Drill sharpener
First Claim
1. A drill sharpener comprising a housing which encloses a rotatable grinding wheel assembly, the housing having a point-splitting port to facilitate a point-splitting operation upon a multi-flute drill bit to remove material between said flutes, the port comprising a guide feature that maintains a longitudinal length of the bit along a predetermined axial line and at a predetermined angular orientation with respect to said line as said material is removed by the grinding wheel assembly, and wherein the point-splitting operation is carried out by inserting the bit into the port and using the guide feature to maintain the bit in a first orientation while removing a first portion of said material from the bit, removing the bit from the port, and reinserting the bit into the port and using the guide feature to maintain the bit in a second orientation that is 180 degrees opposite the first orientation with respect to the axial line while removing a second portion of said material from the bit.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A drill sharpener is provided which has a point-splitting port which simplifies the procedure for producing a split point on a drill bit undergoing sharpening. The point-splitting port is positioned relative to a grinding wheel assembly such that, when the drill held by a chuck is advanced toward the grinding wheel, a flute of the drill at the drill tip is brought into contact with the grinding wheel. The port has alignment stops therein which mate with flats provided on the barrel of the chuck to ensure proper alignment of the chuck and drill relative to the grinding wheel. The stops also limit the extent of inward travel of the chuck and drill to a predetermined distance. A debris or grit collection tube is also provided to be inserted into an unused port of the drill sharpener, to contain and confine any debris or grit attempting to exit the sharpener through the unused port.
62 Citations
18 Claims
- 1. A drill sharpener comprising a housing which encloses a rotatable grinding wheel assembly, the housing having a point-splitting port to facilitate a point-splitting operation upon a multi-flute drill bit to remove material between said flutes, the port comprising a guide feature that maintains a longitudinal length of the bit along a predetermined axial line and at a predetermined angular orientation with respect to said line as said material is removed by the grinding wheel assembly, and wherein the point-splitting operation is carried out by inserting the bit into the port and using the guide feature to maintain the bit in a first orientation while removing a first portion of said material from the bit, removing the bit from the port, and reinserting the bit into the port and using the guide feature to maintain the bit in a second orientation that is 180 degrees opposite the first orientation with respect to the axial line while removing a second portion of said material from the bit.
- 7. A drill sharpener comprising a housing which encloses a grinding wheel assembly and a chuck adapted to securely retain a multi-flute drill bit, the housing comprising a sharpening port adapted to receive the chuck to present said drill bit to the grinding wheel assembly to sharpen said flutes, the housing further comprising a point-splitting port adapted to receive the chuck to present said drill bit to the grinding wheel assembly to remove material between said flutes, wherein the point-splitting port comprises a guide feature that maintains a longitudinal length of the bit along a predetermined axial line and at a predetermined angular orientation with respect to said line as said material is removed by the grinding wheel assembly during the point-splitting operation, and wherein the point-splitting operation is carried out by inserting the bit into the point-splitting port using the guide feature to maintain the bit in a first orientation while removing a first portion of material from between said flutes, removing the bit from the port, and reinserting the bit into the port using the guide feature to maintain the bit in a second orientation that is 180 degrees opposite the first orientation with respect to the axial line while removing a second portion of said material from between said flutes.
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13. A drill sharpener comprising:
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a chuck adapted to securely retain a multi-flute drill bit;
a housing which encloses a grinding wheel assembly, the housing comprising a sharpening port adapted to receive the chuck to present said drill bit to the grinding wheel assembly to sharpen said flutes and a point-splitting port adapted to receive the chuck to present said drill bit to the grinding wheel assembly to remove material between said flutes; and
a debris collector to collect debris from the grinding wheel assembly, wherein the collector is adapted to be removeably coupled to either one of said ports while the chuck is inserted into the remaining one of said ports, and wherein the debris collector is further adapted to be connected to a vacuum hose. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification