Claims
- 1. A sharpener for industrial knife blades and the like, comprising:
- a main frame having means for releasably retaining a knife blade in a fixed relationship therewith;
- an elongate beam supported on said main frame; said beam having a substantially rectangular transverse cross-sectional shape that is generally uniform along the length of said beam, and defines first and second adjacent faces with a first corner edge therebetween, and third and fourth adjacent faces with a second corner edge therebetween;
- grinding means for sharpening a cutting edge of the knife blade;
- carriage means for movably mounting said grinding means on said beam for translation thereon along a plane disposed substantially parallel with the cutting edge of the knife blade; said carriage mounting means comprising:
- a generally L-shaped support operably connected with said grinding means, and including first and second legs;
- a first roller mounted on said first support leg, and oriented to ride on a first way surface on said first beam face adjacent to the first corner edge of said beam;
- a second roller mounted on said first support leg, and oriented to ride on a second way surface on said second beam face adjacent to the first corner edge of said beam;
- a third roller mounted on said second support leg, and oriented to ride on a third way surface on said third beam face adjacent to the second corner edge of said beam;
- a fourth roller mounted on said second support leg, and oriented to ride on a fourth way surface on said fourth beam face adjacent to the second corner edge of said beam, whereby said rollers capture said carriage on said beam; and
- means for resiliently urging said rollers against the way surfaces on said beam for accurate grinding of the knife blade.
- 2. A sharpener as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- said support is semi-rigid and resilient in the plane of said support legs; and
- said first and fourth rollers are spaced apart in an unstressed support condition a distance that is slightly less than the distance between the first and fourth faces of said beam; and said second and third rollers are spaced apart in an unstressed support condition a distance that is slightly less than the distance between the second and third faces of said beam, whereby when said carriage means is assembled onto said beam, said support functions as a leaf spring to resiliently urge said rollers against said beam faces and define at least a portion of said roller urging means.
- 3. A sharpener as set forth in claim 1, wherein said beam is a hollow member having a generally square cross-sectional shape.
- 4. A sharpener as set forth in claim 3, wherein:
- said first and second beam corner edges lie in a plane oriented substantially horizontally.
- 5. A sharpener as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- said means for resiliently urging said rollers against the way surfaces on said beam comprises adjustable eccentric mounting shaft means for said rollers for varying the force between said rollers and the way surfaces of said beam.
- 6. A sharpener for industrial knife blades comprising:
- a main frame including means for releasably retaining a knife blade in a fixed relationship therewith, and an elongate hollow beam having a rectangular cross section and having first and second way surfaces disposed on opposite faces of said beam, at least one of said way surfaces being positioned adjacent a corner of the beam;
- grinding means for sharpening a cutting edge of the knife blade;
- a carriage having means for movably mounting said grinding means on said beam for translation thereon along a plane disposed substantially parallel with the cutting edge of said knife blade; said carriage comprising at least one generally L-shaped support with opposite legs; said mounting means comprising first and second bearings mounted on the opposite legs of said support, and being positioned for abutting contact with said first and second way surfaces, respectively; and
- means for resiliently urging said first and second bearings against said first and second way surfaces to securely retain and guide said carriage on said beam for accurate grinding of the knife blade; said means including said bearings being mounted on eccentric shafts for varying the spring force between said bearings and said way surfaces.
- 7. A sharpener for industrial knife blades comprising:
- a main frame including means for releasably retaining a knife blade in a fixed relationship therewith, and an elongate rectangular beam having first and second way surfaces disposed on mutually parallel faces on opposite sides of said beam, the way surfaces being positioned adjacent diametrically opposed corner edges of the beam;
- grinding means for sharpening a cutting edge of the knife blade;
- a carriage having means for movably mounting said grinding means on said beam for translation thereon along a plane disposed substantially parallel with the cutting edge of said knife blade; said carriage comprising at least one generally L-shaped support with opposite legs; said mounting means comprising first and second bearings mounted on the opposite legs of said support, and being positioned for abutting contact with said first and second way surfaces, respectively, thereby capturing said carriage on said beam; and
- means for resiliently urging said first and second bearings against said first and second way surfaces to securely retain and guide said carriage on said beam for accurate grinding of the knife blade.
- 8. A sharpener as set forth in claim 7 wherein the beam has third and fourth way surfaces on the other two faces of the beam and the carriage has third and fourth bearings mounted on the L-shaped support that ride on the third and fourth way surfaces.
- 9. A sharpener as set forth in claim 8 wherein the third and fourth way surfaces are positioned adjacent the same corner edges of the beam as the first and second way surfaces.
- 10. A sharpener as set forth in claims 7, 8 or 9 wherein the beam is a hollow member having a substantially square cross section.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of: application Ser. No. 79,353, filed Sept. 27, 1979 on SHARPENER FOR INDUSTRIAL KNIFE BLADES, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,283; and Ser. No. 297,930, filed Aug. 31, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,635.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
"Hanchett Models MG/LG Traveling Table Knife Grinders" Hanchett Manufacturing Co. |
"Reform Grinding Machines/Type 6S". |
"Gachel--Machine Construction". |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
79353 |
Sep 1979 |
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