Patent ID: 6796033
Filing Date: 2004-09-28
Classification: B26B

Abstract:
A hand held utility knife comprising;a knife handle having first and second handle halves, an internal cavity and a blade opening, wherein said handle halves are held together by a connector; a blade assembly having a blade retainer and a cutting blade wherein said blade retainer is slidably mounted within said internal cavity of said knife handle to support said cutting blade to extend from said blade opening and provide easy access to said cutting blade when changing said blade; wherein said blade retainer of said blade assembly includes: top and bottom flanges and a tab portion to position said blade within said retainer, said utility knife including a blade release formed in said first housing half that can be depressed to contact said tab portion to release said cutting blade from said retainer; a blade deployment device mounted in said cavity of said handle, and accessible from the exterior of said handle, for moving said blade retainer to extend said cutting blade from said blade opening any desired distance from a fully extended position to fully retracted, wherein said cutting blade is held by said devolvement device and safely used at any desired intermediate position between fully extended to fully retracted.