Knife With Tool-Less Removable Handle Scales
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fixed blade knives with removable handle scales often require tool-based removal, which is inconvenient, and existing magnetic solutions may not be secure enough for high-impact applications, while sheaths struggle to securely hold knives without handle scales.
Innovation Solution
A knife design featuring a tang with apertures and handle scales that are releasably coupled through these apertures using a scale release actuator, allowing tool-less removal and a sheath with engagement features that securely hold the knife with or without handle scales, including a rotatable clip and compression bracket for locking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If tool-based removal is used for handle scales, then secure attachment is achieved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical tool-based removal system with a spring-loaded actuator mechanism. The actuator uses elastic potential energy stored in a compressed spring to generate the force needed to release the handle scale from its retained position, eliminating the need for external tools while maintaining secure attachment during normal use.
Solution Approach 2:
The handle scale removal mechanism is self-contained within the knife assembly. The spring-loaded actuator is integrated into the handle structure, allowing the user to remove handle scales by simply pressing a release button or actuator without requiring separate removal tools. The system serves itself by incorporating the removal function within its own structure.
2Ease of operation
If magnetic coupling is used for handle scales, then ease of operation improves, but reliability deteriorates in high-impact applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a curved or angled spring mechanism that loads the retention pins at an angle, creating a mechanical interference fit between the pins and the handle scale holes. This angular loading provides reliable retention through geometric constraint rather than magnetic force, ensuring secure attachment even during high-impact use while maintaining easy release through the actuator.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the retention mechanism from a magnetic field-based parameter to a mechanical geometric parameter. By using retained positions with angled spring loading, the attachment reliability is determined by the physical geometry and elastic deformation of the spring-pinch mechanism rather than magnetic strength, providing consistent performance across different impact conditions.
3Volume of moving object
If handle scales are removed for compact configuration, then volume decreases, but reliability of sheath engagement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The knife handle is segmented into removable handle scales that can be detached from the tang. This segmentation allows the core knife body to achieve a compact configuration when handle scales are removed, while the sheath is designed with engagement features that accommodate the tang structure itself, ensuring secure sheath engagement independent of whether the handle scales are attached.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes a knife having tool-less removable scales. The knife includes a blade having a cutting edge and a tang having one or more apertures formed therein; a first scale removably coupled to a second scale, the first and second scales releasably coupled to each other through the one or more apertures and positioned on either side of the tang, the first scale comprising a scale release actuator that is biased at least partially through an opening in the second scale such that the second and first scales are locked together until the scale release actuator is depressed. The disclosure also describes a knife sheath with a rotatable clip that can be rotated by releasing two halves of a compression bracket, moving a first half of the compression bracket away from the sheath, and rotating the clip once a toothed engagement is disengaged.