JPH09122359A - Folding knife - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a folding knife whose blade can be put in/out with either right or left hand without touching the blade, whose blade is safely secured when it is opened or closed, and which warns a user not to injure his/her fingers on the handle when closed. SOLUTION: Cam shaped dent and projection parts are formed on a blade 11 and a lock member 42 so that they are engaged with each other. The blade 11 and the lock member 42 are assembled tightly and attached to the handle with shafts. At a projection part 13 at the end of the blade 11, a gear is knurled. A part of notch of the lock member is shaped in a projection 45 like a claw. The gear and the projection 45 are assembled at a position in the handle so that they are synchronized. A spring mechanism made of a spring 33 is fitted in the handle side plate so that the spring mechanism always press the lock member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a so-called folding knife capable of folding and accommodating a blade in a handle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Folding knives are knives that are easy to carry because they are used by folding and storing a blade. Therefore, it is widely used in mountain climbing, fishing, yachting, camping, hunting, etc. When using, pull out the blade from the handle. Conventionally, there are many folding knives with a structure that requires the use of both hands in this drawer, that is, a structure in which the handle is grasped with the right hand, a part of the blade is pinched with the left hand, and it pulls out against the resistance of the built-in spring. If you need to use a knife while holding something in one hand, or while holding yourself in one hand, it is difficult to pull out the blade in the handle with one hand. There is a folding knife in which various cues, such as grooves and protrusions, are provided at the position near the back of the blade, and the blade is pushed open with the tip of a human finger. In order to use this kind of folding knife, it is necessary to grasp the handle firmly and push it open while directly touching the blade with the sharp edge with the fingers on the same side of the grip, which may hurt the hand. There are many things. As far as I know the folding knife which has a structure that you can pull out the blade with one hand and store it without touching the blade with a sharp blade directly with your fingers, use it as a so-called pop-out type folding knife, which is prohibited by law There seems to be nothing more than a folding knife that lacks strength.

When a knife is used, various forces are exerted on the blade, but the most dangerous one is the external force exerted in the direction in which the blade tries to return into the handle. It is in.
In order to prevent this, various structures have been devised to prevent the blade from returning inadvertently. For example, there is a structure in which what is called a back metal is provided on the back side between the both side plates of the handle to give a role as a spring and resist a small external force. However, it is useless when a stronger external force is applied. Similarly, there is a folding knife in which the back metal has elasticity, a locking projection is formed at the tip, and a locking mechanism is provided at the base end of the blade to form a recess so as to mesh closely with the projection. There is a structure in which the locking projection is elastically engaged with the locking recess in the protruding state of the blade to prevent the blade from rotating in the housing direction. This mechanism is most often used at present, and it has almost the same purpose although there are some differences in the method and structure for releasing the lock. This mechanism is fairly reliable, but if the engaging irregularities have a small joint area and there is a slight amount of play in the engagement, there is a risk that unintentional unlocking will occur. .

When the blade is stored in the handle,
Although either hand is in the state of gripping the handle, if the blade is inadvertently stored and operated while partially covering the finger in the blade storage opening of the handle, the finger will be damaged by the blade of the blade. There is a folding knife in which the blade base end portion is formed in a shape such that the blade temporarily stops at a certain position immediately before the blade comes into contact with a finger when the blade is stored. There are some other ways to prevent the blade from approaching the hand holding the handle,
A folding knife with a mechanism and structure that alerts the user with a warning and further avoids the danger has not been found in the past, and the user must rely on the careful attention of the user.

[0005]

A safe and easy mechanism that allows the blade to be pulled out from the handle and stored by one hand without touching the blade directly with fingers, and can be operated with either left or right hand. An object of the present invention is to provide a folding knife having a simple structure.

Unless a shaft having a blade and a handle attached to each other, a lock member, a blade material, a handle constituent material, or the like is damaged in manufacturing or is in a used state,
An object of the present invention is to provide a folding knife with a simple structure that has a structure for pulling out the blade and securely and securely fixing it at the use position, and further prevents the blade from accidentally popping out even when stored in the handle. .

In the use of folding knives for various tasks, there is a limit to the attention of the user. An object of the present invention is to provide a folding knife with a simple structure that warns the user of the danger of approaching the blade when the blade is stored, and has a structure that can be detected and avoided.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a folding knife 10 is provided with a means of adopting the invention according to claim 1, and the rear end of the blade 11 is as shown in the drawings of the embodiments described later. Base part 1 of part 14 and cutting blade 12
5, a circular arc-shaped recess having the same radius is formed at two positions, and the front end of the handle 17 composed of the right side plate and the left side plate 20 integrated by the side plates 21 and 22 is the base end of the blade 11. The end is rotatably supported by a shaft 32 so that it can be folded and stored, and the blade 11
The cam-like shape having an arcuate convex portion 48 having the same radius as the concave portions 14 and 15 that can be closely fitted to the concave portions 14 and 15 and is rotatable about another axis 35 in parallel with the axis 32. The lock member 42 of FIG. 2 is configured to be rotatably supported between the side plates of the handle 17 at a position where it is in close contact with the recesses 14 and 15 of the blade 11, and the lock member 42 is a spring built in the handle 17. The gist of the invention is that the rotation is controlled and braked by the elasticity of 33.

Further, the means adopted by the invention according to claim 2 is likewise the folding knife 10 according to claim 1.
The rear end outer edge portion 13 sandwiched between the concave portions 14 and 15 of the blade 11 forms an arc-shaped convex portion centered on the shaft 32, and the outer edge is formed to have a gear-like notch, and the lock member is formed. A notch 46 is provided at the lower end portion connected to the convex portion 48 of 42, and the claw-like protrusion 4 formed by a part of the notch at the boundary portion thereof.
5, the claw-like protrusion 45 forms the rear edge outer edge portion 1 of the blade 11.
When the blade 3 is rotated to a position in contact with the gear-like notch, the blade 11 is made to vibrate and sound by synchronizing with the notch unevenness by a spring mechanism built into the handle 17 as the blade 11 rotates. This is the summary.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings based on embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 2, the folding knife 10 according to the invention of claim 1 has a blade 11
The blade 11 is rotatably attached to the front end of the handle 17. A lock member 42 is provided which is connected to the rear end of the blade 11 and is axially attached to the shaft 32. Handle 17
In the rear end portion, the right side plates 21 and 22 and the left side plate 20 are superposed and assembled with the screws 24 in FIG. This handle 17 has a side plate 22 and a side plate 21 with screws 4
In FIG. 9, a through hole 50 is provided, and a screw hole 51 is provided so as to be integrated, and a spring mechanism including a spring 33 and the like is provided therein. A space between the polymer of the right side plates 21 and 22 and the left side plate 20 is a storage space 18 for the blade 11, the lock member 42, and the spacer 23. By rotating the blade 11, one end side of the storage space 18 (lower side in FIG. 2)
The blade 11 is stored in the storage space 18 from the storage opening 19 located at
It can be stored in.

The blade 11 in this embodiment has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, arcuate recesses 14 and 15 having the same radius are provided at the rear end and the rear end of the cutting blade.
The positional relationship is such that when the blade 11 is in use,
When the blade 11 is in the housed state, the recessed portion 14 is provided at the portion where the recessed portion 14 is located inside the handle 17, and the recessed portion 15 is provided at that portion. At the base end of the blade 11,
The central shaft hole 16 is provided so as to be rotatable around the bushing 34, and the shaft 32 has the shaft hole 30 of the right side plate 22, the spring 33, and the side plate 2
1 through the shaft hole 29, through the bushing 34, the side plate 2
The blade 11 is attached to the handle 17 through a support shaft through a screw hole 28 of 0.

The blade 11 axially mounted in the handle 17
A lock member 42 having a protrusion 48 in close contact with the recess 14 or 15 of the blade 11 is attached to the rear portion of the side plate 2 with a shaft 35.
1 through the shaft hole 36 and bushing 37 and the blind hole 5 of the side plate 20
3 is attached to the supporting shaft. This convex portion 48 is the blade 1
The central axis is shared with the circular arc-shaped convex portion 47 having the same radius as the concave portions 14 and 15 of No. 1 and is formed in the circular arc shape having the same radius as this convex portion. Between the protrusions 47 and 48, there is a V-shaped notch 46.
And a claw-like projection 45 is formed at the point where the projection 48 is connected at the rear end. A screw hole 41 is opened near the lower portion of the shaft hole 38 of the lock member 42, and the spring bearing shaft 39 is screwed. The spring bearing shaft 39 penetrates through a crescent-shaped arc-shaped opening 40 formed in the side plate 21 and rotates along the arc. Bell-shaped recess 3 engraved on the side plate 22
1, the spring 33 always presses the head of the spring bearing shaft 39 with its arm 54 toward the lower rear part. Lock member 4
At the front end of No. 2, there is an arm 44 continuing to the convex portion 48, and at the tip thereof, a gear-like notch 43 is provided so that it can be easily held when the lock member 42 is rotated by a human finger. .

Here, a method of using the folding knife 10 configured as described above will be described. First, when not in use, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the lock member 42 uses the elasticity of the spring 33 to move the spring bearing shaft 3
When the head of 9 is pressed, the arm 44 moves to the blade 1
It is pressed against the convex portion 13 of No. 1. Recess 15 of blade 11
At this time, is in contact with the convex portions 47 and 48 of the lock member 42. As a result, the blade 11 is locked in rotation and remains safely stored in the handle 17. The blade 11 is not pulled out of the handle 17 unless the lock member 42 is intentionally rotated to the position shown in FIG. Here, the arm 44 is always pressed against the convex portion 13 by the elasticity of the spring 33, which is safe.

When next used, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG.
By rotating the lock member 42 in the order shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10, the blade 11 is rotated, and the blade 11 is put into use at the positions shown in FIGS. First, when a finger is put on the notch 43 and the arm 44 is raised, the convex portion 48 is pulled out from the arc of the concave portion 15, and when the protrusion 45 comes to a position where it does not contact the convex portion 13 of the blade 11, the spring receiving shaft 39 is opened. The rotation is stopped at the upper end of the. Convex portion 13 away from the contact
9 freely rotates in the gap of the notch 46, and when rotated to the position shown in FIG. 9, the concave portion 14 contacts the convex portion 48 and stops. Next, by releasing the finger from the notch 43 of the lock member 42, the lock member 42 is rotated in the direction of returning by the elastic force of the spring 33, and the convex portion 48 comes into contact with the concave portion 14 again and is rotated to the position of FIG. After that, the arm 44 is stopped while being pressed against the blade 11, and the blade 11 is locked in the used state.
In use, the concave portion 14 contacts the convex portion 48 over the entire surface, so that the blade 11 can be completely locked. Here, since the pressing force applied to the back side 55 of the blade 11 by the arm 44 does not influence the locking force of the blade 11, the spring 33
The strength of is not limited.

The storing method of the blade 11 after use is changed in the order of FIG. 10, FIG. 9, FIG. 11, FIG. 8, FIG.
As shown in the figure, when the finger is put on the notch 43 of the lock member 42, the convex portion 13 of the blade 11 is cut into the notch 4
Rotate freely in the space of 6. Rear end portion 56 of the convex portion 13
Causes the arm 44 of the lock member 42 to rise to the upper limit, and if it is held at that position, it does not come into contact with any part of the lock member 42 and completes the rotation to the storage position without being hindered. When the lock member 42 is released, the restoring force of the spring 33 restores the state shown in FIG.
Does not come out of the handle 17 and maintains a safe storage state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11, the folding knife 10 according to the invention of claim 2 is provided with the convex portion 1
When the rear end portion 56 of 3 is brought into contact with the notch 46 by returning the arm 44 slightly from the upper limit position, the blade 11
Is prevented from rotating. Here, by releasing the finger applied to the lock member 42, the lock member 42 holds the state of FIG. 11 by the elasticity of the spring 33. Next, by pressing the back side of the blade 11 in the housing direction, the convex portion 13 of the blade 11 starts to rotate again against the elastic force of the spring 33 and comes into contact with the protrusion 45. As the convex portion 13 advances in rotation, as shown in FIG. 8, on the notch of the convex portion 13, the protrusion 45 receives the unevenness of the notch by the elastic force of the spring 33 and tunes in small increments. At this time, the lock member 42 causes the blade 11 to vibrate and sound, so that the hand and hearing of the user are
The blade 11 senses the approach of the finger holding the handle 17 and informs and warns that a sharp cutting edge may be dangerous to the finger. Here, in the folding knife 10, most of the action is almost the same as that of the above-mentioned claim 1, but the above-mentioned,
The only difference is the interlocking of the protrusion 45 with the protrusion 13.

The invention according to claim 2 is not limited to the above embodiment, but a spring mechanism for controlling the rotation of the lock member 42 may be configured as follows, for example. (A) The spring bearing shaft 39 of the lock member 42 is pressed. Instead of the spring 33, a coil spring is pressed. (B) The lock member 42 does not press the spring bearing shaft 39, but changes the shape of the arcuate convex portion 47 at the rear end portion into a flat shape and presses this flat surface with a coil spring. Get the same effect as the example.

[0019]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

First, in the invention according to claim 1, the operation can be performed by the fingers on the same side holding the handle, and it is easy to pull out the blade from the handle and store the blade with only one hand. You can do it. Furthermore, a series of operations is easy with either the left or right hand. When the blade is pulled out from the handle and stored, the user can operate it without touching the blade with sharp blades at all, which is safe. The structural features of the present invention are arcuate recesses 14 and 15 having the same radius, which are formed at two positions of the rear end of the blade and the base end of the cutting blade, and the arcuate protrusion 48 having the same radius as these recesses.
By closely locking and, unless the external force that exceeds the breaking capacity of each member is applied, the locking does not accidentally disengage. Therefore, the safety that was not required by the conventional locking mechanism is easy. can get. Due to this structural feature,
The same effect is produced in both the used state and the stored state.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2, when the blade is housed in the handle, the operating hand is in a state of gripping the handle, and the blade housing opening of the handle is inadvertently touched by a part of the fingers. If the blade is stored and operated with the blade covered, there is a risk that the finger may be damaged by the blade of the blade. However, by vibrating and producing sound in the blade according to the present invention, the fingertip of the user and the sense of hearing can be applied to the finger holding the handle. To detect the approach of the blade.
The operational safety is further enhanced by the effect of easily informing and warning that the sharp cutting edge of the blade may be dangerous to the fingers.

As another effect according to the invention of claim 2, the sound effect generated at the time of operation causes the user to feel a sense of peace of mind, play the sound itself, and go beyond the original function of the folding knife as a comfort. The effect of getting emotional.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing a structure of a folding knife according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a folding knife according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 5 when the blade is in use.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 5 when the blade is stored.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2 in a use state.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 5 when the blade is put into a housed state.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 5 when the lock member is rotated up to the upper limit.

8 is a partially cutaway plane taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 5 when the blade is rotated to a position perpendicular to the handle while the lock member is rotated up to the upper limit. It is.

9 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along the line 9-9 in FIG. 5 when the blade is rotated to the use position.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 5 when the blade is in use.

11 is a partially cutaway plan view taken along the line 11-11 in FIG. 5 when the lock member is slightly returned from the upper limit position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Folding knife 11 Blade 13 Arc-shaped convex part (with gear-like notch) 14 Arc-shaped concave part 15 Arc-shaped concave part 17 Handle 20, 21, 22 Side plate 31 Fishing bell-shaped concave part 33 Spring 40 Crescent arc-shaped opening 42 Lock member 43 Gear-like notch 44 Arm 45 Claw-like notch 46 to 46 48 Arc-shaped convex portion 54 Spring arm

Claims (2)

[Claims] (A) An arcuate recess having the same diameter is bored at two positions of a rear end of a blade and a base end of a cutting blade. (B) The blade is attached to a front end portion of a handle composed of a pair of side plates so that the base end portion of the blade can be rotatably folded and stored. (C) The above-mentioned arcuate recesses are closely fitted to each other,
A cam-shaped locking member having an arcuate convex portion having the same diameter as this concave portion and rotatable about another axis parallel to the axis on which the blade is mounted, and in the use state, the concave portion at the rear end portion, Further, in the housed state, it is axially mounted at a position where it is closely fitted in the recess of the base end of the cutting blade in the handle. (D) The lock member is provided so as to be rotationally controlled and braked about an axis by a spring mechanism having elasticity incorporated in the handle. A folding knife configured as described above. 2. A folding knife according to claim 1, wherein the outer edge of the rear end of the blade, which is sandwiched between the two concave portions of the blade, has an arcuate convex portion centered on the rotation axis of the blade. ， Provide gear-like notches. (B) A notch is provided in the lower end portion connected to the arc-shaped protrusion of the lock member, and a boundary between the protrusion and the notch is formed as a claw-like protrusion. (C) The claw-like protrusion contacts a gear-like notch on the outer edge portion of the blade rear end, and the spring mechanism built into the handle according to claim 1 synchronizes and interlocks with the notch irregularity,
This blade is installed so as to generate vibration and sound. The folding knife according to claim 1, which is constructed and operated as described above.