Patent ID: 7302760

Claim:
A folding knife comprising: a handle including a first side and a second side spaced apart to define a cavity; a blade including a cutting surface and a tang, the tang being pivotally attached to the handle in a manner allowing the blade to pivot about a pivot axis between an open position with the cutting surface extending outwardly from the handle, and a closed position with the cutting surface disposed at least partially within the cavity; and a holding mechanism including a piston adapted to be manually moved along an axis substantially parallel to the pivot axis of the blade, the piston having a first stop element of a first dimension and a first opposing element of a second dimension greater than the first dimension, at least a second stop element fixed on the tang, and at least a second opposing element also fixed on the tang, the first opposing element being adapted to be moved to a hold position when the blade is in one of the closed or open positions, in which the first opposing element seats against the second opposing element, the first stop element substantially engages the second stop element, and the blade is held in the one position; wherein the second stop element is a cutout having a stop surface and the second opposing element includes a cutout having an opposing surface, the stop surface and the opposing surface being curved eccentric surfaces relative to each other.