This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) to European patent application number 16186913.6, filed on Sep. 1, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.
The present disclosure relates to culinary utensil holders for holding knives and the like, including scissors, knife-sharpening steels, and culinary shears.
US 2007/0278165 A1 discloses a knife block assembly having a knife block and a plurality of knife holders in at least three different sizes. Each knife holder is only suitable for knives of a given size/configuration and, in particular, the handles of knives with smaller blades may not align well with others in the block if inserted into large inserts. Additionally, a strap is used to secure knife blades and inserts in the knife block and this is inconvenient since it has to be removed each time a knife is to be removed from the block. Furthermore, if a relatively large knife were to be put into a small insert, when the knife was withdrawn, the insert would be withdrawn with it from the block and this is undesirable.
The present disclosure aims to alleviate at least to a certain extent the problems of the prior art. Alternatively, the present disclosure aims to provide a useful culinary utensil holder.
A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a culinary utensil holder for holding knives and the like, the holder comprising a body having an entrance and a distinct friction formation located in a path along the body. Advantageously these features enable knives of different blade sizes and configurations to be held by the same holder.
The body may comprise a sheath having two mutually spaced opposed side walls with a slot therebetween for sheathing a knife or the like. The knife may easily be located in the sheath.
The formation may be formed on one of the side walls. The formation may comprise an elongate rib, the rib optionally having a rectangular, square or convex cross-section extending across a longitudinal extent thereof. Advantageously, the rib may be engaged by a knife over its longitudinal extent, providing predictable friction for the knife.
The holder may include a series of said ribs formed on said one of the side walls, said ribs extending parallel to and spaced from one another. This assists beneficially in holding knives with different blade sizes.
The other side wall may include at least one opposing friction formation, preferably a further series of ribs formed as a mirror image of said ribs. The ribs may advantageously sandwich a knife therebetween.
Said side walls may be generally parallel to one another; and preferably in a rest configuration thereof may taper towards one another in a direction remote from the entrance, optionally being resiliently engaged against one another towards an end of said side walls remote from said entrance. The knife in the region of its point may engage resiliently against faces of the side walls.
The entrance may comprise an elongate ring connected to the side walls.
Each side wall may include a flared entrance guide member at an end of the side wall proximal to the entrance, the flared entrance guide members being spaced from the elongate ring and resilient. The entrance guide members may be flexible for resiliently engaging a knife yet, advantageously, the elongate ring may be substantially rigid.
The holder may include a latch member attached to at least one of the side walls for releasably latching the holder into a culinary utensil block. Advantageously, the latch member may hold the holder in position in a knife block but may enable a knife to be withdrawn from the block without the holder being withdrawn with it.
The latch may be formed integrally, e.g. by moulding, with the side walls.
A further aspect of the present disclosure provides a culinary block assembly including a block with a plurality of slots, and a plurality of culinary utensil holders as set out in the previous aspect hereof adapted to be located in the slots.
The culinary block assembly may include at least two said culinary utensil holders which are identical to one another and are located in respective ones of said slots, and in which at least two knives of different configurations are sheathed in said culinary utensil holder. Advantageously, the user can place the knives in whichever holder position in the block that are desired.
The culinary block assembly may include at least five and optionally at least six, eight, or ten identical said culinary utensil holders locatable in corresponding slots formed in said block. This advantageously provides the user with great flexibility and choice as to where the knives are stored since the holder will accept knives of many different shapes and sizes.
A further aspect of the present disclosure provides a culinary utensil holder for holding knives and the like, the holder comprising a body for sheathing kitchen utensils, the body including a latch member for releasably latching the holder into a culinary utensil block, the latch member optionally being formed integrally with said body e.g. by moulding. This advantageously allows the holder to be securely held in a knife block when a knife is withdrawn yet also allows the holder to be removed for cleaning purposes.
The present invention may be carried out in various ways, and a preferred culinary utensil holder and culinary block assembly in accordance with the present disclosure will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
As shown in
The main block has a series of ten culinary utensil holders in the form of knife holders 18 formed in two rows of five holders each, plus a scissor holder 20. The knife holders 18 are identical to one another and hold an array of knives 22 having blades with varying configurations, including a paring knife 22a, as shown in
A pair of scissors or shears 40 is inserted in the scissor holder 20.
The auxiliary block 14 includes a series of six auxiliary culinary holders 42 in the form of auxiliary knife holders 42, the auxiliary knife holders 42 in this embodiment each holding one of a matched set of culinary preparation knives 44.
As shown by the exploded view of
Furthermore, as shown in
As shown in
The side walls 76, 78 include flexible entrance tongues 82, 84 positioned between the connectors 72, 74, each of the tongues 82, 84 being formed with a series of five elongate friction ribs extending along the longitudinal direction of the inner slot 80 and being mutually spaced apart, the respective ribs 86 being arranged to be closely spaced from one another or to resiliently engage one another when the flexible entrance tongues 82, 84 are in a rest configuration thereof with no knife positioned in the inner slot 80. Each of the flexible entrance tongues 82, 84 also includes a flared entrance guide member 88, 90 arranged for guiding one of the knives 22a, 22b, 22 into the inner slot 80.
The knife holder 18 also includes at a lower end 92 thereof a resilient latch 94 for engagement in a respective latch recess 62 of the main block 12 to hold the knife holder 18 firmly within the main block 12 until the resilient latch 94 is operated to release the knife holder 18 from the main block 12 for cleaning purposes.
The knife holder 18 is integrally formed by moulding.
A user (not shown) may insert any of the knives 22 including the knives 22a, 22b through the entrance ring 70, which is relatively rigid, the knife 22 being guided by the resilient entrance guide members 88, 90 through to engage the friction ribs/formations 86 and the knife may thus be fully inserted into the knife holder 18, with the engagement of the friction ribs 86 with the blade 24, 32 holding the knife in the configuration in which it is left by the user, such that knives of various sizes may be inserted into the knife holder 18 and held in the desired configuration as left by the user. The knife may later be withdrawn against the friction of the friction ribs/formations 86 and with the resilient latch 94 holding the knife holder 18 in the main block 12.
With reference to
With reference to
In some embodiments, the auxiliary block 14 and/or stand 16 may be omitted and the main block 12 may be reshaped to manage the position of the centre of gravity with it loaded or unloaded, accordingly.
With the culinary knife block assembly 10 as described and in other embodiments, the user may easily place their various knives and other implements in the particular knife holders 18 that they desire and are not constrained as in the prior art by only having defined positions for the knives/implements. In particular, the knife holders 18 and auxiliary knife holders 42 may accommodate knives of varying knife shapes and sizes and the handles thereof may be lined up relative to the main block 12 and auxiliary block 14 as desired by the user, advantageously by engagement of the blades therefore with the friction ribs/formations 86, i.e. without having a knife with a small blade having its handle droop by gravity to a low misaligned position. Also, the knife holders 18 and auxiliary knife holders 42 may, using the resilient latches 94, 94′, 94″, be conveniently removed from the main block 12 and auxiliary block 14 for cleaning purposes or replacement.
In some embodiments, one or more knife holders 18 and/or one or more of the auxiliary knife holders 42 may be formed integrally within a culinary block, and/or one or more knife holders or auxiliary knife holders may be formed integrally with one another.
Various modifications may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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16186913.6 | Sep 2016 | EP | regional |