Abstract:
A knife sharpening system mountable in a small vehicle is disclosed. The knife sharpening system includes a grinding device including a motor, and an abrasive member directly connected to the motor without using a reduction device, to reduce loss of power transmitted from a battery to the abrasive member, and a water-proof device for preventing scattering of water and dust caused by rapid rotation of the abrasive member. The abrasive member can rotate using small force in accordance with direct connection of the abrasive member to the motor. Even when the abrasive member rotates at high speed, scattering of water or dust is prevented in accordance with direct connection of the abrasive member to the motor. Accordingly, the abrasive member can be driven using a battery of a small vehicle.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2011/006379, filed on Aug. 30, 2011, entitled “BLADE GRINDING SYSTEM,” which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Application No. KR 10-2011-0041908 filed on May 3, 2011, entitled “BLADE GRINDING SYSTEM,” the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a knife sharpening system, and more particularly to a knife sharpening system mountable in a small vehicle to enable easy calling on knife owners in homes or restaurants who desire sharpening of their knives, in order to sharpen the knives. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a knife sharpening system in which a grinding member is rotated by a motor, rotation of the grinding member is achieved under the condition that RPM of the motor is reduced. Rotation of a polishing brush is also carried out under the above-mentioned conditions. For this reason, it is necessary to employ a reduction gear in a conventional knife sharpening system. As a result, there is a disadvantage in that relatively high power is required. To this end, such a knife sharpening system should be mounted in factories to which electricity can be supplied. Otherwise, a separate electric generator should be equipped to power the knife sharpening system. In particular, when such a knife sharpening system is mounted in a vehicle, to be movable, the electric generator is essentially necessary. However, such an electric generator not only generates severe noise, but also causes enlargement of the system. Due to the enlarged size of the knife sharpening system, it is difficult to mount the electric generator in a small vehicle. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a small-size knife sharpening system mountable in a small vehicle, not only to enable easy calling on knife owners in homes or restaurants who desire sharpening of their knives, in order to sharpen the knives, but also to use power from a battery of the vehicle without requiring separate power, while having a configuration capable of reducing the size of the system, and efficiently preventing scattering of cooling water and dust occurring during knife sharpening. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a knife sharpening system operable by a small-size motor operable by a battery of a vehicle is provided. Generally, in a knife sharpening system, which is operable by a battery of a vehicle, it is difficult to use a reduction gear because battery power is relatively weak. To this end, the present invention provides a knife sharpening system in which an abrasive member and a polishing brush are connected to a motor operable by a battery of a vehicle via pulleys directly connected to a shaft of the motor, without using a reduction gear. In such a knife sharpening system, dust may scatter severely during a knife sharpening operation, together with water sprayed onto the abrasive member because the abrasive member or polishing brush rotates at 1,750 revolutions per minute (RPM). In such a negative environment, it is impossible to carry out desired tasks. Furthermore, for convenience, the knife sharpening position, namely, the position at which a knife contacts the abrasive member, should correspond to a lower side of the abrasive member. As a result, scattering dust and water may fly toward the front of the operator. Due to such a problem, in conventional cases, it is impossible to increase the rate of rotation of the abrasive member. In conventional knife sharpening systems, accordingly, a reduction gear is installed to prevent the rate of rotation of the abrasive member from exceeding 200 to 300 RPM. The inventors of the present invention found that it is necessary to provide a knife sharpening system equipped with a dust-proof device preventing water or dust from scattering toward the operator even when the abrasive member or polishing brush rotates at high speed through direct connection thereof to the motor as described above, in order to avoid loss of rotational force of the motor. Thus, the present invention provides a knife sharpening system including a dust-proof device including a cover for shielding upper, lower, left, right, and back sides of an abrasive member, except for a front side of the abrasive member, and a scattering material blocking member for blocking a space between the abrasive member and the operator. 
     In addition, the present invention provides a knife sharpening system including an upper cover for an abrasive member, which covers an upper side of a polishing brush in addition to the abrasive member, and a collection box installed in a direction tangential to a polishing point of the polishing brush, to reduce a dust flow path, for prevention of flow of dust around an inside of the upper cover. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a knife sharpening system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a cover member according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating coupling of a knife support member to a support bar; 
         FIG. 4  is a view illustrating installation of a scattering material blocking unit; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view illustrating the scattering material blocking unit; and 
         FIG. 6  is a view illustrating a procedure of discharge of scattering materials. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a knife sharpening system according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The illustrated knife sharpening system includes a grinding device, and a dust-proof device for preventing scattering of dust produced in the grinding device. 
     The grinding device includes a motor  1  to be driven by a battery of a vehicle, two pulleys  2  and  3  connected to the motor  1 , a polishing brush  4  mounted to a shaft of one of the pulleys  2  and  3 , for example, the pulley  2 , and cylindrical abrasive members  5  and  6  mounted to a shaft of the other of the pulleys  2  and  3 , for example, the pulley  3 , while being disposed below the polishing brush  4  at opposite sides of the polishing brush  4 . The grinding device further includes a support bar  10  disposed below the cylindrical abrasive members  5  and  6  in parallel with the shaft of the pulley  3 , knife support members  51  and  61  mounted on the support bar  10 , and water injection nozzles  52  disposed to inject water toward the abrasive members  5  and  6 , respectively. 
     The dust-proof device includes a cover  7  for shielding upper, lower, left and right sides of the abrasive members  5  and  6  and polishing brush  4 , except for front sides of the abrasive members  5  and  6  and polishing brush  4 , and scattering material blocking units  8  and  9  for blocking a space between each of the abrasive member  5  and  6  and the operator. 
     The cover  7  includes a lower cover member  71 , and an upper cover member  72  pivotally mounted to a rear top portion of the lower cover member  71  by hinges. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the upper cover member  72  includes an upper cover portion  721 , and a bottom plate  720 . The bottom plate  720  includes guide portions  722  and  723  mounted to a lower end of the upper cover portion  721  at opposite sides of the upper cover portion  721 , respectively, to guide discharge of scattering materials including metal powder. Dust collected in the guide portions  722  and  723  is collected into a collection box  20  via a dust discharge tube  30 , together with water injected from the water injection nozzles  52 . 
     The scattering material blocking units  8  and  9  are mounted to the support bar  10  beneath the abrasive members  5  and  6 , respectively. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the scattering material blocking unit  8  may include a front plate  81  mounted to a base of the system, a T-shaped blocking plate  82  mounted to an upper portion of the front plate  81 , a damper  83  mounted to an upper end of the T-shaped blocking plate  82 , and cover plates  84  for covering opposite opened side spaces of the T-shaped blocking plate  82 , respectively. Since the scattering material blocking unit  9  has the same structure as the scattering material blocking unit  8 , no detailed description thereof will be given. 
     Two knife support members  51  are disposed at opposite sides of the abrasive member  5 , respectively. Similarly, two knife support members  61  are disposed at opposite sides of the abrasive member  5 , respectively. As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , each knife support member  51  includes a body  512 , a round portion  511  formed at an upper end of the body  512 , and a fitting portion  513  formed at a lower end of the body  512  while being formed with a fitting hole. The knife support member  51  is fitted around the support bar  10  fixed to the system through the fitting hole of the fitting portion  513 . Since the knife support members  61  have the same structure as the knife support members  51 , no detailed description thereof will be given. The support bar  10  has a flat portion  11  and, as such, the knife support members  51  and  61  are fastened to the support bar  10  by fastening screws  514 . 
     The round portion  511  functions to adjust the contact angle of a knife contacting the abrasive member  5 . Since the knife support members  51  and  61  are fastened to the support bar  10  by the fastening screws  514 , it is possible to freely adjust the mounting positions of the knife support members  51  and  61  while sliding the knife support members  51  and  61  along the support bar  10  in accordance with the widths of the abrasive members  5  and  6 . The flat portion  11  of the support bar  10  prevents the knife support members  51  and  61  from rotating unintentionally. In accordance with the above-described configuration, the knife support members  51  and  61  may be accurately position-adjusted to be positioned adjacent to the abrasive members  5  and  6 . Thus, abrasive members having various sizes are applicable to the knife sharpening system of the present invention. 
     Since fastening of the knife support members  51  and  61  to the support bar  10  is achieved, using the fastening screws  514 , it is necessary to remove the scattering material blocking units  8  and  9  upon fastening or unfastening the fastening screws  514 . However, this removal is difficult. To this end, the T-shaped blocking plate  82 , which is formed with open spaces at opposite sides thereof, is preferably mounted to each of the scattering material blocking units  8  and  9 , to secure a working space allowing fastening or unfastening of the fastening screws  514  while covering the open spaces by the cover plates  84 , to block scattering materials. Each cover plate  84  may be made of a flexible synthetic resin material, to be connected, at an upper end thereof, to the associated T-shaped blocking plate  82  while being engaged, at a lower end thereof, with an upper portion of the front plate  81 . That is, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the cover plate  84 , which is engaged with the upper portion of the front plate  81 , may be lifted to be separated from the front plate  81  and, as such, the space covered by the cover plate  84  is opened, to provide a working space. In this state, accordingly, it is possible to easily carry out fastening or unfastening of the fastening screws  514 . 
     The damper  83  is provided to prevent a sharpened blade of the knife from being damaged due to striking thereof occurring when the knife is removed after being ground by the abrasive member between the knife support members  51  or  61 . Accordingly, the damper  83  is preferably made of a material having low hardness, for example, synthetic resin. 
     That is, in accordance with the present invention, when a switch operates under the condition that a knife contacts the abrasive member  5  or  6  between the knife support members  51  or  61 , the motor  1  is driven by power supplied from the battery of the vehicle. Accordingly, the motor  1  rotates the abrasive member  5  or  6  via the pulleys  2  and  3 , thereby grinding the knife. At this time, the water injection nozzle  52  injects water, not only to reduce production of dust, but also to cool the knife, for hardening of the knife. 
     As described above, dust or the like produced during grinding is blocked by the cover  7  and scattering material blocking units  8  or  9 , and is then collected. The collected dust is then fed to the dust collection box  20  via the dust discharge tube  30 . 
     Meanwhile, the polishing brush  4  is used to finish the sharpened knife. 
     As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides effects of utilizing power from a battery of a small vehicle as drive power because high power is not required. That is, rotational force from a motor operating by power from the battery of the vehicle is transmitted to the abrasive member or polishing brush without being attenuated and, as such, it is possible to sharpen a knife using the rapidly rotating abrasive member or polishing brush. Although the knife is sharpened by the rapidly rotating abrasive member or polishing brush, there is no deterioration of the working environment due to scattering of water or dust in accordance with the present invention. Thus, effective knife sharpening is possible through operation of an abrasive member or polishing brush by a small-size motor operable by a battery of a vehicle. Furthermore, it is possible to greatly reduce knife sharpening time because the abrasive member or polishing brush rotates at high speed and, as such, an enhancement in workability is achieved. 
     Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.