Irwin-industrial Tool Company

Kevin Fleury

William B Korb

Steven R Levine

Donald A Brown

Corey M Talbot

Norman Leblanc

Peter Weremchuk

Norman LeBlane

Corey M Talbel

A handle for a utility knife includes a housing made up of two or more portions. In one embodiment, a manually operable member for use in releasing the blade is retained to at least one portion of the housing and does not become separated from the housing when the housing is in an open state. In another embodiment, a catch for engaging the blade extends from a support member that is slidably movable within the housing. In another embodiment, the housing is formed of metal and a nose portion is formed of a metal that is more wear resistant than the rest of the housing, in order to improve the durability of the nose portion. In another embodiment, a bail screw is captured on a first housing portion and threadedly engageable with a second housing portion for (i) releasably securing the first and second housing portions in a fully closed state and, in turn, releasably securing a blade within the blade opening, and (ii) manually positioning at least one of the first and second housing portions in at least one intermediate state between the fully closed state and a fully opened state to, in turn, permit the blade to be manually moved through the blade opening.

Utility knife

A utility knife has a blade carrier defining a blade support surface movably mounted in a housing between retracted and extended positions. A catch is mounted on the blade carrier and is movable between a first position engagable with a blade seated on the blade carrier and substantially preventing the blade from moving relative to the blade carrier, and a second position spaced away from the blade located on the blade carrier and permitting removal of the blade from the blade carrier. An actuator is mounted on the blade carrier and is operable to move the blade carrier between the retracted and extended positions to, in turn, move a blade located on the blade carrier between retracted and extended positions, and move the catch between the first and second positions to release a blade from the blade carrier. The housing has a nose portion that defines the blade aperture and is made of a more wear-resistant material than the other portions of the housing. A sheet material spare blade holder is mounted within the housing and defines a fold, a support portion located on one side of the fold, and a biased retaining portion located on the other side of the fold for receiving spare blades therebetween.

Utility knife with actuator for moving blade carrier and for releasing blade therefrom, and related method

Growing community of inventors

Feeding Hills, MA, United States of America

Kevin Fleury