Patent ID: 7774943

Claim:
A knife comprising a body, a feed blade store comprising a first housing securable to the body, a return blade store comprising a second housing securable to the body, the first and second blade store housings being interchangeable, a feed path along which a blade is fed from the feed blade store to an operative position, and from the operative position to the return blade store, the feed blade store and the return blade store being located on opposite sides of the feed path, and diverter means located in the feed path between the feed blade store and the operative position, the diverter means operable to divert a returning blade to the return blade store, and to prevent return movement of the returning blade back to the feed blade store, whereby the diverter means deflects blades away from the side of the feed blade store by movement of the blade from the feed blade store to the operative position, and whereby the diverter means causes a blade moving from the operative position to ride over the diverter means and towards the side of the return blade store.