GUSTAVSSON, Niclas (Vassunda prãstaærd, Lilla Villan, Knivsta, SE-74191, SE)
STRAND, Urban (Græmunhehðqq 51, Uppsala, SE-75597, SE)
GUSTAVSSON, Niclas (Vassunda prãstaærd, Lilla Villan, Knivsta, SE-74191, SE)
Claims
1 A cutting board with an exchangeable cutting surface part (2) slideably arrangeable in a holder (1), where said holder (1) comprises a middle portion that extends between attachment portions (3a, b) that may slideably receive attachment devices (6a, b) on the cutting surface part, where the cutting surface part is provided with an air gap between the major portion of the lower surface of the cutting surface part and the upper surface of the middle portion, and where supports (4) are provided on the middle portion of the holder (1) that supports the cutting surface part (2) against the middle portion, characterised in that the holder is produced out of a single piece of pressed sheet metal.
2 A cutting board according to claim 1, characterised in that stop parts (7) are provided on the holder (1) that prevents the cutting surface part from being slid beyond the stop parts.
3 A cutting board according to claim 2, characterised in that locking devices (11) are provided on the holder (1) that locks the cutting surface part in place in the holder.
4 A cutting board according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that the holder (1) comprises a frame (5a, b) arranged to receive feet (9, 9a, b), where the holder and the frame are produced out of a single piece of pressed sheet metal. |
Cutting board
The present invention relates to cutting board according to the introductory portions of the independent claims.
In particular; it relates to such a cutting board with exchangeable cutting surface parts.
Background of the invention
US6460841 discloses a cutting board with a cutting surface part that is received by to side parts. The cutting surface part is provided with tongues that are received by corresponding grooves in the side parts. With such a cutting board, the cutting surface part may be exchanged and the side parts allows for keeping the lower side of the cutting surface part away from being in direct contact with the supporting surface.
The cutting board according to US6460841 has several disadvantages, among other that the cutting surface part is not held firmly in place by the side parts and, in particular if all parts are made from wood, which may expand when exposed to moisture, the connection between the cutting surface part and the side parts may start suffering from play which gives an unstable cutting board. Further, the cutting surface part may slide freely with respect to the side parts in the direction of extension of these, which gives another degree of instability.
An object of the invention is therefore to provide a cutting board with an exchangeable cutting surface part which gives a better stability than prior art cutting boards of this kind.
These and other objects are attained by a cutting board according to the characterising portion of the independent claim.
Summary of the invention
The invention relates to a cutting board with an exchangeable cutting surface part 2 which is slideably arrangeable in a holder 1. The holder 1 comprises a middle portion which extends between attachment portions 3 a, b that are arranged to slideably receive attachment devices 6a, b on the cutting surface part. Since the attachment portions are attached to each other through the
middle portion, the whole arrangement becomes stable. The cutting surface part is arranged with an air gap between the main part of the cutting surface part and the upper surface of the middle portion, advantageously keeping the lower surface of the cutting surface part dry while at the same time the stability of the cutting board remains.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, a support 4 is provided on the middle portion of the holder, which supports the cutting surface part against the middle portion. This gives a further degree of stability to the cutting surface part.
Stop parts 7 may be provided on the holder that prevents the cutting surface part from being slid beyond the stop parts and the holder may be provided with locking devices 11 that lock the cutting surface part in place in the holder.
The invention further relates to such a cutting board where the holder 1 comprises a frame 5a, b arranged to receive feet 9, 9a, b. Feet may be provided of various heights, which gives the user freedom to choose elevation over the supporting surface for the cutting surface.
In yet another particularly advantageous embodiment of the cutting board, it further comprises a rotatable cutting surface part 12.
Brief description of the drawings
Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the cutting board viewed from above at an angle
Fig. 2 shows a cross section of the first embodiment of the cutting board viewed from straight above
Fig. 3 shows the first embodiment of the cutting board viewed from above
Fig. 4 shows a side view of the long side of the first embodiment of the cutting board
Fig. 5 shows a side view of the short side of the first embodiment of the cutting board
Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of the cutting board viewed from above at an angle
Fig. 7 shows a side view of the long side of the second embodiment of the cutting board
Fig. 8 shows a cross section of the second embodiment of the cutting board viewed from straight above
Description of preferred embodiments
Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the cutting board viewed from above at an angle, comprising a cutting surface part 2 carried in a holder 1. The holder comprises a disc shaped, rectangular middle portion with two opposing sides along which upper tongues extend and these extend upwards. The upper tongues 3a, b have an L shaped cross section with upper parts that are directed inwards. These inward directed parts a received in corresponding grooves 6a, b on both opposing edges of the cutting surface part 2.
In the figure, the cutting surface part has only been partly pushed in over the holder, and part of the middle portion of the holder is exposed. On this middle portion, raised supports 4 are illustrated that are distributed over the middle portion surface and these support the cutting surface part while leaving an air gap between the major part of lower side of the cutting surface part and the middle part of the holder. The supports 4 are most simply produced by pressing.
The upper tongues 3 a, b are at one end provided with stop parts 7 that prevents the cutting surface part from being slid further that to the stop parts, and close to the stop parts are arranged protrusions 11 in the tongues 3a, b that engages the inner side of the grooves 6a, b and locks the cutting surface part in place such that play is eliminated and the cutting surface part does not dislodge once it has been slid all the way into the stop parts of the tongues.
Two lower tongues 5a, b extends along two opposite sides of the middle portion on its lower side. The lower tongues extends orthogonally to the upper tongues and the lower tongues too have L shaped parts with lower parts that extend parallel to the supporting surface and stretches towards the middle of the cutting board. The lower tongues are in their entirety U shaped with an upper part that is attached the lower surface of the middle portion of holder.
In the figure two feet 9a, b of different height are further illustrated. The feet a cylindrical with grooves 8 along their circumferences, where the groove receives the lower parts of the lower tongues. The grooves are not arranged at the middle of the feet, which implies that the feet may
be turned upside down such that different heights above the supporting surface may be achieved for the cutting surface part.
Fig. 2 shows a cross section of the first embodiment of the cutting board viewed from straight above, and in the figure the cutting surface part has been slid all the way onto the holder to the stop parts 7 on the upper tongues and is here squeezed into position by the protrusions 11. All the supports 4, in this embodiment 20, are visible and these are evenly distributed over the middle portion of the holder in a rectangular grid pattern.
In each of the lower tongues' lower parts that extend in parallel with the support structure, there are two recesses 10 that receive a foot. Altogether, this give four recesses that are able to receive four feet 9a, b. By sliding feet of a chosen height into the recesses, the elevation of the cutting surface above the supporting surface may be appropriately chosen.
Fig. 3 shows the first embodiment of the cutting board viewed from above, with the cutting surface part fully inserted into the holder. The figure illustrates a handle 13 embodied as a rectangular opening through the cutting surface part, that may be grasped when the cutting surface part is to be removed from the holder. The cutting surface part is symmetrical and turnable, such that the user may use the handle to pull the cutting surface part out of the holder, flip it, and reinsert the cutting surface part into the holder. The air gap between the lower surface of the cutting surface part and the major part of the middle portion of the holder makes it possible to keep the lower surface dry, and as the lower surface does not come into direct contact with the supporting surface, it remains clean until being used.
The cutting board according to the invention is particularly suited for being used with a set of exchangeable cutting surface parts for different kinds of food that cannot use a common cutting board. With such a set of cutting surface parts, properly marked to indicate what kind of food they are intended for, the cutting board may be used with, for example, a separate cutting surface part for meat, one for onions and one for other vegetables. Spillage form food does not reach the lower side of the cutting surface part, so it may be held clean and may be used separately.
The cutting surface part may be made form wood, plastic, glass or other substances, but many chefs do in particular prefer wood, so it may advantageously be made out of wood. The holder may particularly simply be made out of only three profiles; one comprising the middle portion
and the upper tongues, and two for the lower tongues. In an embodiment not illustrated, the holder may be designed in an even simpler fashion and produced out of only two profiles; one comprising the middle portion and the upper tongues, and one comprising the lower tongues with a mid section extending between these. In the upper profile, at production only the stop parts 7 and the recesses 11 have to be produced, and the recesses 4 pressed. In yet another not illustrated embodiment, the holder may be produced in an even simpler fashion out of only one folded piece of metal sheet or, if the lower tongues extend in parallel with the upper ones, out of only one profile.
Fig. 4 shows a side view of the long side of the first embodiment of the cutting board, and here it is clearly illustrated how the grooves of the cutting surface part receive the upper tongues of the holder. Two feet 9 are also visible.
Fig. 5 shows a side view of the short side of the first embodiment of the cutting board, and here it is clearly illustrated how the recesses 10 in the lower parts of the lower grooves receives one foot each.
Fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of the cutting board viewed from above at an angle, comprising a fixed cutting surface part 2 arranged in a holder 1 in the same way as the cutting surface part 2 in the first embodiment, and in addition a rotatable cutting surface part 12. The rotatable cutting surface part 12 is arranged above the fixed cutting surface part and it is rotatable around an axis that constitute the surface normal to the fixed cutting surface part.
Fig. 7 shows a side view of the long side of the second embodiment of the cutting board. The rotatable cutting surface part 12 is rotably arranged on the fixed cutting surface part and is held fixed relative to that with a locking spring 14. The rotatable cutting surface part 12 is held in place with its lower side somewhat above the upper surface of the fixed cutting surface part by a locking tube that prevents the rotatable cutting surface part 12 from being dislodged form the fixed one, and it is further provided with a spring that applies a force that separates the two cutting surface parts.
Fig. 8 shows a cross section of the second embodiment of the cutting board viewed from straight above, and here six snap-in devices 15a-f are illustrated that tends to lock the two cutting surface parts together with snap-in action. All the snap-in devices are arranged at the same distance from
the rotational axis and distributed 60 degrees apart, such that the two cutting surface parts may be locked together in six different angles with respect to each other. The snap-in devices 15a-f are constituted by six elevated parts that cooperates with six corresponding recesses. If the rotatable cutting surface part 12 is twisted out of one snap-in position, the elevated parts that constitutes one half of the snap-in device holds the rotatable cutting surface part separated from the fixed cutting surface part with a distribution of support points, which keeps the upper surface flat.