Abstract: A flatware sorting machine including a feed bin for holding unsorted flatware, a sorting system for sorting the flatware, and a flatware pick-up and transport system for retrieving the flatware from the feed bin and transporting them to the sorting system.

Abstract: A belt grinding apparatus is provided for obtaining maximum wear from an abrasive belt. The apparatus is particularly useful in sharpening skate blades and the like and involves a motor-driven belt arrangement in which the belt is passed over an idler pulley for guidance diagonally across the working edge of a relatively fixed platen whereby a diagonal section of the running belt substantially wider than the width of the belt is presented for grinding action against a workpiece.A movable carriage clamp is provided to hold the skate blade in grinding position and move it in a straight line against the diagonally moving belt. The platen is mounted for adjustment to accommodate skate blades of different thicknesses.

Abstract: An apparatus using an abrasive belt is employed for sharpening ice skates quickly and accurately to any one of a variety of different hollow ground curvatures. The abrasive belt is mounted on pulleys and driven at a high speed across a changeable head which shapes the belt to the desired curvature for grinding a skate edge moved longitudinally thereagainst. The skate is mounted by means of a clamp so as to present the blade edge in a precise grinding position with respect to the belt and the head. The clamp is slidably mounted on the top of a carriage moveable along a guideway parallel to the head, whereby a blade edge may be brought to bear in a movement corresponding to the profile of the blade edge. The head may be changed to different positions in order to present different curvatures in the belt, depending upon the radius of curvature desired in a skate edge.