| US 7,562,454 B2 | ||
| Knife blade opening mechanism | ||
| Kenneth Steigerwalt, Orangeville, Pa. (US); and Matthew Lerch, Sussex, Wis. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Mentor Group, L.L.C., Oregon City, Oreg. (US) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 09, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/983,458. | ||
| Application 11/983458 is a continuation of application No. 11/395917, filed on Mar. 31, 2006, granted, now 7,293,360, filed on Nov. 13, 2007. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/671146, filed on Apr. 13, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0083118 A1, Apr. 10, 2008 | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. B26B 1/04 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 30—160 [30/159] | 20 Claims |
| 1. An automatic opening folding knife, comprising,
an elongate handle having first and second handle halves held in a spaced apart relationship to define a blade groove therebetween,
said elongate handle having a forward end and a rearward end and defining a handle longitudinal axis;
a blade pivotally connected between the handle halves at a tang of the blade and movable between a blade open position and
a blade closed position;
a pair of elongate spring arms, one of said pair of elongate spring arms extending longitudinally and generally parallel to
the handle longitudinal axis on one side of the blade, and the other of said pair of elongate spring arms extending longitudinally
and generally parallel to the handle longitudinal axis on the opposite side of the blade, each elongate spring arm having
a fixed end proximate the rearward end of the handle and a free end proximate the forward end of the handle;
a pin interconnecting the free ends of the elongate spring arms, said pin positioned adjacent said tang of the blade and movable
with the free ends of the spring arms in a direction generally transverse to the handle longitudinal axis for applying force
to said tang when said blade is in the closed position; and
a trigger operable in a trigger closed position to retain the blade in the blade closed position.
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