AN IMPROVED INSTRU- MENT FOR SHARPENING SLATE PENCILS, BLACKLEAD PENCILS, LEAD PENCILS, CRAYONS, AND SUCH LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jolin James, of Princes Street, Leicester Square;
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED INSTRU-
MENT FOR SHARPENING SLATE PENCILS, BLACKLEAD PENCILS, LEAD PENCILS,
CRAYONS, AND SUCH LIKE ARTICLES."
Sealed the 30th August 1861, and dated the 4th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John James at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
March-1861.
I, JOHN: JAMES,, of Princes Street, Leicester Square, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED INSTRUMENT FOR SHARPENING SLATE PENCILS, BLACKLEAD PENCILS, LEAD
PENCILS, CRAYONS, AND SUCH LIKE ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of two flat pieces of thin steel, fixed side by side on
a-piece of wood or other material; the two steel edges, which are in juxta-
position, are fixed at a certain distance asunder to admit of the pencil or other.
article which it is desired to sharpen or form pointed; the edges of the steel
are also made sharp, and there is a groove formed in the material to which the
aforesaid pieces of steel are, affixed, said groove extending in the direction of
the cutting edges aforesaid.. It will appear obvious that several cutting edges
may, thus be formed on one and the same base piece, if desired.
...

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John James in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JAMES, of Princes Street, Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John James, Her special licence that I, the said John James,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John James, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
--exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED INSTRU-
MENT FOR SHARPENING SLATE PENCILS, BLACKLEAD PENCILS, LEAD PENCILS, CRAYONS,
AND SUCH LIKE ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
-said John James, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John James, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of two cutters or flat pieces of thin steel fixed side
by side on a piece of wood or other material. The two steel cutters are so placed
that their edges which are in juxtaposition are close together at one end, and
a little distance apart at the other, and both are placed so as to project a little
over the edge of a conical groove, which is between them and formed in the
material, to which the cutters are affixed. They are fastened to the base
piece by means of screws, and the latter work 'in slots in the base piece, thus
supplying a convenient means of adjustment. When I desire to sharpen a

page_text: pencil, I place the point in the groove before mentioned; and holding the
sharpener firmly in one hand, I gently turn the pencil round in the other.
This brings the point of the pencil under the action of one of the blades or
cutters, which on the same principle as the action of the tool of a common
lathe takes off a thin slice or paring until it has reduced the point of the
pencil to the form of a cone, and rendered it ready, for use. Should one blade
of the sharpener get dull and fail to cut smoothly I turn the pencil round in
the opposite. direction, and then the other blade operates to reduce the pencil
to a point. The use of two blades is for convenience to prevent the necessity
of two frequent removal for sharpening. Instead of placing two cutters on
opposite sides of the same groove I sometimes prefer to make two tapering
grooves, end to end in the base piece, and to use one cutter for them both.
This cutter is adjusted and fastened in the same manner as in the other case,
and the pencil is sharpened in either groove. The instrument will thus last
twice as long without sharpening and readjustment as it would were there but
one blade and one groove. Also to delay the necessity of sharpening as long
as possible, I make each cutter double edged, so that when one edge becomes
dull the position of the cutter may be reversed; and the edge which has not
been used may be brought into service; I also sometimes, for the same reason,
use a square cutter having all of its edge sharpened for use. I make no material
differences in the form of the instrument, whether it be intended for sharpening
lead pencils or slate pencils, or other similar articles; but for sharpening slate
pencils the edges of the cutter should be ground to a very blunt angle, while
for sharpening wooden articles or articles formed partly of wood the angle to
which the cutting edges are ground should be an acute one. Thus the nature
of the instrument which it is intended to sharpen will readily determine the
acuteness of the angle to which the edges of the cutter must be ground. It is.
manifest that the cutter may be mounted on the frame of a slate or other like
article, and that thus the pencil sharpener can be supplied to children and
others in a form in which it is not liable to be lost.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
In the annexed Sheet of Drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of my pencil
sharpener, as formed with two blades on opposite sides of one and the same

page_text: Figure 5 is a plan of a pencil sharpener in which the base piece is the same
as in Figure 4, but the blade is square and has four cutting edges.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of a pencil sharpener which has one blade
and two orifices for the admission of the pencil; Figure 7 is a plan of the
same, and Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the same, showing the slots, which are
formed in the base piece and the screws, by means of which the blade is
adjusted.
In Fig. 1, A is the base piece on which the blades are mounted; B and B 1
are the blades or cutters; and C is the orifice or groove for the admission of
the pencil or other instrument to be sharpened.
In Fig. 2, A is the base piece; B and B are the blades;
the rivets, screws, or other fastenings, by means of which the
to the base piece, and -C, within the dotted lines, shows the
orifice for the admission of the pencil.
D, D¹, &c., aré
blades are held
position of the
In Fig. 3, A is the base pieces, as before; C, the orifice, and the dotted
lines at B, show the position of the blades. On examination of the Figures, it
will be evident that if I should prefer to do so, I could make the instru
ment with one double edged blade or cutter, and with two grooves, one on
either side.
7
**
Fig. 4 shows the instrument as made with one adjustable blade; and Fig. 5
is a plan of a similar instrument, having an adjustable blade with four cutting
edges. That each of the edges of the cutter may be brought into use when
required, the base piece is provided with slots similar to those shown at F and
F, Fig. 8. Two screws D¹ and D, work in these slots, and hold the cutter
to its place by means of a screw thread which is formed in the blade itself.
This is an advantage, as it dispenses with a nut for fastening. When it is
required to use the opposite edge of the blade it is simply reversed and
'fastened as before; but if I desire to use one of the edges which is at right
angles to that which is, represented in the Figure as ready for use, I turn the
blade partially round and fasten the same screws into the screw holes D and D";
thus the form of instrument requires four screw holes in the blade, and but
two screw slots in the base piece, as in the form of instrument shewn at Fig. 8.
It is manifest that in any form of instrument having the adjustable contrivance
'of screws and slots, the slots may be in 'the blades or cutters, and the screw
holes in the counterpart, without altering the effect produced.
In Figures 6 and 7, I have represented in section an instrument made
according to my Invention, with one blade only; but with two orifices end to
end for the admission of the pencil to be sharpened; C is one orifice, and C' is
:

page_text: the other. In Fig. 6, as in Fig. 3, the dotted line at B show the position of
the cutter. The position in which the pencil is held for sharpening is shown
by E, Fig. 6.
Having now described this my said Invention, and the manner of using the
same, I claim,
Firstly, the instrument as described in Figures 1, 2, and 3, having two
blades or cutters, either fixed or adjustable.
Secondly, I claim the modification of this instrument, in which there are
two, orifices for the admission of the pencil on opposite sides of one and the
same blade.
Thirdly, the modification of the same, in which there are two orifices for the
admission of the pencil placed end to end for the purpose and in the manner
set forth.
Fourthly, I claim the slots in the base piece or in the blades, by means of
which the latter are made adjustable.
Fifthly, I claim the blades as formed with more than one cutting edge for
the purpose of dispensing with sharpening as much as possible.
In witness whereof, the said John James hath hereunto set his hand
and seal, the Fourth day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-one.
In the presence of
E. A. CURLEY, Witness.
JOHN JAMES. (L.S.)