GB1518611A - Sharpener for commodity slicing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

1518611 Machinery guards HOBART CORP 9 Feb 1976 05015/76 Heading F2J [Also in Division B3] A commodity slicing machine comprises a housing 11, Fig. 1, a base 12, an adjustable gauge plate 13, a rotatable circular knife 15, a knife guard plate 17 with an edge guard portion 18 and a sharpener 25. The guard plate 17 leaves a part of the knife edge 20 exposed in an active cutting area, exposes the edge 20 in a cutout 28 to the sharpener 25 and protects the remaining part of the edge 20. The sharpener 25 comprises a rotatable sharpenging stone 30 and a non-rotatable honing stone 31. The sharpening stone 30 can be moved towards the knife edge 20 by rotating a handle 33 which rotates a pinion 35 and so drives a rack 36 against a return spring 37 (Fig. 4, not shown). The honing stone 31 can be moved towards the edge 20 by rotating a second handle 41 to pivot a shaft 42 and arm 44 against a return spring 46. The stone 31 is normally supported on the arm 44 at an angle relative to the edge 20 but is free to pivot on a pivot 47 against a return spring 48 (Fig. 10, not shown) so that it may engage the edge at an angle substantially parallel thereto. The sharpener 25 is carried by a plate 50 and mounted on a bracket 27 which includes a pair of channels 52 in the shape of an inverted "U" and a second pair of open ended channels 53 located beneath the channels 52. A pair of fixed pins 54 extend from the plate 50 into channels 53 and a pair of retractable pins into channels 52. The sharpener 25 can be moved from a storage position (Fig. 7) by lifting it, the pins 55 sliding in the left part of the channels 52, pushing it to the right (Fig. 8) and moving it down, the pins 55 sliding in the right-hand part of the channel 52, to the sharpening position (Fig. 9) and returned. In order to remove the sharpener from the slicing machine the pins 55 can be retracted out of the channels 52 by pressing a pair of buttons 57 against return springs 58 (Fig. 6, not shown). A guard cover 70 for the sharpener 25 is shaped to form a convenient handhold and includes a guarding section 75 which is divided by a sanitary wall 85 into one portion 76 to protect the knife cutting edge 20 when the sharpener is in the sharpening position and a second portion 77 to protect the edge 20 when it is in storage position (Fig. 7). In the sharpening position the sharpener 25 is held by a hook 91 of a latch 90 biased by an integral resilient spring arm 92 against a keeper 93. The latch 90 is released by pressing upwardly a release extension 95. The release extension 95 is positioned beneath the cover 70 opposite to the knife 15 in order to prevent the operator's hand touching the knife edge 20 while actuating the latch release.