A sharpener for sharpening a cutting tool having a blade portion with a cutting edge, such as but not limited to a kitchen knife. In some embodiments, the sharpener has first and second rollers, with the first roller rotatable about a first roller axis and the second roller rotatable about a second
A sharpener for sharpening a cutting tool having a blade portion with a cutting edge, such as but not limited to a kitchen knife. In some embodiments, the sharpener has first and second rollers, with the first roller rotatable about a first roller axis and the second roller rotatable about a second roller axis parallel to the first roller axis. An endless abrasive belt is arranged along a belt path that passes over the first and second rollers to define a planar segment that lies along a neutral plane from the first roller to the second roller. A guide assembly adjacent the planar segment of the belt is configured to contactingly engage the cutting edge of the cutting tool and apply a non-uniform surface pressure to a side of the cutting tool adjacent the cutting edge across a width of the belt.
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1. A sharpener for sharpening a cutting tool having a blade portion with a cutting edge affixed to a user handle, the sharpener comprising: first and second rollers, the first roller rotatable about a first roller axis, the second roller rotatable about a second roller axis parallel to the first rol
1. A sharpener for sharpening a cutting tool having a blade portion with a cutting edge affixed to a user handle, the sharpener comprising: first and second rollers, the first roller rotatable about a first roller axis, the second roller rotatable about a second roller axis parallel to the first roller axis;an endless abrasive belt arranged along a belt path that passes over the first and second rollers to define a planar segment that lies along a neutral plane from the first roller to the second roller; anda guide assembly adjacent the planar segment of the belt configured to contactingly engage the cutting edge of the cutting tool and apply a non-uniform surface pressure to a side of the cutting tool adjacent the cutting edge across a width of the belt so that a greater amount of surface pressure is applied by a portion of the belt adjacent a proximal end of the blade portion adjacent the user handle of the cutting tool and a lesser amount of surface pressure is applied by a portion of the belt adjacent a distal end of the blade portion opposite the user handle. 2. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein the guide assembly provides the greater amount of surface pressure by the portion of the belt adjacent the proximal end of the blade portion adjacent the user handle of the cutting tool and the lesser amount of surface pressure by the portion of the belt adjacent the distal end of the blade portion opposite the user handle by having a first edge guide surface adjacent a front edge of the belt configured to contactingly support a first portion of the cutting edge and a second edge guide surface adjacent an opposing rear edge of the belt configured to concurrently contactingly support a second portion of the cutting edge, wherein each of the first and second edge guide surfaces are the same selected distance from a horizontal plane, and wherein the first roller axis and the second roller axis are non-parallel to the horizontal plane. 3. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein the guide assembly provides the greater amount of surface pressure by the portion of the belt adjacent the proximal end of the blade portion adjacent the user handle of the cutting tool and the lesser amount of surface pressure by the portion of the belt adjacent the distal end of the blade portion opposite the user handle by having a side guide surface configured to support a side of the blade portion of the cutting tool along a plane that is outwardly skewed with respect to the neutral plane so that the distal end of the blade portion is farther away from the first roller axis than the proximal end of the blade portion. 4. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein the guide assembly provides the greater amount of surface pressure by the portion of the belt adjacent the proximal end of the blade portion adjacent the user handle of the cutting tool and the lesser amount of surface pressure by the portion of the belt adjacent the distal end of the blade portion opposite the user handle by a support member which contactingly engages a backing layer of the abrasive belt opposite the abrasive surface below the cutting tool between the first and second rollers. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the support member is characterized as a rotatable roller that extends along a support roller axis non-parallel to the first and second roller axes, the backing layer support member deflecting a front edge of the belt adjacent the proximal end of the blade portion by a first distance away from the neutral plane and deflecting a rear edge of the belt adjacent the distal end of the blade portion by a smaller, second distance away from the neutral plane. 6. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein the guide assembly aligns the cutting edge at an angle that is non-parallel to the respective first roller axis and the second roller axis. 7. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein an intervening angle between the cutting edge and the first roller axis is less than 90 degrees. 8. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein the guide assembly comprises an edge guide surface adjacent the belt against which the user contactingly engages a portion of the cutting edge during a sharpening operation upon the cutting edge against the belt, and a side support surface in facing relation to the belt against which the user concurrently contactingly engages a side surface of the cutting tool during the sharpening operation. 9. The sharpener of claim 8, wherein the edge guide surface is a first edge guide surface adjacent a front edge of the belt, and the guide assembly further comprises a second edge guide surface adjacent a rear edge of the belt so that the belt extends between the respective first and second edge guide surfaces, the first and second edge guide surfaces aligned along a presentation line that is non-parallel with the first and second roller axes. 10. The sharpener of claim 1, wherein the guide assembly comprises a rotatable edge guide surface adjacent the belt against which the user contactingly engages a portion of the cutting edge during sharpening thereof, the rotatable edge guide surface forming a portion of an edge guide support roller rotatable about a roller axis that is orthogonal to the first roller axis. 11. The sharpener of claim 1, further comprising a housing configured to be supported by a horizontal base surface using a plurality of base support contact features aligned along a horizontal plane, wherein the first and second rollers and the endless abrasive belt are at least partially enclosed by the housing, the first and second roller axes are skewed with respect to the horizontal plane, and the guide assembly comprises an edge guide surface that is nominally parallel with the horizontal plane. 12. The sharpener of claim 11, wherein the edge guide surface is a first edge guide surface adjacent a front edge of the belt, wherein the guide assembly comprises a second edge guide surface adjacent a rear edge of the belt so that the belt extends between the first and second edge guide surfaces, and wherein each of the first and second edge guide surfaces are the same selected distance from the horizontal plane. 13. The sharpener of claim 1, further comprising a housing configured to be supported by a horizontal base surface using a plurality of base support contact features aligned along a horizontal plane, wherein the first and second rollers and the endless abrasive belt are at least partially enclosed by the housing, the first and second roller axes are nominally parallel with the horizontal plane, and the guide assembly comprises a guide surface configured to support the cutting tool during a sharpening operation. 14. The sharpener of claim 13, wherein the guide surface is a side surface configured to contactingly engage a side of the blade portion of the cutting tool, the side surface extending along a plane that is parallel to the first and second roller axes. 15. A sharpener for sharpening a cutting tool having a blade portion with a cutting edge, the sharpener comprising: a housing with one or more contact features aligned along a horizontal plane to support the housing on a horizontal base surface;first and second rollers at least partially disposed within the housing, the first roller rotatable about a first roller axis, the second roller rotatable about a second roller axis parallel to the first roller axis;an endless abrasive belt at least partially disposed within the housing and arranged to be advanced by the first and second rollers along a belt path that includes a planar segment that lies along a neutral plane from the first roller to the second roller, the first and second rollers nonparallel to the horizontal plane so that the belt path is skewed with respect to the horizontal plane; anda guide assembly adjacent the planar segment of the belt and configured to support the cutting tool as the cutting edge is presented against the abrasive belt along the planar segment between the first and second rollers. 16. The sharpener of claim 15, wherein the guide assembly comprises a first edge guide surface adjacent a front edge of the belt configured to contactingly support a first portion of the cutting edge and a second edge guide surface adjacent an opposing rear edge of the belt configured to concurrently contactingly support a second portion of the cutting edge, wherein each of the first and second edge guide surfaces are the same selected distance from the horizontal plane. 17. The sharpener of claim 15, wherein the sharpener further comprises a third roller rotatable about a third roller axis parallel to the first and second axes and about which the belt path passes to form a second planar extent that lies along a second neutral plane from the first roller to the third roller, wherein the guide assembly is a first guide assembly disposed between the first and second rollers, and wherein the sharpener further comprises a second guide assembly disposed between the first and third rollers. 18. A sharpener for sharpening a cutting tool having a blade portion with a cutting edge, the sharpener comprising: a housing with one or more contact features aligned along a horizontal plane to support the housing on a horizontal base surface;first and second rollers at least partially disposed within the housing, the first roller rotatable about a first roller axis, the second roller rotatable about a second roller axis parallel to the first roller axis and parallel to the horizontal plane;an endless abrasive belt at least partially disposed within the housing and arranged to be advanced by the first and second rollers along a belt path that includes a planar segment that lies along a neutral plane from the first roller to the second roller; anda guide assembly adjacent the planar segment of the belt and configured to support the cutting tool as the cutting edge is presented against the abrasive belt along the planar segment between the first and second rollers, the guide assembly comprising a side support surface configured to contactingly support a side of the blade of the cutting tool during sharpening of the cutting edge against the abrasive belt, the side support surface extending along a plane that is skewed with respect to the first and second roller axes. 19. The sharpener of claim 18, wherein the guide assembly further comprises an edge guide surface configured to contactingly support a portion of the cutting edge concurrently with the contacting support provided by the side support surface to the side of the blade during the sharpening of the cutting edge against the abrasive belt. 20. The sharpener of claim 18, wherein the endless abrasive belt comprises an outer abrasive layer supported by an inner backing layer, the backing layer configured to contactingly engage the first and second rollers during advancement of the belt, the abrasive layer configured to remove material from the cutting tool during a sharpening operation, the guide assembly comprising a backing layer support member which contactingly engages the backing layer opposite the cutting tool, the backing layer support member extending less than a full width of the belt so that the backing layer support member contacts a front edge of the belt and an opposing rear edge of the belt opposite the cutting tool remains unsupported.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (6)
Smith, Richard S.; Chalfant, Louis, Adjustable abrasive sharpener.
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