US2413169A

US2413169A - Knife sharpener

Info

Publication number: US2413169A
Application number: US582857A
Authority: US
Inventors: Emerson E Case
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-03-15
Filing date: 1945-03-15
Publication date: 1946-12-24
Anticipated expiration: 1963-12-24

Description

' Dec. 24, 1946. E. I; CASE KNIFE SHARPENER Filed March 15, 1945 iyQf-Z 3 .E. ZZ [555 -M Patented Dec. 24, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,413,169 KNIFE SHARPENER Emerson E. Case, Perry, N. Y.

Application March 15, 1945, Serial No. 582,857

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a knife sharpener, and more particularly to a knife sharpening rack which may be constructed to receive one or any number of knives of varying widths and so arranged that the insertion and withdrawal of a knife will properly hone the edge to maintain the knife in good condition.

An object of the invention is to provide a device suitable for use in kitchens or commercial establishments in which knives can be safely kept readily available for use as desired.

A further object is to provide in conjunction with such a case sharpening means so arranged that the passag of the knife blade into and out of the device will be effective to hone the cutting edge.

Other subsidiary objects will more particularly appear in the course of the following detailed description.

The invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combinations of parts hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

One sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a knife holder adapted to receive and sharpen several knives;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical cross-section taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of an upper corner of the device with the top partly broken away and the side removed; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan View looking down on Figure 3.

In the embodmient of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, a container is provided comprising side walls I I connected at the top by a narrow back wall 2 associated with a hinged back wall door portion 3, a bottom 4, a top 6 and a front transparent panel 5 which may be secured in a frame 5'.

An attachment strip I5 having spaced orifices I6 may conveniently be secured to the narrow back portion 2 by means of which the entire container can be supported by nails or screws from a wall surface.

The top member. 6 is preferably formed with a down-turned lip I at its forward edge adapted to contact the upper face of a member II which extends the full width and depth of the container between the end walls I-I.

By reference to Figure 2 it will be noted that by this construction the lip 1 spaces the block II from the main body of the top 6 and in this space is secured against the back wall member 2 a plurality of blocks 9 having angularly disposed side walls to which are secured hone members I0, By reference to Figure 3 it will be observed that the hone members I0 positioned in the notched space between two of the block members 9 are positioned one above the other, so that these hone members I6 intersect as illustrated in Figure 4.

Notches 3 are provided in the top member 6 and similar notches I2 are provided in the member I I, the notches 8 and I2 being arranged in pairs in vertical alignment with the space between adjacent blocks 99 to form slots longer and wider than the cross-section of th knife blade to permit free insertion of the knife. 1

Secured against the forward end of edge of the notches I2 in the member II are resilient spring members I3 having their free ends extending downwardly and which are adapted to bear against the back edge of a knife blade B as the knife K is positioned in the container.

In operation a knife blade B is inserted in one of the slots 8 in the top member 6 and as it passes through the superposed slots Ii in the members 8 and I2 and the member II its back edge is engaged by the resilent spring member I3 which forces the blade rearwardly so that its cutting edge engages between the hones I0IU associated with that particular pair of slots. By reason of the hones of each pair intersecting as illustrated it will be observed that there is no trough bottom for the knife edge to contact but that the edge successively engages on opposite sides the superposed hones Ill-J0.

It will also be observed that this device requires no attention upon the part of the operator with respect to the honing operating, inasmuch as the mere insertion of the knife operates to effectively hone the edge both on the insertion movement and on the withdrawal movement by reason of the automatic pressure of the blade by resilient member I3 into honing relationship with the hone members IIIil.

While in the foregoing description the sharpening elements have been referred to as hones, the invention is not restricted to any particular sharpening element or device, being adaptable to use with file members, abrasive powders glued to a supporting base, emery cloth or the like.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Knife sharpening rack comprising a container enclosing a chamber in which to sheathe the blade of a knife, a wall of said container having a slot giving access to said chamber, said slot being elongated in a front to back direction and having its cross-sectional area longer and wider than the blade which it is adapted to accommodate to permit easy insertion of said blade, a pair of opposed homes within said chamber below said slot, angularly arranged one above the other with their adjacent ends lapping, and their working faces in planes which form a dihedral angle whose apex intersects the area of said slot near the back end of the latter, and a spring within said chamber adjacent said hones, fixed to said container below the front end of said slot, having a yielding portion extending toward said apex so that the distance from said yielding portion to said apex is normally less than the length dimension of the cross-section of the knife blade, whereby said knife blade is pressed by said spring toward said bones and guided to a position coincident with the bisecting plane of said dihedral angle should it be inserted inclined with respect to said bisecting plane.

2. Knife sharpening rack as claimed in claim 1, said spring being a leaf spring fixed at its upper end with its free end directed downwardly from said slot, and said homes being confined to a relatively narrow zone above the lower end of said chamber.

EMERSON E. CASE.