An Improvement in Machines for Cleaning Knives and Forks.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Oct., 1889
Com, lete Specification Left, 4th July, 1890-Accepted, 9th Aug., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Machines for Cleaning Knives and Forks.
I THOMAS JENKS of No. 3 Alexander Buildings Grosvenor Bath in the County
of Somerset Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:--
The machine is constructed in manner described by the accompanying drawing.
A is an outer bed having a flat bottom and upright sides within which works a
frame B having across it two narrow open slots. Upon this frame and connected
with it by screws running loosely in the said slots are loose blocks CCC as many
in number as required to fill up the spaces between the handles of the knives intended
to be cleaned. These blocks are acted upon by a thumbscrew or screws running
through one or each side of the frame B' so as to hold the handles of the knives
firmly when in position to be cleaned. The knives thus fixed in frame B are
alternately propelled forward and drawn back by two toothed wheels E E fitted on to
a shaft running underneath the slotted part of frame B and through its sides
which are shaped so as to be acted upon by the wheels The teeth of the wheels
are so disposed that when one tooth has propelled the frame the preceding one
begins to act in a reverse direction. The shaft D works in the sides of the outer
bed A. The blades of the knives are placed between two rubbers formed of felt or
leather or other polishing material fixed to and between two boards F connected by
a hinge or hinges at the back the under board and rubber being attached to the
sides and bed of the machine and the topmost board and rubber lifting up together
and acting in the manner of a box lid and being pressed down upon the knives by
a cross bar G (working on a centre screw) the ends of which rest under two
fittings H H attached to the sides of the machine which fittings are made to slide
up or down and are fixed and regulated by thumbscrews so as to vary the pressure
upon the knives when required. The projection I is a continuation of shaft D covered
with leather or other polishing material for the purpose of cleaning forks.
Datal this 10th day of Dutation 1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Machines for Cleaning Knives and Forks.
I THOMAS JENKS of No. 3 Alexander Buildings, Grosvenor, Bath in the County
of Somerset, Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
My invention consists of a machine for cleaning knives and forks the parts of
which machine are constructed and combined and worked substantially in the manner
hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
The machine is especially fitted for cleaning knives and I will describe it as used
for cleaning knives.
The machine consists essentially of a travelling reciprocating horizontal frame or
hed working in the sides of the uprights of the machine for supporting and carrying
the knives to be cleaned and two rubbers of felt, leather or other like material
between which the blades of the knives are carried by the travelling frame or bed.
The handles of the knives are fixed to the travelling frame or bed by loose wedge

page_text: shaped blocks which are made to clamp the handles to the travelling bed by the
depression of a wedge shaped jointe fastening. The travelling bed to which the
knives are fixed is alternately propelled forward and drawn back by two toothed
wheels fitted on a cross shaft underneath the frame or bed acting against projections
or shoulders on the said travelling bed. The teeth of the said wheels are so disposed
that when one tooth of each wheel has propelled the frame or bed in one direction
another tooth of each wheel begins to act in a reverse direction upon the travelling
bed to give the back movement thereto. On of the two rubbers between which the
blades of the knives are cleaned is secured to a board fixed to the frame of the
machine and the other rubber can be lifted from the fixed rubber after the manner
of a box lid and pressed down upon the blades of the knives on the fixed rubber by
a centred cross bar the ends of which are made to engage with incline slots or
snugs in the sides of the frame of the machine.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation with one of the side plates of the frame
removed, a machine for cleaning knives constructed according to my invention;
Figure 2 represents a cross section of the same;
Figure 3 is a plan of the same with the top rubber turned off the bottom fixed
rubber and
Figure 4 a plan of the machine with the knives removed, the top rubber being
shown fixed down.
Figure 5 represents the travelling frame or bed and a portion of the two rubbers
of the machine drawn to a larger scale and
Figure 6 represents a cross section of a portion of the travelling bed and adjuncts
thereof drawn to the same scale as Figure 5.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
a is the fixed stand or frame of the machine supporting the working and
stationary parts; b is the slotted travelling frame or bed working within the uprights
of the fixed stand a the said travelling bed being provided with side V shaped
projections ce which work in correspondingly shaped grooves in the uprights of the
stand; dd are the handles of the knives to be cleaned clamped between the wedge
shaped blocks e, e capable of adjustment by a sliding cross motion on the bed b. The
said blocks e are fixed to the underblocks 9, g by means of the screws, passed
through and working in the slots h, in the bel b. By these means the fixing
blocks e, e can be separated the required distance apart to accommodate handles of
different sizes. After the handles d, d of the several knives have been arranged
between the wedge blocks e, e the said blocks and knives are clamped together and
to the travelling bed by the end wedge fastening i. This fastening is provided with
a handle for raising and lowering it and turns on the centre 73. When the said
wedge fastening is depressed its wedge face acting against the wedge block e
adjacent to it binds the whole of the knives to the travelling bed as represented in
Figure 3, the part of the fastening i acting as a bolt and taking into a slot in the
end of the travelling bed. Each end of the travelling bed b is provided with a looped
depending piece 62 within which the toothed wheels k, k work the said wheels being
fixed to the cross shaft / turning in bearings in the uprights of the stand the said
shaft being rotated by the winch or handle m.
On each of the looped depending pieces 2 of the travelling bed bare projections
or shoulders p, gone projection p on the upper and the other projection on the
lower side of the said pieces and nearly opposite one another. Against these pro-
jections or shoulders p, q the teeth of the toothed wheels kk alternately act to give
the reciprocating motion to the travelling bed carrying the knives. For the
purpose of making the action of the teeth of the wheels k, k on the travelling
bed noiseless or nearly so the acting faces of the teeth are provided with blocks
of hard india rubber or wood inserted in the metal parts of the wheets as represented.
Each of the toothed wheels k is provided with three large teeth marked respec-
tively r, s, t. On the rotation of the shaft by means of the han lle m one of the

page_text: P
said teeth is made to operate upon the upper projection p on the travelling bed and
give the advance stroke to the said bed and on the bed coming to the end of its
advance stroke the return stroke is given to it by the action of the tooth behind
that last acting bearing against the lower projection q. In the drawing the tooth s
has just acted upon and is about leaving the projection q having given the return
stroke to the travelling bed while the tooth r in front of it is about to act upon the
projection for giving the advance stroke to the said bed. After the tooth has
given the advance stroke to the bed the next return stroke is effected by the tooth t
acting on the lower projection g the said projection having moved forward by the
advance motion of the bed to meet the said tooth t. In this way a reciprocating
motion is given to the travelling bed and to the knives clamped to it: u is the lower
or fixed rubber made of leather or felt or other like material fixed to the board u² on
the frame of the machine and wis the upper rubber fixed to the jointed board w²
turning on the hinge w³ so that the said upper rubber can be depressed upon the
lower fixed rubber u as represented in Figure 1 or raised from the lower rubber as
indicated in Figure 1 and shown in plan in Figure 3. The upper rubber w is fixed
firmly against the lower rubber z with the blades of the knives between them by
means of the cross fixing bar a turning on the centre a² and moved by the handle ..
By turning the cross fixing bar in one direction its curved ends are made to engage
with the inclined slots y at opposite sides of the fixed frame and by a wedging action
to press the upper rubber wo firmly against the blades on the lower rubber u.
handle of the fixing down cross bar also serves to raise and lower the upper
rubber w and its jointed board.
The action of the machine is as follows:-
The
The upper rubber and jointed board w, w² having been lifted from the lower
rubber u, the handles of the knives are placed between the wedge blocks
e on the
travelling bed b and the blades of the said knives made to lie on the said lower
rubber.
e,
The several knives having been clamped to the bed by the use of the wedge
fastening i the upper rubber w, w² is turned down upon the blades and fastened in
its place by the fixing down bar x. The opposite faces of the blades of the knives
are thus situated between the two rubbers u, w and by turning the handle m a rapid
reciprocating motion is given to the travelling bed and knives fixed to it. The
opposed faces of the blades are cleaned by being carried over and against the rubbers
by the motion of the travelling bed. By unfastening the apper rubber w, w² and
the wedge blocks e e the cleaned knives can be removed from the machine and others
put in their places. Powdered bath brick or other powdered polishing material is
sprinkled upon the rubbing surfaces of the rubbers as may be required.
The shaft carrying the toothed wheels k, k may be prolonged on one side beyond
the stand a and the projecting part be covered with leather or other like material;
or the said projecting part may carry a bob or polisher for the purpose of cleaning
forks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I
claim as my invention:-
First. The combination in a machine for cleaning knives of a reciprocating travel-
ling frame or bed to which the handles of the knives to be cleaned are clamped or
locked, with a pair of rubbers between which the blades of the knives are carried by
the reciprocating motion of the said travelling bed substantially as berein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings; the said machine having
upon its rotating shaft a bob or polisher for cleaning forks as before described.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for giving the reciprocating motion to the
ravelling bed of the machine.
Thirdly. The arrangement or combination of parts hereinbefore described and

page_text: illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for clamping the handles of the knives to
the travelling bed of the machine.
Fourthly. The use in the knife cleaning machine of the hinged upper rubber and
the arrangement of parts described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings for
fastening down the said upper rubber.
axil
T1900
THOMAS JENKS.