Patent ID: 8291598
Filing Date: 2012-10-23
Classification: A47L

Abstract:
1. A retractable blade scraper for use with a removable scraping blade having a scraping edge and two opposed flat surfaces, the blade scraper comprising: a handle body having a handle rear end, a handle forward end including a forward-end opening, an internal blade-slide cavity extending rearwardly from the forward-end opening toward the handle rear end and configured to selectively receive the scraping blade through the forward-end opening, and an actuator slot defined through the handle body between a slot first end and a slot second end, the second end being more proximate the forward-end opening than is the first end; a blade slide housed at least partially within the blade-slide cavity and comprising: (i) a lower blade slide member with a blade platform configured for removably supporting one of the flat surfaces of the scraping blade, and (ii) an upper blade slide member configured for selectively engaging the flat surface of the scraping blade opposite the flat surface supported by the blade platform; and a blade-slide actuator including a first threaded member depending from the lower blade slide member and a second threaded member that threadably engages the first threaded member and is accessible from the exterior of the handle body through the actuator slot; wherein (i) rotation of the second threaded member in a first direction relative to the first threaded member urges the blade platform and the upper blade slide member toward each another for clamping engagement of the scraping blade therebetween; (ii) rotation of the second threaded member in a second direction opposite the first direction relative to the first threaded member one of (a) separates and (b) permits the separation of the upper blade slide member and the blade platform by an amount sufficient to facilitate the alternative positioning into and removal from the space between the upper blade slide member and the blade platform of the scraping blade; and (iii) reciprocal displacement of the blade-slide actuator toward, alternatively, the slot first and second ends displaces the blade slide toward, respectively, a rearwardmost blade-storage position and a forwardmost blade-changing position.