A Knife Cleaner and Sharpener Combined.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Aug., 1894-Accepted, 1st Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Knife Cleaner and Sharpener Combined.
HENRY HERBERT THOMPSON, 21 Hamburgh Road, Alexandra Park
Nottingham Machinist do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
A combination of a knife cleaner and sharpener, consisting of :-
(1) An oblong board with projecting tabs at each end, for securing same to table
or bench; the edge of said board being bevelled or rounded, and the surface of
said board being covered with leather or any other material.
'
(2) An oblong box or receptacle (of wood, tin, or other material) of same size
as aforesaid board, the bottom or under surface of said box or receptacle being
covered with leather or other material, similar to the aforesaid board. A number
of small holes are pierced through the bottom and covered surface of aforesaid box,
to allow any contents to work through.
(3) The aforesaid board and box are secured together by small coil springs
(or other means) attached to outside ends of aforesaid board and box; thus
bringing and holding the two aforesaid covered surfaces of board and box
together.
(4) The knife being inserted between the two covered surfaces (which form a
polishing surface for each side of knife) is passed backward and forward a few
times, and with the aid of the emery or other powder contained in box or receptacle
above, which works its way through the holes pierced in bottom of box and
covered surface (which form the upper polishing surface) a brilliant polish is
produced on each side of the knife.
The springs expanding admits of a knife of any thickness being inserted between
the two aforesaid polishing surfaces, at the same time giving an equal pressure on
the whole blade of the knife; thus cleaning the edge or thin part of the knife
equally as well as the back or thick. part.
(5) The rounded or bevelled edges of the polishing surfaces between which the
knife is inserted allows the shoulder of the knife to partly enter between the said
polishing surfaces, and so cleans the said shoulder of knife at the same operation
as blade.
(6) The combined knife sharpener consists of a slab or strip of emery stone,
steel, or other material; being attached to the top or upper side of the aforesaid
box or receptacle, forming a surface or ridge along the length of the box, and by
passing a knife over the aforesaid surface or ridge of emery stone or steel a sharp
keen edge is produced. Thus the whole apparatus makes a knife cleaner and
sharpener combined.
Dated this 1st day of December 1893.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Knife Cleaner and Sharpener Combined.
I HENRY HERBERT THOMPSON, of 21 Hamburgh Road, Alexandra Park,
Nottingham, Machinist do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :→
My invention relates to a device for cleaning and sharpening knives, and has for

page_text: its object to provide means whereby a knife can be effectually cleaned and polished
upon both sides of the blade and at the shoulders, at one operation, means also
being combined with the cleaning or polishing device, for sharpening a knife, the
whole forming a simple compact and inexpensive device.
And in order that this, the said invention may be the more readily understood,
reference is hereby made to the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings,
wherein:
"
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the knife-cleaning device with its sharpening
attachment,
Fig. 2 being an end view of same.
Fig. 3 is a plan, and
Figs. 4 and 5 are a section and an under-side view respectively, of the upper
portion of the device, with the knife sharpening attachment removed.
Referring to the drawings wherein like letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts throughout the several figures, a is a box or receptacle, preferably of
rectangular form, fashioned of wood or other suitable material, which box or
receptacle is furnished with a convenient number of perforations a' in its bottom a¹
for a purpose hereinafter specified.
'
The said box or receptacle a is mounted upon a wooden or other base-piece b;
the upper side of which is provided with a piece of wash-leather or other suitable
polishing and cleaning material of the required shape to conform to the shape
of the said upper side of the base-piece 6, the opposing surface of the box or
receptacle a being also similarly provided with a piece of polishing and cleaning
material a which is perforated in a manner corresponding with that of the bottom
proper a¹.
Coil-springs c are provided at each end of the device, the lower extremities of
which springs are attached to the base-piece b in any suitable manner, while their
upper extremities are similarly connected to the box or receptacle a, said springs
serving to hold the box or receptacle and the base-piece b together, while at the
same time allowing the two said parts to be forced apart sufficiently to admit of
the insertion of knife-blade d of any thickness, the said springs c also serving to
exert an equal pressure of the polishing surface of box or receptacle a over the
entire blade of the knife d, so that the thin portion of same will be cleaned or
polished equally with the thicker or back part thereof.
The front edges a', and to which the shoulders of a knife-blade are opposed
when such knife-blade is being cleaned or polished, are bevelled or rounded as
shewn, for the purpose of conforming to the curve of such shoulders, so that same
will be cleaned or polished together with the blade of the knife, at one and the
same operation.
The box or receptacle a is designed to contain brick-dust emery-powder,
polishing-powder, or any other kind of suitable cleaning and polishing material or
compound, which is allowed to find access to the cleaning and polishing surface of
the device, through the perforations a beforementioned. The sharpening attach-
meut consists of a raised portion e fixed to or formed integral with, the top of the
box or receptacle a, the upper part of which raised portion e is provided with a
strip of emery-cloth or other suitable material, for the purpose of providing a raised
surface upon which a knife-blade can be readily drawn back and forth to sharpen
the cutting-edge of same.
The base-piece of the device may be provided with lugs f, at each end for
fixing such device to a table or other suitable article, by means of screws or their
equivalent, openings f being provided in said lugs for the reception of such
screws or other fastening means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In devices for cleaning or polishing knives, the employment of a box or

page_text: receptacle having a perforated bottom under cleaning or polishing surface,
substantially as and for the purpose described and as illustrated.
2. In devices for cleaning or polishing knives the box or receptacle to contain a
suitable polishing powder, said box or receptacle having a perforated bottom and
under or polishing surface, in combination with a base-piece having a polishing or
cleaning surface and attaching lugs and springs connecting such box or receptacle
with said base-piece, the front or shoulder opposing-edges of both box and base-
piece being bevelled or rounded, substantially as and for the purpose described,
and as illustrated.
3. In devices for cleaning or polishing knives, the combination with same of a
raised surface composed of emery-cloth or other suitable material for sharpening
the blades of knives, substantially as described and as illustrated by the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 27th day of October 1894.
HUGHES & YOUNG,
23, Coleman Street, London, Agents for the Applicant.
HUGHES & YOUNG,
23, Coleman Street, London, Agents for the Applicant.