Universal rotary blade holder for sharpener

A universal blade-sharpening machine operable to securely hold and sharpen any one of multiple variously sized circular blades, said universal blade-sharpening machine comprising:

• a blade-sharpening drive having an adjustable blade sharpener;
• and
• a universal blade-holding chuck rotatably powered by the drive and configured to securely hold the blade that is held during sharpening by the adjustable blade sharpener,
• said universal blade-holding chuck including a chassis, a plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws, a jaw-positioning element, and a spring mechanism,
• said chassis being drivingly connected with the drive and rotatable about a rotation axis,
• said plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws circumferentially positioned about the rotation axis and slidably coupled relative to the chassis for sliding movement in a radial direction relative to the rotation axis,
• said jaw-positioning element shiftably mounted relative to the chassis,
• said jaw-positioning element being operably coupled with each of the plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws to shift the jaws simultaneously along the radial direction when the jaw-positioning element is shifted relative to the chassis,
• said jaws cooperatively presenting a plurality of concentrically arranged blade-retaining sections, with each of the sections being configured to engage a respective one of the circular blades,
• said spring mechanism interconnecting the chassis and the plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws to urge the jaws in the radial direction and into engagement with the blade held during sharpening.

A universal blade-holding chuck operable to be rotatably driven by a blade-sharpening drive having an adjustable blade sharpener, said universal blade-holding chuck configured to securely hold any one of multiple variously sized circular blades while the blade is sharpened by the adjustable blade sharpener, said universal blade-holding chuck comprising:

• a chassis operable to be rotated by the drive and rotatable about a rotation axis;
• a plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws circumferentially positioned about the rotation axis and slidably coupled relative to the chassis for sliding movement in a radial direction relative to the rotation axis,
• said jaws cooperatively presenting a plurality of concentrically arranged blade-retaining sections, with each of the sections being configured to engage a respective one of the circular blades;
• and
• a cam shiftably mounted relative to the chassis and presenting a radially outwardly facing cam surface,
• said jaws each presenting radially inwardly facing follower surfaces that engage the cam surface, with cam movement relative to the chassis causing progressive radial movement of the jaws.

A universal blade-sharpening machine operable to securely hold and sharpen any one of multiple variously sized circular blades, said universal blade-sharpening machine comprising:

• a blade-sharpening drive having an adjustable blade sharpener;
• and
• a universal blade-holding chuck rotatably powered by the drive and configured to securely hold the blade that is held during sharpening by the adjustable blade sharpener,
• said universal blade-holding chuck including a chassis, a plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws, and a cam,
• said chassis being drivingly connected with the drive and rotatable about a rotation axis,
• said plurality of discrete blade-holding jaws circumferentially positioned about the rotation axis and slidably coupled relative to the chassis for sliding movement in a radial direction relative to the rotation axis,
• said jaws cooperatively presenting a plurality of concentrically arranged blade-retaining sections, with each of the sections being configured to engage a respective one of the circular blades,
• said cam shiftably mounted relative to the chassis and presenting a radially outwardly facing cam surface,
• said jaws each presenting radially inwardly facing follower surfaces that engage the cam surface, with cam movement relative to the chassis causing progressive radial movement of the jaws.