To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, James W. Leslie, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Wakefield, county of Middlesex., State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Devices for Sharpening Razor-Blades, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a device whereby razor blades, and more especially blades used in safety-razors may be readily, accurately and rapidly sharpened, thereby meaning honing, stropping, etc., as the case may be.

In the present embodiment of my invention I show and describe a sharpening device particularly adapted to sharpen razor-blades made of flat, relatively thin steel and provided with a single cutting edge, but some of the features of my invention are capable of use in connection with other forms or cutting blades.

The sharpening device herein comprehends a cylindrical sharpening member or roll, a frame in which it is mounted, means to rotate the roll by movement of the frame along a flat surface, a blade-holder, and means governing the blade-holder, whereby a blade therein is held with its cutting edge against the roll, and lifted and reversed in position prior to a reversal of rotation of the sharpening roll. Such operation of the blade-holder is entirely automatic, and it absolutely prevents any coöperation of the blade and roll when the latter is moving in the wrong direction, that is, toward the cutting edge. When the roll is revolving the blade is held practically tangential thereto, and pressed against the roll with sufficient force, the roll revoking away from the cutting edge of the blade.

As will appear hereinafter when the bodily movement of the frame is reversed the rotation of the roll is stopped, the blade is lifted therefrom and thrown over or reversed while the roll is non-rotating, and after the blade is re-presented to the roll the rotation of the latter is begun, but in the reverse direction.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a blade-sharpening device embodying one form of my present invention, supposed to be either moving to the right or just in readiness to be reversed; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the device, enlarged, the handle being broken off; Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view on the line 3—3, Fig. 1, looking toward the right; Fig. 4 is a transverse section, enlarged, on the line 4—4, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a detail of a portion of the blade-holder and a part of the blade-locking device, to be referred to; Fig. 6 is a plan view of a safety-razor blade for sharpening which the apparatus is particularly adapted.

In the present embodiment of my invention I provide a frame comprising preferably circular and parallel ends 1 connected, by a metallic cylindrical shield 2, brazed or otherwise secured to suitable recesses 3 in the ends 1, Figs. 3 and 4. An enlargement 4 is secured to the shield and has a socket 5 to receive the end, preferably screw-threaded, of a handle 6, Figs. 1 and 2. Upturned crescent-shaped ears 7 are formed on the tops of the ends 1 of the frame, and as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 the shield 2 comes up within the ears but is cut-out at 8 to leave an open space or clearance, for a purpose to be described. A roll 9 is fixedly secured to a shaft 10 the ends of which are rotatably mounted in the frame ends 1 and project beyond the same, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, the roll having a covering 11 of leather, emery, or other suitable sharpening material, said roll so covered constituting a rotatable sharpening member. Endwise movement of the said member is limited by the ends of the frame, between which it is located, the shield 2 surrounding the greater portion of the cylindrical surface of the sharpening member, but exposing it at the opening 8. Disk-like carriers are mounted rotatably on the projecting ends of the shaft 10, and as the carriers are somewhat different in structural details they will be separately described.

The carrier at one end of the frame comprises a peripherally grooved metal disk 12 having a tread 13 of leather, rubber or other suitable material, rotatable on the shaft 10 and held thereon by a flat washer 14 pinned or otherwise secured to the shaft. The opposite carrier is made as a grooved ring 15 having a tread 16 similar to the tread 13 described and of the same diameter, said ring 15 being secured to or forming part of a disk 17 peripherally toothed to form a gear 18. Said disk is loosely mounted on the shaft 10 outside and adjacent the right hand end 1 of the frame, viewing Fig. 3, and is held in place by a flat washer 19 fixedly secured to the shaft. I have provided a lost-motion connection between the sharpening member or roll and one of the carriers, and herein such connection is formed by a pin 20 on the washer 19 extending into a segmental slot 21 in the disk 17, Figs. 2 and 3. The carriers support the frame and when the latter is moved bodily the carriers, if supported by a flat or plane surface, such as a table, will rotate in the direction of such bodily movement, as will be manifest. When the pin 20 is at either end of the slot 21 the washer 19, shaft 10, and attached sharpening member or roll 9 will rotate in unison with the disk 17, and in the same direction.

Viewing Figs. 1 and 2, if the frame be moved to the right the carriers will rotate in the direction of the arrow 22, Fig. 2, and the slot and pin connection will cause rotation of the roll 9 in the same direction. Now suppose that the bodily movement of the frame be reversed, the carriers will be at once rotated oppositely to the arrow 22, but the roll 9 will not be revolved until the disk 17 has made a part revolution, about one-quarter as herein shown, from the position shown in Fig. 2, bringing the other end of slot 21 into engagement with the pin 20. Thereupon the roll will begin its rotation, but opposite to the arrow 22, Fig. 2, it being thus manifest that the lost-motion connection between the sharpening roll and the roll-supporting carriers causes a short rest period for the roll every time bodily movement of the frame is reversed. Such rest period enables me to change or reverse the position of the blade, to be sharpened, with respect to the sharpening roll, as will be described, such reversal of the blade being entirely completed before the roll begins to rotate. A second shaft 23 is rotatably mounted in the ears 7 of the frame, above and parallel to the roll-shaft 10, and projecting beyond said ears, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the right hand end of the shaft 23 passing directly through the corresponding ear, which latter is recessed on its outer face at 24, Fig. 3, to receive a collar 25 driven tightly onto the shaft. Adjacent the collar a pinion 26 is mounted on the shaft and frictionally connected or coupled thereto by a spring 27 coiled around the shaft between the pinion and a retaining washer 28 held on the shaft. Said pinion is in mesh with an intermediate pinion 29 rotatably mounted on a stud 30 fixed in the ear, the pinion 29 in turn meshing with the gear 18, whereby rotation is imparted to the pinion 26 in the same direction as that of the gear, but at a much higher speed. When the frictional or yielding connection between the pinion 26 and the collar 25 is of greater force than the resistance of shaft 23 to rotation the shaft will be rotated in unison with the pinion 26, but when the resistance of the shaft is great enough the pinion will be turned on the shaft.

Inside of the ear 7 at the right, Fig. 3, a collar 31 having an inturned lip 32 is fastened on the shaft, and a blade-holder, shown as an elongated roll 33 is secured to the shaft to turn therewith, the lip 32 approaching close to the adjacent end of the roll. Said roll or blade-holder 33 has a longitudinal slot 34 therein extending from end to end and in a radial plane, adapted to receive therein the blade to be sharpened. In the present structure the blade-holder is arranged for a thin, flat blade shaped substantially as in Fig. 6, the blade 35 having extensions 36 at its ends, each provided with a nick 37, the cutting edge of the blade being indicated at 38. When the blade is applied to the blade-holder it is dropped into the slot 34, the back of the blade resting on the bottom of the slot, herein formed by the shaft 23, and one of the nicks 37 is entered by the lip 32, locking the blade in the holder at that end. A manually operated locking member is provided at the other end, herein shown as a second collar 39 having a locking lip 40 to enter the adjacent nick 37 of the blade, see. Fig. 5, said collar being formed on a sleeve 41 loosely surrounding the shaft 23 and passing through the adjacent ear 7 of the frame. The sleeve has a preferably milled head 42 on its outer end, and a coiled spring 43 wound around the shaft 23 presses the sleeve inward so as to maintain the locking collar 39 in its operative position.

When putting a blade into the holder the operator grasps the head 42 and draws the collar 39 outward, so that the blade can be dropped into the slot 34 and then the head 42 is released. The spring 43 expands, forces the lip 40 into the contiguous nick in the blade, and if necessary pushes the whole blade to the right until the opposite lip 32 cooperates with the corresponding nick in the blade. The parts are then in the position shown in Fig. 3, and the blade is securely locked in the blade-holder, whereupon the operator grasps the handle 6 and rolls the frame backhand forth upon a firm, flat surface. At the very first movement of the carriers the gear 18 and pinions 29, 26 coöperate to throw the blade-holder around in the direction of movement of the frame, bringing the cutting edge of the blade against the cylindrical face of the sharpening roll and substantially tangential thereto. The continued movement of the frame causes the rotation of the sharpening roll to act upon the cutting edge of the blade, to sharpen it in an obvious manner. Having arrived at the end of the movement in one direction the operator reverses the direction of movement of the frame, and the sharpening roll ceases to rotate, but instantly the train of gearing acts to oscillate the shaft 23, reversing the blade-holder and causing the blade to be swung through an arc over the said shaft and down upon the sharpening roll at the other side of its center. This reversal takes place while the lost-motion between the roll 9 and the connected carrier is being taken up, and when the roll again is rotated the blade is in proper position to be acted upon.

No matter how rapidly the operator may effect the reversal of the apparatus the reversal of the blade is effected while the sharpening roll is quiescent, that is, non-rotating, so that it is impossible for the roll to turn toward the cutting edge of the blade. When the blade is brought against the surface of the roll 9 further turning of the shaft 23 and the blade-holder 33 is stopped, and thereafter the pinion 26 rotates on the shaft 23 as the movement of the frame is continued. The opening 8 in the shield 2 is made wide enough to easily admit the blade either side of the center of the roll, as will be manifest from an inspection of Fig. 4. When the blade has been sharpened to the desired extent the operator turns the head 42 to bring the blade into upright position, as in Fig. 5, and then the head is-pulled outward, disengaging the locking lip 40 from the nick in the blade. Grasping the blade between thumb and finger the operator moves it slightly to release it from the locking lip 32, and lifts the blade from the blade-holder. By covering the roll 9 with suitable abrading material the blade may be ground or honed, and for ordinary use the roll will be covered with leather or suitable stropping composition, so that the operation of the apparatus strops the blade.

So far as concerns the presentation of the blade to the sharpening roll, and the automatic reversal of the blade when the bodily movement of the apparatus is reversed, my invention is adapted for use with different forms of flat blades, it being necessary merely to change the details of the locking means to accommodate the particular shape of the blade to be held in place in the blade-holder.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement herein shown and described, as the same may be varied in different particulars by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as expressed in the accompanying claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:—

1. In a blade-sharpening device, a frame, cylindrical sharpening member having journals rotatably mounted in the frame, disk-like carriers for the frame, mounted on the said journals and having a lost-motion connection therewith, a gear rotatable with one of the carriers, an oscillating blade-holder mounted in the frame above the sharpening member, a pinion having a yielding connection with the blade-holder, and an intermediate pinion between the carrier-gear and the pinion connected with the blade-holder, whereby when the direction of rotation of the carriers is reversed the blade-holder will be oscillated in the direction of rotation of the carriers to reverse and present the edge of a blade mounted in the blade-holder to the sharpening member before the lost-motion between the latter and the carriers is taken up.

2. In a blade-sharpening device, a frame, a cylindrical sharpening member rotatably mounted thereon, frame-supporting carriers adapted to be roiled back and forth upon a flat surface, a lost-motion connection between the carriers and the sharpening member to rotate it, a blade-holder mounted on the frame adjacent said member, and operating connections between the blade-holder and one of the carriers, including a pinion having a yielding connection with, the blade-holder, reversal of rotation of the carriers causing the blade-holder to oscillate and reverse the position, of the blade therein from one to the other side of the sharpening member before the lost-motion, between the latter and the carriers is taken up.

3. In a blade-sharpening device, a cylindrical sharpening member, means to effect rotation thereof by bodily movement above a plane surface, a blade-holder, a frame in which it and the sharpening member are mounted, and means to automatically reverse the blade-holder before a change in the direction of the sharpening member is effected.

4. In a blade-sharpening device, a frame provided with a handle, rotatable supporting carriers for the frame, a cylindrical sharpening member mounted in the frame, means to rotate said member by or through movement of the carriers upon a plane surface, a blade-holder mounted in the frame above the sharpening member, and means to automatically reverse the blade-holder by a change in the direction of rotation of the carriers and prior to a change in the direction of rotation of the sharpening member.

5. In a blade-sharpening device, a frame provided with a handle, rotatable supporting carriers for the frame, a cylindrical sharpening member mounted in the frame, means to rotate said member by or through movement of the carriers upon a plane surface, a slotted blade-holder mounted in the frame above the sharpening member, to present the edge of a blade to the latter to be sharpened, manually controlled means to engage the ends of a blade and lock it in the holder, and mechanism to automatically reverse the blade-holder and change the position of a blade carried thereby, relatively to the sharpening member, when the rotation of the carriers is reversed and before rotation of the sharpening member is reversed.

6. In a blade-sharpening device, a frame provided with a handle, rotatable supporting carriers for the frame, a cylindrical sharpening member mounted in the frame, means to rotate said member by or through movement of the carriers upon a plane surface, a shield partly surrounding the sharpening member, a blade-holder mounted m the frame and adapted to tangentially present a blade to the action of said sharpening member, and mechanism to reverse the blade-holder automatically prior to a reversal of rotation of the sharpening member, the blade being presented thereto in the space uncovered by the shield.

7. In a blade-sharpening device, a frame, a shaft rotatably mounted therein and having a rigidly attached stropping roll, supporting wheels for the frame, loose on the shaft, a lost-motion connection between one of the wheels and the roll, a gear attached to said wheel, a second shaft rotatably mounted in the frame parallel to and near the roll, a blade-holder fast on said shaft, a pinion frictionally engaging the latter, and a reversing pinion intermediate said shaft-pinion and the gear, a reversal of the wheels acting through the gear and pinions to reverse the shaft on which the blade-holder is fast before the lost-motion is taken up between the wheels and the stropping roll, such reversal of the blade-holder providing for the application of a blade held thereby to the surface of the roll always in the direction of rotation of said roll.

8. In a device for sharpening safety-razor blades, a frame, a sharpening roll carried thereby, means to rotate it, a blade-holder slotted to receive the blade and mounted in the frame adjacent the roll, a fixed locking member to engage one end of the blade, a spring-controlled movable locking member to engage the other end of the blade, a finger-piece connected with the movable locking member, to effect release of the blade by said member and to also turn the blade-holder into position to receive or permit removal of a blade, and means automatically governing the blade-holder to lift the blade from the roll prior to a reversal of its direction of rotation.

9. In a device for sharpening safety-razor blades, a frame having a handle, a sharpening roll rotatably mounted in the frame, means to effect rotation of said roll in the direction of movement of the frame by bodily movement of the latter, a blade-holder mounted on the frame and adapted to present the blade tangentially to the roll surface, means to lock the blade in the holder, and means to act upon the blade-holder and lift automatically the blade from the roll, prior to a reversal of its direction of rotation, and then to revolve the blade-holder to present the blade to the roll at the opposite side of its center.

10. In a device for sharpening safety-razor blades, a frame having a handle, a sharpening roll rotatably mounted in the frame, means to effect rotation of said roll in the direction of movement of the frame by bodily movement of the latter, a blade-holder mounted on the frame and adapted to present the blade tangentially to the roll surface, and means to stop rotation of the roll when movement of the frame is reversed and simultaneously to rock the blade-holder to lift the blade from the roll and re-present the blade to the roll, but on the opposite side, of the axis thereof, prior to resumption of rotative movement of the roll in a reversed direction.

11. A device of the class described, comprising a rotatable sharpening member, means to effect rotation thereof, first in one and then in the other direction, by bodily movement of said means upon, a plane surface, a blade-holder, and means to reverse it automatically at each reversal in the bodily movement of the device and apply the blade properly to the sharpening member before the rotation of the latter is begun.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

James W. Leslie,

Witnesses:

John C. Edwards,

Elizabeth R. Morrison.