Patent ID: 7178244

Claim:
A powered utility knife comprising: an axially-elongated utility knife housing defining an internal cavity; a shuttle plate assembly disposed for movement relative to the internal cavity of the utility knife housing, the shuttle plate assembly comprising; a motor, a blade carrier, a drive assembly associated with the motor and mounted to impart effective cutting motion to the blade carrier; an activator protruding through an extended slot defined through the utility knife housing, the activator being configured for slidable translation along the extended slot to cause lateral movement of the shuttle plate assembly within the internal cavity of the utility knife housing between a blade fully retracted position and a blade fully extended position; and a blade mounted to the blade carrier, wherein, with the shuttle plate assembly in the fully extended position, a first portion of the blade protrudes through a blade slot defined by a first end of the utility knife housing and with the shuttle plate assembly is in the fully retracted position, the blade retracted within the internal cavity of the utility knife housing; a power source associated with the motor; and a power switch associated with the power source and the motor.