Releasable locking mechanism for the shank of a knife or other implement
OwnerRonald G. Mashburn, Larry D. Mountinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A releasably locking mechanism for locking and releasing the shank of a blade or other implement snugly within a receiver, wherein a magnetized ball extends through aligned holes in the shank and the first wall of the receiver, and seats in a smaller hole in the second wall of the receiver so that the equator of the ball is positioned on the side of the shank nearer to the second wall of the receiver. Unseating the ball and repositioning its equator to the opposite side of the shank, nearer to the first wall of the receiver, facilitates removal of the ball to allow removal of the shank from the receiver.
Claims15
A method of releasably locking a shank of an implement into a receiver, comprising the step of providing a locking mechanism having the shank having a pass-thru aperture allowing passage of a circumference of a magnetized ball therethrough when the shank is received within the receiver, said receiver comprising a cooperating pair of parallel walls defining a channel receiving the shank, said walls including a pass-thru wall defining a pass-thru portal allowing passage of the circumference of said ball therethrough, and a ball-stop wall defining a smaller ball-stop eyelet aligned concentrically with said portal and the aperture, said eyelet having a periphery sized for seating said ball, said mechanism further comprising said ball seating against said eyelet so that the channel equator of said ball is positioned on the side of the shank nearer the ball-stop wall, said mechanism further comprising a means of biasing said ball toward said seating, said method of use further comprising the step of urging the ball into the pass-thru portal and pass-thru aperture, seating it against the ball-stop eyelet, said seating including magnetic attraction.
A releasably locking mechanism for locking and releasing a shank of an implement snugly within a receiver, said shank having a pass-thru aperture allowing passage therethrough of a ball having opposite poles and an equator around a circumference, said mechanism comprising said receiver having a cooperating pair of parallel walls defining a channel receiving said shank, said walls including a pass-thru wall defining a pass-thru portal allowing passage of the circumference of said ball therethrough, and a ball-stop wall defining a smaller ball-stop eyelet aligned concentrically with said portal, said eyelet having a periphery sized for seating said ball, said mechanism further comprising said shank received within said channel and having the pass-thru aperture allowing passage therethrough of said ball equator, said ball seating against said eyelet so that said equator is positioned within said channel on the side of said shank nearer said ball-stop wall, said mechanism further comprising a means of biasing said ball toward said seating comprising magnetic attraction between said ball and said ball-stop eyelet.
A releasably locking mechanism for snugly locking and releasing a shank of an implement within a receiver, said mechanism comprising:
- (a) said receiver comprising a cooperating pair of parallel walls defining a channel receiving said shank, said walls including a pass-thru wall defining an essentially circular pass-thru portal allowing passage of a circumference of a ball therethrough, and a ball-stop wall defining a smaller ball-stop eyelet aligned concentrically with said pass-thru portal, said eyelet having a periphery sized for seating said ball;
- (b) said shank defining a pass-thru aperture allowing passage of the circumference of said ball therethrough when said shank is received within said receiver;
- (c) said ball seating against said eyelet so that the channel equator of said ball is positioned on the side of said shank nearer said ball-stop wall, and with a pole of the ball nearer the ball-stop wall and protruding within said ball-stop eyelet;
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- (d) a means of biasing said ball toward said seating, comprising magnetic attraction resulting from a magnetic field of said ball.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.