US 11,787,072 B2
Retractable utility knife
Robert Joseph Gallegos, Fremont, CA (US)
Assigned to Slice, Inc., Sunny Isles, FL (US)
Filed by Slice, Inc., Sunny Isles, FL (US)
Filed on Sep. 19, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/948,183.
Application 17/948,183 is a continuation of application No. 17/306,901, filed on May 3, 2021, granted, now 11,446,832.
Application 17/306,901 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/188,108, filed on Nov. 12, 2018, granted, now 10,994,428, issued on May 4, 2021.
Application 16/188,108 is a continuation of application No. 15/043,535, filed on Feb. 13, 2016, granted, now 10,124,495, issued on Nov. 13, 2018.
Application 15/043,535 is a continuation in part of application No. 14/106,678, filed on Dec. 13, 2013, granted, now 9,579,808, issued on Feb. 28, 2017.
Application 14/106,678 is a continuation in part of application No. 14/101,729, filed on Dec. 10, 2013, granted, now 9,364,958, issued on Jun. 14, 2016.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/739,710, filed on Dec. 19, 2012.
Claims priority of provisional application 61/739,712, filed on Dec. 19, 2012.
Prior Publication US 2023/0013121 A1, Jan. 19, 2023
Int. Cl. B26B 1/08 (2006.01); B26B 5/00 (2006.01)
CPC B26B 1/08 (2013.01) [B26B 5/003 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An automatically retracting utility knife, comprising:
a blade actuation mechanism comprising a squeeze trigger operably connected to a trigger slide, a slider rack, and a blade carriage configured to retain a cutting blade, wherein the trigger slide is detachably connected to the slider rack and the slider rack is operably connected to the blade carriage such that when the cutting blade is engaged with a cutting surface, the blade carriage is pulled forward thereby causing the slider rack to move rearward and disconnect from the trigger slide thereby interrupting an indirect connection between the trigger slide and the blade carriage and permitting the blade carriage to be automatically retracted by a tension component when the cutting blade is lifted from the cutting surface regardless of whether the squeeze trigger has been released.