CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.

61/651,133, filed May 24, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/653,410, filed May 31, 2012, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] This invention relates generally to food preparation stations and more particularly to chopping boards.

[0003] Presently, chopping boards are designed to be stationary and fixed during the act of cutting, chopping, slicing and otherwise preparing foods. During this preparation, food is moved about the board in order to complete chopping, slicing and cutting. Further, the user must manipulate a knife or other cutting object in many directions in order to cut food as desired. This wastes time and food as well as poses a safety risk as the user who must move the knife and food items, which poses potential risks for cuts and physical harm to the user.

[0004] Rather than helping users address these issues, standard practice is to allow the user to adapt to a stationary board. Accordingly, there is a longstanding need for an effective, non intrusive system that limits or completely eliminates the users need to twist and contort the body and or food product during the cutting, slicing, chopping and prepping process as well as provide adaptability for other cutting methods or blades.

SUMMARY

[0005] To address these problems, embodiments of the invention provide an effective modular system including a rotatable disc integrated into a portion of a cutting board that moves and rotates and is both easy to use change and clean. As the system is modular and includes nesting components, various embodiments provide flexibility in configuring the cutting system, providing a multi-faceted cutting surface, providing a more user friendly, ergonomic and safer cutting environment for the user. The cutting board is configured with an opening for inserting the rotatable disc and in various embodiments the rotatable disc includes a cutting element such as a slicer or grater. In one embodiment the cutting board includes a tray beneath the cutting board for collecting food cut by the cutting element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Fig. 1 is a top view of a cutting board 100 according to one embodiment.

[0007] Fig. 2 illustrates a raised cutting board system including an opening 110 for a rotational disc. [0008] Fig 3 shows a set of rotatable discs that facilitate various functions.

[0009] Fig. 4 shows various embodiments of a rotatable disc including a handle.

[0010] The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Fig. 1 is a top view of a cutting board 100 according to one embodiment. The cutting board includes a flat cutting surface, which includes an opening 110, which includes a ledge with male and female anchors and in which a rotational disc 120 may be inserted. The base of the rotational disc 120 attaches to the anchors in the cutting board 100 but allows the top of the rotational disc 120 to freely rotate. When inserted, the top of rotational disc 120 may rise above the surface of the cutting board 100 or may be flush with the surface. The rotational disc 120 is designed to allow items (e.g., food) desired to be cut to rotate about the vertical axis a uniform 360 degrees without the items being re-arranged by the user. This allows a user to slice an object in one direction and rotate the rotational disc 120 to slice the object from another direction without manually moving the food

[0012] The top of the rotational disc 120 and cutting board 100 surface may be comprised of either metal, plastic, wood or other suitable materials that are sanitary and easy to clean. The top of the rotational disc 120 may differ from the bottom of the rotational disc 100 and differ from the portions that anchor the rotational disc 120 to the opening 110 from one another in material, color, and texture. The rotational disc 120 may further include textural indicators on the surface as well as ridges, bumps or indentations that correspond to the ledge of the opening 110, in order to provide lesser friction during rotation or the ability to secure the disc in a fixed place. The disc may also be used independently apart from the cutting board 100. These alternatives may be used alone or in conjunction with another.

[0013] In another embodiment, Fig. 2 illustrates a raised cutting board system 200 including an opening 110 for a rotational disc 120. The raised cutting board system 20 is supported by sidewalls 210. The raised cutting board facilitates the free rotation of the rotational disc 120 by clearing the bottom of the rotational disc 120 from a surface on which the cutting board system 200 rests. In addition, a tray 220 can be inserted under the cutting board surface and under the rotational disc 120. The sidewalls 210 may include an interior track or rail (not shown) on which the tray 220 slides to move the tray 220 within the enclosure created by the sidewalls 210 and cutting board top. The increased height of the raised cutting board system 200 may cause the system to shift and move and as such a stabilizing material 230 such as a rubber membrane, silicone nubs or other suitable material may be affixed, inserted or molded into the bottom ledge of the sidewall 210 to facilitate stability. A bottom may be included connecting the sidewalls to further improve stability.

[0014] In another embodiment, Fig 3 shows a set of rotatable discs that facilitate various functions. The rotatable discs include a flat rotatable disc 300 for cutting, a grating surface 310, and a slicing blade 320. The grating surface 310 and the slicing blade 320 slice portions of an object run over the surface. The grating surface 310 and slicing blade 320 when used in the raised embodiment shown in Fig. 2 are configured such that the sliced object drops into the tray 220. This allows a user to slice food with a cutting element on the rotational disc and easily collect the sliced food in the tray 220. The various discs may also operate in a fixed position or by rotating within the opening 110.

[0015] Fig. 4 illustrates various embodiments of a rotatable disc including a handle. As shown in Fig. 4, rotatable discs with a grating surface 300 or a slicing blade 310 may be removed from the cutting board and used separately. These can beneficially be used alone with the use of a handle or other form of handling, formed of co-molded rubber, neoprene, plastic or the like.

[0016] Similarly as the system shown in Fig. 2 is raised, it is beneficial for the food being manipulated to drop into the storage containers below or directly into other suitable containers, during actions such as grating and shredding. Further the opening 110 may provide seating for a multitude of other discs which nest into the ledge, such as elements for juicing citrus, creating spiral cuts and or providing for the ability to heat or cool the discs.

[0017] The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.

[0018] The language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.