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US 5,611,726 AGranted
High speed precision sharpening apparatus
AssigneeEdgecraft Corporation
InventorsDaniel D. Friel, Robert P. Bigliano
Life of this patent
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AssigneeEdgecraft Corporation
InventorsDaniel D. Friel, Robert P. Bigliano
Estimating the term…
A high speed knife sharpening apparatus where the surface of a first rotating abrasive element is that of a truncated cone and forms a first facet with microgrooves and a microburr. A second stage is a novel composite cone shaped honing wheel made up of a micro abrasive imbedded in an epoxy matrix. The honing wheel refines the edge developed in the first stage, into an erect triangular shape with a radius of curvature, at the apex (edge), of typically several microns or less depending on the hardness of the knife steel. A unique blade holding system constrains the blade to a precisely defined angle relative to each of the grinding (first) and honing (second) stages. Proportionately larger grinding forces are developed for thicker knife blades, thus sharpening times are approximately the same over the common range of knives from small paring knives (6"), large chef's knives (10") up to kitchen cleavers.
A sharpener for blades with an elongated cutting edge and with facets adjacent to each side of the cutting edge, comprising at least one disk having an exposed abrasive coated surface, said disk being mounted on a shaft for rotation about a horizontal axis to move said abrasive coated surface across and away from the cutting edge when the blade is moved into contact with said surface, a blade guide surface juxtaposed said disk, said blade guide surface being at a predetermined vertical angle relative to a vertical line normal to said axis of rotation of said disk, said blade guide surface being in a plane which intersects said abrasive coated surface to function as an angular guide for the blade when the blade is placed against said blade guide surface to dispose the blade in contact with said abrasive coated surface, an edge guide disposed at said disk, said edge guide providing a location of contact with the blade as the blade is moved into contact with said abrasive coated surface, said location of contact being forward of said abrasive coated surface, and said edge guide having an exposed surface for said location of contact which is made of a non-abrasive material capable of having a groove formed therein to receive the cutting edge and both of the facets of the blade with the groove in and across said edge guide to provide a guide track for the blade edge to cooperate with said angular guide as the blade is moved across said rotating abrasive coated surface to properly dispose the blade against said abrasive coated surface.
A sharpener for blades with an elongated cutting edge and with facets adjacent to each side of the cutting edge, comprising at least one truncated cone shaped disk having an abrasive coated surface, said disk being mounted on a shaft for rotation about a horizontal axis to move said abrasive coated surface across and away from the cutting edge when the blade is moved into contact with said surface, a blade guide surface juxtaposed said disk, said blade guide surface being at a predetermined vertical angle relative to a vertical line normal to said axis of rotation of said disk, said disk having an active area for being contacted by the blade, said disk being flexible in said active area to allow said disk to flex and bend under repeated loading and to flex at the point of contact when contacted by a burr on the cutting edge, and said abrasive coated surface composed of an abrasive loaded epoxy system.
In a sharpener for a blade with an elongated cutting edge, said sharpener including an upstanding sharpening assembly having an abrasive surface on each side of said sharpening assembly, an elongated blade guide surface juxtaposed each of said abrasive surfaces to guide the blade along and into contact with said abrasive surface, the improvement being in a spring assembly, said spring assembly including an inverted elongated U-shaped spring member, said spring member having downwardly extending cantilevered resilient arms connected to an upper intermediate connecting portion, said connecting portion being directly over said sharpening assembly, said arms extending downwardly generally along a portion of said sharpener assembly on each side of said sharpener assembly, each of said arms extending downwardly between one of said blade guide surfaces and said sharpening assembly to create a resilient angled slot between said arm and said blade guide surface directed toward its juxtaposed abrasive surface, and each of said arms being of sufficient length and shape to be sufficiently close to said blade guide surface when no blade is in said slot to assure a blade is contacted by an arm and a blade guide surface when a blade is in said slot and is moved into contact with said abrasive surface.
A sharpener for blades comprising support structure, a motor drive assembly and a sharpening module mounted to said support structure, said sharpening module containing a plurality of abrasive coated disks, said disks being axially mounted on a shaft assembly in said module for rotation on said shaft assembly, said motor drive assembly being external of said module, said motor drive assembly having a motor driven axially rotatable shaft, a coupling unit detachably coupling said motor driven shaft to said shaft assembly for selectively rotating said disks when said motor drive assembly is activated, said coupling unit selectively coupling and uncoupling said motor driven shaft to said shaft assembly in response to a manually operable actuating member, said manually operable actuating member having a first position which physically restrains relative motion of said motor drive assembly and said module with respect to each other to prevent separation of said module from said motor drive assembly, and said manually operable actuating member having a second position which allows unobstructed separation of said module from said motor drive assembly to disengage said module from said motor drive assembly and from said support structure for permitting removal of said module from said support structure for allowing cleaning of said module independently of and separate from said motor drive assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.