AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!- New knife lock design

[stoneman]

A few months ago. I had an inspired moment and designed a new knife lock, similar to the axis lock(but quite a bit different).
I first made a prototype out of wood, and it worked. I then worked some brass into my knife design, and it worked even better. I just needed to do some fine tuning on the spring mechanism.
I thought, I am really on to something, the design of the lock; locks it open (enough to hold my weight hanging off of it), locks it closed, is easy one handed, and assists the opening. I thought ok, now i just have to finish this with a steel prototype knife, and I'll do some rounds of knife companies to see who wants to buy it.
Until I opened up the June issue of Blade, and on page 13 saw the Mini-Mojo thumbstud lock. It was exactly what I was working on. My heart sank, I could have cried.
I had thought the axis lock was a good idea, why not kill 2 birds with one stone and put it on the otherside as a thumber with a little spring to engage the lock. When opened the thumbstud would slide into the handle and lock, and be out of the way of the blade. To close, my thumb would just disengage the lock and fold closed, the forward tension of the lock thumbstud in a notch would keep the blade closed.
Oh well, back to the drawing board

[justice]

stoneman
i know how you feel its almost akin to fear(that gut punch) this feeling you get the first few seconds you realize that your idea/invention is alredy being produced. then comes the sadness and frustration.
dont let that stop you keep at it!
mabey you can slightly alter the design so that there are no patent isseus.
and i see no reson why you could not make knives with this type of lock to sell on your own.
it sound like a great idea! i would love to see some pics of the prototypes and the inner workings

i havre a few lock designs floating around in my head and i have not yet even put them to paper. so i comend you for building a prototype!!

the strange thing about ideas and inventions is that it always seems to be a race to make the new idea reality. but this race the runners sometimes dont even know thay are competing against each other.

some say once you get a new idea it floats out there in the ether for others to pick up on.

if you have one new idea you proly have more dont let it hold you back from designing more!

....justin

[Ray Rogers]

An all too common story I'm sorry to say. I had just started making a thingy that worked in a manner similar to Emerson's Wave when I opened up the current issue of Blade and read the announcement of the Wave. It wasn't exactly the same thing - in fact, I still liked mine better - but it was close enough.

Alexander Graham Bell got to the patent office about an hour ahead of the runner up on the design of the telephone. Marconi beat out #2 on the radio too and neither of them knew anyone else was doing similar work.

And nobody but historians remember the names of all of us who came in second. Don't give up, you had one good idea, you'll have another....

[hammerdownnow]

Same thing happened to me one time with a trigger drag on a fishing reel. Opened the book and there it was

[dan adams1953]

Alexander Graham Bell got to the patent office about an hour ahead of the runner up on the design of the telephone. Marconi beat out #2 on the radio too and neither of them knew anyone else was doing similar work.

tesla invented radio. marconi lost a supreme court descion in 1953.

[Ray Rogers]

I stand corrected. There is another related lesson in the Tesla/Marconi situation though. Marconi was granted patents on various radio principles, he marketed them heavily, and probably profited substantially from them. Tesla had patented most of the same ideas earlier but lacked the money to mount an effective challenge to Marconi's claims. By 1953 when the Supreme Court made their decision both men had been dead for some time, so, while the decision may have helped assure Tesla's place in history it did little for his pocket book when he really needed it.

It would appear then that even if you manage to invent something original in a knife lock you better keep it quiet until you get a patent on it and and then make sure you have enough money to defend it. Otherwise, you may eventually have your place in history but little else to show for it....

[Kevin Wilkins]

That's a good point Ray. The sad fact is, if you lack the funds to defend a patent in court, the patent isn't worth much to you. This is one reason many small inventors sell or assign their rights to a large company who then make / market the device and have the lawyers and dough to kick a$$ if they see anyone poaching in their forest.