IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR CLEANING KNIVES
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Martin Knight at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th February 1880.
EDWARD MARTIN KNIGHT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR CLEANING KNIVES."
This Invention relates to the construction of that class of knife cleaning machines
wherein the cleaning is effected by passing the knives endwise to and fro between
two revolving rollers covered with india rubber or other suitable material.
The principal defect in this class of knife cleaning machine has been that in
consequence of the two rollers being geared together by a pair of spur wheels (and
consequently their surfaces in contact moving in the same direction) the tendency
of the machine would be to draw the handle of the knife in between the rollers,
and considerable force was required to draw the blade backward against the
revolution of the rollers.
In my improved construction of machine the rollers are not geared together
direct, but each roller has keyed on its axis a small spur pinion less in diameter
than the size of the roller itself; and consequently these two pinions do not touch
each other. Upon a stud fixed in the frame I mount a spur wheel which gears
with both of the pinions, and to this wheel. I fix the winch handle, the said wheel
being (by preference) of a larger diameter than the pinions, by which means the
speed of the roller is increased without the necessity for moving the hand more
quickly.
By this method of driving and gearing the two rollers both of the latter revolve
in the same direction, and consequently their surfaces in contact (between which
the knife is introduced) move in opposite directions; and hence there being no
more tendency to draw the knife in one direction than in the other, it can be
moved to and fro with the greatest facility, and the work of cleaning is rendered
easier and more expeditious. The rollers are (by preference) mounted in a
horizontal position, but they may be mounted either vertically or in an inclined
position.
Another improvement is that I connect the two standards of the machine
together at the top by means of a bow or cap, and through the centre of the latter
passes a screw acting upon the centre of a bow spring, the ends of which press
upon the bearing blocks which rest upon the axis of the upper roller, and thus
any required amount of lever pressure may be given to the rollers by means of
one screw only.

page_text: Above the top roller I fix a box to contain the emery or other powder used, the
bottom of the said box being perforated and fitted with a slide for opening and
closing the perforations, so as to allow the emery or other powder to fall onto the
top roller when required. Beneath the bottom roller is a second box or trough
open at the top to catch any emery or other powder which may fall from the
rollers. This trough is movable so that the waste emery or other powder can at
any time be returned to the upper or distributing box.
I sometimes make these two boxes both movable and alike in form, so that when
the upper one becomes empty and the lower one full they may be exchanged. I
also employ a spring or screw clip to hold the handles of two or more knives in
the same plane, so that two or more knives may be cleaned at one operation.