Abstract:
A knife includes a body that includes a handle section, a substantially circular blade housing section, and a blade including a cutting edge having substantially the same radius of curvature of the blade housing. The substantially circular blade housing section extends substantially perpendicular from the handle section. The blade extends longitudinally out of the blade housing at a position substantially 180° away from the position of the handle section along the circumference of the blade housing and terminates in a sharp point. The width of the blade at the portion immediately adjacent to the blade housing and opposite the blade point is substantially equal to the diameter of the blade housing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/948,574, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,951,100, issued Feb. 10, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/680,536, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,512,107, issued Aug. 20, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/669,860, filed on Jul. 10, 2012, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a knife for complete field dressing of hunted game. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Field dressing is the process of removing the internal organs and skin of hunted game. Proper field dressing is an essential first step in preventing the growth of disease-causing bacteria and preserving the meat from animals harvested in the wild. Field dressing must be done as soon as possible in order to ensure rapid body heat loss and to prevent bacterial growth from the internal organs and body fluids from spreading through the carcass, thus ensuring than the meat stays fit for human consumption and improving the overall quality of the meat. 
     Field dressing is generally carried out with conventional single blade hunting or skinning knives. A conventional knife may be used to make an incision by the point of the knife blade through the skin and the abdominal wall of the carcass, and then the skin of the animal may be cut away by the blade. Great care must be taken so as not to puncture the intestines or the stomach of the animal with the point of the knife since this would spoil the meat and the hide of the animal. One technique commonly used by hunters is to grasp a conventional knife with the blade facing upwards to avoid cutting the intestines and the entrails. Another commonly used technique is to insert two fingers (one on each side of the knife blade) into the incision, pushing the intestines and the entrails down and away from the knife. 
     Conventional knives are generally not well suited for field dressing operations because the tip of a conventional knife blade is pointed. With a pointed-end blade configuration, the occurrence of undesirable cutting or perforation of meat or internal organs is highly probable, since it is very difficult to tightly control the depth of the penetration of a conventional knife blade so as to avoid such cutting or perforation. If the hunter is an experienced field dresser, he or she may make only a few small nicks in the carcass. If he or she is a novice, attempting to field dress an animal with a conventional knife may result in significant damage to the meat and a potential loss of the entire carcass. 
     Other tools available to hunters for field dressing include single blade knives with a gut hook built in into the back of the blade, such as, for example, a disposable skinning knife “Gerber E-Z Zip Gut Hook Blade” from Gerber. However, these knives are usually too small to field dress large game and are very difficult to sharpen. The “Gerber E-Z Zip Gut Hook Blade” knife has a small handle which is awkward to use and is easily breakable. 
     It would therefore be a significant advance in the art to provide a multifunctional, safe, strong and easy to use field dressing knife by which small and large game may be field dressed, and which is designed to overcome the aforementioned perforation and cutting difficulties associated with the conventional skinning or hunting knives. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a safe and multifunctional field dressing knife with multiple interchangeable blades which are quickly and easily removable. An object of this invention is to provide a field dressing knife (guided skinner) with improved blade housing which allows the user to control the depth of the penetration of the blade so as to avoid cutting or perforation of meat or internal organs of the animal. The field dressing knife described herein enables a user to cut the hide of the animal and remove it from the carcass without damaging the meat of the animal. The field dressing knife according to the present invention also includes an improved grip handle which is designed to provide both right-handed and left-handed users with improved leverage and control for field dressing an animal carcass. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention may be more readily understood by referring to the accompanying drawing in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of the knife according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded side view showing the grip handle of the knife. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of an embodiment of the blade. 
         FIG. 4  is a fragmentary top view of the knife according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of an embodiment of the blade. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of an embodiment of the blade. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the knife according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9A  is a side view of the knife according an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9B  is a side view of the knife according an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9C  is a side view of the knife according an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9D  is a side view of the knife according an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9E  is a side view of the knife according an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An embodiment of a field dressing knife  10  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The knife  10  includes a body having an elongated handle section  12  and a blade housing section  14 . The body of the knife  10  can be formed in two planar sections with a space for a blade  16  between the two planar sections. The blade  16  includes a guided skinning edge  16   a  and a gut/hide hook cutting edge  16   b.    
     The blade  16  extends above the top edge  18  of the blade housing section  14  and/or below the bottom edge  20  of the blade housing section  14 . In some embodiments, the skinning edge  16   a  of the blade  16  has a width that extends beyond the bottom edge  20  of the blade housing section  14 . The close proximity of the bottom edge  20  of the blade housing section  14  to the skinning edge  16   a  enables the bottom edge  20  of the blade housing section  14  to function as a guard that prevents the skinning edge  16   a  from entering a carcass deep enough to damage the meat, the hide of the animal and/or the internal organs of the carcass during field dressing. The proximity of the bottom edge  20  of the blade housing section  14  to the skinning edge  16  may be less than 0.25 inch. 
     The top edge  18  of the blade housing section  14  may terminate in a hook portion  22  which extends beyond the cutting edge  16   b  of the blade  16 . The hook portion  22  lifts the skin and/or hide of a carcass away from the meat and/or internal organs of the carcass as the cutting edge  16   b  is moved through the carcass during field dressing, thereby preventing the cutting edge  16   b  from undesirable cutting or perforation of the meat and/or internal organs of the carcass. 
     The elongated handle section  12  includes a proximal end  12   a , a distal end  12   b , and a center  12   c  that is approximately equidistant between the proximal end  12   a  and the distal end  12   b . A bore  24  extends through the proximal end  12   a  of the elongated handle section  12 . An elongated grip handle extends through, and is dimensioned to fit, the bore  24  at the proximal end  12   a  of the elongated handle section  12 . 
     The length dimension of the elongated handle section  12  may be between about 2 inches and about 4 inches. The width dimension at the proximal end  12   a  of the elongated handle section  12  may be between about 0.75 inches and about 2 inches. The width dimension at the distal end  12   b  of the elongated handle section  12  may be between about 0.75 inches and about 2 inches. The width dimension at the center  12   c  of the elongated handle section  12  may be between about 0.25 inches and about 1 inch. The width dimensions of  12   a ,  12   b , and  12   c  may be generally perpendicular to the length dimension of the elongated handle section  12 . 
     The distal end  12   b  of the elongated handle section  12  is coupled to an end of the blade housing section  14 . The elongated handle section  12  may be formed substantially perpendicular to the blade housing section  14 . The elongated handle section  12  and the blade housing section  14  may be formed from high grade aluminum, reinforced plastic, or any number of other suitable materials. 
     The blade housing section  14  includes a front end  14   a  and a back end  14   b . The length dimension  14   c  of the blade housing section  14  may be between about 2 inches and about 5 inches. The width dimension at the front end  14   a  of the blade housing section  14  may be between about 1.5 inches and about 4 inches. The width dimension at back end  14   b  of the blade housing section  14  may be between about 0.75 inches and about 2 inches. The blade housing section  14  has width dimensions  14   a  and  14   b  generally perpendicular to the length direction  14   c.    
     The blade housing section  14  includes means to connect the two planar sections. The blade housing section  14  may be provided with aligned passages  28   a  and  28   b . The aligned passages  28   a  and  28   b  are located near the opposite ends of the blade housing section  14  and are aligned with passages in the blade  16  to provide a continuous passageway through the two planar sections of the blade housing section  14  and the blade  16 . The aligned passages  28   a  and  28   b  may be circular in shape. The aligned passages  28   a  and  28   b  may be threaded to receive screws or bolts to connect the two planar sections of the blade housing section  14 , with the blade  16  sandwiched between the two planar sections of the blade housing section  14 . The two planar sections of the blade housing section  14  may be separated, if required, to remove and replace or sharpen the blade  16 . In other embodiments, any other mechanism can be used to connect the two planar sections of the blade housing section  14  together with the blade  16  sandwiched between the two planar sections of the blade housing section  14 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , an elongated grip handle  26  can be formed in two parts, a male part  30  and a female part  32 . The elongated handle section  12  and the elongated grip handle  26  are dimensioned to fit comfortably in the hand of the user, and are preferably designed for use by both right-handed and left-handed persons. The female part  32  has a length dimension which is sized to be about twice the length dimension of the male part  30 . For a right handed user, the male part  30  may be positioned on the right side of the elongated grip handle  28 , and the female part  32  may be positioned on the left side of the elongated grip handle  26 . This orientation of the male part  30  and the female part  32  provides sufficient gripping space on male part  30  for the thumb of a right-handed user and ensures improved control of the knife  10  during field dressing. For a left-handed user, the positions of the male part  30  and the female part  32  may be reversed, providing sufficient gripping space for the thumb of a left-handed user on the male part  30  and ensuring improved control of the knife  10  during field dressing. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the blade  16  has a first planar side, a second planar side, a front end  16   c , a back end  16   d , and at least one cutting edge. The blade  16  is preferably formed from a suitable metal such as stainless steel. The first planar side and the second planar side of the blade  16  are in contact with and sandwiched between the two planar sections of the blade housing section  14 . The length dimension of the blade  16  may be between about 2 inches and about 5 inches. The width dimension at the front end  16   c  of the blade  16  may be between about 1.5 inches and about 3 inches. The width dimension at the back end  16   d  of the blade  16  may be between about 0.75 inches and about 2 inches. The blade  16  has width dimensions  16   c  and  16   d  that are generally perpendicular to the length dimension  16 . The blade  16  may include the means for aligning the blade inside the blade housing section  14 . In some embodiments, the blade  16  may include passages  34  and  36  for insertion of alignment tabs. The passages  34  and  36  may receive screw or bolts that are threaded through the aligned passages  28   a  and  28   b  in  FIG. 1 . In other embodiments, any other mechanism can be used to align the blade  16  inside the blade housing section  14 . The blade  16  includes the guided skinning edge  16   a  and/or the hook cutting edge  16   b . The blade  16  has a substantially convex guided skinning edge  16   a  and/or a substantially concave hook cutting edge  16   b . The curvature of the concave hook cutting edge  16   b  of the blade  16  may be generally similar to the curvature of concave top edge  18  of the blade housing section  14  in  FIG. 1 . The curvature of the convex skinning edge  16   a  of the blade  16  may be generally similar to the curvature of convex bottom edge  20  of the blade housing section  14  in  FIG. 1   
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the blade  16  is designed to fit inside the blade housing section  14  sandwiched between two planar sections parts  38  and  40 . The guided skinning edge  16   a  of blade  16  extends outside the blade housing section such that two planar sections  38  and  40  of the housing act as a guide for the skinning edge  16   a  of blade  16 , which prevents the skinning edge  16   a  of blade  16  from cutting the meat and the hide. The two planar sections  38  and  40  of the housing also provide for interchangeable blades so that the blade can be easily replaced when dull. The housing also enables the blade as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  to be used. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates another embodiment of the blade  16  which includes the substantially concave hook cutting edge  16   b  and a substantially flat opposing surface  42  without a sharp edge. The curvature of concave hook cutting edge  16   b  of the blade  16  according to this embodiment may be generally similar to the curvature of top edge  20  of the blade housing section  14  in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an embodiment of the blade  16  which includes the hook cutting edge  16   b  and the skinning edge  16   a . The blade  16  also includes cutting edge  16   c  that extends around the back side of the blade  16  and terminates in a sharp point  44 . The cutting edge  16   c  can be used as a conventional blade for general purpose cutting.  FIG. 7  illustrates an embodiment of knife  10  which includes the blade shown in  FIG. 6  contained in the blade housing. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates an embodiment of knife  80  which only includes a skinning edge  16   a  that extends outside the blade housing section such that two planar sections  38  and  40  (shown in  FIG. 4 ) of the housing act as a guide for the skinning edge  16   a . This prevents the skinning edge  16   a  from cutting the meat and the hide. The two planar sections of the housing also provide for interchangeable blades so that the blade can be easily replaced when dull. 
     While the description above illustrates embodiments of gaming and skinning knives, the inventive housing and handle combination can also be used for other types of knife designs such as those illustrated in  FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D and 9E . 
     The foregoing embodiments are merely examples of the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make numerous uses of, and departures from, such embodiments, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is not to be limited or defined by such embodiments in any way, but rather, is defined solely by the following claims.