Involute knife sharpener

Apparatus for sharpening an involute knife blade carried on and rotatable with a drive shaft of a slicing machine which comprises, an elongated arm extending substantially parallel to the blade and perpendicular to the drive shaft thereof, a sharpening member mounted on the arm and engageable with the knife edge of the blade, a housing slidably receiving said arm such that the arm is longitudinally movable relative to the housing and generally perpendicular to the axis of the drive shaft, said housing having a support shaft connectable to the drive shaft of the machine and defining a pivot between the arm and blade, and means in the housing coupled to the drive shaft to prevent relative movement therebetween and engaging the arm to drive the arm during relative rotational movement between the blade and arm to maintain the sharpening member in sharpening engagement with the knife edge at all times.

In a slicing machine having a drive shaft and an involute knife blade carried on and rotatable with the drive shaft, a sharpener for said knife blade selectively mountable on the drive shaft for sharpening the blade, said sharpener comprising a support shaft coaxially attachable to said drive shaft, a base rotatably carried on said support shaft, an arm slidably received by said base and having a sharpening tool at one end for engaging the knife blade, and means locked to said drive shaft and engaging said arm to drive the arm during rotation of said arm on said support shaft to always maintain the sharpening tool in sharpening engagement with the knife blade.

In an apparatus for sharpening an involute slicing machine knife blade which includes a first member securable coaxially to the knife blade drive shaft in a predetermined angular orientation, said first member having a peripheral drive surface, an elongate member in driving connection with the drive surface of the first member, a knife blade sharpening mechanism mounted at one end of said elongate member, means for effecting relative pivotal and longitudinal movement of the elongate member with respect to the drive surface of the first member, wherein the first member and the elongate member are dimensioned and arranged so that, in use, said relative pivotal and longitudinal movement causes said sharpening mechanism to follow a predetermined non-circular path, the improvement comprising a support means confining the first member and the elongate member to maintain said driving connection, a rigid arm extending laterally from said support means in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the elongate member and a guide member secured to the elongate member adjacent the sharpening mechanism and slidably mounted on said rigid arm, and a guide roller mounted on the rigid arm at a fixed location beyond the sharpening mechanism, whereby the guide roller may run along a fixed circular guide path radially beyond the cutting edge of the knife blade.