An envelope opening tool comprising:
- a tool body of fixed shape;
- a slot having a fixed shape and extending through said body along an axis to pass through opposing first and second exterior faces of said body to define a fixed-shape channel having a first end at said first exterior face and a second end at said second exterior face, said channel being closed on three sides thereof around the axis by opposing first and second closed sides of the channel and a third closed side of said channel interconnecting the first and second closed sides thereof, leaving a fourth side of the channel open between the first and second closed sides of the channel at a position opposing the third closed side;
- and
- a blade mounted to the tool body in a fixed position projecting into the channel from the first side thereof toward the opposing second side to define a cutting edge positioned within the channel, the blade lying in a plane that is spaced away from the third closed side of the channel in a direction toward the fourth open side of the channel, the cutting edge sloping obliquely away from the first closed side of the channel toward the opposing second closed side of the channel in a direction moving from the first end of the channel to the second end thereof;
- wherein the first closed side of the channel, in a direction moving away from the plane of the blade toward the open fourth side of the channel, slopes at an oblique angle away from a second plane that is occupied by the second closed side of the channel at a region that is located between the closed third side of the channel and the plane of the blade, and the oblique angle of the first closed side of the channel provides a widened mouth of the slot at the open fourth side of the channel;
- wherein the axis is perpendicular to said first and second exterior faces, the plane of the blade is parallel to the axis and perpendicular to the second plane, and the closed third side of the channel is obliquely oriented relative to the axis such that the third closed side of the channel is further from the plane of the blade at the first end of the channel than at the second end of the channel;
- wherein the tool body is elongated in shape and has a length dimension along which the first and second closed sides of the channel are spaced, a thickness dimension measured between the first and second exterior faces of the tool body, and a width dimension that is greater than the thickness dimension and less than the length dimension;
- and
- wherein the tool body comprises a radiused corner curving from the third closed side of the channel to an exterior of the tool body outside the channel at the first end thereof.