Cutlery – Static pencil sharpener – Having conical or cylindrical work guide
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-20
2003-06-10
Watts, Douglas D. (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Static pencil sharpener
Having conical or cylindrical work guide
Reexamination Certificate
active
06574875
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to an improved sharpener and, more specifically to an inexpensive pencil sharpener adapted to be carried by, and/or slidingly grip any standard non-mechanical pencil to be sharpened so as to be readily available for immediate use at any time.
BACKGROUND ART
Pencils have been around for centuries, and methods and apparatuses for sharpening pencils have been in the art for nearly as long as pencils themselves. Most non-mechanical pencils have a fungible outer core or sheath surrounding a graphite inner core. Alternatively, the inner core may be comprised of any material such as wax or the like that leaves a desired mark when pressure is applied.
One problem with non-mechanical pencils and their sharpeners is a frequent lack of availability of the sharpener when and as needed. In the prior art, sharpeners are separate from the pencil. Most often, modern sharpeners are stationary, having a base which is often designed to be more or less permanently mounted, or large units with a base such as a motorized sharpener. As such, these devices are not easily transported, and are kept apart from the pencil to be sharpened. Other smaller pencil sharpeners are non-mounted and are small enough to be easily carried but, due in some part to their small size, tend to be easily lost or forgotten and so are often not available when desired. It requires considerable user-diligence to continually carry around a small portable sharpener so that the sharpener is available when needed.
In the prior art, pencils are inserted with a sharpening mechanism which, as noted above, must first be located by the user prior to sharpening. One usual form of pencil sharpeners comprises a pair of cylindrical rollers having a plurality of helical cutting surfaces formed along the longitudinal periphery of each roller. The long axis of each roller is positioned at an angle with respect to a longitudinal sharpening axis about which the rollers both rotate in a manner such that each roller turns about its own axis counter-rotatively with respect to the other roller as both rollers rotate about the sharpening axis. A pencil inserted at a divergent open end of the inclined rollers has a point formed thereon as it is urged towards the converging end of the rollers. This type of sharpener typically requires mounting, is relatively expensive, and is not easily transported due to bulkiness.
Another usual form of pencil sharpeners has a cutting surface located at least partially exposed to in inner channel where the inner channel is adapted to receive a pencil or a tip of the pencil to be sharpened. For example U.S. Pat. No. D420,390 issued to Donaldson is typical.
Other prior art includes pencils with specially adapted sharpeners. U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,602 issued to Rosenthal is typical and discloses a wax pencil holding device formed from a main body. The main body is formed from first and second tubular portions. A thin wax pencil is adapted to be removably received within the first tubular portion of the main body. The wax pencil is dispensed and retracted via a sliding plunger. The wax pencil further includes a pencil sharpener with a frusto-conical inset portion. The pencil sharpener is removably coupled to the first end of the second tubular portion. A shaving container is included for storing the shavings of the wax pencil. The shaving container is adapted to be removably coupled to the second end of the pencil sharpener.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,669 issued to Luttgens is also illustrative. Luttgens '669 teaches a pencil sharpener for a soft core pencil that includes a sharpener housing defining a guide channel, adapted to receive a front region of the pencil therein and conically tapering in an insertion direction of the pencil, and a free space adjoining the guide channel in the insertion direction being adapted to receive a core tip of the pencil therein. The sharpener further includes a sharpener blade disposed within the housing and is positioned tangentially with respect to the guide channel, and a housing projection disposed in the housing and projecting into the free space and being configured for shaping the core tip of the pencil according to an intended shape. The housing projection comprises a shaving rib having an approximately wedge shaped cross section and projecting from the housing projection in an effective direction essentially tangential to a circumference of the core tip and being configured as a generator for the intended shape of the core tip.
Another common form of pencil sharpener is a motorized sharpener such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,316 issued to Verdi.
The prior art discussed above does not provide a readily available pencil sharpener that may be readily and easily clipped to and utilized with any pencil or other device which requires sharpening. Consequently, there remains a need to provide a low-cost, pencil sharpener that may be conveniently mounted and transferred to any pencil such that a pencil sharpener is always available.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved pencil sharpener appropriate for non-mechanical pencils.
Another object of the present invention is an improved sharpener also suited for use as a stake sharpener or for sharpening other objects with adaptation to the desired size.
Yet another object of the present invention is a readily available, low cost sharpener that may be quickly and easily mounted to a pencil.
Accordingly, an improved pencil sharpener is described.
The present invention provides a pencil sharpener slidably mountable to a pencil and preferably comprises elements such as, for instance, a first arm adapted to receive a cutting blade, a second arm pivotally mounted with respect to the first arm, the first arm and the second arm defining there between an aperture for receiving the pencil, a biasing member for biasing the first arm pivotally outwardly with respect to the second arm, and stop members to limit the pivotally outwardly movement of the first arm with respect to second arm.
In one embodiment, the pencil sharpener may comprise a pencil bounding surface defined between the first arm and the second arm when the first arm and the second arm are compressed for pivotally inwardly movement with respect to each other, the pencil bounding surface engaging the end of the pencil to be sharpened thereby providing a boundary for limiting axial movement of the pencil with respect to the cutting blade during sharpening of the pencil.
Other elements may include stop members to limit the pivotally inwardly movement of the first arm with respect to the second arm and/or a housing whereby the first arm and the second arm being pivotally mounted within the housing for pivotal movement with respect to the housing. The first arm and/or second arm may define a channel therein for receiving cuttings produced during sharpening of the pencil.
Additional elements may include an axial position gripping surface such that the axial position gripping surface is engageable with the pencil for affixing the pencil to an axial position at any position along an axial length of the pencil. In one embodiment the axial position gripping surface comprises a grommet and/or a first interior surface of the first arm and a second interior surface of the second arm whereby the biasing member urges the first interior surface and the second interior surface into engagement with the pencil.
In operation, the pencil sharpener provides a method which may include steps such as, for instance, inserting a pencil into the pencil aperture, axially sliding the pencil sharpener along an axial length of the pencil to any position along the axial length of the pencil, and resiliently affixing the pencil sharpener at the axial position along the axial length of the pencil sharpener.
Other method steps may comprise axially sliding the improved pencil sharpener along the pencil from the axial position to a position proximate a pencil tip to be sharpened, bringing a cutting edge of the penci
Lawson Carroll Vernon
Verswijver Hans P. U.
Nash Kenneth L.
Watts Douglas D.
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