This application claims the priority of Chinese Application No. 200920154995.1, filed May 15, 2009, and the priority of Chinese Application No. 200920269844.0, filed Oct. 29, 2009.
This invention relates to a kitchenware, and particularly to a food cutter that can cut food into various shapes.
To prepare vegetable salads or cook dishes, the food needs to be cut into slices or pieces or bars, and kitchen knifes or slicers or shredders are usually used. Slicing or shredding food with kitchen knifes is slow, and the thickness of the sliced or shredded food may be different. Slicers or shredders can ensure sliced or shredded food has the same thickness. However, the current slicers or shredders can provide a single shape of food only, such as slice or shred, and the shape can't be adjusted; in addition, the use is strenuous and not very safe as hands may be scratched easily. The technical problem this invention is intended to solve is the provision of a more labor-saving and safer food cutter aiming at the unsafe use of the shredders or slicers using the prior technique.
The technical scheme adopted by this invention to solve its technical problem is: to construct a food cutter, comprising: a rack and blade carriers set on the rack, and further comprising: a handguard for gripping food, with the said rack being provided with a slideway, with guides and slides that match each other set between the slideway and the bottom of the handguard.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said handguard comprises a handguard base and a food storage mechanism set on the handguard base, and the said slides are set beneath the handguard base.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said slide rails are provided with trolleys between the slide rails and the guide rails. The trolleys can reduce the friction between the slide rails and the guide rails, so that the operation is more labor-saving.
In the food cutter according to this invention, an outer fixed sleeve is fixed on the said handguard base, the said food storage mechanism comprises an inner rotating cylinder set inside the outer fixed sleeve that can slide axially along the outer fixed sleeve and a feeder positioned on the inner rotating cylinder, and steel needles that can stab in food are installed inside the said inner rotating cylinder. To fill food, the user just takes out the inner rotating cylinder from the outer fixed sleeve, without taking out the whole handguard from the slides, thus provides more convenient operation.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said feeder comprises a connecting rod and a gland and a push-tray fixed on two ends of the connecting rod; the said connecting rod penetrates through the connecting hole set at the end of the said inner rotating cylinder; the said gland is located outside the inner rotating cylinder; the said push-tray is assembled inside the inner rotating cylinder; and the said push-tray is provided with needle holes for the steel needles passing through. The feeder feeds food continuously during food cutting, so that the whole food storage mechanism can grip more food at a time, thus reduces the number of food fillings and provides easier operation.
In the food cutter according to this invention, between the said outer fixed sleeve and the inner rotating cylinder is an outer rotating cylinder that can rotate relatively to the outer fixed sleeve and can axially slide relatively to the inner rotating cylinder; as well as an angle adjusting mechanism, provided with an index plate set at the extension of the outer rotating cylinder and a stop set on the guides that prods the said index plate to rotate. The angle adjusting mechanism makes the inner rotating cylinder that grips food able to rotate by a certain angle when the handguard slides along the slideway, thus the same food cutter can cut food into more shapes.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said guides are provided with a retractable stop component that prods the said index plate to rotate, comprising a positioning pillar that can extend out of the guide rails, a push rod that uplifts the positioning pillar, and a spring set between the positioning pillar and the rack that makes the positioning pillar relocatable. Thus the angle adjusting mechanism can provide more angle values, and the number of shapes of resulted food is further increased.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said index plate is provided with at least one step that matches the said stop component. The step can further increase the number of angle values the angle adjusting mechanism can provide and further increase the number of shapes of resulted food.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said rack further comprises a support and supporting legs installed beneath the support, and the said slideway is installed above the support.
In the food cutter according to this invention, the said supporting legs comprise a supporting tube designed at the front end of the support and supporting pillars designed at the rear end of the support.
In the food cutter according to this invention, non-slip mats are set at the bottoms of the said supporting tube and the supporting pillars.
In the food cutter according to this invention, a positioning groove is designed on the lower part of the said support that is hung on the container wall.
The use of this invention has the following beneficial effect: the handguard for gripping food of the food cutter can avoid sliding back and forth along the slideway with the hand directly holding food to effectively prevent the hand from being scratched by blade carriers and provide safer use. In addition, the guide rails and the slide rails that match each other between the slideway and the bottom of the handguard prevent the handguard from deviating when sliding along the slideway, that is the positions of the blade carriers and the food vertical to the slideway will not change significantly, thus ensures the shapes of resulted food are regular. Furthermore, when the handguard is being operated, no force is needed to precisely control the sliding direction of the handguard, thus provides more labor-saving use.
a is a state diagram of the index plate of the food cutter according to this invention when it is in the first position;
b is a state diagram of the index plate of the food cutter according to this invention when it is in the second position;
a is a structure diagram of the front teeth blade carrier of the food cutter according to this invention;
b is a structure diagram of the rear teeth blade carrier of the food cutter according to this invention;
c is a structure diagram of the front wave blade carrier of the food cutter according to this invention;
d is a structure diagram of the rear wave blade carrier of the food cutter according to this invention;
e is a structure diagram of the lower flat blade carrier of the food cutter according to this invention;
f is a structure diagram of the upper flat blade carrier of the food cutter according to this invention;
g is a structure diagram of the auxiliary wave blade of the food cutter according to this invention;
As shown in
Particularly, as shown in
In this preferred case, a front blade carrier 210 and a rear blade carrier 210′ are installed vertical to the guide rails 130 on the slideway 120. Each of the front blade carrier 210 and the rear blade carrier 210′ consists of a blade board 211 and blade edges 212 fixed on the blade board with fasteners. Particularly, a front slot 122 and a rear slot 123 can be set vertical to the guide rails 130 on the slideway 120, with the blade board 211 of the front blade carrier matching the front slot 122, so that the blade board 211 of the front blade carrier can be exactly inserted into the front slot 122 and the plane of the blade board 211 is parallel and level to the slideway 120; and with the blade board 211′ of the rear blade carrier matching the rear slot 123, so that the blade board 211′ of the rear blade carrier can be exactly inserted into the rear slot 123 and the plane of the blade board 211′ is parallel and level to the slideway 120. The blade edges 212, 212′ of the front blade carrier and the rear blade carrier can be set to the shape of wave or teeth as required to form the front wave blade carrier 210a as shown in
An auxiliary blade carrier 220 can also be set at the end of the slideway 120 of the rack, and similarly the auxiliary blade carrier 220 consists of a blade board 221 and blade edges 222 fixed on the blade board 221 with fasteners 223. Particularly, a nick 124 is set at the end of the slideway 120 of the rack, with the blade board 221 of the auxiliary blade carrier matching the nick 124, so that the blade board 221 can be exactly embedded into the nick 124 of the slideway to ensure the whole slideway 120 is continuous; and with a buckle 224 and a trough 124a that match each other set between the blade board 221 of the auxiliary blade carrier and the nick 124 of the slideway, so that the blade board 221 can be snapped in the nick 124, without shift from the nick 124. In order to remove the auxiliary blade carrier 220 easily, a groove 225 can be installed at the end of the blade board 221 of the auxiliary blade carrier, as the buckle 224 can be separated from the trough 124a when the user's hand reaches inside the groove 225 and pushes the blade board 221 upwards, thus removes the auxiliary blade carrier 220, which is convenient for replacing the auxiliary blade carrier. The blade edges 222 of the auxiliary blade carrier can be set to the shape of wave or flat plate as required to form the auxiliary wave blade carrier 220a as shown in
As shown in
Thus the whole slideway 120 of the rack is provided with three sets of blade carriers, and when the handguard 300 slides back and forth on the different sections of the slideway 120, food can be cut into different shapes. If the front wave blade carrier 210a is inserted into the front slot 122, as the blade edges have the shape of wave, when the handguard 300 gripping food slides back and forth near the front slot 122 on the slideway 120, the food will have a wave shape. If the upper flat blade carrier 220b or the lower flat blade carrier 220c is placed in the nick 124, due to the difference in the height of the blade edges, when the handguard 300 gripping food slides back and forth near the nick 124 on the slideway 120, the food can be cut into slices of different degrees of thickness.
If the rear teeth blade carrier 210b′ is inserted into the rear slot 123 and the auxiliary flat blade carrier is placed in the nick 124 of the slideway 120, when the handguard 300 gripping food slides back and forth near the rear slot 123 and the nick 124 on the slideway 120, the rear teeth blade carrier 210b′ can cut the food into equally spaced bars on and the bars are cut off with the auxiliary flat blade carrier, thus forms food bars of the same size and length.
As shown in
In this preferred case, an outer fixed sleeve 340 is fixed on the handguard base 320, and the said food storage mechanism 330 is set inside the outer fixed sleeve 340, comprising an outer rotating cylinder 350 and an inner rotating cylinder 360. The handguard base 320 is provided with a through-hole 321; the outer fixed sleeve 340 is fixed at the through-hole 321 of the handguard base; and the diameter of the through-hole 321 equals to the inner diameter of the outer fixed sleeve 340. The outer rotating cylinder 350 is set inside the outer fixed sleeve 340; the outer fixed sleeve 340 is provided with a step 341 on the side wall near the handguard base 320; and the outer rotating cylinder 350 is provided with two retainers 351 in the corresponding positions on the outer side wall. The outer rotating cylinder 350 is inserted into the outer fixed sleeve 340 from one end of the handguard base 320, and the retainers 351 are exactly snapped in the step 341 on the inner side wall of the outer fixed sleeve 340, thus the outer rotating cylinder 350 is prevented from axially moving inside the outer fixed sleeve 340, but can rotate relatively to the outer fixed sleeve 340. The inner rotating cylinder 360 is set inside the outer rotating cylinder 350, and ribs 352 and grooves 361 that match each other are set on the coordinative cylindrical surface between the inner rotating cylinder 360 and the outer rotating cylinder 350, so that when the inner rotating cylinder 360 is inserted into the outer rotating cylinder 350, the inner rotating cylinder 360 can rotate together with the outer rotating cylinder 350. Steel needles 362 that can stab in food are set inside the inner rotating cylinder 360. The food is mounted on the steel needles 362 of the inner rotating cylinder, and the inner rotating cylinder 360 is inserted into the outer rotating cylinder 350 and extends beneath the handguard base 320 through the through-hole 321 from the bottom of the outer fixed sleeve 340. When the handguard 300 is pushed to slide on the slideway 120 of the rack, the food stabbed by the steel needles 362 of the inner rotating cylinder of the food storage mechanism can be cut by the blade carriers located on the slideway 120 into various shapes.
In order to avoid the need to continuously adjust the position of food, a feeder 370 is also set on the inner rotating cylinder 360. The feeder 370 comprises a connecting rod 371, a gland 372, and a push-tray 373, with the two ends of the connecting rod 371 connected with the gland 372 and the push-tray 373 respectively, particularly with a fixed connection between the connecting rod 371 and the push-tray 373, and a threaded connection between the connecting rod 371 and the gland 372, so that the whole feeder 370 can be assembled/disassembled on/from the inner rotating cylinder 360 easily. The central section of the connecting rod 371 passes through the connecting hole 363 set at the end of the inner rotating cylinder 360, and the push-tray 373 is located inside the inner rotating cylinder 360 and is provided with needle holes 374 that match the steel needles 362. The food storage mechanism 330 is taken out; the end provided with the push-tray 373 is pressed down toward the food; the push-tray 373 is pushed into the inner rotating cylinder 360; and the steel needles stab in the food, thus the food is gripped inside the inner rotating cylinder 360. When the handguard 300 is assembled and cutting begins, the gland 372 of the feeder can be pushed inward continuously to drive the push-tray 373 to push the food from the inner rotating cylinder 360, thus sends out the food to the slideway 120 continuously to provide easier and quicker operation. As shown in
In order to protect fingers during cutting, a protective flange 322 is installed around the handguard base 320, thus shelters the fingers of the user to prevent contact between the fingers and the blade edges during use and prevent the fingers from being injured.
In order to cut food into more shapes, the food cutter in this preferred case is also provided with an angle adjusting mechanism. As shown in
As shown in
From the above, when the sand 520 is located in different positions on the guides 130, the index plate 510 will rotate by different angles. Therefore, the position of the stop 520 on the guide rails 130 can be set to be adjustable. If the stop is designed on the slider that can slide along the guide rails 130, the position of the stop on the guides is adjusted by adjusting the position of the slider relative to the guide rails 130, thus adjusts the angle the index plate 510 rotates.
As shown in
A step 512 can also be set on the index plate 510, and when the positioning pillar 531 in the stop component is uplifted, its top will be higher than the lower surface of the index plate 510 and lower than the step surface of the index plate 510; now a new shift fork 511′ different from the shift fork 511 is formed on the step surface of the index plate 510, with the arm length (i.e. the distance from the contact between the shift fork and the stop to the center of rotation) adjustable as required, which can also change the angle the index plate 510 rotates. Multiple steps can be installed on the index plate 510 as required, thus when the positioning pillar 531 in the stop component is uplifted to different degrees of height to match different steps, the index plate 510 can rotate by different angles.
Thus the rotation angle of the index plate 510, i.e. the rotation angle of food, can be selected by adjusting the stop component 530 or prodding the different step surfaces on the index plate 510, and food can be cut into different shapes. For example, the front teeth blade carrier 210b is inserted into the front slot 122, the rear teeth blade carrier 210b′ is inserted into the rear slot 123, and the auxiliary flat blade carrier is snapped in the nick 124 of the slideway 120; when the handguard 300 drives the food to slide through the front teeth blade carrier 210b, equally spaced stripes are formed at the bottom of the food; the corresponding stop is adjusted to make the food rotate by 90°; the handguard 300 is pushed to drive the food to pass through the rear teeth blade carrier 210b′, and now square grids are formed at the bottom of the food; when the food passes through the auxiliary flat blade carrier, the bottom of the food with grids is cut off to form square resulted food. During the above process, when the corresponding stop is adjusted, so that after the handguard 300 passes through the front teeth blade carrier 210b, the index plate 510 drives the food to rotate by 45° and then the food passes through the rear teeth blade carrier 210b′, the resulted food will have a rhombic (diamond) shape.
As shown in
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and verifications are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. Since many embodiments of the present dises in the claims hereafter appended.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2009 2 0154995 U | May 2009 | CN | national |
2009 2 0269844 U | Oct 2009 | CN | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5445332 | Shimizu et al. | Aug 1995 | A |
7107890 | Vincent | Sep 2006 | B2 |
20040200366 | Koerselman et al. | Oct 2004 | A1 |
20040231482 | Boilen | Nov 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20100326291 A1 | Dec 2010 | US |