Back to results
US 12,552,055 B2Granted
Retractable utility knife
AssigneeSlice Safety Cutter, Inc.
InventorRobert Joseph Gallegos
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A utility knife configured with a retractable cutting blade that is extended and retracted by a blade actuation mechanism. The blade actuation mechanism employs a blade trigger assembly and a blade carriage assembly that are operably connected in variety of configurations. Certain configurations of the blade actuation mechanism utilize a rack-and-pinion arrangement between the blade trigger assembly and the blade carriage assembly, which enables the automatic retraction of the cutting blade as the cutting blade is lifted from the cutting surface.
Claims10
A utility knife with an automatically retractable blade, comprising:
- a blade actuation mechanism comprising,
- an actuator having a trigger and a trigger slide, wherein the trigger is movably disposed in a slot formed in a housing of the utility knife,
- a blade carriage configured to retain a cutting blade, wherein the blade carriage is indirectly connected to the actuator,
- a slider rack operably connected to the blade carriage and configured to reversibly connect with the trigger slide,
- a tension component that is attached to the blade carriage, and
- an indirect and detachable connection between the blade carriage and the trigger slide facilitated by the slider rack, wherein engaging the cutting blade with a cutting surface causes the blade carriage to be pulled forward and the slider rack to move rearward and disconnect from the trigger slide thereby interrupting the indirect and detachable connection and permitting the blade carriage to be automatically retracted by the tension component when the cutting blade is lifted from the cutting surface regardless of where the trigger is disposed within the slot.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.