Patent ID: 7266854

Claim:
A combined cutting and measuring tool for assisting a user to quickly and effectively cut a gypsum wall board along an axial path, said combined cutting and measuring tool comprising: a cutting tool having a bifurcated housing including a pair of coextensively shaped shells directly and removably conjoined along a center of said cutting tool, each of said shells having a U-shaped notch formed at a distal end thereof such that said U-shaped notches form a rectangular opening at a distal end of said cutting tool when said shells are abutted against each other, each of said shells further having an interior groove formed therein that create a storage chamber inside said cutting tool after said shells are directly abutted together; a cap directly connected, without the use of intervening elements, to proximal ends of said shells respectively, said cap being formed from plastic material and further being removably attached to said shells such that the user can inspect said storage chamber through said proximal end while said shells are coupled to each other; and a measuring tape having a housing and a flexible wound body partially housed therein, said body having a rigid stop member directly coupled to a distal end thereof; wherein said stop member is removably interfitted directly into said rectangular opening such that said body is registered orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of said cutting tool, said body being extendable and retractable while said distal end engages with said rectangular opening and maintains a static relationship with said cutting tool so that said measuring tape and said cutting tool travel in sync along the gypsum board while said cutting tool slices the gypsum board.