This application claims priority to provisional application, S. N. 61/069,649 filed March 14, 2008.

This invention relates to abrasive sharpeners, and more particularly, more particularly, to a two-step abrasive sharpener having a bottom with a V-shaped groove.

It is well known to use sharpeners for knives having two steps of sharpening, namely a course grind and fine sharpening grind. One problem associated with such sharpeners occurs when a sharpening operation is performed on a surface, such as a table or counter. During the normal sharpening stroke through abrasive elements, the blade of the knife being sharpened often strikes the counter to damage the already sharpened blade and the counter. Such damage requires the user to repeat the sharpening of the blade. Therefore, it is desirable in the prior art to provide an abrasive sharpener capable of avoiding impact between the knife being sharpened and the sharpener support surface.

Document USD 289 308 discloses an abrasive sharpener having two contact surfaces each with a pair of flat spaced surfaces beeing separated by an open ended V-shaped groove.

It is therefore an objective of the invention to provide an improved two-step sharpener that avoids impact between the sharpener support surface and the blade being sharpened. The sharpener here employs two abrasive stations created by crossed carbide abrasive blades and crossed ceramic rods. The base of the sharpener of the invention includes a V-shaped open groove on which the sharpener base can be supported on the edge of a counter and the like during a sharpening operation. Such a positioning of the sharpener further provides for a more natural, comfortable sharpening stroke by an individual. The object of the invention is an abrasive sharpener according to claim 1. The dependent claims 2-4 describe further embodiments of the invention.

• Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of two step abrasive sharpener of the invention;
• Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the sharpener of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is an bottom plan view of the sharpener of Fig. 1; and
• Fig. 4 is an opposite end elevational view of the sharpener of Fig 1.

Referring now to Figs. 1-4, there is illustrated the two-step abrasive sharpener of the invention, generally designated by reference numeral 2. The sharpener 2 has a housing 4 formed with opposite concave cut-out portions 6 (Figs.1 and 2) to provide handle areas to permit a user to grasp and support the sharpener 2 while sharpening a knife. A pair of upper slots 10a,10b (Fig 1) are created in upper portion 12 of housing 4 and respectively have V-slots in the form of a pair of crossed ceramic abrasive rods 14 and a pair of crossed carbide abrasive blades 16. The abrasive rods 14 and the abrasive blades 16 are respectively mounted in slots 10a and 10b in a conventional manner well known in the art. The rods 14 provide a fine sharpening cut for straight or serrated edges as the blade is pulled through slot 10a, while blades 16 perform a more course sharpening cut to a blade. The blade having an edge being sharpened is pulled across the housing in either slots 10a or slot 10b for sharpening while the handle areas 6 are manually gripped.

The bottom 20 of housing 4 has a pair of spaced flat base surfaces 22 extending the length of housing 4. The flat surfaces 22 are centrally separated by a V-shaped open groove or slot 24 that extends the length of base 4 generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the blade being sharpened through slots 10a or 10b and has open ends as seen in Figs 1-3. The V-groove 24 includes a pair of sloped flat surfaces 26 and 28 lying at a selected angle, such as 90° to each together, and the surfaces 26 and 28 are of generally equal widths that are alternatively arranged to bear directly against a support surface (not shown) such as a table, counter, bench or the like, at its edge during a sharpening operation. Either surface 26 or surface 28 may be used to contact the edge of the support surface as desired. It should be apparent that the base is supported on either surfaces 26 or surface 28 of groove 24 as the sharpener 2 bears against the counter or table edge while the sharpener 2 is held by the user in one hand. The user can then move a knife (not shown) through a selected slot 10a or slot 10b with the other hand. Because of the positioning of the sharpener 2 at the edge of the table or counter, damaging contact between a knife and a counter during a sharpening stroke is avoided. Further, a more natural, comfortable sharpening stroke for the user occurs as a result of sharpener being on the edge of the counter or table. The sharpener 2 can also be supported on a flat surface by housing surfaces 22 in an orientation flat on a table, bench, counter, and the like.