ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,415,287, issued on Sept. 16, was assigned to AOB Products Co. (Columbia, Mo.).
"Out-the-front knife" was invented by Brett Eckelkamp (Fulton, Mo.), Michael Cottrell (Ashland, Mo.), Shane Ball (Columbia, Mo.), William Garland (Columbia, Mo.), Brian Steere (Columbia, Mo.), Timothy S. Kinney (Warrenton, Mo.), Seth Wheeler (Columbia, Mo.), Justin Burke (Columbia, Mo.), James Tayon (Moberly, Mo.) and Curtis Smith (Columbia, Mo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An out-the-front knife, components thereof, and associated methods. The out-the front knife can be a double-action spring-assisted knife. The knife includes a handle and a blade. The han...