Patent ID: 6866569

Claim:
A blade sharpening apparatus comprising a base member including a front face and a rear face; a slot defined in said base member adapted to receive and guide a blade to be sharpened; first and second apertures defined in said base member, one disposed on either side of said slot; first and second rear spring caps, one disposed on each side of said slot, said first rear spring cap including a first resilient biasing member, said second rear spring cap including a second resilient biasing member; said biasing members are substantially entirely enclosed in said rear spring caps; a first sharpening member indirectly connected to said first resilient biasing member and rotatable about a central axis of said first aperture; a second sharpening member indirectly connected to said second resilient biasing member and rotatable about a central axis of said second aperture; whereby said resilient biasing members are oriented so as to urge said respective sharpening members to a first position in which each of said sharpening members lies across a plane passing through said slot, said sharpening members in said first position defining a V-shaped intersection therebetween, overlying said slot, said first and second resilient biasing members further operative to allow rotation of said respective sharpening members from said first position to a second position as said blade passes from one end of said slot toward the other as said blade is sharpened, and whereby said resilient biasing members are enclosed and protected from debris and contaminants.