Knife SAFETY Cover

Kitchens are very hectic environments with many opportunities for injuries, with knife injury being the leading cause of accidents.  The safety knife cover works by automatically covering the blade of a knife when the user is not holding it.  Thus, it can help reduce the number of knife injuries due to the knife being thrown, dropped, or otherwise leaving the user's hand accidentally. 

Research and Observations

As the number of home cooks increases, the risk of injury in the kitchen also increases.  Unlike professional chefs, at-home-cooks may not have much experience with a knife which could lead to accidentally letting go of the handle and causing the knife to drop or be thrown.  The leading source of injury involves the use of the knife which may also be due to the becoming dull or the user accidentally cutting themselves.

Each year, kitchen accidents are composed of:

Conceptualization and Concept Sketches

Prototype Fabrication

The first prototype was created using cardboard as a blade cover with no automatic function.  Another iteration of the product included a spring loaded blade cover.  When in use, the spring would compress via the push of a button and the nesting blade cover would retract into the handle of the knife.  The button would be held during the duration of the knife's use and when the user let go of the handle/button, the spring would release, thus releasing the blade cover as well.

This project was created in collaboration with another student, Alex Zylka, for RPI Design Studio III in Fall of 2015.