Before 1894, pencils sharpeners were massive:
OK, they weren’t all that big, but the only pencil sharpener available was the rotary blade sharpener, a pencil sharpener using the same mechanism as that old hand crank sharpener mounted to the wall of your third grade classroom. Though these old-school rotary sharpeners looked super cool and intricate, they were cumbersome. A travelling writer couldn’t use one on the go.
African-American inventor John Lee Love changed the way we think about pencil sharpeners in 1894 when he invented the “Love Sharpener,” the portable hand-cranked sharpener that peppers plenty of students’ backpacks to this day.
While the hand-cranked sharpener uses a rotary system that shaves away thin slices of pencil until the pencil comes to a point, the Love Sharpener uses a single blade to shave the pencil. The Love Sharpener catches the pencil shavings and keeps them inside the device until you empty it out (or expels them immediately).
The beauty of the Love Sharpener is that it can be integrated with any sort of casing; the Love Sharpener can be dressed-up and elegant, rugged, or sleek and simple, depending on the how one manufactures the sharpener’s casing.
Though we’ve since seen the electric sharpener come into play, the Love Sharpener remains relevant for its portability and simplicity. Anyone can carry this tiny tool in their pocket or their backpack.
So next time you’re sharpening your pencil, take a moment to appreciate John Lee Love’s work and whisper a ‘thank you.’
Check out the patent awarded Mr. Love in 1897 below, and shop our sharpeners.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
PATENT PENClL-SHARPENER.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,114, dated November 23,1897.
I Application filed April 23,1897. Serial No. 633,474. (No model.)
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that 1, JOHN LEE LovE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pencil-Sharpeners, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.
This invention relates to pencil-sharpeners; and the object thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which is simple in construction and operation and which is also adapted to serve as a paper-weight, desk ornament, and for other and similar purposes.
The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in Which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section of my improved pencil-sharpener, and Fig. 2 a plan view thereof.
In the drawings forming part of this specification the separate parts of my improvement are designated by the same numerals of reference in each of the views, and in the practice of my invention I provide a block or casing 5, which is preferably circular in form and in which is formed a circular chamber 6, and the inclosing wall 7 of the circular chamber 6 is provided at its upper edge or perimeter with an inwardly-directed flange or rim 8, which is provided with gear-teeth 9.
The bottom 10 of the chamber 6 is provided centrally thereof with a raised portion 11, to which is pivoted a plate or arm 12, in one end of which is mounted a pencil-sharpener 13.
The pencil-sharpener 13 is cylindrical in form, and the interior thereof is substantially of the usual construction, said interior being provided with a conical longitudinal opening, in one side of which is placed a cutting-blade 14:, and the lower end of the pencil-sharpener 13 is provided with a reduced extension 15, through which passes a small central bore 16, which communicates with the central conical opening in the cylindrical portion of the sharpener, and said reduced extension 15 of the pencil-sharpener passes through a corresponding opening 18 in the arm 12 and is free to revolve therein.
. The body portion of the pencil-sharpener is provided with a pinion or gear-wheel 19, which operates in connection with the gear teeth 9 on the inwardly-directed flange or rim 8 at the top of the chamber 6, and the operation will be readily understood from the foregoing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the following statement thereof.
When it is desired to sharpen a pencil, the point thereof is passed downwardly into the pencil-sharpener and slight pressure is applied thereto, and the said sharpener is carried around with the pivoted arm 12 on the support of said pivoted arm, and in this operation the pencil-sharpener is rapidly revolved by means of the pinion or gear-wheel 13 and the gear-teeth 9, and in this operation of the pencil-sharpener the pencil will be sharpened, as will be readily understood.
The object of the central bore or tubular opening in the extension 13 of the pencil sharpener is to provide means whereby the finely-divided portions of the point of the pencil will drop downwardly into the chamber 6, and it will be understood that the pencil sharpener may be removed whenever desired and inverted, in order that the chips formed in the process of sharpening the pencil may be removed therefrom.
This device is simple in construction and operation and may be made as ornamental as desired and may be made of any preferred material, and in addition to serving as a pencil-sharpener said device may be used upon a desk as a paper-weight or desk ornament.
Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a device of the character herein described, a chamber which is open at the top, and around which is formed or secured an inwardly-directed annular flange or rim which is provided with gear-teeth, the bottom of said chamber being raised and provided with a pivoted arm or plate, and a pencil-sharpener which is revolubly mounted in one end of said arm or plate, and which is provided with a pinion or gear-wheel, substantially as shown and described.
2. A pencil-sharpener, comprising a block or casing in which is formed a chamber which is open at the top, the top walls of said chamber being provided with an inwardly-directed end of said arm or plate, substantially as annular flange or rim, which is provided with shown and described. gear-teeth, an arm or plate which is pivot- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as ally mounted on the raised portion connected my invention I have signed my name, in presence 5 with the bottom of said box or casing, and a of the subscribing witnesses, this 19th 15 pencil-sharpener which is revolubly mounted day of April, 1897. in one end of said arm or plate, said pencil- JOHN LEE LOVE. sharpener being provided with a pinion or witnesses: gear-teeth, and at the lower end thereof, with O. GERST,
T0 a tubular extension which passes through the A. O. VAN BLARCOM.
…But he describes the “pencil-sharpener 13” as being of “substantially of the usual construction” which suggests tat the single-blade pencil-sharpener was already in common use. His invention is the mounting of the sharpener in a geared chamber, so that the sharpener would turn as the pencil is rotated. I’d like to have one of these, but I don’t think they’re in common use today.
…But he describes the “pencil-sharpener 13” as being “substantially of the usual construction” which suggests that the single-blade pencil-sharpener was already in common use. His invention is the mounting of the sharpener in a geared chamber, so that the sharpener would turn as the pencil is rotated. I’d like to have one of these, but I don’t think they’re in common use today.
No evidence this patent pencil sharpener was ever manufactured, and it had a very little impact on the design and development of pencil sharpeners used today. Sorry to say.