Patent Publication Number: US-2006010694-A1

Title: Knife assembly having quick release blade magazine

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a stationery knife assembly, and more particularly to a knife assembly having a quick release blade magazine.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      A conventional stationery knife comprises a handle, a blade movably mounted in the handle, and a push member movably mounted on the handle and secured on the blade to push the blade so as to push the blade outward from the handle or to retract the blade into the handle. However, the blade cannot be detached from the handle easily and conveniently, thereby causing inconvenience to a user in replacement of the blade. In addition, the handle contains a single blade therein, thereby decreasing the versatility of the conventional stationery knife.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional stationery knife.  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a knife assembly having a quick release blade magazine.  
      Another objective of the present invention is to provide a knife assembly, wherein the blade magazine is released from the handle easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating a user replacing the blades contained in the blade magazine.  
      A further objective of the present invention is to provide a knife assembly, wherein the blade magazine is mounted to the handle easily and conveniently, thereby facilitating the user mounting the blade magazine.  
      A further objective of the present invention is to provide a knife assembly, wherein the blade magazine contains a plurality of blades, thereby facilitating the user carrying the blades.  
      In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a knife assembly, comprising a handle, a blade magazine detachably mounted in the handle, and a plurality of blades mounted in the blade magazine, wherein:  
      the handle has an inside formed with a slideway and a catch block and has an end portion having a peripheral wall formed with a through hole communicating with the slideway;  
      the end portion of the handle is provided with a press block movably mounted in the through hole and having a distal end formed with an urging stud; and  
      the blade magazine is slidably mounted in the slideway of the handle and has a side formed with a positioning plate having a distal end formed with a locking block detachably locked on the catch block of the handle and rested on the urging stud of the press block.  
      Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a knife assembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the knife assembly as shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a plan cross-sectional view of the knife assembly as shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 4  is a partially enlarged view of the knife assembly as shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic operational view of the knife assembly as shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
       FIG. 6  is a schematic operational view of the knife assembly as shown in  FIG. 5 ; and  
       FIG. 7  is a schematic operational view of the knife assembly as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 1-4 , a knife assembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a handle  10 , a blade magazine  20  detachably mounted in the handle  10 , and a plurality of blades  30  mounted in the blade magazine  20 .  
      The handle  10  is a hollow body and has an inside formed with a slideway  13 . The handle  10  has an end portion having a peripheral wall formed with a through hole  11  communicating with the slideway  13 . The inside of the handle  10  is formed with a catch block  12  located adjacent to the through hole  11 . The end portion of the handle  10  is provided with an elastic press block  15  movably mounted in the through hole  11  and having a distal end formed with an urging stud  16 . Preferably, the press block  15  is located adjacent to the catch block  12 . The press block  15  has a periphery formed with a hook-shaped snapping plate  17  snapped onto an end face of the through hole  11  for retaining the press block  15  in the through hole  11  of the handle  10 . A compression spring  25  is mounted in the inside of the handle  10  and located in an end of the slideway  13  of the handle  10 .  
      The blade magazine  20  is slidably mounted in the slideway  13  of the handle  10  and has a side formed with an elastic positioning plate  21  having a distal end formed with a locking block  22  detachably locked on the catch block  12  of the handle  10  and rested on the urging stud  16  of the press block  15 . Preferably, the locking block  22  of the positioning plate  21  of the blade magazine  20  is substantially wedge shaped and has a side formed with an oblique guide face  23  rested on the urging stud  16  of the press block  15  to facilitate insertion of the blade magazine  20  into the inside of the handle  10 . The blade magazine  20  has an end formed with an urging plate  24  rested on the compression spring  25 , so that the compression spring  25  is biased between the handle  10  and the urging plate  24  to force the blade magazine  20  to move outward relative to the handle  10 .  
      In operation, referring to  FIGS. 1-7 , the locking block  22  of the blade magazine  20  is locked on the catch block  12  of the handle  10  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , so that the blade magazine  20  is fixed in the slideway  13  of the handle  10  without movement. At this time, the urging stud  16  of the press block  15  is rested on the guide face  23  of the locking block  22  of the blade magazine  20 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 5 , when the press block  15  is pressed toward the locking block  22  of the blade magazine  20 , the urging stud  16  of the press block  15  is urged on the guide face  23  of the locking block  22  of the blade magazine  20  to move and detach the locking block  22  of the blade magazine  20  from the catch block  12  of the handle  10 , so that the blade magazine  20  is forced to move outward relative to the handle  10  by the restoring force of the compression spring  25  as shown in  FIG. 6 , thereby quickly detaching the blade magazine  20  from the handle  10  as shown in  FIG. 7 .  
      Accordingly, the blade magazine  20  is released from the handle  10  easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating a user replacing the blades  30  contained in the blade magazine  20 . In addition, the blade magazine  20  is mounted to the handle  10  easily and conveniently, thereby facilitating the user mounting the blade magazine  20 . Further, the blade magazine  20  contains a plurality of blades  30 , thereby facilitating the user carrying the blades  30 .  
      Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.