The patents found in the applicant's novelty search are found below:
F. H. Smith 805,886 Nov. 28, 1905 J. A. Webster 819,104 May 1, 1906 B. F. Mayo 847,423 Mar. 19, 1907 F. B. Canode 1,008,949 Nov. 14, 1911 E. H. Klaber & S. Whitehead 1,050,770 Jan. 14, 1913 M. Berndt 1,504,019 Aug. 5, 1924 C. Holenstein 1,565,149 Dec. 8, 1925 G. W. Dahle 3,750,724 Aug. 7, 1973
Canode U.S. Pat. No. 1,008,949 appears to be the most relevant prior art. Canode teaches the employment of a single cutter and a rotatable chuck device which feeds a pencil to the cutter. Applicant's claimed device is a marked improvement over the prior art in a number of respects. It has a fixed pencil guide which backs up the pencil opposite the area where it is being abraded by the cutter in contrast, for example, to Canode and the other prior art disclosures which, being absent such a fixed guide, either have inadequate backing for a pencil opposite the cutter or must employ an expensive and rugged chucking arrangement. In addition applicant provides a novel chuck-feed arrangement for the pencil which is at once more effective and far simpler in construction than the devices disclosed in the prior art.