U.S. patent application number 11/437369 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-22 for sharpening and deburring tool for single and double edge type cutting blades.
This patent application is currently assigned to Locan Properties, LLC. Invention is credited to Gary L. Byers.
Application Number | 20070266828 11/437369 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38710782 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070266828 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Byers; Gary L. |
November 22, 2007 |
Sharpening and deburring tool for single and double edge type
cutting blades
Abstract
A hand-held sharpening/whetting tool has a body including a
handle blade guide and finger/hand guard. The tool body has first
and second end sections and an open-ring mid section. The end
sections are provided with diverse sharpening/whetting elements for
use in a first use mode and a third sharpening/whetting element is
positioned on the finger/hand guard within the open-ring mid
section for use in a second use mode.
Inventors: |
Byers; Gary L.; (Columbia
Falls, MT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DOWREY RICKARDS
19119 NORTHCREEK PARKWAY, SUITE 106
BOTHELL
WA
98011
US
|
Assignee: |
Locan Properties, LLC
|
Family ID: |
38710782 |
Appl. No.: |
11/437369 |
Filed: |
May 19, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
76/82 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B24D 15/065
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
76/82 |
International
Class: |
B21K 11/00 20060101
B21K011/00 |
Claims
1. A hand-held blade sharpener tool comprising, in combination; an
open centered ring shaped body defined by spaced longitudinal
handle and hand guard members, first blade sharpener means mounted
on said body exterior of said ring and positioned to sharpen a
blade shielded by said hand guard in a first use mode, and second
blade sharpener means mounted on said body interior of said ring
and positioned to sharpen a blade passed through said ring
transverse to said hand guard in a second use mode.
2. A hand-held blade sharpener tool comprising; a tool body
including spaced longitudinal extending body members joined at
opposite ends to form body end sections and an open central ring,
external blade sharpener means mounted on the outer surface of at
least one said body end sections for processing a blade to be
sharpened passing along one said body members in a first use mode,
and an interior blade sharpener means mounted on one said body
members within said central ring for passing a blade to be
sharpened as it is passed through said central ring in a direction
transverse to said body members.
3. A hand-held sharpener tool comprising; an open centered ring
shaped body defined by an upper handle and a lower hand guard
joined at their opposite ends to form first and second body end
sections, exterior blade sharpener means mounted on the outer
surface of at least one said end sections positioned for contacting
a blade to be sharpened passing beneath said hand guard during a
first use mode, a groove formed in the top surface of said hand
guard extending transversely the full width thereof and providing a
bottom and opposing side surfaces, a blade sharpener insert, an
insert retainer formed in said hand guard and including a retainer
well opening into the bottom surface of said groove and dimensioned
to receive said blade sharpener insert, said insert extending into
said transverse groove and including a sharpening edge for
contacting a blade to be sharpened, said insert contacting one side
surface of said groove and forming a V-shaped notch with the
opposite side surface thereof, said opposite side surface forming a
guide surface to receive the blade to be sharpened as it passes
through said V-shaped notch during a second use mode.
4. In a hand-held blade sharpener tool having a flattened open
centered ring shaped body defined by a handle on an upper side and
an elongated hand guard on the lower side extending in the
direction of the longitudinal axis of the tool body, said hand
guard including a top surface interior of said ring shaped body,
said handle and said hand guard being joined at their opposite ends
to form first and second body end sections, exterior blade
sharpening means mounted on the outer surface of at least one said
end sections exterior of said ring shaped body, said hand guard
shielding a user's fingers from a knife blade passing therebeneath
during a first use mode for applying said exterior sharpening means
to a blade to be sharpened, an interior sharpening means located
within said ring shaped body comprising; a groove formed in the top
surface of said hand guard extending transversely the full width
thereof and providing a bottom and opposing side surfaces, an
interior blade sharpening insert, an insert retainer formed in said
hand guard and including a retainer well opening into the bottom
surface of said groove and dimensioned to receive and retain said
interior blade sharpening insert, said interior blade sharpening
insert extending into said transverse groove and including a
sharpening edge for contacting a blade to be sharpened, said
interior blade sharpening insert contacting one side surface of
said groove and forming a V-shaped notch with the opposite side
surface thereof, said opposite side surface forming a guide surface
to receive the blade to be sharpened as it is passed through said
V-shaped notch during a second use mode.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein; said exterior blade
sharpening means includes exterior sharpener inserts located on the
outer surface of each said first and second body end sections.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, including; blade guide means extending
between said body end sections providing a blade receiving channel
along the outer surface of said hand guard to guide a blade to be
sharpened as the tool is drawn therealong during said first use
mode.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said ring is elongated to
provide a ring interior having a length and height sufficient to
accommodate several fingers of a user's hand when the user grips
said handle.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 including a shallow cavity in the outer
surface of said handle adjacent each said body end section,
providing a thumb rest for the user's thumb during said first use
mode.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein; said tool body is composed of
mating halves, said exterior sharpener inserts and said interior
blade sharpening insert being clamped between the body halves, and
clamping means to clamp said body halves together.
10. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein; said interior blade
sharpening insert includes top and bottom portions, said bottom
portion being received in the retainer well and the top portion
extending into said groove, the top surface of said interior insert
having a first surface in contact with said one side surface of the
groove and a sharpening surface inclined downwardly therefrom in
the direction of the opposite side surface of the groove to form
said V-shaped notch, said sharpening edge comprising one inclined
edge of said sharpening surface, whereby said opposite side surface
of the groove provides a guide surface for the blade to be
sharpened during the second use mode.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein; said tool body is composed
of mating body portions, each said body portion having an outside
surface and a mating surface, said inset retainer and retainer well
positioned between the mating and outside surface of one of said
body portions, the other body portion including an alignment pin
extending from the mating face thereof into the groove in said one
body portion and contacting the bottom portion of said insert, stop
surfaces on said one body portion extending into said groove, and
clamping means to clamp said body portions together, said alignment
pin serving to pressure said insert against said stop surfaces to
retain said insert in the retainer well.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to hand tools and, more particularly,
to hand held sharpening and deburring tools adapted for sharpening
and deburring a variety of configurations of blade edges.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Many types and varieties of sharpening and deburring tools
are known in the art for convergent-edged bladed implements used in
home, business, sports, commercial and industrial environments.
Such implements may be provided with processing elements which are
adapted to sharpen/deburr/whet either a two-sided blade such as a
knife, cleaver, hatchet or the like blade or a one-sided blade such
as a scissors or shear blade. These functions are usually obtained
by locating processing elements at one or more locations on the
tool. An example of this type of sharpening and deburring tool is
disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,599. This patent, along
with my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,488,885 and 5,679,068, are also
exemplary of a configuration providing a unitary blade guide,
handle and finger/hand guard. With these tools, the handle may be
gripped so that the user's gripping hand is shielded from the
cutting blade being sharpened as the tool is drawn along the
cutting blade during the sharpening/deburring/whetting process. The
versatility of this type of tool has been somewhat limited in the
past, especially with regard to one-sided blade implements, due to
the rather wide variance in not only the size of the implement
blade, but also the angle between the flat face on one side of the
blade and the converging cutting surface on the opposite side of
the blade. This variance in size and configuration occurs between
such implements as garden shears and much smaller implements such
as common household scissors.
SUMMARY
[0003] A hand-held sharpening/deburring/whetting tool is provided
which has a body including a handle, blade guide and finger/hand
guard with the body incorporating a plurality of processing
elements. The tool body has first and second end sections and a
third mid section. Diverse processing elements, such as
sharpening/deburring/whetting elements which may be mounted on the
end sections, are positioned to be drawn along a blade with the
hand guard means shielding the user's tool gripping hand as the
tool is moved in a first use mode. For use in this mode, the tool
body may be provided with a blade guide means for confining and
guiding a blade during the sharpening/deburring/whetting process.
The third section is located between the processing elements of the
first and second end sections and comprises an elongated handle on
an upper side of the body and an elongated blade guide and hand
guard extending inwardly of the end sections. The handle and hand
guard form an elongated ring inward of the end sections with
sufficient space for a user's fingers to extend between the handle
and the hand guard. The blade guide depends from the hand guard. A
third processing element is positioned along the extent of the hand
guard and may be oriented for processing a blade drawn through the
processing element in a direction transverse to the longitudinal
axis of the tool in a second use mode, providing even further
diversity in the processing units. In the second use mode, the tool
may be hand gripped along the handle section exterior of the
elongated open ring of the body. With this structure, the tool may
be adapted for use on V-shaped double sided blades such as knives
and the like as well as various sizes of single edge blades
requiring sharpening on one side only, ranging from garden tools,
shears and pruners to household scissors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hand-held
sharpener/deburrer tool;
[0005] FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view of the tool;
[0006] FIG. 3 is a left side elevational view of the tool;
[0007] FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the tool;
[0008] FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the tool;
[0009] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the tool;
[0010] FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the tool;
[0011] FIG. 8 is an expanded perspective view of the tool;
[0012] FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating use of the tool
for sharpening a knife blade in the first use mode with the tool
applied to the knife blade and with the blade tracking in the blade
guide;
[0013] FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating use of the tool
for sharpening a single edge blade such as a scissors with the
scissors blade being drawn through the elongated ring of the handle
and across the third processing element in the second use mode;
[0014] FIG. 11 is a perspective detail view of the processing
element mounted on the hand guard;
[0015] FIG. 11A is a partial elevational view of the processing
element of FIG. 11 with the blade being sharpened shown in cross
section; and
[0016] FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective detail view of a modified
mounting structure for mounting the processing element on the hand
guard.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT
[0017] The hand-held sharpening-deburring tool 10 includes a tool
body 11 having a hand/finger guard section 12, a blade guide
section 13, and a handle grip section 14. The
sharpening/deburring/whetting insert members 16 and 17 are fastened
to the front and rear sections 18 and 19 of the body 11
respectively. It will be understood, of course, that the
designations front and rear end sections of the tool are used as a
matter of ease of description only with respect to the present
embodiment. The designation of front and rear end sections of the
tool body could be reversed without changing the scope or intent of
the present invention.
[0018] The end sections 18 and 19 of the tool body in the present
embodiment are provided with thumb rests 21 and 22 respectively
above each insert mounting. It will be noted that the insert
mountings and thumb rests are located both forwardly and rearwardly
of the handle grip section 14, the blade guide section 13, and the
hand/finger guard section 12. Consequently, the tool is
double-ended in that a user's thumb may be rested on thumb rest 21
to apply the sharpening/deburring/whetting members 16 as shown in
FIG. 9, or the user's thumb may be rested on thumb rest 22 to apply
the sharpening/deburring/whetting insert members 17. The main part
of the tool body 11 is formed as a longitudinally elongated
flattened ring. The upper part of this flattened ring is provided
by the handle grip section 14 and the bottom part is provided by
the hand/finger guard section 12. The interior 23 of this flattened
ring is long enough and high enough to accommodate a user's fingers
when the user wraps his/her fingers around the upper part in a
gripping fashion when the tool is used in the first use mode as
shown in FIG. 9. Gripping the ring thusly naturally places the
user's thumb on either the thumb rest 21 or 22 and the bottom of
the ring naturally forms the finger/hand guard.
[0019] The blade guide section 13 depends from the finger/hand
guard 12. Section 13 comprises a pair of depending walls 13a, 13b
which have interior facing surfaces 13c, 13d that are upwardly
convergent when inverted as viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5. The walls 13a,
13b may be V-shaped in cross section as can be seen FIGS. 4, 5 and
7.
[0020] The sharpening/deburring/whetting inserts 16 may be
rectangularly shaped flat members made of various known materials
such as tungsten carbide, stone, ceramics or the like suitable for
blade sharpening. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art, each blade has a ground face to be employed in the
sharpening/deburring process with the ground faces intersected and
overlaid as shown to provide convergent sharpening/deburring
working edges that define a V-shape notch. The ground faces of the
inserts 16 may be beveled at about 5.degree. so that the faces
themselves lie in convergent planes. Therefore, the cutting edges
of a knife blade or like device may be rested upon the working
edges of the insert 16 to deburr the cutting edges as shown in FIG.
9. The outside front corners of the insert 16 may also be rounded
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Inserts 16 are received in overlying
abutting relationship and held in such relationship as a result of
being secured within the tool body 11.
[0021] As illustrated most clearly in FIG. 8, the tool body 11 may
be formed by two mating halves 11a and 11b with each mating body
portion including an insert retainer such as shown at 24 in FIG. 8
to securely mount one of the associated inserts in the overlapping
relationship when the mating body portions are joined as shown in
FIGS. 1-5 and 7. The body portions may be clamped together by means
of screw threaded fasteners 26 which engage complementary mating
internally threaded fastener bases 27. In this manner, the two
halves of the inserts are clamped into position but may be replaced
after wear by simply removing the screw threaded members 26 to
allow the inserts to be removed. In the alternative, the inserts
may be held in place by molding the body 11 around the inserts or
by fastening the inserts into a slot or the like provided in the
body 11 in the event that a unitary molding is utilized.
[0022] The sharpening/deburring/whetting inserts 17 may be
similarly fixed in the body portions by means of the insert
retainers 28 on the opposite end of the tool body in the manner
previously described for the inserts 16. Referring to FIGS. 5 and
7, the sharpening/deburring/whetting inserts 17 may also be
generally rectangularly shaped flat members made of appropriate
material. One insert 17a may be fabricated from a material such as
tungsten carbide or other materials such as described relative to
the inserts 16. The other insert 17b may be fabricated from a
material such as steel or the like. Insert 17a has a ground face to
be employed in a sharpening/deburring process as previously
described while the insert 17b has an unsharpened face
complementary to the ground face of the insert 17a to provide a
guide for single edge blades, such as shears and the like, to be
sharpened on one side only. With respect to inserts 17, the faces
are intersected and overlapped as shown in FIG. 5 to provide
convergent edges that define a V-shaped notch, the surface on
insert 17a being a working edge for sharpening/deburring the
beveled aspect of the single edged blade and the complementary
surface on insert 17b being a guide edge to position the flat side
of the blade being sharpened. The faces of inserts 17a and 17b may
be appropriately beveled as previously described relative to the
inserts 16, so that the faces themselves lie in convergent planes.
It will be understood also that the inserts 17 are securely held in
the tool body as previously described with relation to the inserts
16. When the tool is employed in the first use mode, the tool is
placed over a blade, such as the knife blade 29 as shown in FIG. 9,
with the webs 13a, 13b of the blade guide 13 disposed on either
side of a blade 29. As is apparent from FIG. 9, the inverted
V-shaped notch of the blade guide will guide the blade edge into
the proper relationship with the inserts 16 for
sharpening/deburring. The V-shaped notch, defined by the inner
surfaces 13c, 13d of the webs 13a, 13b, is longitudinally
elongated, underlying and extending substantially the whole length
of the flattened ring of the body 11. The bottom of the notch is
located at the base of the finger/hand guard 12 so that the knife
blade edge will be guided longitudinally through the
sharpening/deburring insert 16 just below the finger/hand guard 12.
The inserts 16 extend forwardly and outwardly at an obtuse angle
from the front end section 18 so that they will form an acute angle
with respect to the blade edge to be sharpened/deburred. In
operation, the blade being sharpened/deburred is thus shielded from
the user's hand and, when the tool is pulled beyond of tip of the
blade 29, the front end section 18 continues to shield the user's
knuckles and thumb. In order to process a single edge blade, the
tool would be simply reversed from the condition just described so
that the user's thumb would be placed on the thumb rest 22.
[0023] According to the present invention a third processing
element, providing a second use mode for sharpening/deburring still
other blade configurations, is provided by a third processing
assembly 31 located on the hand/finger guard 12 as shown in detail
in FIGS. 11 and 11A. As previously described relative to FIG. 8,
the tool body 11 in the present embodiment may be constructed from
two mating body portions 11a and 11b. These mating body portions
may be essentially mirror images except for the details of the
clamping screw threaded members 26. Thus, when assembled as shown
in FIG. 1, the mating body portions together form the flat surface
of the hand/finger guard 12. As most clearly illustrated in FIGS. 1
and 8, each of the two mating body portions is provided with a
transversely directed aligned channel structure comprising
complementary side surfaces 32 and 33 which define a transverse
groove or channel extending completely across the surface of the
hand/finger guard 12. Although, in the illustrated embodiment, the
transverse groove is preferably located at the mid point of the
surface 12, it will be understood that the groove can be located at
other convenient positions along the surface and need not be
exactly normal to the longitudinal axis of the tool. In order to
index or locate and align the faces 32 and 33, an alignment slot,
such as shown 34 in FIGS. 11 and 11A, may be provided in one of the
body halves 11a-11b and it will be understood that the opposite
mating face on the other body portion will be formed with a key or
rib to engage the slot 34 for alignment. It will also be understood
that the order of the key end slot arrangement may be reversed from
that shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A without departing from the spirit
and scope of the present invention.
[0024] In order to provide seating for a third sharpening/deburring
insert 36, an insert retainer structure 37 is molded into the wall
of the body portion 11a as shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A. It will be
understood, of course, that a mating structure is formed in the
body portion 11b (not shown) such that, when the body portions are
mated and aligned, a retainer well 38 is formed for the reception
of the bottom end of the insert member 36. The dimensions of the
well 38 are such that approximately one-half of the thickness of
the insert member 36 is contained in each body portion when they
are assembled. FIG. 11A illustrates the inserted position of the
insert member 36 in the well 38. With regard to the insert member
36, it will be constructed from such material as tungsten carbide
or the like as described previously relative to the inserts 16. The
top end of the insert 36 as viewed in FIGS. 11 and 11A is provided
with an inclined ground surface or face 39, the degree of slope of
the surface 39 being variable depending on the angle of the cutting
surface of a one sided blade of an implement such as the common
household scissors. The ground face 39 provides the working edge
for the sharpening/deburring process.
[0025] As seen most clearly in FIG. 11A, the vertical exposed flat
face 33 of the transverse slot in the hand/finger guard 12 provides
a guide surface for the flat face 42 of the one sided blade to be
sharpened/deburred. The insert member 36 may be held in the well 38
by means of the clamping action when the halves 11a and 11b of the
tool body are clamped together by the screw threaded fasteners 26.
In the alternative, if the tool body is a single molded piece, the
insert member 36 may be molded into the body of the tool as
described relative to the inserts 16 and 17. It is conceivable that
still other means may be used for securely retaining the insert
member 36 within the well 38 without departing from the spirit and
scope of the present invention. FIG. 10 illustrates the manner in
which the tool is utilized in the second use mode involving the
processing element 31. The tool body 11 may be gripped and
supported by the user's hand or may be hand-held and placed on a
flat surface such as a table top or the like 43 as illustrated in
FIG. 10. The one sided blade 41 may then be drawn through the
transverse groove in the second use mode with the insert 36
providing the sharpening/deburring function on the beveled blade
edge and the surface 33 providing the back-up guide surface for the
flat side of the blade.
[0026] FIG. 12 illustrates an alternative embodiment for locating a
third processing assembly on the hand/finger guard 12 of the
sharpening/deburring tool 10. The FIG. 12 embodiment effects only
the structural mounting of the third processing assembly and the
positioning of the sharpening/deburring insert 36a. It will be
understood that the balance of the structure of the deburring tool
may be identical to that illustrated in FIGS. 1-10. As previously
described, the mating body portions 11c and 11d, when assembled as
shown in FIG. 1, form the flat surface of the hand/finger guard 12.
Any form of alignment or indexing structures, such as the alignment
slot 34a or its equivalent with a mating key or rib (not shown)
formed on the mating face of the opposite body portion may be
utilized as described with respect FIGS. 11 and 11A. In the FIG. 12
embodiment, each of the two body portions is provided with a
transversely directed aligned channel or groove, defined by the
complementary side surfaces 32a and 33a. Although, in the FIG. 12
embodiment, the transverse groove extending across the surface of
the hand/finger guard 12 is preferably located at the mid point of
the surface, it will be understood that the groove can be located
at other convenient positions along the surface and does not need
to be exactly normal to the longitudinal axis of the tool. In this
embodiment, the transverse groove in the body portion 11c includes
a projecting alignment pin 43 which is dimensioned to extend into
the transverse groove of the mating body portion 11d. The aligning
pin 43 will serve to align the transverse channel or groove in the
tool body. It will be understood that the indexing or aligning pin
43 may be molded into the mass of the body portion 11c or may be
otherwise secured in the transverse groove. An insert retainer
structure 37a is molded into the wall of the body portion 11d such
that, when the body portions are aligned and mated, a retainer well
is formed for the reception of the bottom end of the insert member
36a. As shown in the exploded view of FIG. 12, the insert 36a will
be inserted downwardly into the end of the transverse groove and is
restrained in one direction within the groove by means of the
shoulder extensions 46 and 47 on the outside surface of the body
portion 11d. With the insert 36a dropped in position, the
protrusion 43 will contact the inside surface of the insert and is
dimensioned so as to clamp the insert 36a against the shoulders 46
and 47 when the body portions are clamped together as previously
described. The insert 36a may be identical in structure and
composition to that previously described for the insert 36 of FIG.
11.
[0027] As seen in FIG. 12, the vertical exposed flat face 33a of
the transverse slot in the surface of the hand/finger guard 12
provides a guide surface for the flat face of a one sided blade to
be sharpened/deburred as previously described. The insert member
36a is held in the well provided by the insert retainer structure
37a by means of the clamping action of the body portions 11c and
11d when the screw threaded fasteners 26 are tightened. With the
protrusion 43 clamping the insert 36a against the shoulder elements
46 and 47, the insert is located on one side of one of the body
portions 11c and 11d with the result of providing a significantly
longer guide surface for a blade being drawn through the transverse
groove in the second use mode described. It will be understood that
the insert 36a when seated in the retainer structure 37a presents
an inclined ground surface as the working edge for the
sharpening/deburring process as described relative to the
embodiment shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A.
[0028] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that
alternative structural or mechanical details, as well as variations
in design, may be made in order to accomplish the objects of the
invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is only to be
limited by the claims appended hereto.
[0029] The embodiments of the invention in which and exclusive
property is claimed are defined as follows:
* * * * *