Box cutter with dual-action safety
OwnerCharles Kinkaidinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A box cutter having a dual-action safety mechanism comprising a movable blade guard, a guard-release button, and a mechanism linking the two. Disengagement of the safety mechanism requires a box to be registered against the box cutter on two faces. As the cutter moves along the edge of a box the guard-release button is depressed, allowing the movable blade guard to be rotated into the housing of the box cutter, revealing the blade and allowing for a cut. Once the cutting operation is complete the button is released, and the movable blade guard automatically reengages to a position in which it is locked over the blade.
Claims20
A box cutter for cutting a box comprising a blade, a housing, and a dual-action safety mechanism,
- said housing having a base and a fence for registering against the edge of a box and a handle extending from the back side of said base,
- said blade protruding from said base with a sharp edge of the blade oriented towards a direction of motion of the cutter, and
- said dual-action safety mechanism comprising a movable blade guard which protrudes and rotates outward from the fence of the housing, a guard-release button which protrudes from the base of the housing, and a mechanism linking the movable blade guard and guard-release button which prevents the rotation of the movable blade guard away from the blade unless the guard-released button is depressed.
A method of cutting a box comprising:
- a box cutter comprising a blade, a housing, and a dual-action safety mechanism,
- said housing having a base and a fence for registering against the edge of the box and a handle extending from the back side of said base,
- said blade protruding from said base with a sharp edge of the blade oriented towards a direction of motion of the cutter, and
- said dual-action safety mechanism comprising a movable blade guard which protrudes and rotates outward from the fence of the housing, a guard-release button which protrudes from the base of the housing, and a mechanism linking the movable blade guard and guard-release button which prevents the rotation of the movable blade guard away from the blade unless the guard-released button is depressed;
- wherein the base and fence of the cutter are registered against an edge of the box, at a leading end of the cutter relative to the direction of motion of the cutter;
- the cutter is pulled along the edge of the box until the guard-release button is depressed and disengages the safety mechanism;
- the cutter is further pulled along the edge of the box until the box interacts with the movable blade guard of the cutter, causing the movable blade guard to rotate inwards into the housing, thereby revealing the blade;
- and completing the cut by pulling the cutter through the edge of the box until a desired length of cut has been made.
A box cutter for opening a box, comprising:
- a housing;
- a blade cover, wherein the housing comprises a blade-shaped recess to accommodate a blade and over which the blade cover can be attached;
- a movable blade guard which varies between a locked position that covers potions of the blade external to the housing, and an unlocked position where at least a portion of the blade is exposed for cutting;
- a biasing member that applies a biasing force to the movable blade guard and biases the blade guard to blade-sheathing position;
- and
- a guard-release button that when depressed allows the movable blade guard to move to an unlocked position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.