IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING KNIVES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Richard Olliffe, of Park Lane, Hyde Park,
and James Anning Gollop, of New Oxford Street, both in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING
KNIVES."
Sealed the 7th July 1857, and dated the 10th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Richard Olliffe
and James Anning Gollop at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition on the 10th January 1857.
We, CHARLES RICHARD OLLIFFE, of Park Lane, Hyde Park, and JAMES
ANNING GOLLOP, of New Oxford Street, both in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING KNIVES," to be as follows:-
This Invention embraces two new and improved principles of constructing
apparatus employed for cleaning knives. The first relates to rotatory apparatus
for that purpose, and consists in so arranging and disposing the rubbing or
cleaning surface or surfaces thereof as that they operate more uniformly over
the entire surface of the blade of the knife than the rotatory apparatus
hitherto employed for cleaning knives. It is well known that the great
objection attending rotatory knife-cleaning machines, or apparatus of the
ordinary construction, is the unequal friction exerted by the entire rubbing

page_text: surfaces upon the blade of the knife, by which it becomes very much worn, and
unnecessarily rubbed at that part which least requires it, whilst the point of the
blade, which requires the most rubbing, as being the part most used, receives
the least friction; moreover, the effect of this unequal rubbing of the blade is
to loosen it in the handle of the knife. It is proposed by this Invention to
remedy the above objections, by constructing and arranging the rubbing
or cleaning surfaces in the following manner :-Instead of distributing the
rubbing material over the entire surface of a circular piece of wood or other
material, I arrange and dispose the rubbing surface about an inch wide, more
or less, in a cycloidal direction; so that, supposing the case of the apparatus to
be of the ordinary shape, and the knives inserted and held therein, as commonly
practised, it will appear evident, that upon imparting rotatory motion to the
aforesaid cycloidal rubbing surfaces, and supposing the extreme outer end of
the cycloid to be the part first brought into contact with the blade of the knife
to be cleaned, it follows, therefore, that this part of the rubbing surfaces only
comes into contact with the blade of the knife at each entire revolution of the
aforesaid rubbing surfaces, whilst that part of the cycloid which is situated
near the axis of motion of the rubbing surfaces is continually rubbing the point
of the knife, the other parts of the blade are operated upon by the said rubbing
or cleaning surfaces at each entire revolution thereof, more or less frequently,
according to the space through which any particular part of the cycloid moves
during its rotation. And it is this peculiar mode of operating upon different
parts of the blade of the knife at regular progressive intervals during the
rotation of the rubbing surfaces, and in regulating the friction so as to rub
the point of the knife the most, instead of operating upon the entire surface of
the knife at one time, and rubbing the point the least, as heretofore practised
in machines or apparatus of the ordinary construction, which constitutes the
first part of this Invention.
The second part thereof consists in the use and employment of two separate
bands of material slightly elastic, moving in the same direction, and arranged
as a double incline, and guided in a proper direction by passing over rollers.
The knives to be cleaned pass through openings formed in the side of the case
containing the endless bands and between the said bands, by which they are
rubbed and cleaned, emery powder or other cleaning material being introduced
between the said bands in any convenient manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Richard Olliffe and James Anning Gollop in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
RICHARD OLLIFFE, of Park Lane, Hyde Park, and JAMES ANNING GOLLOP, of
New Oxford Street, both in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles Richard Olliffe and James Anning Gollop, Her special licence
that we, the said Charles Richard Olliffe and James Anning Gollop, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Charles Richard Olliffe and James Anning Gollop, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING KNIVES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Charles Richard Olliffe and
James Anning Gollop, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
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 we, the said Charles Richard Olliffe and James
Anning Gollop, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
rotatory apparatus for cleaning knives, whereby a more equal wear is effected
upon the blade, and a better cleaning effect produced, whilst the machine itself
is both cheap and simple in its construction, and is not liable to become
deranged by any ordinary wear.
Our improvement consists in arranging or disposing the rubbing surfaces,
which act upon the blades in a cycloidal or in a volute form, upon the carrying

page_text: discs (such rubbing surfaces being about one inch wide, more or less), in place
of distributing the rubbing surface or material over the entire surface of the
discs, as in the machines at present in use, wherein the unequal friction exerted
by the entire rubbing surfaces upon the blade of the knife wears it rapidly
away, and produces unnecessary friction at that part of the blade which least
requires it, whilst the point of the blade, which requires most rubbing, as being
the part generally the most stained, receives the least friction. The effect,
moreover, of this unequal rubbing is to loosen the blades in their handles.
These defects are all obviated by our improved cycloidal knife-cleaner.
And in order that our Invention may be clearly understood, we shall now
proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout
all the Figures.
side elevation of our knife-cleaning
Fig. 1 of the Drawings represents
machine complete; Fig. 2 is a corresponding edge view of the same; Fig. 3
is a sectional elevation of the machine, shewing the arrangement of the
cleaning and polishing surfaces; and Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of
the same. The rest of the Figures are details, which we shall herein-after more
particularly describe and refer to.
A, A, is the outer casing of the machine, supported on the two standards
B, B. The knives to be cleaned are introduced through suitable apertures at
the circumference of the apparatus, and are supported during the process of
cleaning by the sockets or supports C, C, in the usual manner. D, D, are two
dises fast upon the central axis or driving spindle E, which works in bearings
in the side standards or supports B, B, and is rotated by means of the winch
handle F. The adjoining faces of the two discs D, D, are furnished with rub-
bing surfaces, which we prefer to consist of strips of leather G, G, supported or
held up by a cushion or pad II, stuffed with horsehair, so as to give an elastic
yielding action to the leather, as will be clearly understood on referring to
Figs. 5 and 6 of the Drawings, which represent, respectively, a transverse
section taken through one of the discs, and an enlarged detail of a portion
of. a disc and rubbing surface, shewing the arrangement of the leather and
supporting cushion. It is the peculiar mode of arranging or disposing these
rubbing surfaces over the discs which constitutes the main feature of our
Invention. In place of distributing the rubbing material over the entire
surface of the discs, we arrange and dispose the rubbing surface, which may be
about an inch wide, more or less, in a cycloidal direction, as clearly shewn in
Fig. 3 of our Drawings.
or
Fig. 7 shews an arrangement of

page_text: form of reversed volutes, the saine principle being maintained as is shewn
in Fig. 3. By disposing or arranging the rubbing surfaces in the manner
therein-before described, it will appear evident that upon imparting rotatory
motion to the rubbing surfaces, and supposing the extreme outer end of
the cycloid to be the part first brought into contact with the blade of the
knife to be cleaned, it follows that this part of the rubbing surface only comes
into contact with the blade of the knife at each entire revolution of the discs,
whilst that part of the cycloid which is situated near the axis or centre of the
discs is continually rubbing the point of the knife, the other parts of the blade
being operated upon by the rubbing or cleaning surface at each entire revolu-
tion thereof, and more or less frequently, according to the space through which
any particular part of the cycloid moves during its rotation.
The cycloidal rubbing surfaces in Fig. 3 are surrounded by other rubbing
surfaces G, G, arranged in a rectangular form, but which are of the same
construction as the cycloidal surfaces.
K, K, are raised portions of the discs, and the inner edges of these raised
portions are bevelled inwards, as shewn in Fig. 5, so as to form a species of
groove or channel for receiving and carrying round the polishing powder, which
is deposited in the bottom of the casing, and is scooped up therefrom during the
revolutions of the discs D, D, each disc being fitted with one or more scoops or
feeding grooves L, L, which serve to take up a certain quantity of powder and
direct it inside or between the two discs, so that it may be equally and regularly
distributed over the rubbing surfaces.
In the arrangement shewn at Fig. 7, the projecting rim K is undercut or
grooved on its inner edge, for the purpose of receiving the cleaning powder,
which is scooped up by the scoops or feeding grooves at L, L. These grooves
are continued in a spiral direction along the sides of the rubbing surfaces, until
they finally open out again into the casing through the apertures M, M, in the
discs, so that the powder, after travelling along the rubbing surfaces between
the discs, will finally emerge into the case, to be again taken up by the scoops
and distributed over the rubbing surfaces. The discs D, D, are so fitted on to
their axis, that, by means of a nut and a thread upon the axis, they may be set
up or adjusted nearer to or farther from each other, so as to suit any thick-
ness of knife blades, or to exert a more or less powerful rubbing action
thereon.
Having now described our Invention, and ascertained the mode of carrying
the same into effect, according to the best of our knowledge and belief, we wish
it to be distinctly understood that we do not limit or confine ourselves to the
precise details of construction herein-before described, as many variations may

page_text: be made therefrom without deviating from the principles of our Invention;
but what we claim as new, and part of our Invention, is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of rotatory
apparatus for cleaning knives, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the application and use to and in rotatory knife-cleaners of strips
of rubbing surfaces arranged in a cycloidal, volute, or other equivalent form,
upon suitable revolving discs, for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Charles Richard Olliffe and James
Anning Gollop, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighth day
of July One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
CHARLES RICHARD OLLIFFE. (L.S.)
JAMES ANNING GOLLOP.
(L.S.)
KENRIC HAMPSON, Patent Agent,
71, Chancery Lane.