CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application serial No. 62/120,483, filed February 25, 2015.

BACKGROUND

1 . Field of the invention

The present invention relates to knife sharpeners. More particularly it relates to a knife sharpening knife sheath and method of making the same using a knife sharpening cartridge.

2. Discussion of related art

Knife sharpeners are commonplace in a professional or even in a cooking enthusiast's kitchen. These professionals/enthusiasts also appreciate that the proper sharpening of a knife is integral in the knife's operation for its intended purpose. For the amateur, knife sharpeners are not as commonly used, and even if they are, more times than not, the amateur will not have sufficient knowledge as to how to properly sharpen the respective knife. This proper sharpening is related to the angle at which the sharp edge of the knife blade contacts the sharpening during the entire sharpening motion. As such, the amateur will often cause more damage to the knife than good in their attempt to sharpen the same.

There are various knife sharpeners that seek to that include some form of fixed angular surface so as to prevent the damaging of knives during the sharpening process, particularly when done by an amateur. One form of such sharpeners is the integration of the same into a knife sheath. In this manner, the position of the blade with respect to the angular surface of the knife sharpening integrated into the sheath remains fixed, and the amateur user no longer has to worry about damaging the sharp knife edge due to their inexperience.

One major drawback to knife sharpeners integrated into a knife sheath is that they are very difficult and expensive to manufacture. In addition, over time the knife sharpening wears down, and does not provide the desired sharpening effect. In addition, as they wear down, they can actually cause more damage than good the sharp knife edge.

It would therefore be advantageous to manufacture a knife sheath using a knife sharpening cartridge so as to reduce the manufacturing costs and time in making the same.

SUMMARY According to an implementation, the knife sheath includes a body having opposing sides, a closed distal end and an open proximal end. A knife receiving slot is accessible from the open proximal end and is configured to receive and secure a knife. A knife sharpener receiving slot is disposed within the open proximal end of the body at a base thereof. A knife sharpening cartridge has sharpening elements and is configured to be received into the knife sharpener receiving slot such that sharpening elements are in communication the knife receiving slot.

According to another implementation, the sheath includes a knife receiving slot accessible from an open proximal end and being configured to receive and secure a knife. A knife sharpener receiving slot is disposed within the open proximal end at a base thereof, and a knife sharpening cartridge having sharpening elements is configured to be received into the knife sharpener receiving slot such that sharpening elements are in communication the knife receiving slot. These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present principles will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present principles may be better understood in accordance with the following exemplary figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a knife sheath with knife sharpening cartridge having a knife positioned therein, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 2 is a side view of knife sheath with knife sharpening cartridge, according to an implementation of the present principles; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the knife sheath with knife sharpening cartridge, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIGS. 4 is an end view of the knife sheath with knife sharpening cartridge, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the knife sheath without the knife sharpening cartridge disposed therein, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the knife sheath of FIG. 5, according to an

implementation of the present principles; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the knife sheath of FIG. 5 taken along lines B-B, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the knife sheath of FIG. 5 taken along lines C-C, according to an implementation of the present principles; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the knife sheath of FIG. 5 taken along lines

E-E, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the knife sheath of FIG. 5 taken along lines D-D, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIG. 1 1 is an end view of the knife sheath of FIG. 5 without the knife sharpening cartridge disposed therein, according to an implementation of the present principles.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of the section F shown in FIG. 5, according to an implementation of the present principles;

FIGS. 13A-13G show various view of the knife sharpening cartridge for a knife sheath, according to an implementation of the present principles; and

FIGS. 14-1 7 show the method for manufacturing the knife sharpening sheath, according to an implementation of the present principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present description illustrates the present principles. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the present principles and are included within its spirit and scope.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the present principles and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.

Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present principles, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 -3, there is generally shown the knife sheath with sharpener 10 according to the present principles. As will be described in more detail below, the knife sheath 12 has an open proximate end 1 8 for receiving a knife. The open end 18 includes a knife sharpener cartridge receiving slot 22 as a base of the opening 18. The knife sharpener cartridge receiving slot 22 is configured to receive and secure a sharpening cartridge 14 as shown. The cartridge 14 has sharpening elements 1 6 positioned therein such that the knife blade passes through the same as it enters and exits the open end 18 of sheath 12.

FIGS. 5-1 1 show various views of the knife sheath 12 prior to the completion of the manufacturing/assembly (i.e., without the knife sharpening cartridge 14 positioned therein). As shown, the sheath 12 has two opposing sides 20A and 20B which form the sheath. The open end 18 receives the knife and includes the knife sharpener cartridge receiving slot 22 at the base thereof. FIGS. 7-1 1 show various cross sections of the sheath 12 showing the various configurations throughout the same. As can be seen in FIG. 8, and as described in more detail below with respect to FIG 12, the sides 20 of the sheath are configured with opening configured to receive and secure the sharpening cartridge 14.

FIG. 12 shows an enlarged portion of one side 20B of the manufactured sheath 12 configured for receiving and securing the knife sharpening cartridge 14. As shown, there is an opening 1 00B in the sheath that has a specific size and configuration to accommodate the receiving and release of the sharpening cartridge 14. A post 102B spans the opening 1 00B and as will be explained below, is used to secure the knife sharpening cartridge 14 into the sheath 1 2. The post 102B separates the opening 100B into two parts, a distal portion 104B and a proximal portion 1 06B, with a distal portion 104B being specifically configured in size and shape to receive the cartridge 14. FIGS. 13A-13G show the manufactured knife sharpening cartridge 14 according to an implementation of the present principles. FIG. 13A shows a front view of the knife sharpening cartridge with the sharpening elements 16 disposed therein. As shown, the cartridge 14 has a U-shape from this front view. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the sharpening elements 16 work together to provide a specific sharpening angle to both sides of the sharp edge of the knife being inserted into the sheath. As such, it can be further appreciated that these

sharpening elements can be changed or altered to accommodate any desired sharpening angle for the specific knife/sheath combination. FIGS. 13F and 13C show the top and bottom views of the cartridge 14, respectively. Here is can be seen that the cartridge 14 has legs 120A and 120B that extend rearwardly (from the front thereof), and include angled clips 122A and 122B with flat snap surfaces 124A and 124B at the respective distal end of each leg. As will be described further below, the length of each leg 120 is configured such that the flat snap surfaces 124 "snap" over the post 102 to secure the cartridge 14 into its operable position.

Referring to FIGS. 14-17, there is shown the method steps by which the knife sheath is manufactured/assembled to provide the sharpening sheath of the present principles. As shown, once the two parts (i.e., the sheath 12 and the sharpening cartridge 14) are manufactured independently of each other, in the final assembly step, the sharpening cartridge 14 is snap fitted into the sheath 1 2.

According to one implementation, the opening 18 of the sheath in the area where the cartridge 14 is received is squeezed such that the side walls 20A and 20B are moved closer to each other (see FIG. 14). Next, the legs 120 of the cartridge 14 are angled upward and inserted into the sheath opening 18 and then through the proximal part 106 of the cartridge opening 100 (See FIG. 15) such that the Iegs120 are now positioned on the exterior of the post 102. The next step is to push the sharpening cartridge 14 until the flat the distal end angled clips 122 of the respective legs 120 completely pass over the exterior surface of the respective post 102 (FIG. 16). Finally, the flat snap surfaces 1 24 snap into the distal opening 104 which receives the entire angled clip 122 (FIG. 1 7). Once "snapped" in, the sharpening cartridge 14 is secured in place within the sheath and ready to be used. According to one preferred embodiment, once the sharpening cartridge 14 is snap fitted into sheath 12, the assembly is completed and the cartridge cannot be removed from the sheath by the end user. According to another contemplated embodiment, the cartridge 14 and sheath 12 can be configured such that the cartridge can be removed and replaced by the end user.

Although the illustrative embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present principles is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art without departing from the scope or spirit of the present principles. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present principles as set forth in the appended claims.