The present invention relates to hand held folding knives, and more specifically folding knives which have a locking mechanism for engaging the blade to prevent the blade from inadvertently closing.
Pocket knives are commonly used by sportsmen, craftsmen and others who desire a compact, portable blade which can be safely folded and transported in a pocket or attached to a belt. Unfortunately, many of the folding blades commonly associated with these types of pocket knives do not have locking mechanisms to prevent the blades from inadvertently closing. Thus, the folding knife can be potentially dangerous to use if the sharpened blade inadvertently closes.
More recently, locking devices have been incorporated into folding knives to prevent the inadvertent closing of the knife blade. One type of locking mechanism known in the art is a “liner lock” which utilizes a leaf spring positioned within the cavity of the knife handle and which engages the heel end of the knife blade. The blade is typically released by the user by applying finger pressure to the leaf spring, thus releasing the leaf spring from the knife blade.
Another commonly used folding knife locking mechanism is a “back lock”, which utilizes a locking bar positioned along an upper edge of the knife handle. When finger pressure is applied to a rear portion of the locking bar, a tang interconnected to a forward portion of the locking bar is withdrawn from a cut-out “anvil” located in the heel end of the blade. When the tang is released from the anvil, the knife blade is allowed to rotate between a first extended position of use and a second closed position wherein at least a portion of the knife blade is stored within a cavity in the knife handle.
Unfortunately, with both liner locks and back lock locking mechanisms, it is possible for the locking apparatus to potentially become disengaged from the blade after excessive and continuous use. Further, the positioning of the liner lock and back lock are often difficult to locate with a user's fingers, and cannot be accessed on both a front and rear side of the knife handle. Additionally, these type of locking mechanisms require the use of a “stop pin”, which is positioned on a forward portion of the handle above the pivot pin of the blade, and proximate to an upper edge of the handle. The stop pin prevents the knife blade from over-rotating when the blade is in an extended position of use by directly contacting a heel portion of the blade.
Thus, there is a need for an improved folding knife locking mechanism which is mechanically simplistic, uses a minimum number of components and is extremely reliable to prevent the inadvertent closure of the knife blade. There is an additional need for a locking mechanism which is positioned to allow quick and easy access by one or more of a user's fingers on both sides of the knife handle, and which eliminates the need for a stop pin.
It is thus one aspect of the present invention to provide a blade locking mechanism which serves the dual purpose of locking a folding knife blade in an extended position of use, and simultaneously serves as a stop pin, thus eliminating the necessity of a secondary component. Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention a locking mechanism is provided which has an anvil with a lower surface and an upper surface which mainly engages the heel portion of the knife blade to prevent inadvertent closure, and over-extension of the knife blade.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for a folding knife or multi-tool which is positioned immediately opposite a user's thumb or fingers and which is thus immediately accessible for selective opening. Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention the lock release mechanism is positioned immediately adjacent to a user's thumb or finger, and may be accessed on both sides of a folding knife handle. Alternatively, the lock release mechanism is positioned along an upper edge of the knife handle, and is then held downward with hand pressure during use, thus making it substantially “fail safe” and incapable of opening while being used.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism which has a biasing means which continually biases the locking mechanism to secure the blade while it is in an extended position, and thus cannot be inadvertently closed. Thus, to release the blade the locking mechanism must be engaged by a user's thumb or finger and pushed in a predetermined direction by the user, thus making it substantially impossible for the knife locking mechanism to fail. Alternatively, the locking mechanism may be oriented in numerous different directions to accommodate certain handle and blade designs, and may be used without any type of biasing means. In these embodiments, the locking mechanism can be engaged or disengaged with the tang of the folding knife blade by means of gravity or by pressure from a user's fingers.
It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a blade locking mechanism which is simplistic to use, cost effective to manufacture and requires a minimum number of components which are not susceptible to failure after repeated use. Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention a locking mechanism is provided which both locks the knife blade in an extended position of use, and also prevents overtravel, thus eliminating the stop pin.
Thus, in one aspect of the present invention, a folding knife with an integral blade locking mechanism and stop pin are provided, comprising:
a central body;
an aperture extending through said central body;
a pivot pin extending through said aperture and operably interconnected to a handle of the folding knife, wherein said central body rotates with respect to the handle;
an anvil extending outwardly from said central body and adapted to engage a tang positioned on a heel end of a blade on the folding knife when the blade is in a first extended position of use;
an overtravel surface positioned on a forward edge of said central body which is adapted to operably engage the heel end of the folding knife blade when the blade is in said first extended position of use;
wherein when said central body is rotated, said anvil is disengaged from the tang of the blade and the knife blade is unrestricted to travel between said first extended position of use to a second closed position with a lower edge of the blade substantially enclosed within a cavity of the folding knife handle.
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For clarity purposes, a list of components and associated numbering shown in the attached drawings are provided herein:
While an effort has been made to describe various alternatives to the preferred embodiment, other alternatives will readily come to mind to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. Present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not intended to be limited to the details given herein.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040045170 A1 | Mar 2004 | US |