Knife handle with removable counterweights

A knife includes a blade, and a counterweight unit, and a handle having an accommodating space. The counterweight unit includes a counterweight-receiving member removably disposed in the accommodating space, multiple counterweights, and a biasing member. The counterweight-receiving member has a tubular wall, and an abutment wall cooperating with the tubular wall to define a receiving space and defining an exit opening that spatially communicates with the receiving space. The counterweights are removably disposed in the receiving space. The biasing member biases the counterweights toward the abutment wall so as to permit removal of one of the counterweights via the exit opening when the counterweight unit is separated from the handle.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a knife, and more particularly to a knife with a variable number of counterweights.

BACKGROUND

A conventional knife, especially a fine-quality kitchen knife, is typically manufactured with a fixed weight distribution. Since kitchen knife is used for long hours daily, it has to be sharpened almost on a day-to-day basis. After being repeatedly sharpened, the center of mass of the kitchen knife will shift rearward, which adversely affect comfort of use and performance of the knife.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a knife with adjustable weight distribution.

According to the disclosure, the knife includes a handle, a blade, and a counterweight unit.

The handle extends along an axis, and has a front end portion, a rear end portion that is opposite to the front end portion, and an accommodating space that extends from the rear end portion toward the front end portion.

The blade is connected to the front end portion of the handle.

The counterweight unit includes a cover seat, a counterweight-receiving member, a plurality of counterweights, and a biasing member. The cover seat is removably connected to the rear end portion of the handle. The counterweight-receiving member is removably disposed in the accommodating space, and has a tubular body having a connecting end which is connected to the cover seat, and a distal end which is opposite to the connecting end along the axis. The counterweight-receiving member further has an abutment wall that extends from the distal end of the tubular body away from the connecting end, that cooperates with the tubular body to define a receiving space, and that defines an exit opening extending in a radial direction perpendicular to the axis and spatially communicating with the receiving space. The counterweights are removably disposed in the receiving space. The biasing member is disposed in the counterweight-receiving member, and biases the counterweights toward the abutment wall so as to permit removal of one of the counterweights which is adjacent to the abutment wall via the exit opening in the radial direction when the counterweight unit is separated from the handle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of a knife according to the disclosure includes a handle10, a blade20, and a counterweight unit30.

The handle10extends along an axis (L), is tubular in shape, and has a front end portion11, a rear end portion12that is opposite to the front end portion11along the axis (L), and an accommodating space13that extends from the rear end portion12toward the front end portion11. The handle10is formed with an internal thread131proximal to the rear end portion12.

The blade20is connected to the front end portion11of the handle10.

The counterweight unit30includes a cover seat31, a counterweight-receiving member32, a pin35, a plurality of counterweights34, and a biasing member33.

The cover seat31is removably connected to the rear end portion12of the handle10. The cover seat31has a coupling tube312and an end cover311that is connected to the coupling tube312. The coupling tube312is disposed in the accommodating space13, and is formed with an external thread313threadedly engaging the internal thread131of the handle10. The end cover311is connected to the coupling tube312, and is located outside of the rear end portion12of the handle10to openably cover the accommodating space13. The coupling tube312has two pin holes314that are located between the external thread313and the end cover311, and that are registered with each other in the radial direction.

The counterweight-receiving member32is removably disposed in the accommodating space13, and has a tubular body320, an abutment wall323, and a plurality of windows326.

The tubular body320has a connecting end321which is connected to the cover seat31, and a distal end322which is opposite to the connecting end321along the axis (L). The abutment wall323extends from the distal end322of the tubular body320away from the connecting end321. Specifically, the abutment wall323is U-shaped, has two opposite ends connected to the distal end322of the tubular body320, and cooperates with the tubular body320to define a receiving space324. The abutment wall323defines an exit opening325that extends in a radial direction perpendicular to the axis (L), and that spatially communicates with the receiving space324.

The windows326are disposed between the connecting end321and the distal end322of the tubular body320, and are for seeing the receiving space324therethrough in the radial direction when the counterweight unit30is separated from the handle10. In this embodiment, the windows326are spaced apart from each other in a direction of the axis (L). In other modification of the embodiment, the counterweight-receiving member32may have only one window326.

The counterweight-receiving member32further has two extension slots327that are located proximal to the connecting end321, that are aligned with each other in the radial direction, and that spatially communicates with the receiving space324. In this embodiment, each of the extension slots327is elongated and extends parallel to the axis (L).

The pin35extends through one of the pin holes314, the extension slots327, and the other one of the pin holes314for coupling the counterweight-receiving member32to the cover seat31.

The counterweights34are removably disposed in the counterweight-receiving member32(i.e., in the receiving space324). In this embodiment, each of the counterweights34has a thickness along the axis (L) which is smaller than a width of the exit opening325in a direction parallel to the axis (L).

The biasing member33is disposed in the counterweight-receiving member32, and biases the counterweights34toward the abutment wall323so as to permit removal of one of the counterweights34which is adjacent to the abutment wall323via the exit opening325in the radial direction when the counterweight unit30is separated from the handle10. Specifically, the biasing member33has two ends that respectively abut against the pin35and the counterweights34, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. In this embodiment, the biasing member33is a compression spring.

During assembly, first the counterweights34and the biasing member33are disposed in the receiving space324of the counterweight-receiving member32. Afterwards, a rod-shaped tool (not shown) is inserted through the two extension slots327in the radial direction and is moved along the axis (L) to push the biasing member33and the counterweights34toward the abutment wall323, so as to permit the pin35to smoothly extend through the extension slots327and the pin holes314without obstruction of the biasing member33. After insertion of the pin35is completed, the rod-shaped tool can be removed. At this time, the counterweight-receiving member32and the cover seat31are coupled via the pin35. As such, the counterweights34and the biasing member33are securely retained in the receiving space324, and the counterweights34are biased by the biasing member33so that one of the counterweights34which is adjacent to the abutment wall323abuts against the abutment wall323and can be taken out of the receiving space324via the exit opening325. The assembly is completed after threadedly engaging the internal thread131of the handle10with the external thread313of the coupling tube312of the cover seat31.

When it is desired to adjust the weight distribution of the knife, first the cover seat31is separated from the handle10for removing the counterweight unit30out of the accommodating space13, and then a user can take out a desirable number of the counterweights34from the receiving space324via the exit opening325. The biasing member33biases the remaining ones of the counterweights34toward the abutment wall323. Afterwards, the cover seat31can be connected back to the handle10.

In summary, the knife of this disclosure has the following advantages:

1. By virtue of varying the number of the counterweights34in the handle10, weight distribution of the knife can be adjusted to improve performance of the knife after being repeatedly sharpened.

2. The knife of this disclosure is simple in structure and easy to assemble, and it is relatively easy to adjust the weight distribution of the knife.

3. The counterweight unit30is accommodated in the accommodating space13, thereby providing a neat appearance of the knife.

4. The extension slots327are designed to be elongated and extend parallel to the axis (L) for facilitating the assembly of the counterweight-receiving member32and the cover seat31.