The usual method today for cutting onions is to use a knife and at the same time hold the onion with the fingers of the one hand and successively moving it along the onion which is thereby cut up to slices. The fingertips are then used to hold and to dis- place the onion. Especially a person not experienced to this procedure can easily get his fingers cut. In the market there are also available a number of different mechanical devices for onion cutting but it has turned out that their production costs are high and that the handling and cleaning of them is diffi- cult.

The object of the present invention is to provide a cutting de- vice, particularly for onions, of a new type which does elimi- nate the above-mentioned drawbacks simultaneously facilitating the cutting approaches and making it convenient to perform. The features characterizing the invention are set out in the patent claims.

Thanks to the invention there has now been provided a cutting device for fruit and vegetables which is especially suitable for onion cutting and which in a very safe and simple way performs the cutting process. It has turned out that this cutting device does in an excellent manner satisfy its purposes and also that it can simply be manufactured at a low cost. Thanks to its sim- plicity the cutting device can also conveniently be dished and kept clean because it does consist of two parts only which are

pivotably connected with each other by means of a hinge. The part of the device which is adapted to support the onion is con- stituted by a cutting-board which can be placed i. e. on a table.

In this device the cutting member is pivotably mounted on the cutting-board so that when used it can perform a swinging move- ment down towards the cutting-board and to an onion placed thereon so that the latter can be sliced. To obtain a high qual- ity cutting process the cutting-board exhibits a plurality of projections which are to support the onion properly and which penetrate the openings in the grid which the knife blades form.

This occurs during the final phase of the cutting process, when the knife blades move pass the lower portion of the onion and penetrate into the grooves running between the projection whereby a complete cutting of the onion is achieved.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the drawings Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic cross sectional lateral view showing a cutting device according to the invention which has its cutting member in an upper position and the onion to be cut placed on its support surface of the pad constituted by a cutting-board; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross sectional view of the cutting de- vice shown in Fig. 1, as appearing when the cutting member has been pushed down into the onion and cut into pieces. The onion can then conveniently be pushed off the cutting-board; Fig. 3 is a top view illustrating the cutting-board including the area which shows as a counter pad and comprises the projec- tions on which the onion is to be placed; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic top view of the cutting member.

As appears from the drawings this preferred embodiment of the invention is constituted by a cutting device 1 for vegetables or fruit, especially onions, the device comprising a cutting member 2 having knife blades 3,4 intersecting each other or parallel to each other so as to form a grid. According to an alternative em- bodiment the knife blades are oriented so that they are parallel in one direction only. Irrespective of whether the knife blades 3,4 cross each other or are parallel they are adapted to cooper- ate with a counter pad 5 when the cutting member 1 is pushed into the onion 6 for the purpose of cutting it into pieces.

The cutting device 1 has two main parts, namely the cutting mem- ber 2 proper and the above-mentioned counter pad 5. Those parts are pivotably interconnected via a hinge 7. The counter pad 5 is constituted by a cutting-board 8 which when used is to be placed on a flat table surface and to which the cutting member 2 is swingably connected via the hinge 7 to make it possible for the cutting member 2 to carry out a swinging movement downwards to- wards the cutting-board 8 and an onion 6 in position thereon.

When the cutting member 2 has been completely pushed down above the cutting-board 8 and the onion 6 resting thereon the onion will be completely divided thanks to the fact that the cutting- board 8 has a variability of projections 9 which extend out from the cutting-board 8 a distance substantially corresponding to the height of the knife blades 3,4. When the cutting member 2 has completely penetrated the cutting-board 8 the upper portion of the knife blades 3,4 are on the same level as the upper por- tions of the projections 9 and with the other portions of the cutting-board top surface so that a ready-cut onion conveniently can be pushed off the cutting-board 8 upon the cutting opera- tion.

The projections 9 form a pattern which corresponds to that of the knife blades 3,4 on the cutting member 2 and have a cross sectional shape substantially corresponding to the shape defined by the knife blades 3,4 defining the openings or cavities 10 in the cutting member. The height of the knife blades 3,4 in the cutting member 2 is slightly less than the height of the projec- tions 9 whereby there is formed the above-mentioned flat surface when the cutting member 2 has been completely tilted down over the cutting-board 8.

The cutting member 2 is constituted by a board or plate having a through opening 11 in its central portion where the knifes 3,4 form a grid in the shape of intersecting or parallel knifes the vertical extension of which roughly corresponds to the knife height on the cutting-board 8.

According to the preferred embodiment the knife blade grid act- ing as knifes 3,4 have square openings or cavities 10 the size of which could be about 4 x 4 mm up to 6 x 6 mm, the height be- ing around 4-10 mm.

According to an alternative embodiment the knifes 3,4 can be of different height or width and their edge can exhibit saw teeth.