Locking mechanism for a folding knife
AssigneeKai U.S.A., Ltd.
InventorKenneth Onion
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A folding knife with a locking mechanism, and a method of assembly of the locking mechanism are disclosed. In one embodiment, the locking mechanism is formed from a second locking element slidably mounted on the blade to engage at least part of a first locking element on the handle and lock the blade in the open position. The second locking element and blade may be configured to allow simple, one-handed locking and unlocking of the blade with a single thumb-actuated motion. The second locking element also may be configured to allow one-handed opening and/or closing of the blade.
Claims44
A folding knife, comprising:
- a handle including an end face having a first locking element;
- a blade pivotably connected to the handle in a manner allowing pivoting of the blade from a closed position in which the blade extends along the handle, to an open position in which the blade extends away from the handle;
- and
- a second locking element mounted for sliding movement along the blade, the second locking element being movable between a first position in which the second locking element engages at least part of the first locking element in a manner preventing pivoting of the blade relative to the handle, and a second position spaced from the first locking element in which the blade is free to pivot relative to the handle;
- the end face of the handle being configured such that, as the blade is pivoted from the closed position towards the open position, the second locking element, when in the first position, is spaced from the end face of the handle for a substantial portion of the movement of the blade from the closed position to the open position.
A folding knife, comprising:
- a handle including an end with an exposed exterior edge surface, the exposed exterior edge surface includes a latching corner;
- a blade pivotably connected to the handle so that the blade is configured to move between a closed position extending along the handle and an open position extending away from the handle, the blade including a slot extending transverse to the edge surface and having an end adjacent to the edge surface when the blade is in the open position;
- and
- a post slidably mounted in the slot, the post being spaced from the edge surface during blade motion from the closed position towards the open position until the post engages the latching corner of the exposed exterior edge surface as the blade reaches the open position, when the post is in the end of the slot.
A folding knife, comprising:
- a handle;
- a blade pivotably connected to the handle so that the blade is configured to move between a closed position extending along the handle and an open position extending away from the handle, the blade including a slot, the slot including a wide portion and a narrow portion;
- and
- a locking mechanism configured to lock the blade in the open position, the locking mechanism including a post having a neck and one or more enlarged ends, the neck being slidably mounted in the slot, and at least one of the one or more enlarged ends being sized to pass laterally through the wide portion of the slot but not through the narrow portion of the slot.
A method of assembling a locking mechanism on a blade for a folding knife, the blade including an elongate slot configured to receive a locking element, the method comprising:
- inserting the locking element into a first portion of the slot;
- sliding the locking element along a second portion of the slot;
- inserting a retaining element into the slot;
- and
- inserting a bias element into the slot between the locking element and the retaining element.
A method of assembling a locking mechanism on a blade for a folding knife, the knife including a post with two enlarged ends, a bias element with a first end and a second end, and a retaining element including a rounded portion and an elongate portion, the elongate portion including a recess, and the blade including a slot with a first portion and a second portion, the second portion including an end opposite the first portion, the method comprising:
- inserting an enlarged end of the post through the first portion of the slot;
- sliding the post along the second portion of the slot to an end of the second portion opposite the first portion;
- inserting the first end of the bias element into the recess in the elongate portion of the retaining element;
- placing the second end of the bias element against the post;
- inserting the retaining element into the slot, with the rounded portion of the retaining element in the first portion of the slot and the elongate portion of the retaining element extending into the second portion of the slot;
- and
- moving the second end of the bias element into position in the slot between the two enlarged ends.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.