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US 4,825,552 AGranted
Fillet knife having a flexible handle
AssigneeFiskars Inc.
InventorsRoy B. Bendickson, Robert A. Seaton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A knife according to the invention has a handle with improved flexibility and gripping characteristics. The tang embedded in the unitary handle has a series of spaced-apart flex sites at which the tang can resiliently bend. The handle is made of a resilient material which can flex in cooperation with the tang. The handle may further include a series of rows of flexible ribs as an improved gripping surface. The knife according to the invention can flex along its entire length and is well suited for use as a fillet knife.
Claims15
A knife including an elongated, generally flat, flexible blade having a tang and an elongated handle disposed on said tang, improved in that:
- said tang has a plurality of spaced-apart flex sites allowing resilient flexing of said tang at a series of locations along the length thereof;
- and
- said handle is made of a material sufficiently flexible to allow said handle to flex in unison with said tang, upon application of a bending force, such that said knife can when flexed assume a generally arc-shaped configuration along substantially its entire length and resiliently return to its original shape upon release of the bending force.
A knife comprising:
- an elongated, unitary, generally flat, flexible metal blade blank including a blade and a tang, said tang having a series of spaced-apart holes extending through the thickness thereof and a front tang portion free of said holes between said blade and a forwardmost one of said holes, said front tang portion extending in the lengthwise direction of said tang a distance at least about 1.5 times the average distance between centers of adjacent holes, said holes extending in the widthwise direction of said tang a distance at least half of the width of said tang proximate each respective holes, said tang having enhanced flexibility at flex sites thereof on opposite lateral sides of said holes;
- and
- a flexible elastomeric handle surrounding said tang and extending through said holes to interlock said blade blank and said handle, said handle having a durometer in the range of 50 to 60, such that said handle and said tang can flex in unison, said knife can assume a generally arc-shaped configuration along substantially its entire length, and the tip of said blade can deflect at least about ten degrees relative to the lengthwise axis of said knife when said knife is flexed in said arc-shaped configuration.
A knife, comprising:
- an elongated, unitary, generally flat, flexible metal blade blank including a blade and a tang, said tang having a series of spaced apart holes extending through the thickness thereof and a front tang portion free of said holes between said blade and a forwardmost one of said holes, said front tang portion extending in the lengthwise direction of said tang a distance at least about 1.5 times the average distance between centers of adjacent holes, said holes extending in the widthwise direction of said tang a distance at least half of the width of said tang proximate each respective hole, said tang having enhanced flexibility at flex sites thereof on opposite lateral sides of said holes;
- a flexible elastomeric handle having a durometer in the range of 50 to 60 surrounding said tang and extending through said holes to interlock said blade blank and said handle, such that said handle and said tang can flex in unions, said knife can assume a generally arc-shaped configuration along its entire length, and the top of said knife is capable of being deflected at least about twenty degrees relative to the lengthwise axis of said knife when said knife is flexed in said arc-shaped configuration, said handle having a pair of substantially flat side faces in opposing positions, and opposing top and bottom faces spanning said side faces;
- and
- said tang is aligned generally parallel to said side faces and has respective top and bottom edges proximate said top and bottom faces of said handle, respectively, the average distance between the outer surface of said top face and said top edge of said tang is in the range of about 0.15 to about 0.18 inch, and the average distance between the outer surface of said bottom face of said handle and said bottom edge of said tang is at least about 0.2 inch.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.