US2941292A - Hollow handle knife - Google Patents

Description

ilnited States HQLLOW HANDLE KNIFE Felix A. Mirando, Providence, and Waldemar .l'. Elsdorfer, Cranston, Rl, assignors to Imperial Knife Company, Inc., Providence, Rl, a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Nov. 13, 1957, Ser. No. 696,114

8 Qlairns. (Cl. 30165) This invention relates to a hollow handle knife. Principally, our invention pertains, and will be so described, to a hollow handle table knife. However, the invention is not to be so limited except to the extent indicated in the appended claims, and in general the invention is concerned, therefore, with knives wherein the handle is rigidly connected to the blade and is hollow.

For many years there have been only two kinds of table knives. One is the so called one-piece knife. It consists of a blade and a handle which are made from a single piece of metal, e.g., stainless steel. The metal is forged to the desired shape and the blade then is sharpened. The handle of such a knife is obviously solid, i.e., metal through and through. This type of knife has certain highly desirable characteristics. For instance, the connection between the knife and handle is very strong so that there is no tendency for the blade to break off. Nor can dirt enter between any joint that connects the handle to the blade, so that the knife always is" easily cleaned. Moreover, the knife is attractive in appearance because smooth flowing lines can be provided between the bolster and the handle.

However, a one-piece knife has several drawbacks, chief among which are fabrication expense and heavy weight. The fabrication expense arises from the fact that the metal of the knife must be forged at high heat and under substantial pressure, requiring expensive heavy duty equipment. The heavy weight of the knife is inherent and arises from the solidity of the handle. This same factor, i.e., weight, increases the cost of the knife. In addition, the nature of the fabrication makes it diflicult to secure many desirable designs inasmuch as the heavy embossings and delicate traceries which are characteristic of many knife handle patterns cannot economically be imparted by heavy duty forging dies.

The other type of commercial knife is the so called hollow-handle knife; This knife consists of three parts, to wit, a blade and two halves of a handle. It has been the practice to secure the two halves of the handle to one another and to provide the blade with a tang which extended through an opening at the front of the handle where the two halves were joined, a suitable connection of some sort being included to attach the tang to the handle. The advantages of this type of knife was that it was light in weight, comparatively inexpensive to make, and capable of being provided with various ornate designs at a relatively low cost inasmuch as the halves of the handle were made of sheet metal and could be shaped as desired with the aid of comparatively light dies and presses.

However, heretofore the hollow-handle knife had serious drawbacks. For instance, 'the blade tended to become disengaged from the handle if subjected to rough handling. Also, food particles and dirt tended to accumulate in the joint between the handle and blade. Furthermore, due to the inherent construction of the knife, it was extremely difiicult and usually impossible to provide a pleasing fillet between the bolster and the yet which has the blade integral, i.e., in one piece, with the handle.

It is another object of our invention to provide a knife or" the character described in which any desired pleasing line can be utilized at the joint between the bolster and blade despite the fact that the handle is hollow.

It is another object of our invention to provide a knife of the character described which is extremely sturdy, can be made at a relatively low cost, and cannot be distinguished, except for its weight and hollow sound, from a one-piece knife.

It is another object of our invention to provide a knife of the character described which, although having a hollow handle, has no joint between the handle and blade that can be weakened with usage or which can provide a pocket for the accumulation of dirt.

Other objects of our invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

Our invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the knives hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which are shown various possible embodiments of our invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a finished knife constructed pursuant to our invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional views taken substantially along the lines 2-2 and 33, respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top view of said knife;

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the two parts which constitute the knife;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view through the blade of the knife during the assembly of the two parts of said knife;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the handle of the knife and indicating a different method of securing the two parts of the knife to one another;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but showing another method of assembling the two halves of the knife; and

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but to a slightly larger scale and illustrating a modified form of our invention.

In general, we carry out the several objects of our invention by fabricating a knife from two halves which desirably, but not necessarily, are mirror images of one another. More particularly, we form the knife from two halves which are joined longitudinally to one another over the entire length of the knife, the joint extending along the top edge of the handle and blade, down the tip of the blade, along the bottom edge of the handle and blade, and up the back of the handle as one continuous seam. It thus will be apparent that the knife is fashioned from two halves, each of which includes one side half of a handle and one side half of a blade, the two halves complementally matching one another so that together, when assembled, they define a complete knife. In each half of the knife, the handle portion is unitary (in one piece) with the blade portion, so that when the two halves are joined they form an integral knife that consists of but a single piece, whereby the blade is firmly and rigidly secured to the handle and there is no seam between the two, i.e., the handle and blade, for dirt to enter into and lodge. Each of the halves of the knife thus joined will, as is obvious, constitute one side of a handle and one side of a blade. Thereby, the finished blade and also the finished handle consists of two side parts joined at the top and bottom edges as well as at the exposed end edges.

Thus, a transverse section through the knife, for instance, would show these two side halves. However, in the finished knife the seam has been ground down and finished off so that it is not visible and the knife seems to be made of a single piece of forged metal.

Preferably, the two halves are made from sheet metal and thereby readily can be formed to the desired contours and configurations so as to include desired design features.

The two halves of the knife are joined to one another permanently and rigidly by any suitable method and means well known to the art and which is such that there is nothing but solid metal at the joint. The metal either can be added material or the very material of the two knife halves themselves. Thus, for instance, the two parts can be joined to one another by welding, brazing or soldering, wherein a fusible metal rod is used which deposits metal along the seam to unite the two halves. Alternatively, the two halves can be joined by autogeneus welding. The welding can be done with the use of a gas flame, or an electric are, or by the heat generated simply by the passage of electric current. The welding also may be done under pressure and heat, as by introducing the halves, clamped together, into a furnace, or the welding may be done by introducing a fusible welding or soldering material into the hollow between the halves, clamping them. and introducing them into a furnace, whereupon the fusible material will liquify and run into and fill the seam between the two halves. The two halves even can be joined by cementing or by cold welding, i.e., by mechanical or hydraulic swaging, under great pressure.

It will be obvious that in the practice of our invention the two halves of the handle are internally concave. The blade halves, however, need not be internally concave, but if not, desirably are plane. In the preferred form of our invention the internal surfaces of the blade portions of the two knife halves are at least slightly concave before their permanent joinder to one another. Subsequent to the joinder, the seam is dressed down so that it no longer will be visible, and an edge of the blade is sharpened, this sharpening optionally and usually taking place through the seam itself, so that the seam actually may form part of or all of the cutting edge.

However, it will be observed hereinafter that it is within the scope of ourinvention to offset the seam so that the cutting edge will be through the original material of one of the halves of the knife, this arrangement being desirable under certain circumstances where close control is to be exercised over the composition of the metal in the cutting edge, since under some ambient conditions the joining of the two halves to one another by means of added metal may leave a sharpened edge which does not have a very high hardness. It should be understood, however, that we do not disclaim a knife wherein the added metal-forms part or all of the cutting edge inasmuch as we are able to utilize, by standard methods, added metal of great hardness, e.g., a steel welding rod having a very substantial carbon content, the welding conditions being so controlled that the deposited metal of the weld contains a high carbon content and therefore is able to maintain a sharp cutting edge Referring now in detail to the drawings and, more particularly, to Figs. 15, the reference numeral it) denotes a knife constructed in accordance with our invention and made from two side halves 12, 14, which are shown separated from one another in Fig. 5. Each of said halves includes a side handle portion 16 and a side blade portion 18. Each side handle portion is elongated and is internally concave, as can be seen from the shading in Fig. 5 and the cross-section in Fig. 2. Each side blade portion is slightly concave, as best can be seen in Fig. 3; that is to say, it is somewhat dished transversely. There also is a slight dishing at the tip of the blade portion.

The side handle portion 16 and side blade portion '18 of each of the side halves are made of a single piece of sheet metal integrally joined at a side bolster portion 20. Each of said halves is shaped to its desired configuration, as by a simple stamping and forming operation in a standard press, the shape illustrated being a plain one which is easily imparted to sheet metal by non-complex dies. In the form of our invention being described, the two knife halves 12, 14 are of identical shape but are mirror images of one another, that is to say, there is one left half and one right half which are of identical contour so that they can be butted against one another in exact registration.

The two knife halves are brought into registration and are joined to one another in any suitable manner, as has been mentioned above, so as to form a continuous seam 22 which extends all around the peripheral edge of the knife, i.e., both along the handle and the blade. A part of this scam is at that portion of the blade which ultimately will become the cutting edge. The knife then is put through the usual series of finishing operations which are standard for any one-piece forged knife. The knife is dressed to remove external evidence of the seam and is polished and has an edge of the blade sharpened, e.-g., by grinding and honing. Optionally the blade also may be hollow ground, in which event care must be exercised to select a suitably thick sheet metal, or to shape the blade portions of the knife halves prior to joining said halves so as to provide a concave longitudinally extending curvature which is characteristic of a hollow ground blade whereby it will not be necessary to remove too much metal during the actual hollow grinding operation.

It will be observed by reference to Fig. 3 that the sharp edge 24 of the knife blade includes the material of the seam 22, this material being sufficiently tough and hard to maintain an edge for the length of time desired for the particular knife being made. As has been noted above, by judicious selection of the material used for welding, a seam as hard as is desired can be obtained. For instance, if a particularly hard edge is desired, the weld can be eifected with a high carbon fusible welding rod, the deposit of which is under conditions, e.g., with proper fluxes or under an inert gaseous blanket, such that a high carbon content is maintained in the weld metal deposited. Optionally also, the weld can be effected'autogenously and the metal of the two halves can be selected from a steel of such a carbon content or such an alloy that it is able to maintain its edge so that at the seam 22 the metal will not quickly permit dulling of the edge.

In Fig. 6 we have shown one way of forming the seam. As there illustrated, the two halves, after being brought into exact registry, are firmly pressed against one another as by the jaws 26 of a clamp. Then a welding, brazing or soldering rod 28 and flame 30 of a torch are moved along the joint between the two knife halves to join the two in a manner well known in the art.

An alternative method of joining the two knife halves is illustrated in Fig. 7. In this method the two side halves 12, 14, arranged in registration, are inserted between the matching edges 32, 34 of an electric resistance welder. By relieving the jaws, as at 36, current flow is concentrated at the junction between the two halves so that the edges of the two halves will be heated to incandescence and, under the pressure exerted between the two jaws, will be autogenously welded to one another by resistance welding. This weld, of course, like the previous welds discussed, forms a continuous'seam over the full length of the knife at both its top and bottom edges as well as its two end edges.

Still another method of securing the two side halves of the knife to one another permanently and rigidly is illustrated in Fig. 8. In this method the two jaws 38, 40 of a clamp, which are shaped to match the two halves of the knife over the full lengths thereof, are applied to the said halves after registry of the edges. The jaws are pressed toward one another, as by screw means that normally form part of a clamp, and are inserted in a gas oven. Metallic material 42, e.g., hard solder, is inserted between the two halves before clamping, this material being fusible at a temperature lower than the deformation temperature of the material of which the two halves of the knife are formed. The gas oven is maintained at a temperature sufficiently high to melt the fusible material 42 but not high enough to permit deformation of the halves of the knives. The molten material will flow into the seam between the two halves where it will be held by capillary attraction. We have found that it is not necessary to hold the two knife halves in any particular position in the oven or to move them therein in order to insure distribution of the molten material throughout the entire seam inasmuch as the said material completely fills the entire length of the seam by capillary action. Thereafter when the two halves are taken out of the oven, the fused material solidifies and permanently and rigidly holds the two halves of the knife to one another.

It should be mentioned that where additional material is employed, for example, in connection with the methods described in Figs. 6 and 8, such material does not necessarily have to be ferrous inasmuch as non-ferrous (brazing and soldering) materials also have been found to function satisfactorily. The difierence in color can be con cealed by plating, and since the seam can be maintained as a hairline, it will not be noticeable where it crosses the sharp edge. Moreover, by judicious selection of nonferrous alloys, a silvery color can be secured which matches the material of which the knife halves are formed, this usually, although not necessarily, being stainless steel. Furthermore, it is within the scope of our invention to form the knife halves of alloy materials of other than a silvery color which may match, for example, the color of a brazing material utilized to secure the halves to one another.

It has been noted above that although in one of the forms of our invention, and particularly that described in detail with reference to Figs. 1-5, the two halves of the knife are mirror images of one another, we also contemplate manufacturing a knife in which the portion of the seam that runs adjacent to the cutting edge of the blade is not coincident therewith. Such a knife, denoted by the reference numeral 44, is illustrated in Fig. 9. Said knife consists of two halves 46, 48. The handle portions of these halves preferably are mirror images of one another. For example, they may be identical with the handle portions 16 hereinabove described. Likewise the bolster portions 20 may be identical. However, the blade portions of the two halves are unlike. The blade portion of the half 48 includes the entire cutting edge and terminates at a sloping shoulder 50 above said edge. The blade portion of the half 46 terminates at a complementary shaped sloping surface 52. The two halves of the knife are joined in any suitable manner such as has been described above.

Attention is called to the smooth line connecting the bolster of the knife to the blade, this configuration heretofore having only been obtainable in a one-piece forged knife. It will be observed that by virtue of the unitary construction of the blade and handle portions of each of the knife halves and the secure connection of the two halves to -.one" another, the knife is extremely strong and the blade cannot, be broken away from the handle by rough usage. Moreover, there is no joint between the bolster and blade in which dirt can lodge, the seam that joins the two halves constituting solid metal which is unitarywith said halves and therefore can be dressed down whereby an absolutely smooth unbroken surface joins said two halves along the seam.

It thus will be seen that we have provided knives which achieve the various objects of our invention and are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of our invention and as various changes may be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A hollowhandle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and an internally concave blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and means unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle.

2. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and means unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle, said means providing an externally smooth unbroken surface between the two halves.

3. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and means unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle, one of the edges of the blade formed by the two blade portions being sharpened along a portion of the seam.

4. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and

means unitarily joining the two halves to one another with solid metal around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle.

5. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and a weld joint unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle. a

6. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one .side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and a brazed joint unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle.

7. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and a solder joint unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top andbottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle.

8. A hollow handle knife comprising two registered halves, each said half including an internally concave handle portion and a blade portion, each said handle portion forming one side half of the knife handle and each said blade portion forming one side half of the knife blade, the blade portion and handle portion of each half consisting of a single piece of metal, and an autogenous joint unitarily joining the two halves to one another around the entire periphery of the knife in a single seam which extends along the entire top and bottom of the knife and along the tip of the blade and free end of the handle.

References Cited in the file of this-patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 8,873 Fallows Aug. 26,1879 70,352 Nichols Oct. 29, 1867 338,521 Hart Mar. 23, 1886 388,970 Hart Sept. 4, 1888 526,033 Griswold Sept. 18, 1894 689,049 Hirsch Dec, 17, 1901 1,541,307 Zinn June 9, 1925 2,285,013 Burns June 2, 1942 2,440,136 Barnes Apr. 20, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 6,060 Great Britain Sept. 12, 1907

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