Precision means for sharpening and creation of microblades along cutting edges
AssigneeEdgecraft Corporation
InventorsDaniel D. Friel, Sr., Robert P. Bigliano
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A knife-edge conditioning apparatus comprises at least one precision angled knife guide with one face of the knife blade maintained in sustained sliding or rolling contact and which guides the elongated edge of the blade into sustained contact with the hardened surface of an object and positions the plane of the adjacent edge facet at a precise predetermined angle relative to the contact plane of the hardened surface made of a material of equal or greater hardness than the metal of the knife blade without any tendency to abrade as the blade face is moved along the guide with its elongated edge in sustained contact with the hardened surface.
Claims20
A knife edge conditioning apparatus for manually modifying the physical structure along an elongated edge of a stroked knife blade, the blade having two faces that at their terminus have been sharpened forming two edge facets that intersect to create the elongated edge at the junction of the two facets, said apparatus comprising at least one precision knife guide having a planar knife face contacting surface along which the face of the blade can be stroked in sustained moving contact with a hardened surface of an object located adjacent to and at an angle to said guide surface, said object being non-motor-driven, said hardened surface being of non-planar shape to maintain sustained contact with and locally stress and fracture the edge of the blade at the location of contact with said hardened surface on repeated stroking to create a microscopic serration along the edge, said hardened surface being substantially free of abrasive particles and free of sharp edges characteristic of abrading, skiving and metal removing tools, and where said object in a rest position can be displaced by an exerting force exerted by the blade edge against said hardened surface of said object against a predetermined restraining force of a resilient structure that upon release of said exerting force repositions said hardened surface to said rest position.
A knife edge conditioning apparatus for manually modifying the physical structure along an elongated edge of a stroked knife blade, the blade having two faces that at their terminus have been sharpened forming two edge facets that intersect to create the elongated edge at the junction of the two facets, said apparatus comprising at least one precision knife guide having a planar knife face contacting surface along which the face of the blade can be stroked in sustained moving contact with a hardened surface of an object located adjacent to and at an angle to said guide surface, said object being non-motor-driven, said hardened surface being of non-planar shape to maintain sustained contact with and locally stress and fracture the edge of the blade at the location of contact with said hardened surface on repeated stroking to create a microscopic serration along the edge, said hardened surface being substantially free of abrasive particles and free of sharp edges characteristic of abrading, skiving and metal removing tools, where said object is mounted on a support member, said knife guide being pivotally mounted to said support member, and adjusting structure controlling the angle of orientation of said knife guide.
In a knife-edge enhancing apparatus for modifying the physical structure along an elongated edge of a knife blade, the blade having two faces that at their terminus have been sharpened forming two edge facets that intersect to create the elongated edge at the junction of the two edge facets, said apparatus comprising at least one precision angle knife guide with which one face of the blade maintains sustained contact in order to guide the elongated edge of the blade into sustained contact with a blade edge contacting member, the improvement being in that in place of a sharpening member having an abrasive surface as the contacting member, the contacting member is a knife-edge conditioning member which is a hardened surface of an object located to position a plane of one adjacent edge facet at a precise predetermined non-zero degree angle B relative to the plane of contact with said hardened surface, there being at least one of said object with said hardened surface disposed at said at least one precision angle knife guide whereby each of the blade faces may selectively be placed against said guide surface of said at least one precision angle knife guide to selectively dispose each of the facets against said hardened surface at said angle B, said hardened surface being sufficiently non-abrasive which in combination with said knife guide comprises means to repeatedly create and fracture a microstructure along the edge of the blade at the extreme terminus of the edge facets during repeated contact of the facets and said hardened surface to create a microserrated edge, said hardened surface of said object being restrained in a predetermined rest position relative to and adjacent said precision knife guide by a restraining mechanism that applies a restraining force to position said object in said rest position, and said object being displaceable against the force of said mechanism by the force applied by the blade facet contacting said hardened surface of said object.
In a knife-edge enhancing apparatus for modifying the physical structure along an elongated edge of a knife blade, the blade having two faces that at their terminus have been sharpened forming two edge facets that intersect to create the elongated edge at the junction of the two edge facets, said apparatus comprising at least one precision angle knife guide with which one face of the blade maintains sustained contact in order to guide the elongated edge of the blade into sustained contact with a blade edge contacting member, the improvement being in that in place of a sharpening member having an abrasive surface as the contacting member, the contacting member is a knife-edge conditioning member which is a hardened surface of an object located to position a plane of one adjacent edge facet at a precise predetermined non-zero degree angle B relative to the plane of contact with said hardened surface, there being at least one of said object with said hardened surface disposed at said at least one precision angle knife guide whereby each of the blade faces may selectively be placed against said guide surface of said at least one precision angle knife guide to selectively dispose each of the facets against said hardened surface at said angle B, said hardened surface being sufficiently non-abrasive which in combination with said knife guide comprises means to repeatedly create and fracture a microstructure along the edge of the blade at the extreme terminus of the edge facets during repeated contact of the facets and said hardened surface to create a microserrated edge, a predetermined fixed angle C being formed between said guide surface of said knife guide and said plane of contact of said hardened surface, said hardened surface having a hardness above Rockwell C-60, said object being mounted to a support member, said knife guide being pivotally mounted to said support member, and adjusting structure controlling the angle of orientation of said knife guide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.