Patent ID: 6941661

Claim:
A folding knife comprising: an elongated handle having a front end portion and a rear end portion; a blade having a sharpened edge and a tang, the tang being pivotally attached to the front end portion of the handle for swinging of the blade between an open position in which the blade extends from the handle with the sharpened edge exposed for use and a closed position in which the sharpened edge is received by the handle; a first blade-biasing component interconnected between the blade and the handle and providing a force tending to swing the blade from the closed position toward the open position when the blade is in the closed position; and a second blade-biasing component interconnected between the blade and the handle and providing a force opposing the force of the first blade-biasing component when the blade is in the closed position, the first and second blade-biasing components being constructed and arranged relatively such that the force of the first blade-biasing component is insufficient to swing the blade when the blade is in the closed position, the blade being moveable manually from the closed position toward the open position in the direction of the force applied by the first blade-biasing component and contrary to the force applied by the second blade-biasing component, and the first and second blade-biasing components being constructed and arranged relatively such that when the blade is moved manually through a predetermined angle from the closed position toward the open position the force applied by the first blade-biasing component is greater than the force applied by the second blade-biasing component and sufficient to automatically swing the blade farther toward the open position.