Patent ID: 8578613

Claim:
A safety knife, said knife comprising: a hollow, substantially cylindrical handle having a distal end, a proximal end and a central, longitudinally-extending handle axis; said handle defining a chamber therein, said chamber open at said distal end; a knife blade holder secured to said handle at said distal end; a knife blade secured to said holder with at least a portion of said knife blade having cutting edges, said cutting edges exposed and extending outward past said distal end; a guard positioning mechanism disposed slidably within said chamber; and a blade guard, said blade guard being movable from a fully retracted position within said chamber to an extended position from said distal end and past said knife blade responsive to the movement of said guard positioning mechanism, said blade guard assuming a curved shape to surround at least a portion of said knife blade exposed portion, when moved to said extended position, without touching said blade exposed portion, said blade guard exposing said cutting edges for use when said blade guard is moved to said fully retracted position.