Patent Publication Number: US-2023138755-A1

Title: Electronic knife switch

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 63/263,472, filed Nov. 3, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure generally relates to electric fillet knives, and more particularly to a dual oscillating electric fillet knife. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electric fillet knives generally include a handle and a blade assembly. The handle may be configured to house internal electronic and mechanical components. In some electric fillet knives, the handle requires ample space for housing the components, which may render the handle bulky. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, an electric fillet knife handle is useable with at least one knife blade. The electric fillet knife handle comprises a handle body having a rearward portion and a forward portion forward from the rearward portion. The handle body includes a gripping portion between the forward and rearward portions configured for a user to grasp the handle. A drive system comprises a blade receiver and a motor. The blade receiver is configured to receive the at least one knife blade from the forward portion of the handle body. The motor is operatively coupled to the at least one blade receiver to move the at least one blade receiver for moving the at least one knife blade with respect to the handle body. A trigger is supported by the handle body and operable to energize the motor to drive the drive system to move the blade receiver. An electronic switch is configured to be actuated by the trigger to energize the motor to drive the drive system to move the blade receiver. The electronic switch is between the at least one blade receiver and the trigger. 
     Other objects and features of the present disclosure will be in part apparent and in part pointed out herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective of a handle of an electronic fillet knife; 
         FIG.  2    is an elevation of a pair of knife blades usable with the handle; 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective similar to  FIG.  1    with a portion of the handle removed; 
         FIG.  4    is an enlarged fragmentary view of the perspective of  FIG.  3   ; 
         FIG.  5    is an enlarged fragmentary perspective of the handle; 
         FIG.  6    is a left side perspective of an electronic switch cover; 
         FIG.  7    is a right side perspective of an electronic switch cover; 
         FIG.  8    is an elevation of the handle with a portion of the handle removed; and 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic of a control system of the electronic fillet knife. 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference numbers indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1  and  2   , the electric fillet knife  10  (broadly, “electric knife”) can be used to cut or fillet fish. The electric fillet knife  10  includes a handle  12  and a blade assembly  14  including a pair of blades  14 A,  14 B. The handle defines a handle housing  12 A having an interior sized and shaped for housing an electronic switch  20 , a trigger  22  (broadly, electronic switch cover), and a drive system  24  (broadly, internal components). The handle  12  includes a gripping portion  12 B sized and shaped to be grasped by a hand of a user. 
     Each blade  14 A,  14 B includes a cutting edge  14 C and a tang  14 D connected to the blade. In use, the blades move relative to each other in a reciprocating movement. Other configurations of blades (e.g. one blade) can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The handle  12  has a rearward end portion, forward end portion, top side, and bottom side. The forward end portion of the handle  12  includes a release  12 C and a safety lock  12 D. The forward portion of the handle  12  also includes the gripping portion  12 B, the trigger  22 , and the trigger guard  22 A. The handle defines a blade receiving opening at a forward end of the handle. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the handle housing  12 A comprises right (first) and left (second) handle housing portions  26 A, 26 B that when connected form the handle and the handle housing more generally. Hereinafter, the right handle housing portion  26 A and components thereof will be described in detail. It will be understood that the left handle housing portion comprises substantially similar complementary (mirroring) features. 
     Referring to  FIG.  3   , the right handle housing portion  26 A is sized and shaped to house the drive system  24 . The drive system  24  comprises a blade receiver  30 , a drive train  32 , transmission  34 , motor  36 , which is powered by a battery  38 , and wiring  40  (circuitry). Rotary motion of a motor output shaft is converted by the transmission which includes a worm gear and blade driving gear(s) (broadly, “gearing”) connected to eccentric blade drivers (broadly “linkage”) to cause the blades to move in the reciprocating motion. The blade receiver is in registration with the blade opening of the handle for receiving the blade. In the illustrated embodiment, there are two blade receivers, each configured to releasably receive the respective blades, or respective tangs of respective blades. The blade receiver includes a keeper  42  having a catch for engaging the tangs  14 D to hold the blades in place during operation of the electric knife. When installed in the blade receivers, the blades define a longitudinal blade axis BA. The user can press the release  12 C to disengage the catch from the keeper which will release the blade from the blade receiver. In the illustrated embodiment, the release is spring biased, however other configurations are possible. 
     Referring to  FIG.  4   , the electronic switch includes an electronic switch housing  46 . The electronic switch includes a pair of electrical contacts  50 , a spring-biased actuator  50 A, and electronic switch circuitry configured to close a circuit between the first and second contacts responsive to actuation of the spring-biased actuator by movement of the actuator into the housing  46 . In the illustrated embodiment, the electronic switch  20  is generally rectangular in shape. The electronic switch body defines apertures  52  (broadly, “connectors”) connecting the electronic switch to the handle housing. However, other sizes, shapes, and arrangements of the electronic switch are possible without departing from the scope of this disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG.  5   , a shoulder  56  (broadly, “support wall”) protrudes from the bottom side of the handle housing  12 A and is sized and shaped for the electronic switch  20  to be mounted thereon. Mounts  58  (broadly, “connectors”) protrude from an interior surface of the shoulder  56  and are sized and shaped to engage with the apertures  52  of the electronic switch  20  to form a mounted connection. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  6  and  7   , the trigger  22  comprises proximal and distal end portions, a base  60 , a left (first) wall  62 , a right (second) wall  64 , and a rear (third) wall  66 . Such walls can be generally referred to as covers or panels. The proximal end of the trigger defines an opening  68  (broadly “connector”). The opening is in registration with openings defined by the handle housing. The openings are sized and shaped to receive a fastener to form a pivot connection defining a pivot axis, PA. The base  60  of the trigger is generally rectangular and extends downwardly and distally from the pivot connection. The left wall  62  of the trigger (facing out of the page in  FIG.  6   ) projects upward from the left edge portion of the base  60  and the right wall  64  of the trigger (facing into the page in  FIG.  6   ) projects upward from the opposite right edge portion of the base. The left and right walls are spaced apart from each other a sufficient amount to allow the electronic switch to be received therebetween. The tops of each left and right wall define a curved edge margin, however such curvature is optional. The rearward wall  66  extends generally upwardly and distally from the distal end portion of the base  60  and connects the left and right walls  62 ,  64 . A top portion of the end wall (distal end of the trigger) includes a retainer  70  which has an abutment surface  70 A configured to abut an interior portion of the handle housing. The exterior of the base  60  is configured to receive the finger of the user. In the illustrated embodiment, together the base  60 , and the left, right, and rear walls  62 ,  64 ,  66  form an enclosure for enclosing the electronic switch  20  ( FIG.  3   ). Other configurations can be used without departing form the scope of the present disclosure. For example, other types of triggers or electronic switch covers can be used. Moreover, other trigger connections (e.g. sliding connection rather than pivoting connection) are possible without departing from the scope of this disclosure. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the trigger  22  is configured to pivot about the pivot axis PA to move between at rest and operational positions.  FIG.  3    illustrates the trigger in the at rest positon in which the actuator  50 A is spring biased partially outboard of the electronic switch housing and presses downward on the base  60  of the trigger. When the trigger is in the at rest position, the abutment surface  70 A is in contact with the interior of the handle housing to retain to trigger in the at rest position. The user may apply pressure (by squeezing) to the exterior of the base  60  of the trigger by pulling generally upward on the exterior of the base to move the trigger to the operational position. In the operational position, the interior of the base engages the actuator  50 A which activates the circuitry within the electronic switch housing which energizes the motor to oscillate the blades. The actuator  50 A may act as a spring biased plunger movable upward to close the circuitry. The retainer  70  is free to move slightly upward in the handle housing  12 A to permit the trigger to move to the operational position. In the illustrated embodiment, there is a direct relationship between the pressure applied on the trigger (displacement of the trigger with respect to the at rest position) and the speed in which the blades oscillate. 
     Referring to  FIG.  8   , the electronic switch is mounted at a skew angle with respect to the blade axis, BA. The electronic switch extends in an electronic switch plane ESA which intersects the blade axis BA at a skew angle. Moreover, a vertical plane VA extends through the electronic switch transverse to the blade axis BA. The vertical plane VA lies inboard of the opening of the handle and a rearward portion of the drive system. The vertical plane intersects the gripping portion  12 B of the handle  12 . The arrangement is such that the user&#39;s hand will be substantially intersected by the vertical plane VA when the user grasps gripping portion  12 B. 
     Openings  72  are defined around the periphery of each left and right handle housing to receive fasteners  74  to connect the left and right handle housings together to form the handle  12 . It will be appreciated that the location of the electronic switch allows for the internal components to occupy less space within the handle housing which allows in part for an improved compact ergonomic design of the handle. 
       FIG.  9    illustrates a schematic of a control system  80  of the electric fillet knife  10  including one or more of the following components: a controller  82  (e.g., processor), a motor  36 , a power source  38  (e.g., one or more batteries), a tangible storage medium  84 , and a user input  86 . The controller  82  and tangible storage medium  84  could be embodied as single board computer including a circuit board, microprocessor(s), memory, input/output, and other devices, or other suitable constructions. For example, the tangible storage medium  84  can store instructions to energize the motor  36  in response to the user input  86 . In the illustrated embodiment, the user input  86  comprises the trigger  22 . The controller  82  is configured to read and execute instructions stored in the storage medium  84 , and is responsive to the user input  86 , to control operation of the electric fillet knife  10 . 
     It will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims. The dimensions and proportions described herein are by way of example without limitation. Other dimensions and proportions can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
     As various changes could be made in the above constructions and methods without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.