Improved Apparatus for Sharpening Razors.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 26th June, 1889-Accepted, 3rd Aug., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Sharpening Razors.
I, GEORGE HAMPTON COURSEN, of No. 1017 North Calvert Street in the City of
Baltimore and State of Maryland, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
My Invention relates to a rotary razor strop consisting of a wheel in the form
of two truncated cones united at their base traversed by a horizontal axle and
provided with means for rotating it. The body or foundation of the strop would
preferably be of wood built up in sections glued together with the grain of adjacent
sections at right angles and it would be covered with leather or equivalent material
or with canvas or canvas and leather which would be secured to the body after having
been first stretched or rolled so as to allow it to conform to the conical form of
the body. The body is provided with end plates by which it is secured to
the axle.
The wheel is contained in a casing or trough having a hinged cover, and it is
rotated by a crank handle through a toothed wheel which is mounted on the inner end
of the crank and a pinion on the wheel axle. The crank is supported in a bracket
on the inner face of the casing and a washer is interposed between the gear wheel
and the casing on the inside with a button on the outside of the casing to provide
a bearing for the handle. The axle of the strop turns in bearings in the form of
plates fitted in slotted guards which project from the ends of the casing. The guards
are provided with tongues which, when turned down, serve to secure the plates in
position after they have been placed in the guards. The casing is furnished with a
baso by which it may be secured to a support, either by screwing or by a clamp. In
the latter case, the base is adapted to fit in dovetail guides in the clamp which consists
of two members hinged together at one end and having a bolt passing through
both members by which the clamp may be attached to a table or other support.
Dated this 30th day of October 1888
G. H. COURSEN.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Sharpening Razors.
I, GEORGE HAMPTON COURSEN, of 1017 North Calvert Street, in the City of
Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 :-
The object of my invention is to provide a rotary razor strop by means of which
a razor may be more quickly and better sharpened than is possible-with the ordinary
flat strops at present employed.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Sharpening Razors.
I, GEORGE HAMPTON COURSEN, of 1017 North Calvert Street, in the City of
Baltimore, State of Maryland, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 :-
The object of my invention is to provide a rotary razor strop by means of which
a razor may be more quickly and better sharpened than is possible-with the ordinary
flat strops at present employed.
The Invention consists;
1st. In a razor strop capable of a rotary motion.
2nd. In the construction of the strop.
3rd. In the means for attaching and detaching the device to and from a convenient
support; and
4th. In the construction and combination of the several parts of the complete
device, substantially as shewn and described.
017

page_text: Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,
in which figure 1 is a central vortical longitudinal section through the complete devico
figure 2 is a transverse vertical section on line x-x figure 1; and figures 3 and
detail sectional views; similar figures of reference indicato corresponding parts in all
the views.
aro
In the drawings 10 is. the foundation of the strop in the form of a wheel or
rotatory body which partakes of the contour of two truncated cones united at their
base and is preferably made of wood. In order to prevent the wheel from splitting,
it is made of several circular pieces 11 glued or otherwise cemented together, the
grains of the wood in any two adjacent pieces being at a right angle with each other.
The wheel 10 is traversed by an axle 12 carrying end plates 13 which are secured to
the wheel by nails or pins around their edges. The wheel is provided with a circum-
ferential covering or jacket 13" of leather or equivalent material, or canvas, or
canvas and leather, the said jacket being firmly glued or cemented to the body of the
wheel after having first been stretched by rolling or stretching along the centre so
as to allow it to conform to the double conical form of the wheel. By so shaping the
jacket, any sharpening composition, such as emery paste, may be spread upon the
section of the jacket covering one cone only, while the other section may be allowed
to remain plain, so that the razor may be applied on either side of the whocl without
coming in contact with the other.
The wheel 10 is contained in a short metal case 14, preferably semi-circular and
provided with a hinged cover 15 and it is rotated by means of a crank handlo A
through toothed wheel 17 and pinion 16 secured upon its axle 12, as seen in figure 1.
The inner end of the crank on which the gear wheel 17 is keyed is supported by a
metal bracket 17" secured to the inner face of the casing at the end, as shewn in
detail in figure 4. A washer 18 is placed between the gear wheel and the casing and
a button 19 is attached to the outer face of the said casing to provide a bearing for
that end of the crank.
The axle of the sharpening wheel 10 turns in metal bearings in the form of
plates 19 (as best shown in figure 3) which fit snugly between the ends of the casing 14
and outer guards 20 secured to the same, the said guards being furnished with small
tongues 21 integral with the upper edges of the guards which serve to secure the
plates in position. In putting the parts together, the plates 19 having been placed
on the ends of the axlo 12 they are dropped into their seats between the casing and
guards 20 which latter are slotted to allow the axles to descend and when the journal
plates 19 are in proper position they are retained in such position by turning down
the tongues 21. The object of this arrangement is to facilitato the ready removal of
the wheel when worn, and the substitution of a new one at any time should it
bo desirable to do so, as the remaining portions of the device will outwear the
sharpening wheel and to that end the wheels may be supplied separately.
The casing 14 is secured to a metal base 22 which has a holo 23 at each corner
whereby the strop may be nailed or screwed permanently to a dressing table or other
convenient support. Or the strop may be secured by a clamp 24 and in this case
the base 22 is made to fit in dovetail guides 24ª formed longitudinally with the bed
of the clamp which guides may slightly converge toward the inner end of the clamp
so as to firmly engage with the said base 22. The clamp consists of an upper and
lower member 25 and 26 hinged together at one end and the lower member, which is
preferably the shorter, has teeth 27 in the upper face to engage with the under surface
of a tablo or like article. A headed bolt 28 passes loosely through both members
of the clamp 24 which are clamped together by a nut 29 on the lower end of
the bolt.
I desire it to be distinctly understood that, in shaping the wheel, it may if desired
be given a contour corresponding to two truncated cones united at the apex and that
the leather or other material constituting the jacket may cover only a portion of the
periphery in that event the sharpening compound employed may be spread directly
upon the wheel.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A wheel provided with a sharpening and a finishing peripheral surface and formed
to the contour of united truncated cones, substantially as shewn and described and for
the purpose specified.
2. A rotatable wheel provided with a-sharpening and a finishing surface at opposite
sides of the centre, substantially as shewn and described.
3. A rotatable wheel provided with a sharpening and a finishing surface at opposite
sides of the centre and formed to the contour of two united truncated cones, sub-
stantially as shewn and described.
4. The combination, with a rotatable wheel consisting of a series of united
sections formed to the contour of two connected truncated cones, of a yielding
peripheral jacket secured to the said wheel, substantially as shewn and described.
5. The combination, with a rotatable wheel consisting of a series of united sections
formed to the contour of two connected truncated cones of greatest diameter in the
centre, of a yielding peripheral jacket secured to the wheel, substantially as shewn
and described.
6. The combination, with a rotatable wheel consisting of a series of united
sections formed to the contour of two connected truncated cones of greatest diameter
in the centre, of a yielding peripheral jacket secured to the wheel having one portion
of the surface provided with a coating of a sharpening composition, substantially as
shewn and described.
7. The combination with a casing and guards attached to the same, said casing
and guards being provided with aligning slots, of a rotatable sharpening wheel an
axle passing through the wheel and detachable journal plates or bearings receiving
the said axles located between tlio casing and guards, said guards being provided
with a series of flexible tongues, substantially as shewn and described.
8. The combination, with a casing and guards attached to the same said casing
and guards being provided with aligning slots and flexible tongues; of a rotatablo
sharpening wheel, an axle passing through said wheel, a detachable journal plato or
bearing receiving said axle located between the casing and guards, and means sub-
stantially as shewn and described for rotating the wheel and securing the casing to
a support, as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 25th day of June LodY.
Dated thms 25th day of June Loc
G. H. COURSEN.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.