SHARPENER FOR MARKING INSTRUMENTS

摘要

A sharpener for marking instruments such as pencils and crayons, including a blade holder with a throat having a blade mounted to engage and sharpen an inserted end of a pencil, and a squeezer having plural members extending toward the throat and resiliently biased for gripping a pencil inserted into the throat, to enable sharpening of pencils of differing cross-sectional dimensions, while inhibiting insertion of a child's finger into the throat. An external housing enclosing the holder and squeezer provides a trap to collect shavings cut by the blade and further protects fingers from the blade. A separate plastic-bladed sharpening element can be mounted on the trap opposite the blade holder to accommodate crayons.

主权项

1. A sharpener for marking instruments, comprising a blade holder with a throat having a blade mounted therein to engage and sharpen an end portion of a pencil inserted in the throat, and a squeezer disposed forwardly of the throat for resiliently gripping or squeezing a shaft of a pencil inserted in the sharpener while inhibiting insertion of a child's finger into the throat, wherein the resilient squeezer is capable of gripping or squeezing pencil shafts having any of a range of differing cross-sectional dimensions.