Patent ID: 6978548

Claim:
A rotary knife comprising: an annular blade having a central axis and an edge defined at one axial blade end; a blade support assembly supporting said blade for rotation about said axis; and, a handle assembly connected to said blade support assembly; said handle assembly comprising a manually grippable handle, and said blade support comprising a head member extending circumferentially partially about said blade and defining a radially inner peripheral portion and a radially outer portion, said handle projecting away from said radially outer portion; said blade support assembly comprising an annular blade supporting member having a split housing and a clamping assembly for securing said blade supporting member to said head member, the split housing of the blade supporting member allowing resilient expansion for removing the blade from the blade supporting member; said clamping assembly comprising a clamp member and fasteners for securing said clamp member to said head member, said clamp member disposed along an inner periphery of the split housing of said blade supporting member and said blade and confronting said head member with the split housing of said blade supporting member interposed therebetween, said fasteners reacting against said radially outer portion to draw said clamp member into clamping engagement with the split housing of said blade supporting member such that selectively reducing the clamping force at one of the fasteners permits expanding the split housing to facilitate removal of the blade from the blade supporting member while the split housing remains firmly assembled to and positioned on the head member.