GB2396286A

GB2396286A - Tool holder

Info

Publication number: GB2396286A
Application number: GB0229602A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Hadley; David Shepherd; Michael Woods; Martin Darbyshire
Original assignee: Wilkinson Sword Ltd
Current assignee: Wilkinson Sword Ltd
Priority date: 2002-12-19
Filing date: 2002-12-19
Publication date: 2004-06-23
Also published as: GB0229602D0; WO2004056233A1; AU2003292424A1

Abstract

A tool holder for attaching a knife 21 to a person or object comprises a tool attaching means (10, figure 1) and a scabbard 20. Slots 12, 14 are provided for attaching the holder to a belt or other straps 30. The tool holder can be made from an elastorneric material.

Description

Tool Holder The present invention re]atcs to a holder for a knife or a

similar tool, for attaching the knife or tool to a person's body or clothing or other object, 5 such as a bag.

Knives, such as survival knives often have means for attaching the knife to a belt or strap so that they can be hung from a person's waist or attached to a bag or rucksack. If a knife is to be hung from a person's 10 waist, in addition to means for attaching the knife to the person's belt there may also be means for strapping the knife to the person's thigh, so that the knife does not impede the person's movement when they are walking or running. 15 The object of the present invention is to provide a holder for a tool, such as a knife, which can be used to harness the tool to a person's left or right hip, so that it can be used by a left or right handed person or alternatively to harness it to another part of the body or another item.

20 According to the present invention there is provided a system for attaching a knife or similar tool to a person or an object, comprising a tool and a tool holder, the tool holder having tool attaching means for releasably attaching the tool to the tool holder and at least two holder attaching means for attaching the tool holder to the person, the person's clothing, an object 25 or the like.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which,

Figure 1 shows a view of a scabbard holder; Figure 2 shows a short-side elevation of a knife in a scabbard, inserted into the scabbard holder; Figure 3 shows a short-side elevation of the knife, scabbard and scabbard holder of figure 2, including a belt and a strap; Figure 4 shows a view of an empty scabbard; Figure 5 shows a side elevation of the empty scabbard, Figure 6 shows a side elevation of the knife; 15 Figure 7 shows a cross-section of the scabbard along plane A-A, as marked on figure 5; Figure 8 shows an end view of the scabbard holder; 20 Figure 9 shows a side elevation of the knife in the scabbard, inserted into the scabbard holder.

Referring to figure 1, a scabbard holder 10 is shown having a hollow housing 11 for receiving the scabbard of a knife. A first pair of opposing 25 slot shaped openings 12, spaced apart by slot walls 13, are situated on one side of the hollow housing 11. A second pair of opposing slot shaped openings 14 are situated on the opposite side of the hollow housing, also spaced apart by slot walls 15. A belt or strap can be inserted through each

pair of slots, 12 and 14. The hollow housing 11 has two opposing openings 16 and 17 through which the scabbard can be inserted.

Referring to figure 2, the scabbard 20 of the knife is inserted through 5 the hollow housing 11 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the scabbard holder 10. The pairs of slots 12 and 14 for receiving straps for mounting the knife assembly are attached to the hollow housing 11, such that they lie adjacent and parallel to the plane of the knife. Straps or belts can be inserted through the pairs of slots 12 and 14, perpendicular to the 10 longitudinal plane of the knife.

Referring to figure 3, to attach the scabbard holder to a person's waist, a belt 30 can be passed through the pair of slots 12 and fastened around a person's waist. In this way, the scabbard 20 hangs down from the 15 person's waist, below their belt and the handle 21 of the knife is above the hollow housing 11. The person can then withdraw the knife from the scabbard by pulling the handle upwards. The scabbard holder is prevented from being pushed too far along the scabbard by a portion of the scabbard 22, the cross-sectional area of which is too large to pass through the hollow 20 housing 1 1. A strap 31 can be passed through the pair of slots 14 to secure the scabbard holder to the person's thigh.

Generally a right handed person will choose to secure a knife to their left hip, as it is easier to withdraw a knife from the other side of the body 25 than from the same side of the body as the knife wielding hand. Likewise a left handed person will generally choose to secure a knife to their right hip.

When the knife is attached to the opposite hip from the knife wielding hand, the knife should be stored with the sharpest part of the blade pointing towards the front of the person, rather than the back of the person, so that

the knife will be in the correct orientation for use when it has been withdrawn. In this orientation, the person can grip the edge of the knife handle that points towards the back of the body with the palm of their hand, and when they withdraw the knife and hold it up infront of their body, with 5 their palm facing forwards, the sharpest edge of the blade will point forwards. The scabbard holder of the present invention may be secured to a person's belt on the right or left side of their body, for a left handed or a 10 right handed person respectively.

Referring to fgurcs 4 and 5 the scabbard has an upper portion 46 and a lower portion 47, which are separated by a short wall 48 that protrudes outwards from the scabbard. The upper portion 46, is enclosed 15 by the hollow housing 11, when the scabbard is inserted into the scabbard holder. The scabbard has a plane of symmetry running parallel to the flat plane of the scabbard, but it does not have a plane of symmetry 20 perpendicular to the flat plane of the scabbard, along the longitudinal axis of the scabbard. The knife blade 50 also has a plane of symmetry parallel to the flat plane of the blade, but does not have a plane of symmetry along the longitudinal axis of the blade and perpendicular to the flat plane of the blade, as shown in figure 6.

The sharp, cutting edge of the knife blade 51 is more curved than the opposite edge of the blade and is inserted into the scabbard such that it is adjacent to the more curved edge 40 of the scabbard. The serrated and less

curved edge of the knife blade 52 is inserted into the scabbard adjacent to the less curved edge of the scabbard 41.

The transverse thickness of the lower scabbard portion 47 is uniform 5 along the length of the lower portion. However, in the upper scabbard portion 46, the thickness of the scabbard edge 41 is greater than the thickness of the scabbard edge 40. Therefore, referring to figure 7, the cross-section of the upper scabbard portion 46 is a tapered oblong shape. In the upper scabbard portion 46, the opposing edges of the scabbard 40 and ] 0 41 are parallel, whereas the other pair of edges 60 and 61 taper towards the shortest scabbard edge 40.

Referring to figure 8, the cross-section of the hollow housing on the scabbard holder 10 is also tapered. The hollow housing cross-section is an 15 oblong shape, the shorter opposing sides 70 and 71 being parallel and the longer opposing sides 72 and 73 tapering towards the shortest edge 70.

Therefore the upper scabbard portion 46 can only be inserted into each of the two opposing openings of the scabbard receiving loop when the scabbard is correctly oriented to fit in the cross-section of the hollow 20 housing 11.

For example, when the scabbard holder is oriented as shown in figure 8, with edge 70 towards the right and edge 71 to the left, the upper scabbard portion 46 can only be inserted into the opening 16 if the scabbard 25 edge 40 is inserted adjacent to edge 70 and the scabbard edge 41 is inserted adjacent to edge 71. When the scabbard is inserted through opening 16 of the hollow housing 11, it is then suitable to be attached to the right side of a left handed person's waist. The sharpest edge of the knife blade 51 will then be pointing forwards, towards the front of their body, the serrated edge

52 will be pointing towards the back of their body and the strap or belt receiving loops will be adjacent to the person's body.

Alternatively, a right handed user should insert the scabbard into the 5 opposite opening 17 of the hollow housing 11, and attach the scabbard holder to the left side of their body.

The scabbard holder is made of an elastomeric material such as rubber. The elastomeric holder can stretch when a knife scabbard is 10 inserted, then return to its original size, to form a tight fit around the scabbard. The holder is also flexible, so that it can be bent to facilitate insertion of a belt or strap through the pairs of slots 12 and 14 and so that the holder will bend to fit a person's body shape when it is strapped to their hip or chest.

Referring to figure 4, both side faces of the scabbard have a pair of arc shaped ridges 45. The ridges 45 are located at the end of each face, furthest away from the pointed end of the scabbard. The ridges help to grip the scabbard holder in place, when the scabbard has been inserted into the 20 scabbard holder The knife can also be secured onto a strap, which passes across the front of a person's chest, for example a rucksack strap. Referring to figure 1, there is a shallow recess 18 on one inside face of the hollow housing 1 1.

25 The recess 18 can also been seen in figure 8, on the inside of the face 72 of the hollow housing 11. A strap can be inserted into the hollow housing 11 so that it lies in the recess 18, flush with the inside of face 72 of the hollow housing. When the scabbard 20 is inserted in the hollow housing 11, the strap is then held in place in the scabbard holder, and the strap can be

attached around a person's chest, to secure the knife to the chest. The strap should have a width less than the width of the recess 18, so that it lies within the sides of the recess.

5 In the same way, the scabbard holder could be secured onto the outside of a rucksack. A strap from the rucksack is inserted into the hollow housing 11, so that the strap lies flush with the inside face of the side of the hollow housing 72 and within the recess 18, and the scabbard is inserted to hold the strap in place.

When the knife is secured to a person's waist or across a person's chest, using the recess 18, it can be held more securely by passing a chord through a further channel in the side of the scabbard. Referring to figure 5, showing a side view of the empty scabbard, the lower scabbard portion 47 15 has a circular hole 42 in each of its large faces. The hole 42 in the uppermost side of scabbard in figure 5 is partially covered by a first element 43, which extends across the centre of the hole 42. The hole 42 in the opposite side of the scabbard is partially covered by a second element 44, which is perpendicular to the first element 43. The second element 44 20 can be seen, through the hole 42, passing underneath the first element 43 in figure 5. Referring to figure 4, the first element 43 has a recess 49 on the side of the element that faces the inside of the scabbard. A chord 90 can be inserted under the first element 44, so that the chord lies in the recess 49.

When the blade of the knife is inserted into the scabbard, the chord 90 sits 25 in the recess 49 between the knife blade and the first element 44, as shown in figure 9.

Referring to figure 1 the scabbard holder 10 has a hollow tube 19 for securing the knife onto the scabbard holder. The tube 19 protrudes from

the side 70 of the hollow housing 11, and has an axis parallel to the axis of the scabbard holder. A chord can be passed through the tube 19 and knotted to form a loop of chord. Referring to figure 6, the knife handle has a protruding portion 53, which extends away from the side of the handle, in S the direction of the sharp edge of the blade 51, and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle. This protruding portion 53 protects the users hand when the knife is in use. There is a notch 54 cut into the side of the protruding portion 53, which is furthest from the knife blade.

10 Referring to figure 9, when the knife is inserted into the scabbard, which is in turn inserted into the scabbard holder, the tube 19 is on the same side of the knife as the protruding portion 53. The loop of chord tied around the tube 19 can be hooked over the protruding portion 53 and secured in the groove 54. In this way the knife is held securely to the 15 scabbard holder and scabbard. The chord could be an elastic chord, so that the chord can be stretched to fit over the handle groove.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a tool could be attached to the tool holder using a clip or a strap. Each of the tool holder 20 attaching means, for attaching the tool to a belt or strap, could comprise a single slot, through which the strap or belt can be passed. Alternatively, each of the tool holder attaching means could comprise a buckle or clip for attaching the tool holder to a strap.

Claims

1. A system for attaching a knife or similar tool to a person or an object, comprising a tool and a tool holder, the tool holder having tool 5 attaching means for releasably attaching the tool to the tool holder and at least two holder attaching means for attaching the tool holder to a person, a person's clothing, an object or the like.

2. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to 10 claim 1 wherein the tool attaching means is situated in between the holder attaching means.

3. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to either of claims I or 2 wherein the tool is a scabbard for a knife.

4. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to any preceding claim wherein the tool attaching means is a hollow housing which can receive the scabbard through either a first opening or a second opening which opposes the first opening.

5. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to claim 4 wherein the cross-section of the hollow housing is shaped so that the tool can only be inserted into the first opening in a first orientation and can only be inserted into the second opening in second orientation.

6. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to any preceding claim wherein the holder attaching means comprises slot shaped openings through which straps, which are attachable to the person or object, can be inserted.

7. A system for attaching a too] to a person or an object according to claim 6 wherein the holder attaching means comprises a first and second slot shaped opening through the first of which is inserted a belt, for 5 attaching to a person's waist, and through the second of which is inserted a strap, for attaching to the person's thigh is inserted.

8. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to any preceding claim wherein the inside of the tool attaching means includes 10 a recess for receiving a strap, the strap being attachable to the person or object.

9. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object according to any preceding claim wherein the tool holder is made of an elastomeric 1 5 material.

10. A system for attaching a tool to a person or an object substantially as herein described and illustrated.

20

11. A tool holder substantially as herein described and illustrated.

12. Any novel and inventive feature or combination of features specifically disclosed herein within the meaning of Article 2H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).