AU724566B2

AU724566B2 - Sharpening aid

Info

Publication number: AU724566B2
Application number: AU38371/97A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Max Gregory Moncrieff
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-10-31
Filing date: 1997-09-19
Publication date: 2000-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 2017-09-19
Also published as: AU3837197A

Description

P/00/01 1 2815191 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT 99 9 i 9 9* i 9 9t*~ 0* *9*9 9 i99* Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for service is: Max Gregory Moncrieff Max Gregory Moncrieff WRAY ASSOCIATES 239 Adelaide Terrace Perth, WA 6000 Attorney code: WR Invention Title: Sharpening Aid Details of Associated Provisional Application No(s): P03361 The following statement is a full description of this invention,1 including the best method of performing it known to me:- -2- The present invention relates to a sharpening aid which is intended for use in the sharpening of a comb and cutter of a shearing hand piece.

According to conventional practice the cutter or comb of a shearing hand piece is sharpened by application of the cutter or comb to the axial face of a grinding wheel or disc where the cutter or comb is substantially located on the horizontal radius of the disc during the sharpening operation. In the past the cutter or comb has been supported from one end of a pendulum arm which is pivotally mounted at its other end from a fixed position located to one side of the grinding wheel whereby the cutter or comb 10 is able to be moved over the axial face of the grinding wheel. It is a characteristic of this sharpening arrangement however, that because of the pendulum nature of the arm the attitude of the cutter or comb to the axial face of the grinding wheel will vary depending upon the position of the cutter or comb across the axial face. As a result the sharpening of the cutters and combs is only at its optimum over a very limited range of movement of the cutter or comb over the axial face.

4 15 It is an object of the invention to provide a means of supporting a cutter or comb such that the range of movement available to the cutter or comb during the sharpening operation is increased without adversely affecting the optimisation of the sharpening action Accordingly the invention resides in a sharpening aid for the sharpening of a cutter and/or comb of a shearing hand piece, comprising a first support member adapted to be fixed to a support structure and a second support member adapted to support the cutter or comb in an appropriate attitude to be sharpened by a grinding wheel or disc, said second support member supported from the first member by a pair of parallel elongate members which are each pivotally supported from the first and second support members, whereby the second support member can be moved relative to the first support member without a change in angular disposition of the comb or cutter relative to the radius of the grinding wheel or disc.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the third elongate members are formed to be resistant to flexing. According to one embodiment the elongate -3members are formed of a T-shaped section. According to another embodiment of the invention the third elongate members are formed of a flat section formed with at least one twist along its length.

According to a preferred feature of the support for the cutter or comb is able to be adjusted to vary the position of the cutter or comb relative to the second support the angular disposition of the cutter or comb relative to the second support. In the case of one embodiment of the invention the support for the cutter or comb comprises a journal provided by the second support member having a central axis which is transverse to the axis of the second support member which intersects the mountings of the elongate members to the second support member, said journal slidably and rotatably accommodating a shaft, a retaining means provided on the shaft to limit the slidable movement of the shaft in he journal, the shaft being adapted to receive and support the cutter or comb 9* The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description of several specific embodiments. The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings of which; Figure 1 is a schematic view of a sharpening aid according to the prior art; *l 9 Figure 2 illustrates a sharpening aid according to the first embodiment; Figures 3a, b and c illustrate the utilisation of a sharpening aid according to the first embodiment in association with a grinding wheel or disc; and Figure 4 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention.

According to conventional practice and as shown at Figure 1 the cutter or comb of the shearing hand piece is sharpened by application of the cutter or comb to the axial face of a grinding wheel or disc 12. It is usual that the axial face of the grinding wheel or disc which is used in the sharpening operation has a convex configuration between the center and the outer periphery of the disc and the cutter or comb is substantially positioned on the horizontal radius of the disc during the sharpening -4operation. As shown at Figure 1 the cutter or comb 10 has in the past been supported from a pendulum arm 11 which is pivotally mounted at its upper end from a fixed position located above the grinding wheel of the disc 12 whereby the cutter or comb 10 is able to be moved over the axial face of the grinding wheel or disc as a result of the swinging action of the pendulum arm 11. It is a characteristic of this sharpening arrangement however, that because of the pendulum nature of the arm 11 the angular disposition of the cutter or comb 10 to the horizontal radius of grinding face of the disc or wheel 12 and the location of the cutter or comb relative to the horizontal radius of grinding face of the disc or wheel 12 will vary depending upon the position of the cutter or comb 10 across the axial face. This is illustrated at Figure 1 in which it will be observed that as the cutter or comb 10 is moved along the radius of the disc 12, it is in fact displaced out of the line of the l radius and its attitude to the radius of the axial face of the disc 12 is varied.

i It has been found that by maintaining the cutter or comb 10 in a substantially 15 constant angular attitude to the axial face of the grinding wheel 12 the cutting characteristics of the sharpened comb or cutter are significantly improved and the need for resharpening can be significantly reduced in frequency when compared to cutters or combs which are sharpened according to the previous practice which involves use of the pendulum arm 11 shown at Figure 1.

The first and second embodiments of the invention as shown at Figures 2, 3 and 4 each provide a means whereby the cutter and comb 10 can be supported such that the cutter or comb 10 is maintained in a substantially constant angular attitude with respect to the radius of the axial face of the grinding wheel as it is moved across the axial face of the grinding wheel and as a result of use of the embodiments the sharpening of the cutter and combs can be significantly improved.

The first embodiment as shown at Figures 2 and 3 comprises a first support member 21 which is intended to be fixed to a support (not shown) located above the grinding wheel 12 such that it is not capable of any pivotal movement relative to that support.

The shearing aid further comprises a second support member 22 which is supported to the first support member 21 by a pair of elongate parallel links 23 which are each pivotally mounted to the first and support members 21 and 22 at spaced positions along their length. In the region between the support members 21 and 22 the elongate parallel links 23 are formed such that they have T-shaped cross section in order to provide some resistance to flexing. The second support member 22 rigidly supports a tubular support 24 which is located such that its central axis is transverse to the main axis of second support member. The tubular support 24 slidably receives the shaft 25 of a support element 26. The shaft 25 is provided with an annular collar 27 which is provided with a clamping screw 28. In use the collar 27 can be adjusted in its position along the shaft 25 above the tubular support 24 to adjust the position of the lower end 29 of the support element relative to the second support member 22. The lower end 29 of the support is adapted to engage and support the cutter and comb 10 of a shearing hand piece in a conventional manner such that the face of the cutter or comb 10 to be resharpened is presented to a grinding wheel 12 in the correct attitude for resharpening.

i o.

15 In use (as shown at Figures 3a, b and c) the sharpening aid according to the first embodiment is mounted in association with a grinding wheel 12 such that the first support member 21 is located directly above the grinding wheel 12 and the cutter or comb 10 is located substantially centrally along the horizontal radius of the cutter of the grinding wheel. In effecting the sharpening of the cutter or comb the lower end 20 29 of the support element is moved radially across the axial face of the grinding disc 12. As a result of the supporting relationship of the second support member 22 from the first support member 21 the angular disposition of the cutter or comb 10 relative S" to the horizontal radius of the axial face of the grinding wheel or disc 12 is maintained substantially constant.

The second embodiment as shown at Figure 4 is of similar form to the first embodiment with the exception that the elongate parallel links 23 are formed of a flat sectioned material which is formed with a twist 30 towards each end in order to provide the desired resistance to flexing when in use.

As stated previously it has been found that combs or cutters which are sharpened by utilisation of a sharpening aid according to the first and second embodiments have 6 Significantly improved cutting characteristics when compared to combs or cutters which have been sharpened using a sharpening aid according to the prior art as shown in Figure 1 and that the need to sharpen the comb or cutter is significantly reduces in frequency.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

It should be appreciated that the scope of the present invention need not be limited to the particular scope of the embodiments described above.

*o* S00 0 0 *S 9 0

Claims

1. A sharpening aid for the sharpening of a cutter and/or comb of a shearing hand piece, comprising a first support member adapted to be fixed to a support structure and a second support member adapted to support the cutter or comb in an appropriate attitude to be sharpened by a grinding wheel or disc, said second support member supported from the first member by a pair of parallel elongate members which are each pivotally supported from the first and second support members, whereby the second support member can be moved relative to the first support member without a change in angular disposition of the comb or cutter relative to the radius of the grinding wheel or disc. i A sharpening aid as claimed at claim 1 wherein the elongate members are formed to be resistant to flexing.

3. A sharpening aid as claimed at claim 2 wherein the elongate members are formed of a T-shaped section.

4. A sharpening aid as claimed at claim 2 wherein the elongate members are formed of a flat section formed with a twist. 9f

5. A sharpening aid as claimed at any one of the preceding claims wherein the support for the cutter or comb is able to be adjusted to vary the position of the cutter or comb relative to the second support the angular disposition of the cutter or comb relative to the second support.

6. A sharpening aid as claimed at claim 5 wherein the support for the cutter or comb comprises a journal provided by the second support member having a central axis which is transverse to the axis of the second support member which intersects the mountings of the elongate members to the second support member, said journal slidably and rotatably accommodating a shaft, a retaining means provided on the shaft to limit the slidable movement of the -8- shaft in he journal, the shaft being adapted to receive and support the cutter or comb.

7. A sharpening aid substantially as herein described with reference to the embodiments of the invention. Dated this NINETEENTH day of SEPTEMBER 1997. Max Gregory Moncrieff Applicant Wray Associates Perth, Western Australia Patent Attorneys for the Applicant C li C