Hand-held sharpener with multiple abrasive rods to sharpen a cutting edge of a tool

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9833880-B1
Application number	US-201514715836-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 19, 2015
Priority date	Dec 8, 2010
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

A multi-rod hand-held sharpener. In some embodiments, the sharpener has a handle with opposing first and second ends, an outer grip surface, and a guide surface adjacent the first end extending at a selected angle with respect to a central axis. A first abrasive rod is adapted to extend from the first end of the handle in a selected direction parallel to the central axis and having a first outer abrasive surface with a first abrasiveness level, the first outer abrasive surface extending at a first non-orthogonal angle with respect to the guide surface. A second abrasive rod is adapted to extend from the first end of the handle in the selected direction and having a second outer abrasive surface with a different, second abrasiveness level. The second outer abrasive surface extends at a different, second non-orthogonal angle with respect to the guide surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hand-held sharpener, comprising:
a handle having opposing first and second ends and an outer grip surface disposed between said ends adapted to be gripped by a hand of a user during use of the sharpener to sharpen a cutting tool, the handle comprising a guide surface adjacent the first end having a line contact portion that linearly extends at a single selected angle with respect to a central axis that extends through the first and second ends;
a first abrasive rod adapted to extend from the first end of the handle in a selected direction and having a first outer abrasive surface with a first abrasiveness level, the first outer abrasive surface extending to form a first non-orthogonal angle with respect to the guide surface; and
a second abrasive rod adapted to extend from the first end of the handle in the selected direction and having a second outer abrasive surface with a different, second abrasiveness level, the second outer abrasive surface extending to form a second non-orthogonal angle with respect to the guide surface.

2. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the first abrasive rod is characterized as a cylindrical rod and the second abrasive rod is characterized as a tapered rod.

3. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first or second abrasive rods is characterized as a ceramic rod.

4. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the line contact portion of the guide surface extends to a proximal end of the first abrasive rod responsive to an alignment of the first outer abrasive with the guide surface, and wherein the line contact portion of the guide surface extends to a proximal end of the second abrasive rod responsive to a subsequent alignment of the second outer abrasive surface with the guide surface.

5. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second abrasive rods can be moved to a retracted position within the handle.

6. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the guide surface is a first guide surface at the first non-orthogonal angle with respect to and located on a first side of the central axis, and wherein the handle further comprises a second guide surface at the first non-orthogonal angle with respect to and located on an opposing, second side of the central axis, the second guide surface having a second line contact portion that extends at the selected angle with respect to the central axis so that the guide surface and the second guide surface are mirrored on opposing sides of the central axis and respectively taper toward the first end of the handle.

7. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the first and second abrasive rods are incorporated into a combined rod assembly rotatable with respect to the handle so that the respective first and second abrasive rods can be successively aligned with the guide surface responsive to a rotational position of the combined rod assembly.

8. The sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the combined rod assembly is retractable into an interior cavity of the handle.

9. The sharpener of claim 7 , wherein a selected one of the first or second outer abrasive surfaces is characterized as a flat, planar surface and a remaining one of the first or second outer abrasive surfaces is characterized as a curvilinearly extending surface.

10. The sharpener of claim 7 , wherein the combined rod assembly comprises a substantially rectilinearly shaped main body having opposing first and second side surfaces and opposing third and fourth side surfaces, the first and second side surfaces characterized as tapered planar surfaces and the third and fourth side surfaces characterized as portions of cylindrical surfaces.

11. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein both the first outer abrasive surface and the second outer abrasive surface are nominally parallel to the central axis.

12. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the second abrasive rod is characterized as a hollow tube configured to slidingly engage and cover the first abrasive rod.

13. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second abrasive rods are configured to be alternately removed from and attached to the first end of the handle to extend therefrom.

14. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein at least a selected one of the first abrasive rod or the second abrasive rod has a proximal end configured to be attached to the handle adjacent the line contact portion of the guide surface and an opposing distal end that supports an end cap member having a diameter greater than a diameter of the respective first abrasive rod or the second abrasive rod.

15. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the first non-orthogonal angle is equal to the second non-orthogonal angle.

16. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the first non-orthogonal angle is greater than the second non-orthogonal angle.

17. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the selected angle is nominally 20 degrees with respect to the central axis.

18. The sharpener of claim 1 , wherein the selected angle is nominally 25 degrees with respect to the central axis.

19. A hand-held sharpener comprising:
a handle having opposing first and second ends and an outer grip surface disposed between said ends adapted to be gripped by a hand of a user during use of the sharpener to sharpen a cutting tool, the handle comprising a first guide surface adjacent the first end having a line contact portion that extends linearly at a single selected angle with respect to a central axis which passes through the respective first and second ends;
a combined rod assembly which extends from the first end of the handle adjacent a distal end of the flat contact portion of the first guide surface, the combined rod assembly comprising a first abrasive surface having a first abrasiveness level and which extends at a first angle with respect to the first guide surface and a second abrasive surface having a different, second abrasiveness level and which extends at a different, second angle with respect to the first guide surface, the combined rod assembly aligned along the central axis.

20. The sharpener of claim 19 , wherein the combined rod assembly is rotatable with respect to the handle so that the respective first and second abrasive rods can be successively aligned with the first guide surface responsive to a rotational position of the combined rod assembly.

21. The sharpener of claim 19 , wherein the combined rod assembly is retractable into an interior cavity of the handle.

22. The sharpener of claim 19 , wherein a selected one of the first or second outer abrasive surfaces is characterized as a flat, planar surface and a remaining one of the first or second outer abrasive surfaces is characterized as a curvilinearly extending surface.

Assignees

• Darex Llc

Inventors

• Dovel Daniel T

Classifications

• B24D15/08 Primary

  of knives; of razors · CPC title

• B24B3/54

  of hand or table knives · CPC title

• B24D15/065

  for sharpening both knives and scissors · CPC title