US2743560A

US2743560A - Knife sharpener

Info

Publication number: US2743560A
Application number: US410287A
Authority: US
Inventors: William R Spaulding
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-02-15
Filing date: 1954-02-15
Publication date: 1956-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 1973-05-01

Description

May 1, 1956 w. R. SPAULDING 2,743,560

KNIFE SHARPENER Filed Feb. l5, 1954 United States Patent '0 2,743,560 KNIFE SHARPENER William R. Spaulding', KausasCit Mo.

Application February 15,1954, Serin'l'No. 410,287

2 claims. (el. 's1- rim This invention relates to a new and improved knife Sharpener, the primary object being to provide a readily portable device that may be either held in the hand, placed on a flat surface or anchored by use of suitable fasteners in a vertical or in a horizontal position ready foruse.

lt is the most important object of the present invention to provide a knife Sharpener so designed as to permit a push-pull action of the knife against a pair of spaced* apartrotatable grinding wheels to the end that such grinding elements will wear evenly and, therefore, be long-lasting.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a knife Sharpener wherein the grinding discs are held in spaced-apart relationship on a rotatable shaft for reception of the knife therebetween and thereby preventing contact of the sharp edge of the knife with the grinding elements themselves.

Other important objects include the way in which roller means are provided as a` safety factor andto protect cutlery from marring or scratching; the way in which ratchet means, provided to limit rotation of the grinding discs to one direction, is so arranged as to lock the grinding element assembly in place; the way in which the grinding elements are protected against breakage at all times; the manner in which important details of `construction permit reversal of the grinding elements thereby increasing the life thereof; and many oth-er more minor objects all of which will be made clear as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a top plan view of a knife Sharpener made pursuant to my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view taken on line ll-Il of Fig. l.

Fig.3 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken on line lV-lVof Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 3 showing the manner of sharpening a knife through use of the invention forming the subject matter of this application.

The knife Sharpener illustrated in the drawing includes a support broadly designated by the numeral which includes a U-shaped bottom 12 having

upstanding flanges

14 and 16 at the ends thereof.`

Support 10 includes additionally, a pair of upstanding l sides 18 and Ztlbetween the

flanges

14 and 16 having out-turned flanges 18a and 20a throughout the lengths of their lowermost longitudinal edges and which rest upon the bottom 12. Suitable fasteners 22 secure the anges 18a and 20a to the bottom 12 and thereby hold the

sides

18 and 20 in spaced parallelism.

An externally threaded shaft 24 spans the distance between the

walls

18 and 20 and is rotatably carried thereby. Shaft 24 in turn receives a pair of grinding elements 26 held in spaced-apart relationship by spacer 28 on the shaft 24. The grinding elements 26 are disposed between 2,743,560 Patented May 1,1956

'ice

a pair of washers 3`0 on the shaft 424 and the grinding elements 26 are held clamped against the spacer 28 by op-4 posed

nuts

32 and 34 on the shaft 24. Nut 32 has a plurality of ratchet teeth 36 engaged by a pan/1.38 swingably mounted on the side 18 by a pivot pin 4'0; A4 spring 42,

hooked 'through an opening 44 in the `pawl 38 and looped.

the uppermost edges thereof and adjacent `one end of" the support 10', mounts a pair of guide :rollers 46 therebelow for rotation on vertical axes 48. A roller S0 is carried by the sides 13 and 20 therebetween for rotation in parallelism with the axis of rotation orf shaft 24. The Sharpener may be mounted on a horizontal or a vertical supporting surface if desired, through use of fasteners (not shown) in openings 52 extending through flanges 13a and 20a and the bottom 12.

Alternately, the Sharpener may be held in the hand or against a supporting surface to sharpen a knife 54 in the manner illustrated by Fig. 5 of the drawing. Knife 54 is inserted between the grinding elements 26 and a pushpull action will cause the elements 26 to rotate freely in a clockwise direction (viewing Fig. 5) when the knife 54 is moved in the direction of arrow 56. Such rotation of the shaft 24 and the elements 26 thereon is permitted by the pawl 38 by virtue of the yielding in spring 42 as the teeth 36 ratchet past pawl 38.

When, however, the knife 54 is pulled in the opposite direction as shown by arrow 58 in Fig. 5, one of the teeth 36 will move into engagement with the uppermost free end of the pawl 38 and the latter will thereby restrain the shaft 24 and the elements 26 against retrograde rotation anti-clockwise viewing Fig. 5. Consequently, with the grinding elements 26 held against such anti-clockwise rotation, pulling of the knife 54 in the direction of arrow 58 will grind the opposed faces of the knife 54 defining at their intersection the cutting edge thereof and sharpening will take place.

The roller S0 is disposed to receive the sharp edge of the knife 54 to prevent its coming into contact with any part of the support lll particularly during sharpening of the point of knife 54, thereby avoiding; damage to the cutting edge of the knife 54.

The rollers 46 also prevent the knife 54 from being accidentally moved into engagement with lany part of the support 10 and causing damage to the knife 54 such as by scratching or marring.

The threads on the shaft 24 and in the nut 32 are such as to cause tightening of the nut 32 against the proximal washer 30 whenever the knife 54 is pulled in the direction of arrow 5S and there is, therefore, assurance that eleelements on the Shaft for rotation therewith; means holding the elements spacedapart for reception of a knife therebetween; ratchet means operably coupled with the shaft for restraining the same against rotation in one direction; a pair of spaced guide rollers for the knife; and means mounting the rollers above and for free rotation on a pair of corresponding parallel axes disposed to one Side of the axis of rotation of the shaft and perpendicularly to a plane through the latter axis, said parallel axes being spaced in a direction parallel to said axis of rotation of the shaft to accomodate the knife between the rollers. 2. A knife Sharpener comprising an elongated shaft; means mounting the shaft for rotation on its longitudinal axis; a pair of grinding elements; means mounting the elements on the shaft for rotation therewith; means holding the elements spaced-apart for reception of a knife therebetween; ratchet means operably coupled with the shaft for restraining the same against rotation in one direction; a pair of spaced guide rollers for the knife; means mounting the rollers above and for free rotation on a pair of corresponding parallel axes disposed to one side of the axis of rotation of the shaft and perpendicularly to a plane through the latter axis, said parallel axes being spaced in a direction parallel to said axis of rotation of the shaft to accommodate the knife between the rollers; a single guide roller for the knife disposed on the opposite side of said axis of the shaft; and means mounting the single roller for rotation on an axis parallel with said axis of the shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS