UTILITY KNIFE WITH BLADE MAGAZINE

• Main Authors: CHARLES G. SHEPHERD, EDWARD A. FUNGER
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 30.04.2007
• Subjects: CUTTING; HAND CUTTING TOOLS; HAND-HELD CUTTING TOOLS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SEVERING; TRANSPORTING

A UTILITY KNIFE HAS A BLADE MAGAZINE REMOVABLY MOUNTED IN A MANUALLY HOLDABLE HOUSING AND ROTATABLE ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO A LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE HOUSING. THE BLADE MAGAZINE HAS A SERIES OF RADIALLY AND LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED BLADE-RECEIVING SLOTS FOR SEPARATELY RECEIVING THIN BLADES HAVING A CUTTING EDGE AT AT LEAST ONE END THEREOF, EACH SLOT HAVING AN OPEN FRONT END TO ENABLE A BLADE THEREIN TO BE REMOVED FROM THE MAGAZINE BY FORWARD MOVEMENT THROUGH THE FRONT END OF THE SLOT. THE HOUSING ALSO CARRIES A SLIDABLE TRANSPORT MECHANISM HAVING A MANUALLY ENGAGEABLE ACTUATOR PROJECTING FROM THE HOUSING AND SLIDABLE IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION BETWEEN FRONT AND REAR POSITIONS, THE TRANSPORT MECHANISM ALSO HAVING A BLADE-ENGAGING ARM WITHIN THE HOUSING. POSITIONING OF THE ACTUATOR AT THE FORWARD POSITION CAUSES A BLADE CARRIED BY THE ARM TO PROJECT FROM THE FRONT END OF THE HOUSING IN AN OPERATIVE POSITION, AND MOVEMENT OF THE ACTUATOR FROM THE FORWARD POSITION TO THE REAR POSITION CAUSES THE BLADE TO BE RETRACTED FROM THE OPERATIVE POSITION INTO THE HOUSING AND INTO AN EMPTY SLOT IN THE MAGAZINE. THE MAGAZINE IS ROTATABLE TO MOVE THE RETRACTED BLADE FROM THE ARM OF THE TRANSPORT MECHANISM AND TO POSITION A NEW BLADE FROM ANOTHER SLOT ONTO THE ARM FOR SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENT BY THE ACTUATOR TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION.