Patent ID: 11919179
Assignee: AOB PRODUCTS COMPANY
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 12:
13. An out-the-front knife comprising:
a handle having a rear end and a front opening opposite the rear end;
a blade supported by the handle, the blade having a cutting edge, the blade being movable with respect to the handle between a stowed position in the handle and a deployed position in which the blade extends out of the front opening, the blade when in the stowed position being biased rearward;
an actuator supported by the handle, the actuator being movable with respect to the handle in a deploying direction to move the blade forward away from the stowed position toward the deployed position; and
a blade driver supported by the handle, the blade driver including at least one spring for springing the blade away from the stowed position toward the deployed position, the blade driver including a first blade pusher and a second blade pusher different from the first blade pusher, the first blade pusher being operatively connected to the spring to transfer spring force from the spring to the blade to spring the blade toward the deployed position, the second blade pusher being configured to push the blade forward against the rearward bias responsive to movement of the actuator in the deploying direction, the first pusher being configured to spring the blade toward the deployed position via spring force from the spring after sufficient forward pushing force is applied to the blade by the second blade pusher to overcome the rearward bias.