Scraper Accommodating Different Sizes of Blades
A scraper has a blade holder that tapers from a wider width to a narrower width. A blade with a scraping edge is mounted on the blade holder with the scraping edge near to the narrower width of the blade holder. The blade is interchangeably mounted and can be replaced with other blades. The blades can have different widths for their scraping edges. The tapered shape of the blade holder allows blades with different widths of scraping edges to be used in the scraper without the blade holder interfering with the use of the scraper. Embodiments of the scraper have handles which may have features such as a hand rest near the blade holder to provide additional pressure and a ring at the end of the handle to provide additional pull. At least one embodiment of the scraper has a bearing surface to fit on a guide on a sharpener.
This application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/872,413 filed on Aug. 31, 2010. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/872,413 in turn claims priority from U.S. provisional application No. 61/238,838, filed on Sep. 1, 2009. The entire disclosures contained in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/872,413 and U.S. provisional application 61/238,838, including the attachments thereto, are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to scrapers and more particularly to scrapers and interchangeable blades of different sizes.
BACKGROUNDScrapers are utilized in removing paint, finish and fine layers of wood among other things in areas that motorized tools are unable to operate. Typically, scraper blades are sharpened freehand with a file after being attached to a blade holder or handle by some means. It takes considerable practice, skill, and attention to the task to sharpen a blade by freehand methods and obtain a straight and sharp edge. A blade being freehand sharpened with a file usually results in the center hollowed, edges rounded or a combination of both, resulting in a gouged or uneven work surface when the defectively sharpened blade is used on the work surface. In addition to quality issues, the typical method of sharpening a blade, for example, a scraper blade, presents safety issues. In the sharpening process, pressure is applied to the blade with a file while moving the file across the blade. Workers sometimes slip off the blade edge with the file while moving the hand holding the file towards the blade, which can result in injury, such as a cut to the hand that is holding the file.
Understanding the dynamics to sharpen the blade does not always result in the ability to apply that knowledge. It takes time and experience. Many workers never achieve this skill, even after considerable effort. The several embodiments of the present apparatus and method eliminate the need to acquire the skill and provide a willing, but untrained, individual the ability to sharpen a blade in a safe, effective, and expeditious manner.
Whether from improper shaping when being sharpened, or from wear over time through repeated use and sharpening, scraper blades become unusable, and must be replaced. Therefore many scrapers are designed to accommodate changing in new blades. However, the scrapers and the interchangeable blades are closely matched in widths. This requires the purchase and use of several scrapers if different widths of blades are to be used. Additionally, this matching between blades and scrapers, means smaller blades require the use of smaller scrapers, which reduces the comfort and effectiveness of using the scrapers. There is a need for a larger scraper that can use blades of different widths to provide more substantial manual gripping, as well as reduce the number of scrapers needed to cover a range of tasks.
RELEVANT ARTU.S. Pat. No. 523,908 by Sly is for a “Machine for Sharpening Shears.” In Sly, an arm is attached one of the shear halves. The shear half is placed on a sharpening stone while the other end of the arm is placed in a guide. The arm keeps the shear blade at the correct angle while it is being moved on the stone.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,359,271 by Plummer is for a “Universal Tool Sharpener”. In Plummer, an abrading block rests on a base. A cylindrical guide bar fixed at each end spans above the abrading block. A carrier is fitted over the end of the guide rod to mount it on the guide rod. Tools can be fixed in the carrier and arranged so that their point or blade contacts the abrading block. Sliding the carrier along the guide rod moves the tools point or blade along the abrading block to sharpen the tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,675,981 by Lees is for a “Graver Sharpener and Facet Cutting Machine.” In Lees, a wet stone rests on a panel with a block running along an edge of the wet stone and support guide block support one end of each of two arcuate guide rods. The other ends of the guide rods are on support posts. A straight guide bar has nuts with apertures at each of its ends and spans the arcuate guide rods and can slide along the arcuate guide rods. A block for holding a graver is slid over the end of the straight guide bar to assemble it to the guide bar. The block can pivot about the straight guide, and it can slide along the straight guide. A graver held by the block can be put in contact with the wet stone and moved along it to sharpen it, while being maintained at a desired angle.
SUMMARYOne embodiment of the present invention is a bladed tool and sharpener combination with the means to abrade the blade edge square to its face at an angle resulting in the blade being sharpened. The sharpener has a sharpening element and a guide such as a guide rod. The bladed tool has a bearing surface on it matching the guide. By placing the bearing surface of the bladed tool on the guide rod of the sharpener, the blade of the bladed tool can be maintained in contact with the sharpening element in correct orientation while being moved back and forth. In one embodiment the bladed tool is a scraper. Alternative embodiments include adapters that can be substituted into the combination tool and used to sharpen other bladed tools such as chisels. These adapters do not need to be permanently mounted as part of the combination tool to be used. Among other things, this provides a means of sharpening a larger variety of blades and bladed tools.
At least one embodiment of the scraper also tapers at the end that supports the scraper blade. This taper allows the use of blades of different widths while avoiding access problems. When the end of the scraper has a blocked or square end, using a narrower blade means that the width of the scraper extends outside the width of the blade, and the square corners of the scraper interferes with reaching tight places, corners, etc. This can defeat one of the purposes of using a smaller blade.
As discussed above, the article and method of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages inherent in prior art methods and prior art devices. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and/or to the arrangement of the support structure set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various and diverse ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept upon which this invention is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Furthermore, the purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially including the practitioners of the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, nor is it intended to be limiting to the scope of the invention in any respect.
Additional utility and features of this invention will become more fully apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following drawings, wherein all components are designated by like numerals and described more specifically.
The embodiment of the scraper tool shown in
The sliding of blade holder 105 back and forth on guide rod 101 produces wear on slide bearing 114 and over time bearing 114 may become worn beyond effectiveness. Because of this, in the embodiment shown in
Although the embodiment of
Handle 120 extends from blade holder 105. Where handle 105 joins blade holder 105 there is a broad, curved, indented design element, or hand rest 106, in the top surface of the scraper to fit the heel of a person's palm to aid in applying pressure to the blade and or work surface. Hand rest 106 is most fully seen in
At the end of handle 120 distal from blade holder 105 is ring 121. Ring 121 is large enough that at least one finger may be inserted through it to pull the scraper. This provides a strong, positive grip for pulling the scraper while it is in use. The combination of hand rest 106 and ring 121 on the scraper allows a user to both apply pressure to the scraper and pull steadily notwithstanding the pressure being applied. As a grip, ring 121 allows the scraper to be used easily at a wide range of angles.
In the embodiments shown in
In the embodiments shown in
Referring now to
Turning now to
In
To the left in
In the center of
To the right in
The tapered shape of blade holder 220 on scraper 210 allows scraper 210 to accommodate several sizes of blades. For work on narrower areas, a smaller blade may be mounted on blade holder 220 without the corners of free end 221 of blade holder 220 interfering with reaching confined areas. The use of a small blade in a full sized scraper provides the gripping advantages that come with a fill sized handle. Larger blade sizes may be used to cover larger areas. The ability to accommodate several widths of blades allows a single size scraper to perform several tasks and does away with the need to purchase several scrapers to perform a range of tasks.
OperationAs illustrated in
As the scraper blade 107 is sharpened and mass is lost from the blade 107, the angle between the tip (the sharp edge) of the blade 107 and the sharpening surface 116 of sharpening element 102 is reduced, which results in a smaller angle on the edge, but sharper scraper blade 107.
The arrangement shown in
The frame 100 holds the guide rod 101 parallel to the sharpening element 102 and at a height conducive to enable sharpening of the scraper blade 107.
The above description describes only a few embodiments of the present invention. These are not the only ways the invention could be made. The scope of the invention should be determined by the claims and their legal equivalents and should not be limited to the examples shown and described here.
Claims
1. A scraper and sharpening tool for said scraper, in combination;
- said sharpening tool comprising a frame, a sharpening element, and a guide; said sharpening element being mounted in said frame; said guide being mounted in said frame in a spaced relationship to said sharpening element;
- said scraper comprising a blade and a blade holder, said blade holder having a bearing end and a free end and tapering from a wider width at said bearing end to a narrower width at said free end and, at said bearing end, comprising a bearing shaped to engage said guide, said blade comprising a scraping edge and being mounted on said blade holder with said scraping edge proximal to said free end of said blade holder, said blade edge capable of contacting said sharpening element when said bearing is engaged to said guide.
2. The scraper and sharpening tool for said scraper of claim 1, wherein;
- said blade is interchangeable with multiple other blades having scraping edges of different widths.
3. The scraper and sharpening tool for said scraper of claim 1, said scraper further comprising;
- a handle having a blade holder end and a free end, said blade holder end of said handle attaching to said blade holder at said bearing end of said blade holder.
4. The scraper and sharpening tool of claim 1, wherein;
- said guide is a round rod.
5. The scraper and sharpening tool for said scraper of claim 3, said handle of said scraper further comprising;
- a ring formed at said free end of said handle, said ring being large enough that at least one finger may be inserted through it.
6. A scraper capable of accommodating blades of different sizes, the scraper comprising:
- a blade holder comprising a handle end and a free end, said blade holder tapering from a wider width at said handle end to a narrower width at said free end;
- a handle having a blade holder end and a free end, said blade holder end of said handle being attached to said handle end of said blade holder; and,
- a blade, said blade having a scraping edge, said blade being mounted to said blade holder with said scraping edge in proximity to said free end of said blade holder.
7. The scraper of claim 6, wherein;
- said blade is removably mounted to said blade holder and interchangeable with other blades having scraping edges of differing widths.
8. The scraper of claim 6, wherein;
- said blade comprises a plate and an edge web extending at an angle from said plate, said scraping edge of said blade being on said edge web opposite to said plate.
9. The scraper and sharpening tool for said scraper of claim 6, said handle of said scraper further comprising;
- a ring formed at said free end of said handle, said ring being large enough that at least one finger may be inserted through it.
10. The scraper and sharpening tool for said scraper of claim 6, said handle of said scraper further comprising;
- a hand rest proximal to said blade holder.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 27, 2011
Publication Date: Aug 18, 2011
Inventor: Ele Grigsby (Louisville, KY)
Application Number: 13/095,381