utility knife according to claim 29, wherein spring means are mounted under the rear arm of the clamping lever assembly to deflect the rear arm upward and to deflect the front arm down to allow the clamping finger enters the slot, whereby pressing the rear arm against the tension of the spring means will cause the front arm to rise and the clamping finger to move out of the slot allowing the blade holder to pivot relative to the handle from an unfolded position to a bent position towards the space in the handle.
31. 31. - A utility knife according to claim 30, wherein the handle has a notch on its upper edge and where the rear arm protrudes above the notch, whereby the depression of the rear arm in the notch allows that the front end is lifted upward and causes the grip finger to move out of the holding slot.
32. 32. - A utility knife according to claim 31, wherein the blade holding means comprises a pair of protuberances in the main wall of the blade holder, the protuberances being adapted to enter the corresponding slots in a blade.
33. 33. A utility knife according to claim 22, wherein threaded means are provided to hold the protective wall in place on the main wall when the protective wall is in its closed position.
34. 34. - A utility knife according to claim 33, wherein the threaded means extend from the protection wall and towards the main wall.
35. 35. - A utility knife according to claim 34, wherein the handle comprises a pair of spaced handle halves, and wherein the handle has a pivoted clamping lever assembly mounted in the space in the handle and wherein The clamping lever assembly has a front arm and a rear arm and a clamping finger extending from its front arm.
36. 36. - A utility knife according to claim 35, wherein the trailing end of the blade holder has a slot therein adapted to receive the clamping finger when the blade holder is in its unfolded position.
37. 37. - A utility knife according to claim 36, wherein the spring means is mounted under the rear arm of the clamping lever assembly to deflect the rear arm upward and to deflect the front arm downward to cause the clamping finger to enter the slot, thereby depressing the rear arm against the tension of the spring means will cause the front arm to rise and the grip finger to move out of the slot allowing the blade holder to pivot relative to the handle from a unfolded position to a bent position in the mango space.
38. 38. - A utility knife according to claim 37, wherein the handle has a notch on its upper edge and where the rear arm protrudes above the notch, whereby the depression of the rear arm in the notch allows that the front end is lifted upward and cause the grip finger to move out of the holding slot.
39. 39. - A utility knife according to claim 38, wherein the blade holding means comprises a pair of protrusions in the main wall of the blade holder, the protuberances adapted to enter corresponding slots in the blade.
40. 40. - A utility knife according to claim 21, wherein the handle comprises a pair of spaced handle halves and wherein the handle has a pivoted clamping lever assembly mounted in the space in the handle and wherein the handle The clamping lever assembly has a front arm and a rear arm and a clamping finger that extends from its front arm.
41. 41. - A utility knife according to claim 40, wherein the trailing end of the blade holder has a slot therein adapted to receive the clamping finger when the blade holder is in its unfolded position.
42. 42. - A utility knife according to claim 41, wherein the spring means is mounted under the rear arm of the clamping lever assembly to deflect the rear arm upward and to deflect the front arm downward to allow the clamping finger enters the slot, whereby pressing the rear arm against the tension of the spring means will cause the front arm to rise and the clamping finger to move out of the slot, allowing the blade holder to pivot in relation to the handle from an unfolded position to a bent position towards the space in the handle.
43. 43. - A utility knife according to claim 42, wherein the handle has a notch on its upper edge and wherein the rear arm protrudes above the notch, whereby the depression of the rear arm in the notch allows the front end is lifted upwards and causes the grip finger to move out of the holding slot.
44. 44. - A utility knife according to claim 43, wherein the blade holding means comprises a pair of protrusions in the main wall of the blade holder, the protuberances being adapted to enter corresponding slots in the blade.