Field of the Invention

5 The present invention relates to a hunting knife, more particularly but not exclusively a knife for gutting.

Background

10 Whilst hunting for game a knife is often required for the preparation of the captured animals. Typically the knife may be used to gut the animal that has been killed so that it may be eaten. In order for this to be carried out the knife requires a sharp cutting blade in order to be able to cut through the outer skin layers to access the animal's inner cavity.

15

However it is of paramount importance not to cut some of the internal organs during gutting of the animal, in particular the stomach (rumen) and intestines, as their contents can contaminate the meat. Therefore a hook with rounded or blunt outer facing edges and a sharpened inner cutting portion is often used to make a targeted

20 main opening or gutting cut after an initial incision has been made by the blade, so as to avoid cutting internal organs during gutting.

Prior Art

25

Accordingly a number of patent applications have been filed in an attempt to resolve the problem or similar, including the following:

German patent application DE 202 008 008 124 (DELTA et al) discloses a hunt

30 measurer, in particular for breaking open game, with a knife handle and a knife blade, which on a first side a first cut and on a opposite second side a blunt measurer back it exhibits, in the fact characterized that on the first side of the knife blade an additional at least partly bent blade is intended, which at its inside a second cut exhibits and whose exterior is blunt trained.

35

Granted United States patent US 6 658 743 (DUDLEY et al) discloses a combination knife for skinning and eviscerating game comprising:a handle; and a steel blade having a tip portion, a main body portion having a back top edge and a front bottom edge, and a handle insert portion, the handle insert portion being attached to the

5 handle, and the following configuration of the knife beginning from the tip portion: a

sharp point, a first cutting front bottom edge extending from the sharp point, a second cutting back top edge extending from the sharp point; a first large gut hook adjacent the second cutting back top edge; a triangular aperture adjacent the first large gut hook; a sharp serrated edge adjacent the first cutting DRAFT_2_SF_Chris_Hennessy_-_Tang_Hoop

front bottom edge; a second

10 small gut hook adjacent the serrated edge; and a circular aperture adjacent the

triangular aperture and the second gut hook; whereby the second smaller gut hook can be utilized without reversing one's grip on the handle.

Granted European patent EP 1 079 957 (DASSAUD) discloses a cutting implement

15 comprising a fixed blade having a cutting edge and an opposed back edge said blade being integral with a handle that has features in the vicinity of an interface between the handle and the blade to protect fingers of a user from the cutting edge, the features of the handle are a C-shaped part defining an open inner loop comprised on the outside, a first straight segment extending roughly parallel to a straight upper

20 edge of said handle and being joined at the interface by a second straight segment

that is set at an angle with respect to the first straight segment to allow the user to incline the blade with respect to a work surface, said C-shaped part being formed roughly in the thickness and continuation of the interface between the handle and the blade to protect two fingers while leaving the other fingers free.

25

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a hunting knife comprising a handle, blade and gut hook, wherein said gut hook is arranged at a distal end of said

30 handle from said blade, characterised in that the blade and the hook are fixed in

relationship with each other and arranged with active parts in alignment.

In this way orientation of the knife need not be changed in use in order to use the hook or blade reducing risk of injury to the user, wherein common to prior art this can

35 result in the blade being drawn towards a user in use, whilst using the hook, rather

than the blade being drawn away from the user as is preferable.

2

Furthermore where in common to prior art devices the hook is incorporated on the blade, the blade must be of a certain thickness so as to house both. This increased thickness can make some cuts difficult to perform or may reduce accuracy.

5

In preferred embodiments therefore as the hook and blade are distally provided the hook is not provided on the blade, and as a consequence the blade is enabled to be of a thinner weight of metal.

10 Advantageously the knife is full-tang for ease of manufacture and cleaning the blade and hook are DRAFT_2_SF_Chris_Hennessy_-_Tang_Hoop

formed of a single part or metal.

Typically therefore the knife comprises: an elongate metal part with an intermediate handle, wherein a first end of the part exposed from the handle includes a blade and

15 a second distal end of the part exposed from the handle includes a hook to aid in

gutting of animals without puncturing internal organs.

Therefore a full knife is provided wherein the blade and hook are formed from one part of material and wherein the handle is arranged about the part. In this way the

20 knife has two functional ends arranged either end of the handle.

In some embodiments the part may be detachable from the handle, or in further embodiments the handle displaced from the part, such as by deformation and stretching.

25

The knife therefore has a fixed blade for optimal strength. Advantageously in particular as the blade is fixed and has no folding or retraction mechanism residue from use, such as blood, flesh or sinew, cannot become trapped in the mechanism where for example bacteria may multiply with detrimental effects for health and

30 hygiene.

In preferred embodiments the part is formed from a strong, durable material, such as a metal or metal alloy. For example steel enables sharp cutting edges to be provided that can be repeatedly sharpened as required.

35

3

Ideally the blade is elongate and dimensioned to include a pointed tip and at least one sharpened edge. Preferably the blade has faces that are angled so that the blade cross-sectional profile tapers to a cutting edge. Typically the blade has a spine opposing and distal to the cutting edge, that may also be tapered so as to provide a

5 narrow, but not necessarily sharpened, edge.

In this way the blade may have a substantially diamond shaped cross section to

provide a slim, strong blade capable of intricate and accurate manipulation.

10 Advantageously the hook is provided at the opposite end of the knife to the blade.

Typically the hook is C-shaped with a cutting portion within the hook so that the cutting portion is concealed within the hook and is only engaged when correctly aligned. Typically the cutting portion DRAFT_2_SF_Chris_Hennessy_-_Tang_Hoop

within the hook is arranged to taper to a point so as to provide a second cutting edge.

15

Ideally the hook has a mouth that is dimensioned to be lesser in width than the width of a

fingers, so as to prevent accidental injury to the user in use, or in storage or transport.

20 Accordingly the hook includes smooth, rounded edges on all outer faces so as not to snag or rip parts of the carcass which are required to stay intact for optimal gutting, such as intestines.

As the hook is provided separately to the blade the blade thickness is not restricted

25 to a thickness to accommodate the hook and the thinner blade enables easier cutting of certain parts of the carcass and greater accuracy in manipulation. For example the blade can more easily fit or be worked between joints such as between spinal vertebrae such as cervical vertebrae in the neck, to aid with decapitation whilst preparing the animal for consumption. This therefore speeds up the gutting process

30 and removes the requirement for additional tools to be needed.

Furthermore the finer blade can be more accurate for initial cuts such as around the animal's rectum and along the animal's belly in order to begin gutting. In addition or the alternative the finer blade is more suited to removal and separation of internal

35 organs such as intestines, stomach and lungs, which if not done accurately may soil

meat obtained for consumption.

4

In preferred embodiments the handle is over-moulded around the part so as to provide an impenetrable seal through which residue from use such as fluids cannot become trapped or collected. 5

Preferably the handle is comprised from a strong, durable, non absorbent material such as synthetic plastic or rubber. For example a non-absorbent silicone may be used. In this way the handle can be readily moulded into various shapes or sizes and may be provided in different colours, for example to denote different blade sizes.

10

In some embodiments the silicone may allow sufficient deformation to remove the handle for cleaning.

In some further embodiments the knife may be fully formed from metal or metal alloy.

15

Ideally the handle is formed entirely or in part from resiliently deformable material so as to provide enhanced grip for the user. DRAFT_2_SF_Chris_Hennessy_-_Tang_Hoop

In preferred embodiments however the handle includes raised and lowered areas

20 providing a texture conducive for enhanced grip. For example the handle may include or have a combination of ridges, knurled, knobbled or crosshatched grip surfaces.

Preferably the handle may be dimensioned to encourage a particular hand grip

25 wherein the handle is formed to provide indentations analogous to positions of the fingers and palm. In this way the hand can be grasped about the handle, typically with the thumb positioned on the handle's spine. For example the handle spine may include a grip surface for positioning the thumb so that force can be applied through the thumb to press the blade downwards without the knife slipping in the user's hand.

30 Therefore the knife is less likely to slip in use and safety is improved.

Preferably in use the user's hand grip about the handle remains constant when using either end of the knife. In order to engage each end of the knife with the present invention the orientation in which the knife is held may be altered with the grip

35 remaining substantially the same. In this way the blade is positioned clear of the

5

carcass when using the hook but the blade is still facing away from the user so that

risk of user injury, such as falling on the blade is reduced.

Typically the hook is orientated so that when blade is tilted upwards to an angle

5 between 10-70 degrees in relation to what is being cut the hook can be engaged whilst ensuring the blade is facing away from the user. In this way the hook may be hooked on the region to be cut, such as the skin, and the knife may be drawn towards the user to cut the animal's skins with the hook with the blade being clear of the carcass but still facing away from the user.

10

Preferably the knife may be provided with a sheath so as to conceal the blade and optionally also the hook in order to prevent injury whilst in storage or transport. In this way the knife can be safely carried whilst hunting without risk of injury to the user.

15

Brief Description of Figures

Figure 1 shows an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of a knife according to the present invention;

20

Figure 2 shows a second isometric view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a detail view of the embodiment shown in Figure I; DRAFT_2_SF_Chris_Hennessy_-_Tang_Hoop

25 Figures 4 show views from above and below of the embodiment shown in Figure 1;

And

Figures 5 show side views of the embodiment shown in Figure 1 wherein Figure 5b

30 shows the handle removed.

Detailed Description of Figures

With reference to the figures a full tang provides the cutting edge 1 and the cutting

35 hook 7,8,9. The edge 1 combines with an inclined upper face 2 to provide a slimmer top spine 3.

6

A handle 4 is moulded and shaped to follow the internal tang, and includes raised and lowered portions, namely a thumb grip 5 for application of pressure on the edge

1 and textured sides 6 for more secure manipulation.

5

The hook comprises the cutter 8, between a rounded hook end 9 and elbow 7.

The blade length is under 4 inches, preferably 3 ¾", the hook is approximately ¾"

long.

10

The non-absorbent rubber handle is slightly lengthier than the knife blade itself preferably.

The angle of the hook allows the knife to be operated between a 25 and 45 degree

15 angle .

The invention has been described by way of examples only and it will be appreciated that variation may be made to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the scope of invention. 20

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realised that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent DRAFT_2_SF_Chris_Hennessy_-_Tang_Hoop

relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification

intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to

30 those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

7