Blade sharpening system and method

Abstract

A system for sharpening circular, knife edged blades operates to bias an infeed grinding wheel into contact with the first edge of the blade and an outfeed grinding wheel into contact with the second edge of the blade. The grinding wheels are spaced so that they contact the respective edges of the blade at a point which is spaced by no more than 1 inch from the center line of the blade. Contact between the grinding wheels and the blade is accomplished solely by pushing the wheels from their sides which are opposite the blade contacting surface. The system includes provisions for adjusting the position of the wheels relative to the blade so as to accommodate blade wear.

1 . A system for sharpening a circular knife edged blade, said system comprising:
 a grinding head assembly, said grinding head assembly including a first, infeed, grinding wheel, and second, outfeed, grinding wheel, said grinding head assembly being operable to bias said infeed grinding wheel into contact with a first edge of said blade and to bias said outfeed grinding wheel into contact with a second edge of said blade such that each of said grinding wheels contacts its respective edge of said blade at a point which is spaced by no more than 1 inch from the center line of said blade.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said grinding head assembly is configured so that said grinding wheels contact their respective edge of said blade at a point which is no more than ½ inch from the center line of said blade. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said grinding head assembly is further operable to bias said grinding wheels into contact with the blade such that a line tangent to either of the grinding wheels and parallel to the center line of said blade is spaced from said center line by a distance of no more than ¼ inch. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein said line tangent to either of said grinding wheels is spaced from the center line of said blade by a distance of no more than ⅛ inch. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said grinding wheels are each retained within a respective cartridge and wherein said grinding head assembly is operable to bias said cartridge and said retained grinding wheels into contact with said blade. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein each of said cartridges is retained in said grinding head by a dovetail joint. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said grinding head assembly is operable to bias said first and second grinding wheels into contact with said blade solely by pushing each of said wheels into contact with said blade from a side of said grinding wheel opposite the surface thereof which contacts said blade. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said grinding head assembly further includes at least one control for adjusting the position of said grinding wheels relative to said blade. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein said at least one control is a manually activatable control located on a front face of said grinding head assembly which face is displaced from said blade so that said control may be manually adjusted without requiring a user to reach across the blade. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein said at least one control is an automatic control. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein said at least one control operates to sense the implementation of a sharpening cycle by said system and to adjust the position of said grinding wheels in response thereto. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein said at least one control operates to sense the diameter of said blade and to adjust the position of said grinding wheels in response thereto. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further including a pneumatic system which is operable to bias said infeed grinding wheel into contact with a first edge of said blade and to bias said outfeed grinding wheel into contact with a second edge of said blade. 
     
     
         14 . A method for sharpening a circular knife edged blade, said method comprising the use of the sharpening system of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         15 . A system for sharpening a circular knife edged blade, said system comprising:
 a grinding head assembly, said grinding head assembly including a first, infeed, grinding wheel, and second, outfeed, grinding wheel, said grinding head assembly being operable to bias said infeed grinding wheel into contact with a first edge of said blade and to bias said outfeed grinding wheel into contact with a second edge of said blade solely by pushing each of said wheels into contact with said blade from a side of said grinding wheel opposite the surface thereof which contacts said blade.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the system does not employ any spring linkage to push said grinding wheels into contact with said blade.