Actuating opening system for folding knife

A folding knife to be opened by a finger of a knife operator, the folding knife comprising:

• a handle having a rearward portion and a forward portion;
• a blade having an end region and a base region, the base region pivotally attached to the forward region of the handle, the blade being operatively configured to be arranged in a closed orientation and in an open orientation, the blade further having a fixedly attached knife gear configured to rotate around a pivot attachment location of the blade;
• and
• an actuating system comprising an interface portion coupled with the blade using a torque transferring mechanism including a first gear member coupled with the knife gear and wherein the interface portion has an engagement surface extending beyond the back of the handle region, the interface portion positioned in the forward region of the handle to be engaged by the finger of the knife operator, the actuating system operatively configured where repositioning the interface portion with respect to the handle repositions the blade from a closed orientation to an open orientation with the rotation of the interface portion being a different amount of rotation than the degree of rotation of the blade and an assisted opening system coupled with the blade assists the knife to open when the blade passes a prescribed degree of rotation with respect to the handle.

A folding knife comprising:

• a handle region having a forward portion and a rearward portion;
• a blade having an end region and a base region, the blade being pivotally attached to the handle at the forward region, the blade further having a fixedly attached knife gear configured to rotate around a pivot attachment location of the blade;
• and
• an actuating system comprising an interface portion configured to use a torque transferring mechanism including a first gear member coupled with the knife gear and wherein the interface portion has an engagement surface extending beyond the back of the handle region, where repositioning the interface portion actuates the blade from a retracted orientation to an extended orientation where the blade is withdrawn from the handle to the extended orientation and the blade rotates an angular quantity less than the angular amount of rotation of the interface portion of the actuating system and an assisted opening system coupled with the blade assists the knife to open when the blade passes a prescribed degree of rotation with respect to the handle.