CUTTING TOOL WITH SUPPORTING PORTION FOR PRE-SET GRINDING ANGLE

Abstract

A cutting tool, in particular a knife, includes at least one blade with a blade body and a cutting edge. In order to grind or polish the cutting tool with precision even without a grinding template, provision is made for the cutting tool to have at least one supporting portion which defines a supporting plane by means of which, for the purpose of grinding and/or polishing the cutting edge, the cutting tool can be stably placed on a planar underlying surface, the blade body therefore being oriented at a working angle ranging from 65 to 80 in relation to the underlying surface. A set for grinding and/or polishing a cutting tool and also a corresponding method are likewise disclosed.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A cutting tool, comprising: at least one blade, comprising: a blade body; and a cutting edge; and at least one supporting portion defining a supporting plane configured to stably support the cutting tool on a planar underlying surface for grinding and/or polishing the cutting edge, so that the blade body is oriented at a working angle ranging from 65 to 80 with respect to the underlying surface.

12. The cutting tool according to claim 11, wherein the working angle ranges from 70 to 75.

13. The cutting tool according to claim 11, further comprising a handle, wherein the handle comprises at least one of the supporting portions, and wherein the supporting portion is arranged on a side of the handle facing away from the cutting edge.

14. The cutting tool according to claim 11, wherein the supporting portion comprises at least three points of support lying in the supporting plane which do not lie in one line.

15. The cutting tool according to claim 14, wherein at least 25% of the total length of the cutting tool is located between two of the points of support.

16. The cutting tool according to claim 14, wherein at least one of the points of support has a distance from a plane of extension of the blade body that is greater than 1% of the total length of the cutting tool.

17. The cutting tool according to claim 11, wherein the cutting tool comprises two supporting portions, which are arranged on different sides of the blade body and each define one supporting plane configured to stably support the cutting tool on the planar underlying surface for grinding or polishing the cutting edge, so that the blade body is oriented each time at the same working angle with respect to the underlying surface.

18. The cutting tool according to claim 11, wherein the supporting portion is adjustably arranged at the cutting tool.

19. The cutting tool according to claim 11, wherein the supporting portion is adjustable between at least two different positions to change the working angle, and wherein the working angle in a first position of the supporting portion is 70, and in a second position of the supporting portion is 75.

20. A set, comprising: the cutting tool according to claim 11; and a grinding and/or polishing tool comprising at least one grinding and/or polishing surface that rotates, during rolling of the grinding and/or polishing tool on the planar underlying surface, in a plane oriented perpendicular with respect to the underlying surface.

21. The set according to claim 20, wherein the grinding and/or polishing tool comprises a cylindrical handle body, and wherein a grinding and/or polishing surface is arranged at each axial end of the handle body.

22. A method for grinding and/or polishing the cutting tool according to claim 11, comprising: arranging the cutting tool with the supporting plane on the planar underlying surface, so that the blade body is arranged at a working angle ranging from 65 to 80 with respect to the underlying surface; placing the cutting edge against a grinding and/or polishing surface of a grinding and/or polishing tool that is oriented perpendicular to the underlying surface; and grinding and/or polishing the cutting edge by performing a relative movement between the grinding and/or polishing surface and the cutting edge in the longitudinal direction of the cutting edge.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a cutting tool according to an embodiment in the form of a kitchen knife with a blade, a handle body, and supporting portions arranged at the handle body which define a supporting plane for placing the cutting tool on a planar underlying surface.

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of the cutting tool of FIG. 1 from the other side.

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a sectional view in the cutting plane A-A of FIG. 1.

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a schematic front view of the cutting tool according to an embodiment with a view onto the blade body tip, wherein the cutting tool rests with one of the supporting surfaces on a planar underlying surface as intended, so that the blade body is oriented at a predetermined working angle with respect to the support, and wherein the cutting edge of the blade is worked with a grinding and/or polishing tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] One preferred embodiment will be described below in detail with reference to the enclosed figures.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a cutting tool 1 which is designed as a kitchen knife. This kitchen knife 1 comprises a flat, oblong blade 2 with a blade body 2a, a bottom-side, convexly curved cutting edge 2b, an upper-side, straight blade back 2c, and a front-side tip 2d. The blade 2 extends in a plane (plane of extension E) and is connected with a handle 3 extending in the extension of the blade 2 and having an approximately cuboid or optionally cylindrical shape. At the bottom side, this handle 3 has a concave seat for the fingers of a user, as is represented in FIGS. 1 and 2. The handle 3 can be designed as a single-piece handle body. As an alternative, it is also possible for two handle half bowls, instead of one continuous handle body 3, to be arranged on different sides of the blade 2, or for the blade 2 to be sandwiched between the two handle half bowls.

[0027] At the upper side or at the back of the handle 3, there is a supporting portion 4 on each side of the blade 2 which is oriented at an angle to the plane of extension E of the blade 2 and defines a supporting plane AE to be able to place the cutting tool 1 stably on a planar underlying surface U (e. g. kitchen countertop) for grinding or polishing the cutting edge 2b. These supporting portions 4 are arranged symmetrically to the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a on both sides of the cutting tool 1 so that the cutting edge 2b can be ground symmetrically to the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a at an identical grinding angle (3.

[0028] Each supporting portion 4 is formed as a continuous surface at the back of the handle 3 in the present exemplified embodiment. The two supporting portions 4 are joined at the back of the handle 3 in the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a and form a reflex angle of 3602*. It is not necessary for each supporting portion 4 to form a continuous plane surface by itself. It is also possible that a plurality of discrete and spaced apart supporting portions 4 or points of support 4a, 4b, 4c together define the supporting plane AE. For example, at the front end (facing the tip 2d) and the rear end (facing away from the tip 2d) of the handle 3, two spaced apart projections can be formed as supporting portions 4 or points of support 4a, 4b, 4c to define the supporting plane AE. This variant would have the advantage that the handle 3 can be anatomically shaped in particular at the back of the handle for being used by the user as intended, while the user cannot haptically sense the supporting portions 4 when he or she is holding the handle 3. For the stability of the cutting tool 1 in the intended working position, it is of assistance if at least three different points of support 4a, 4b, 4c of each supporting portion 4 are spaced apart as far as possible, in particular in the longitudinal direction L of the cutting tool 1 and perpendicular to the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a, so that the blade body 2a can be held engaged at a constant working angle to the grinding/polishing surface 5a during the intended grinding/polishing work. In the present example, the kitchen knife 1 has a total length L of about 30 cm. The two points of support 4a, 4b of the supporting portion 4 at the front and back ends of the handle 3 are here ideally spaced apart by a distance X that corresponds to at least 30% of the length L. The distance X between the points of support 4a and 4b, which is preferably measured along the total length of the cutting tool 1, is represented in FIG. 2 and accordingly amounts to at least 9 cm. Thereby, one can prevent, for example, that the blade's back 2d comes into contact with the underlying surface U during the intended grinding/polishing work of the cutting edge 2b. Ideally, the center of gravity of the cutting tool 1, when projected perpendicular to the supporting plane AE defined by the supporting portion 4, is exactly in the region of the supporting portion 4 or within the surface defined by the points of support 4a, 4b, 4c.

[0029] Furthermore, the point of support 4b, as represented in FIG. 3, has a distance Y from the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a that is at least 1%, that means 3 mm, from the total length (here 30 cm or 300 mm, respectively) of the cutting tool 1. The longer the distance Y of the extreme point of support 4b in the supporting plane AE from the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a is, the smaller is the tilted inclination of the cutting tool 1 in the working position. Thereby, it can be prevented that the working angle unintentionally changes during the intended grinding/polishing work. Basically, a longer distance Y is desirable to increase the stability of the cutting tool 1 in the intended working position as represented in FIG. 4, however, the distance A should not be so long that the handling of the cutting tool 1 during cutting is affected.

[0030] In the representation according to FIG. 3, the cutting tool 1 has a symmetrical cross-sectional profile.

[0031] In the present exemplified embodiment, the angle between the supporting plane AE and the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a is 70. When the cutting tool 1 rests on the planar underlying surface U with the plane of extension AE, this angle corresponds to the so-called working angle between the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a and the planar underlying surface U. Thereby, the blade body 2a is automatically positioned at an ideal grinding angle of 20 with respect to the grinding surface 5a of a grinding/polishing tool 5 mentioned in the beginning. The grinding/polishing surface 5a of such a grinding/polishing tool 5 rotates, as is well-known, in a plane oriented perpendicular to the underlying surface U when the tool 5 is rolling off on the underlying surface U as intended.

[0032] For the intended application, the cutting tool 1 is initially placed or pressed onto the planar underlying surface U with the supporting plane AE, so that the blade body 2a is arranged at the predetermined working angle of 20 to the underlying surface U which corresponds to the angle between the supporting portion 4 and the plane of extension E of the blade body 2a (Step A). The user exerts the compression force preferably onto the handle 3, so that the force introduced into the handle 3 directly acts, via the supporting portion 4 arranged at the handle 3, onto the underlying surface U and stabilizes the cutting tool 1 in the working position.

[0033] Subsequently, the cutting edge 2b is placed against a grinding or polishing surface 5b of a grinding or polishing tool 5 oriented perpendicular to the underlying surface U (Step B) and then ground or polished by performing a relative movement between the grinding or polishing surface 5b and the cutting edge 2b in the longitudinal direction of the cutting edge 2b (Step C).

[0034] To grind the cutting edge 2b on both sides, the cutting tool 1 is placed onto the underlying surface U with the supporting plane AE defined by the other supporting portion 4. Then, the above-mentioned steps (A to C) are repeated.

[0035] In a non-depicted exemplified embodiment, which is substantially based on the previous exemplified embodiment and has identical features, with the exception of the differences mentioned below, the supporting portion 4 is adjustable to change the working angle and can be optionally adjusted between a first position, in which the working angle is e. g. 70, and a second position, in which the working angle is e. g. 75. Ideally, the supporting portion 4 can be arrested both in the first and in the second position, so that an unintentional change of the working angle is prevented.

[0036] Further advantageous developments of the disclosure are possible.

[0037] An advantage of the present disclosure substantially is that the cutting tool 1 can be positioned at a corresponding grinding angle with respect to the grinding surface 5 without any further aids. In particular, a knife 1 whose handle 3 has the supporting portion 4 can be, tilted to the left and/or to the right, very easily and securely held at the corresponding grinding angle without any further aids. The whole handle 3 could be sharpened flatly. However, the handle 3 could also be ground internally to thus have a support or points of support only at two edges. Even rounded, projecting rivets which represent a four-point support would be conceivable.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0038] 1 Cutting tool (knife) [0039] 2 blade [0040] 2a blade body [0041] 2b cutting edge [0042] 2c blade back [0043] 2d blade tip [0044] 3 handle [0045] 4 supporting portion [0046] 5 grinding and/or polishing tool [0047] 5a grinding and/or polishing surface [0048] 5b grinding and/or polishing disk [0049] 5c handle body [0050] AE supporting plane [0051] E plane (of the blade body) [0052] S grinding plane [0053] U underlying surface