Benchmade Knife Co., Inc.

Mentor Group LLC

Duey, Wes

Wes Duey

Ryan Dickman

Vance Collver

Nate Radcliffe

Austin Nelson

James Dobbs

Patrick A Scranton

Anthony Cuomo

Daniel Janovicz

Folding knife

Knife

A folding tool with a safety lock mechanism. The tool has a handle having a first handle half and a second handle half and an implement pivotally connected between the handle halves by a pivot pin. The implement is movable between an open position and closed position. The safety lock mechanism includes a safety switch positioned between the first handle half and the second handle half and having two wing portions extending laterally from a central portion movable from a first safety on position to a second safety off position. The two wing portions configured to slide within wing grooves of the first handle half and the second handle half. The tang portion of the blade includes a scalloped pocket and/or protruding portion in the tang that is configured to contain the front end of the safety switch when the safety switch is in the first safety on position.

Safety for assist opening knife

A magnetic latch having a latch arm with a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal pivotally mounted to a butt end of a first handle half, wherein the proximal end of the latch end includes a first magnetic element that is magnetically coupled to the first handle half to preferentially extend the latch arm axially with respect to a long axis of the first handle half, and the distal end including a coupling element. The magnetic latch further having a retention element at the butt and of a second handle half that couples to the coupling element to securely latch the first handle half and the second handle half together. A butterfly knife having a magnetic latch to securely latch the first handle half and the second handle half together, either in in the closed or open position.

Magnetically actuated latch

A folding knife has ambidextrously accessible trigger mechanism for releasing the blade from its open and locked position so that it may be moved to the closed position, and when the knife is fitted with an automatic opening mechanism, for releasing the blade from its closed and locked position to the open and locked position. When the blade reaches the open position a novel locking mechanism securely locks the blade open. The trigger mechanism comprises a button on each side of the knife handle. The user may fire the automatic opening mechanism by depressing either the right or left hand trigger button, or both simultaneously. The release mechanism may be incorporated in an auto-assist or manual knife. The locking mechanisms described herein may be incorporated into a manual opening knife or a knife with an auto-assist opening mechanism and in all cases, the knife incorporates a locking mechanism that locks the blade open in a highly secure manner.

Knife with ambidextrous actuators and locking mechanism

A folding knife has dual operational mode. In a first modality, the knife is opened and closed manually. In a second modality, the knife is fully automatic. The user is able to switch between modalities with manipulation of a slider bar in the space between handle halves. The user is able to switch from the automatic mode into the manual mode, and vice versa, only when the blade is in the open position. A torsion spring around the pivot shaft connects the blade to the handle. The spring drives the blade open in the automatic operational mode and a switch mechanism is used to alternately engage and disengaged the spring from the blade. One end of the spring is fixed to the handle and the other end interacts with a groove in the tang of the blade when the switch mechanism is in the automatic position. A spacer bar that is part of the switch mechanism has a surface that is operable to laterally displace the spring relative to the blade groove when the switch is in the manual position. The knife also has dual modes of closed-stop functionality.

Folding knife with dual operational modes

A folding knife incorporates an opening assist mechanism that functions to drive the blade from the closed to the open position. A torsion spring is retained axially on the blade axis pin and within a bushing that is stationary relative to the knife handle. One leg of the spring is fixed relative to the handle. The opposite leg of the spring extends through and rides in a partial annular groove in the bushing and acts on the blade as it is moved between the open and closed positions.

Method of opening a knife blade

Knife blade opening mechanism

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Oregon City, OR, United States of America

Wes Duey