Abrading – Work holder – Clamp
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-06
2001-05-08
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Abrading
Work holder
Clamp
C451S368000, C451S369000, C451S370000, C451S371000, C451S391000, C030S298400, C030S076000, C030S082000, C030S269000, C030S002000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227958
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a knife and a sharpening holder by which the blade of the knife is guided at a predetermined angle with respect to the surface of a sharpening hone when it is being sharpened.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,654,823 and 3,800,632 to Juranitch describe and show two-part blade holders that are clamped to the blade of a knife and have a guide bar or flange on each part that bears against the surface of a sharpening hone when the knife is sharpened and maintains the blade at the same angle to the surface of the hone as sharpening progresses. The Juranitch patents are hereby incorporated by reference into the present document for all purposes.
The holders of the Juranitch patents, and holders based on the designs disclosed in the Juranitch patent that are commercially available, are intended to be used interchangeably on different knives. To attach them, the user installs the holder on the blade by positioning the holder on the blade at a specified distance between the cutting edge of the blade and the tip of the clamping portion of the holder with the aid of a ruler or other measuring implement. While the ability to use a Juranitch holder on different knives has the advantage of allowing a user to sharpen several knives with the aid of the same holder, there is a disadvantage to a universal, adjustable holder that is designed to be used with different knives. The disadvantage has two aspects.
One aspect is that it is virtually impossible to install a Juranitch holder on a given knife that is about to be sharpened in the same position on the knife in which it was installed the last time that it was sharpened—the distance between the guide edges of the flange and the cutting edge of the knife blade may be different—the position of the holder lengthwise of the blade may also be different—the holder may be at slightly different angle (cocked) relative to the blade. Even if the difference in the position of the holder from the last sharpening of a particular knife is small, sharpening nonetheless requires grinding a new edge with a different angle to the surface of the blade and removing a relatively large amount of blade material. Consequently, sharpening takes a relatively long time, and each sharpening reduces the life of the blade.
Another aspect of the disadvantage of a universal holder is that if the holder is used to sharpen several knives between the time that a given knife was previously sharpened and the time of resharpening of that knife, the configuration of the holder may have changed due to grinding away of some of the guide edges of the holder parts. Some users push the holder hard against the sharpening hone, thus removing material from the guide edges of the holder parts at about the same rate as from the cutting edge of the knife being sharpened. Therefore, even assuming that the holder is installed on a given knife in a position precisely the same as the position during the last sharpening of the particular knife, any change in the holder has the same effect as a change in the position of the knife in the holder—requiring a lot of honing to establish a slightly different angle of the cutting edge from that produced in the previous sharpening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to ensure that a given knife, each time that it is sharpened, is positioned precisely in the same position in the holder, thereby considerably reducing the amount of blade material that has to be ground away from the cutting edge to sharpen it and the time required for each sharpening. Another object is to ensure that the geometry of the holder is the same at the time of a sharpening of a knife as it was after the last sharpening of the knife was completed.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a sharpening holder and a knife are uniquely configured for use with each other—the holder is dedicated to a single knife. It is contemplated, in particular, that a knife will be sold with a holder and the holder will be used only with the knife with which it is sold. Suitable indicia on the knife and the holder can be provided so that the owner can readily match them. Moreover, the holder will more than likely not be capable of being used with any other knives owned by the user, unless the user has two or more identical knives.
The other aspect of the invention is that the knife and the holder have permanent elements that mate when the holder is installed on the knife blade so that the holder is installed on the knife in exactly the same position on the knife every time that the knife is sharpened.
The two aspects of the invention described above eliminate both aspects of the problem of a universal holder. Because the holder is used for only one knife, its geometry at the time of each use is the same as it was at the completion of the last sharpening of the knife with which it is mated for life—the guide edge of each holder part has not been ground away by use with other knives—the holder has been stored away. When the holder is installed to sharpen its mate, the knife, the permanent mating elements ensure that the holder is in the same position on the knife blade as it was the last time the knife was sharpened. Maintaining the geometry of the holder the same at the end of one sharpening and the beginning of the next sharpening of the mated holder/knife and the ability to position the holder on the blade in exactly the same position for every sharpening means that the cutting edge of the knife need not be reestablished by a lot of grinding. Both the knife and the holder last much longer and the time for each sharpening is greatly reduced, as compared to sharpening using a universal holder.
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Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Hail III Joseph J.
Nguyen George
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