In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an apparatus for peeling and cutting vegetables and other foods is provided. A plurality of blades form an aperture within a frame. This aperture expands as the vegetable passes through it. This method of food surface removal expedites the process by removing all sides of the vegetable surface at the same time, providing heightened safety features for users, allowing users to easily clean the apparatus, and allowing users to easily remove and replace broken blades or change blade types for a variety of culinary purposes.

An apparatus including left and right handle portions; a first blade portion; a first device; and a fastener. The fastener may be configured to connect in a first state, first ends of the left handle portion, the right handle portion, and the first blade portion to each other, with the first blade portion sandwiched between the left and right handle portions. The first device may be configured to connect second ends of the left and right handle portions and an intermediate part of the first blade portion. In at least one embodiment, in the first state the left and right handle portions, and the first blade portion are fixed to each other so that their orientation with respect to one another cannot be changed without disconnecting the fastener so that it no longer connects the first ends of the left and right handle portions, and the first blade portion.

An apparatus including left and right handle portions; a first blade portion; a first device; and a fastener. The fastener may be configured to connect in a first state, first ends of the left handle portion, the right handle portion, and the first blade portion to each other, with the first blade portion sandwiched between the left and right handle portions. The first device may be configured to connect second ends of the left and right handle portions and an intermediate part of the first blade portion. In at least one embodiment, in the first state the left and right handle portions, and the first blade portion are fixed to each other so that their orientation with respect to one another cannot be changed without disconnecting the fastener so that it no longer connects the first ends of the left and right handle portions, and the first blade portion.

A folding knife includes a handle and a blade pivotably coupled to a distal portion of the handle. The handle includes first side portion including a first locking portion laterally offset from a first main body and second side portion including a second locking portion laterally offset from a second main body. The first side portion is configured to rotate about the pivot axis between a locking configuration where the first locking portion is disposed between the second main body and second locking portion, an opening in the second locking portion and a recess in the first locking portion are aligned, and a locking button is disposed within the recess and opening, thereby restricting relative movement of the first and second side portions, and a release configuration where the locking button is pushed out of the opening, thereby allowing relative movement of the first and second side portions.

A folding knife includes a handle and a blade pivotably coupled to a distal portion of the handle. The handle includes first side portion including a first locking portion laterally offset from a first main body and second side portion including a second locking portion laterally offset from a second main body. The first side portion is configured to rotate about the pivot axis between a locking configuration where the first locking portion is disposed between the second main body and second locking portion, an opening in the second locking portion and a recess in the first locking portion are aligned, and a locking button is disposed within the recess and opening, thereby restricting relative movement of the first and second side portions, and a release configuration where the locking button is pushed out of the opening, thereby allowing relative movement of the first and second side portions.

A utility tool device including a handle with a tool recess and a lever arm recess; a rotatable lever arm with a magnet that is configured to fit in the lever arm recess; and a rotatable lever hinge attached to the lever arm and configured to attach to a tool; wherein the tool recess is configured to have a tool fit in the tool recess; and wherein the magnet is configured to lock a tool in place when the lever arm is in the lever arm recess.

A cutter apparatus includes a housing and a blade holder coupled to the housing, wherein the housing includes a distal portion (e.g., a blade storage compartment) that is both slidably and pivotally coupled to portions of the housing and configured to serve as a cover for the blade holder. The cutter apparatus can also include a cover release device configured to facilitate repositioning the cover between a locked position at which the cover is secured to the housing and a released position at which at least a portion of the cover is free to pivotally reposition away from the housing providing access to the blade holder.

A cutter apparatus includes a housing and a blade holder coupled to the housing, wherein the housing includes a distal portion (e.g., a blade storage compartment) that is both slidably and pivotally coupled to portions of the housing and configured to serve as a cover for the blade holder. The cutter apparatus can also include a cover release device configured to facilitate repositioning the cover between a locked position at which the cover is secured to the housing and a released position at which at least a portion of the cover is free to pivotally reposition away from the housing providing access to the blade holder.

A utility knife includes a blade, a housing to store the blade, an actuator, and a pinion gear to deploy the blade. The pinion gear includes one or more sets of teeth that are engaged with a fixed rack of the housing and a sliding rack of the blade holder. The pinion gear is also coupled to the actuator, which is configured to linearly translate the pinion gear. As the pinion gear linearly translates between front and back ends of the housing, the pinion gear rotates due to its engagement with the fixed rack. The further engagement between the pinion gear and the sliding rack causes the sliding rack to advance in the same linear direction as the pinion gear by a distance that is greater than the linear distance traversed by the pinion gear, thereby advancing or retracting the blade connected to the blade holder.

A utility knife includes a handle base and a neck connected to the handle base for pivotal movement relative to the handle base between a closed position and an open position. The knife also includes a utility blade holder slidingly carried by the neck for sliding movement relative to the neck between a retracted position and an extended position. A utility blade is carried by the blade holder such that movement of the utility blade holder between its extended and retracted positions moves the utility blade between an exposed position in which a cutting edge of the blade is exposed, and a protected position in which the cutting edge of the blade is protected by the neck.