Patent Publication Number: US-11035647-B2

Title: Knife for detachably attaching to a firearm grip

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This patent application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/794,632 entitled “KNIFE FOR DETACHABLY ATTACHING TO A FIREARM GRIP,” filed Jan. 20, 2019, the contents of which being incorporated by reference in their entirety herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Certain types of firearms include the capability of attaching a knife, sword, or other sharp weapon thereon for use in close-combat situations. Most commonly, bayonets were used to position a sharp object on an end of a rifle, allowing the rifle to be used as a spear. Modern bayonets exist that are capable of being equipped on modern firearms, such as the AK-47. However, bayonets are often heavy and impair an operator&#39;s ability to fire the weapon in an accurate manner. As such, the use of bayonets is falling out of favor for use by modern militaries, hunters, hobbyists, and home defense operators. As such, those using firearms often carry a knife in a hilt or a pocket in the event a sharp object is needed for close encounters. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     According to various embodiments, a knife is disclosed that is configured to be positioned, at least partially, within a grip of a firearm. In some embodiments, the knife includes a blade body having a first blade side and a second blade side. The blade body may include a base and a knife edge portion. The knife may further include a handle portion. The handle portion may include the base of the blade body, a first handle attachment coupled to the base on the first blade side, and a second handle attachment coupled to the base on the second blade side. 
     The knife may further include a guard. In some embodiments, the guard may be positioned between the base and the knife edge portion. The guard may include an attachment mechanism coupled thereto being adapted to detachably attach to a grip of a firearm, such as a pistol, shotgun, or rifle, and sheath at least the knife edge portion in an interior of the grip. Each of the base of the knife, the first handle attachment, and the second handle attachment may include a recess defining a finger support structure. The finger support structure may include circular ribs, each of the at least two circular ribs being adapted to support a respective finger of the operator. In some embodiments, the finger support structure includes only two circular ribs, wherein a first one of the ribs is sized and positioned to support an index finger and a second one of the ribs is sized and positioned to support a middle finger of the operator. 
     Further, the guard may include a flat surface having an elongated aperture configured to nest a portion of the blade therein. The guard may include a first side projecting beyond the first blade side and a second side projecting beyond the second blade side. The attachment mechanism may project perpendicularly from the flat surface. Further, the attachment mechanism may include a circular recess positioned on an outer face of the attachment mechanism, the circular recess comprising a male detent mechanism configured to detachably attach to a female detent mechanism positioned in the interior of the grip of the firearm. As such, the attachment mechanism may be configured to release from the grip of the firearm in response to an application of a horizontal lateral force relative to a longitudinal axis of the firearm. 
     The first handle attachment and the second handle attachment may be positioned on the base of the blade body to define a tang of the knife. In some embodiments, the tang of the blade may include a plurality of ridges. Further, the first handle attachment and the second handle attachment may be coupled to the blade using a plurality of screws and a plurality of rivet nuts, or other suitable connection mechanisms. The guard may be further coupled to the blade via a pin positioned through an aperture positioned on sides of the flat surface and an aperture positioned on a rear portion of the blade. 
     In accordance with various embodiments described herein, a firearm comprising a knife is disclosed. The firearm may include a grip. The knife of the firearm may be configured to be sheathed within an interior of the grip. The knife may include, for example, a blade body having a first blade side and a second blade side. The blade body may further include a base and a knife edge portion. 
     The knife may further include a handle portion. The handle portion may include the base of the blade, a first handle attachment coupled to the base on the first blade side, a second handle attachment coupled to the base on the second blade side. A guard may be positioned between the base and the knife edge portion, where the guard comprises an attachment mechanism coupled thereto. The attachment mechanism may be configured to detachably attach to a grip of the firearm and sheath at least the knife edge portion in an interior of the grip. In some embodiments, the firearm comprises a rifle, such as an AK-47 or an AR-15. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of a knife adapted to detachably attach to a firearm grip according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  shows a front perspective view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  shows a rear perspective view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  shows a bottom perspective view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  shows another bottom perspective view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  shows a front evaluation view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  shows a side elevation view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  shows a rear elevation view of the knife of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9  shows a side elevation view of the knife of  FIG. 1  positioned in an interior region of a rifle according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  shows a side elevation view of the knife of  FIG. 1  removed from an interior region of a rifle according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a knife adapted to detachably attach to a firearm. More specifically, a knife is disclosed that may be configured to sheath within a grip of a firearm, such as an AK-47, AR-15, or other suitable firearm. As noted above, modern bayonets exist that are capable of being equipped on modern firearms, such as the AK-47. However, bayonets are often heavy and impair an operator&#39;s ability to fire the weapon in an accurate manner. The use of bayonets is falling out of favor for use by modern militaries, hunters, hobbyists, and home defense operators. As such, those using firearms often carry a knife in a hilt or a pocket in the event a sharp object is needed for close encounters. 
     Accordingly, in various embodiments, a knife is described that is configured to sheath within an interior of a grip or other suitable portion of a firearm, such as a rifle, shotgun, or a pistol. The knife may be configured such that is can quickly be removed from the firearm by an operator during close encounters, such as close-combat situations or encounters with dangerous animals while hunting. Additionally, the knife may be configured such that the knife does not add substantial weight to the weight while not impairing the accuracy or precision of the operator when discharging projectiles using the firearm. Finally, the knife may provide an extension to the grip of the firearm such that a base of the knife can be used as a resting point when the firearm is positioned on the ground, for instance, when the firearm is used for long-distance shots. 
     In various embodiments, the knife may include, for example, a blade body having a first blade side and a second blade side. Additionally, the blade body may further include a base and a knife edge portion. The knife may further include a handle portion. The handle portion may include, for example, the base of the blade positioned between a first handle attachment coupled to the base on the first blade side, and a second handle attachment coupled to the base on the second blade side. A guard may be positioned between the base and the knife edge portion. In some embodiments, the guard comprises an attachment mechanism being adapted to detachably attach to a grip of a rifle and sheath at least the knife edge portion in an interior of the grip. The attachment mechanism facilitates a quick removal of the knife from the grip of the firearm, as will be described. 
     In the following discussion, a general description of the knife adapted to detachably attach to a grip of a firearm and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the same. 
     An exploded perspective view of a knife  100  is shown in  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments. Various perspective views of the knife  100  are shown in  FIG. 2-5 .  FIG. 6  shows a side elevation view of the knife  100  according to various embodiments.  FIGS. 7 and 8  show front and rear views of the knife  100 , respectively. Referring to  FIG. 1  for explanatory purposes, the knife  100  is shown as having a blade body  105  and a handle portion  110  where, in some embodiments, the handle portion  110  includes a base  115  of the blade body  105 . The blade body  105  may include a single, uniform piece of material, such as steel, stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, wood, bone, or other suitable material. The blade body  105  may be described as having a first blade side  120   a  and a second blade side  120   b , as may be appreciated. 
     In addition to the base  115 , the blade body  105  may further include a knife edge portion  125 . Generally, the base  120  may include a lower portion of the blade body  105  and the knife edge portion  125  may include an upper portion of the blade body  105 , such as the portion that extends above a guard, as will be discussed. The knife edge portion  125  may include a blade edge  130 , a tip  135 , a hook  140 , as well as other components. The hook  140  may include a notched-out portion of the blade body  105 , as may be appreciated. 
     In addition to the base  115  of the blade body  105 , the handle portion  110  may further include a first handle attachment  145   a  and a second handle attachment  145   b  (collectively “handle attachments  145 ”). The first handle attachment  145   a  may be coupled to the base  115  on the first blade side  115   a  and, similarly, the second handle attachment  145   b  may be coupled to the base  115  on the second blade side  115   b . The handle attachments  145  may be formed of a material different than the blade body  105  in some embodiments, such as plastic, wood, bones, metal, or other suitable material. In other embodiments, the knife  100  may not include the handle attachments  145 . For instance, the base  115  may be wrapped with paracord, tape, or other covering to protect the hand of the operator. 
     By virtue of the size and placement of the first handle attachment  145   a  and the second handle attachment  145   b  on the blade body  105 , a tang  150  may be defined at a base of the knife  100 . The tang  150  of the blade body  105  may include a plurality of ridges  155  in various embodiments. The ridges  155  may facilitate grip by the operator. In various embodiments, the first handle attachment  145   a  and the second handle attachment  145   b  may be coupled to the blade body  105  using, for example, a plurality of screws  160  and a plurality of rivet nuts  165 . Other suitable coupling mechanisms may be employed in similar or alternative embodiments. 
     According to various embodiments, each of the base  115 , the first handle attachment  145   a , and the second handle attachment  145   b  may include a recess  170 . The recess  170  may include a shape defining a finger support structure  175 . By virtue of the shape of the recess  170 , the finger support structure  175  may include, for example, one or more circular ribs adapted to support one or more fingers of an operator of the knife  100 . As such, the recess  170  may be described as having two notched-out circular regions, where the recess  170  resembles the number “8.” Thus, in some embodiments, the recess  170  may be referred to as an 8-shaped recess. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the finger support structure  175  may include only two circular ribs although, in other embodiments, the finger support structure  175  may include one, three, four, or other suitable amount of circular ribs. The finger support structure  175  provides an ergonomically efficient knife having ribs that fit the natural curve of the clasped fingers of the operator, while efficiently aiding quick removal of the knife  100  from a firearm. In embodiments in which the finger support structure  175  includes only two circular ribs, a first one of the ribs may be sized and positioned to support an index finger of an operator while a second one of the ribs may be sized and positioned to support a middle finger of the operator. 
     The knife  100  may further include a guard  180 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , in various embodiments, the guard  180  may be positioned between the base  115  of the blade body  105  and the knife edge portion  125 . The guard  180  may prevent fingers of the operator from sliding upwards and contacting the blade edge  130  when the knife  100  is in use, as may be appreciated. To this end, the guard  180  may include a surface  185  that projects beyond a surface of the first blade side  120   a  and the second blade side  120   b  in some embodiments. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the surface  185  of the guard  180  may include a substantially flat surface. 
     Further, the guard  180  and, more specifically, the surface  185  of the guard  180  may include an elongated aperture  190  configured to nest a portion of the blade body  105  therein. In some embodiments, the elongated aperture  190  is vertically defined such that it mates with a blade aperture  195  horizontally positioned on the blade body  105 . The guard  180  may be further coupled to the blade body  105  via a pin  197  positioned through guard apertures  198   a ,  198   b  on respective sides of the surface  185 , and a blade body aperture  199  positioned on a rear portion of the blade body  105 . 
     In further embodiments, the guard  180  may include an attachment mechanism  200 , where the attachment mechanism  200  is adapted to detachably attach to a grip of a rifle (not shown) such that at least the knife edge portion  125  is sheathed within an interior of the grip. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the attachment mechanism  200  may include a substantially square or rectangular element that projects perpendicularly from the surface  185  of the guard  180 . Further, the attachment mechanism  200  may be positioned on a distal end of the surface  185  of the guard  180 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , only a single attachment mechanism  200  is shown, although, in other embodiments, multiple attachment mechanisms  200  may be employed. 
     The attachment mechanism  200  may include a recess  205  positioned on an outer face  210  of the attachment mechanism  200 . For instance, the recess  205  may include a circular recess having a male detent mechanism  215  configured to detachably attach to a female detent mechanism (not shown), which may be positioned in an interior region of a rifle  300  or other firearm, such as an interior of a grip  303  of the rifle  300 , as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . 
     As may be appreciated, the attachment mechanism  200  may be configured to release the knife  100  from the grip  303  of a rifle  300  or other firearm. For instance, in various embodiments, the attachment mechanism  200  may be configured to release the knife  100  from the grip  303  of the rifle  300  in response to an application of a horizontal lateral force Fi relative to a longitudinal axis of the rifle  300 . In other words, to release the knife  100  from the grip  303  of the rifle  300 , an operator of the rifle  300  may insert his or her fingers into the finger support structure  175  and pull backwards towards a rear of the knife  100  and a rear of the rifle  300 , which causes the male detect mechanism  215  to disengage from a female detent mechanism (not shown) positioned in an interior of the grip  303  or other region of the rifle  300 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the knife  100  is shown positioned in the interior of the grip  303  of the rifle  300  or, in other words, the knife  100  is sheathed in the rifle  300 . In  FIG. 10 , however, the knife  100  is shown removed from the interior of the grip  303  of the rifle  300 . In some embodiments, the grip  303  includes a portion of the rifle  300  extending from a lower receiver  306  of the rifle  300 . 
     In some embodiments, the guard  180  and the attachment mechanism may be integral to the blade body  105 . In other words, the guard  180  and the attachment mechanism  200  may be formed from a same billet as the blade body  105 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the attachment mechanism  200  may include a plurality of rails  220   a ,  220   b  (collectively “rails  220 ”) positioned on respective sides of the attachment mechanism  200 . As may be appreciated, the rails  220  may be positioned within channels internal to the interior of the grip of the firearm (not shown). 
     The features, structures, or characteristics described above may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner, and the features discussed in the various embodiments are interchangeable, if possible. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided in order to fully understand the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the person skilled in the art will appreciate that the technical solution of the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, materials, and the like may be employed. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the present disclosure. 
     Although the relative terms such as “on,” “below,” “upper,” and “lower” are used in the specification to describe the relative relationship of one component to another component, these terms are used in this specification for convenience only, for example, as a direction in an example shown in the drawings. It should be understood that if the device is turned upside down, the “upper” component described above will become a “lower” component. When a structure is “on” another structure, it is possible that the structure is integrally formed on another structure, or that the structure is “directly” disposed on another structure, or that the structure is “indirectly” disposed on the other structure through other structures. 
     In this specification, the terms such as “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are used to indicate the presence of one or more elements and components. The terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” “contain,” and their variants are used to be open ended, and are meant to include additional elements, components, etc., in addition to the listed elements, components, etc. unless otherwise specified in the appended claims. The terms “first”, “second”, etc. are used only as labels, rather than a limitation for a number of the objects. 
     Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and should not, imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present. 
     It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.