Claims
- 1. A folding knife, comprising:a blade including a tang, a slot within the blade, and a pair of holes; a handle having an end to which the tang is pivotally connected, the end having an exposed exterior edge surface, the blade being rotatable about a pivot axis between an open position in which the blade is extended away from the handle and a closed position in which the blade is at least partially received within the handle; a post slidably held by the blade and adapted to slide along the slot such that as the blade is rotated between the open and closed positions, the post is allowed to slide toward the end of the handle to engage the exposed exterior edge surface, and wherein the post can, after the blade is rotated to the open position, be retractably slid toward the end of the handle into a locking position in which the post interacts with the exposed exterior edge surface to lock the blade in the open position; and a spring having first and second ends, the spring being disposed within the slot and operatively connecting the blade and the post to urge the post toward the locking position, wherein the second end of the spring is threaded through the pair of holes.
- 2. The folding knife of claim 1, wherein the handle further comprises a reinforcement member located at the end of the handle to form at least part of the exposed exterior edge surface, the reinforcement member being adapted to reinforce the handle as it is engaged by the post when the post is in the locking position.
- 3. The folding knife of claim 1, wherein the exposed exterior edge surface has a locking portion including a corner, wherein as the blade is rotated from the closed position to the open position, the post passes around the corner and is allowed to slide toward the locking position to engage the locking portion and lock the blade in the open position.
- 4. The folding knife of claim 1, further comprising a notch defined on the end of the handle, wherein the post may slide into the notch toward the locking position when the blade is in the open position so that the post and the end of the handle block pivoting of the blade from the open position toward the closed position.
- 5. The folding knife of claim 1, further comprising a spring operatively connected between the tang of the blade and the handle, wherein the spring is compressed to exert a pivoting force upon the blade as the blade is rotated between the open and closed positions.
- 6. The folding knife of claim 1, further comprising:an opening in the handle extending from a blade-receiving channel in the handle through a back of the handle; and an oversized tang portion of the blade that is sized to extend through the opening in the handle when the blade is stored in the handle so that the oversized tang portion is exposed for manipulation from the back of the handle.
- 7. The folding knife of claim 6, further comprising a spring operatively connected between the tang of the blade and the handle, wherein the spring is compressed to exert a pivoting force upon the blade as the blade is rotated between the open and closed positions.
- 8. The folding knife of claim 7, wherein the spring is adapted to force the blade to pivot toward the open position when the oversized tang portion of the blade is pushed into the handle until the spring reaches an equilibrium point.
- 9. The folding knife of claim 1, wherein the post is provided with a bearing portion configured to engage and roll against the exposed exterior edge surface of the end of the handle as the blade is pivoted relative to the handle.
- 10. The folding knife of claim 9, wherein the bearing portion is exposed for manipulation by a user's thumb.
- 11. The folding knife of claim 9, wherein the bearing portion is formed in a stacked disk configuration.
- 12. A folding knife, comprising:a blade including a tang, a slot within the blade, and a pair of holes; a handle having an end to which the tang is pivotally connected, the blade being rotatable about a pivot axis between an open position in which the blade is extended away from the handle and a closed position in which the blade is at least partially received within the handle; a post extending transversely outward from the blade and slidably held by the blade to slide along the slot within the blade between a retracted position and a locking position; and a spring having first and second ends, the spring being disposed within the slot and operatively connecting the blade and the post to urge the post toward the locking position, wherein the second end of the spring is threaded through the pair of holes.
- 13. The folding knife of claim 11, wherein the slot passes through the blade.
- 14. The folding knife of claim 13, wherein the post is transversely disposed within the slot.
- 15. The folding knife of claim 14, wherein the blade further comprises a recessed area located near an end of the slot and the pair of holes extend through the recessed area.
- 16. The folding knife of claim 15, wherein the first end of the spring is attached to the post.
- 17. The folding knife of claim 12, wherein the first end of the spring is attached to the post.
- 18. The folding knife of claim 12, further comprising a plate secured to the post and adapted to at least partially cover the slot.
- 19. The folding knife of claim 12, wherein the post is slidably held by the blade at a location spaced from the pivot axis so that the post is exposed as the blade rotates between the open and closed positions, whereby an external force may be applied to the post at any point in the blade's pivotal travel between the open and closed positions to cause the blade to pivot with respect to the handle.
- 20. The folding knife of claim 12, wherein the blade includes a point opposite the tang, and wherein the post is closer to the point when in the retracted position than when in the locking position.
- 21. The folding knife of claim 12, further comprising a spring operatively connected between the tang of the blade and the handle, wherein the spring is compressed to exert a pivoting force upon the blade as the blade is rotated between the open and closed positions.
- 22. The folding knife of claim 21, wherein the spring is adapted to be maximally compressed at an intermediate point between the open and closed positions, such that the spring urges the blade into the open position when the blade is rotationally between the intermediate point and the open position and into the closed position when the blade is rotationally between the intermediate point and the closed position.
- 23. The folding knife of claim 12, further comprising:an opening in the handle extending from a blade-receiving channel in the handle through a back of the handle; and an oversized tang portion of the blade that is sized to extend through the opening in the handle when the blade is stored in the handle so that the oversized tang portion is exposed through the back of the handle.
- 24. The folding knife of claim 23, further comprising a spring operatively connected between the tang of the blade and the handle, wherein the spring is compressed to exert a pivoting force upon the blade as the blade is rotated between the open and closed positions.
- 25. The folding knife of claim 24, wherein the spring is adapted to force the blade to pivot toward the open position when the oversized tang portion of the blade is pushed into the handle until the spring reaches an equilibrium point.
- 26. A folding knife, comprising:a blade including a tang, a slot within the blade, and a pair of holes; a handle having an end to which the tang is pivotally connected, the blade being rotatable about a pivot axis between an open position in which the blade is extended away from the handle and a closed position in which the blade is at least partially received within the handle; a notch defined on the end of the handle; a post extending transversely outward from the blade and slidably held by the blade to slide along at least a portion of the blade between a retracted position and a locking position, wherein the post and the notch are adapted such that when the blade is rotated into the open position, the post can be retractably slid into the locking position to interact with the handle and lock the blade in the open position; and a spring having first and second ends, the spring being disposed within the slot and operatively connecting the blade and the post to urge the post toward the locking position, wherein the second end of the spring is threaded through the pair of holes.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/483,075, filed Jan. 14, 2000. This application also claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/130,401, filed Apr. 19, 1999 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/138,318, filed Jun. 9, 1999.
US Referenced Citations (44)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1104386 |
Apr 1961 |
DE |
1069862 |
Jul 1954 |
FR |
1248117 |
Oct 1960 |
FR |
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/130401 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
|
60/138318 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/483075 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
09/591183 |
|
US |