US 9,808,940 B1Granted

Folding knife with blade open assisting function

AssigneeGerber. Sakai

InventorKimiyuki Sakai

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Abstract

A folding knife includes a handle having a pivot axis, a blade attached to the handle, a movable member that moves about the pivot axis, an urging spring, and a switching mechanism. The movable member has an engaging claw. When the blade is in a folded position, the switching mechanism holds the movable member in a disengaged state, in which the engaging claw is disengaged from an engaging portion of the blade. When the blade moves from the folded position to the switching position, the switching mechanism switches the movable member from the disengaged state to an engaged state, in which the engaging claw is engaged with the engaging portion, thereby moving the movable member in the open direction by the urging spring to move the blade from the switching position toward the open position by the movable member.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A folding knife comprising:

a handle having a pivot axis;
a blade attached to the handle, the blade being configured to pivot about the pivot axis to move between a folded position, at which the blade is received in the handle, and an open position, at which the blade extends out of the handle, wherein a direction in which the blade moves from the folded position toward the open position is an open direction, and the blade includes an engaging portion;
a movable member configured to move about the pivot axis, the movable member including an engaging claw capable of being engaged with the engaging portion of the blade;
an urging spring urging the movable member in the open direction;
and
a switching mechanism configured to switch the movable member between an engaged state, in which the movable member is movable relative to the handle and the engaging claw is engaged with the engaging portion of the blade, and a disengaged state, in which movement of the movable member relative to the handle is restricted and the engaging claw is disengaged from the engaging portion, wherein
when the blade is in the folded position, the switching mechanism holds the movable member in the disengaged state, and
when the blade has moved from the folded position to a switching position, which is between the folded position and the open position, the switching mechanism switches the movable member from the disengaged state to the engaged state, thereby moving the movable member in the open direction by the urging spring so that the blade is moved from the switching position toward the open position by the movable member.

5 more elements

A folding knife comprising:

a handle including a pivot axis, an inner guide surface extending in an arcuate shape about the pivot axis, and a holding portion extending radially inward from one end in a circumferential direction of the inner guide surface;
a blade attached to the handle, the blade being configured to pivot about the pivot axis to move between a folded position, at which the blade is received in the handle, and an open position, at which the blade extends out of the handle, wherein a direction in which the blade moves from the folded position toward the open position is an open direction, a direction in which the blade moves from the open position toward the folded position is a folding direction, the blade includes an outer guide surface that extends about the pivot axis and an engaging portion that extends radially outward from one end in a circumferential direction of the outer guide surface, and the outer guide surface is arranged radially outside the inner guide surface;
a movable member configured to move about the pivot axis along the inner guide surface, the movable member including a guided portion that is capable of being engaged with the inner guide surface and the holding portion of the handle and an engaging claw capable of being engaged with the outer guide surface and the engaging portion of the blade;
and
an urging spring urging the movable member in the open direction, wherein
when the blade is in the folded position, the guided portion of the movable member is engaged with the holding portion of the handle and the outer guide surface of the blade radially faces the engaging claw of the movable member to restrict radially outward movement of the engaging claw, so that the guided portion is prevented from being separated from the holding portion,
when the blade has moved from the folded position to a switching position, which is between the folded position and the open position, the engaging portion of the blade is located at a position at which the engaging portion radially faces the engaging claw, thereby allowing the engaging claw to move radially outward so that the engaging claw is engaged with the engaging portion and allowing the guided portion to separate from the holding portion, and
in a state in which the guided portion is separated from the holding portion, the movable member is moved in the open direction by the urging spring so that the guided portion moves along the inner guide surface of the handle and the blade is moved from the switching position toward the open position by the engaging claw that is engaged with the engaging portion.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.