Patent Application
20130043633
The present invention relates generally to kitchen cutting boards and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a cutting board having a plurality of magnets disposed within for holding a cutting utensil when the utensil is not in use.
Cutting boards for use in cutting, chopping, or otherwise preparing food items are well known, today. Many of today's households include one or more different cutting boards. Many boards are constructed from wood, while others are constructed of various other types of materials, including plastics, or the like. Some cutting boards are formed as part of a top to a table, or are built into a kitchen cabinet, while still others are constructed to be portable. However, many of these cutting boards have a common problem. What to do with the cutting utensil when not presently in use? To often, merely setting the utensil on the board may result in the knife being knocked off of the board, or in the case of portable boards, the board being tipped such that the knife slides off of the board. Such situations clearly could result in injury. Thus, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various figures unless otherwise specified.
For a better understanding of the present invention, reference will be made to the following Detailed Description, which is to be read in association with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments which may be practiced. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “another embodiment,” as used herein indicates that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. However, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, though it may. Furthermore, the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment, although it may. Thus, as described below, various embodiments may be readily combined.
In addition, as used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or” operator, and is equivalent to the term “and/or,” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term “based on” is not exclusive and allows for being based on additional factors not described, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, throughout the specification, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references. The meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.”
As used herein, the term “utensil” refers to any form of cutlery item or article having ferrous or ferromagnetic properties such that the item or article is magnetically attracted to a magnet, as described further below. As such, utensils include any of a variety of knives, and other items useable for chopping and/or cutting various objects.
As used herein, the term “substantial” refers to being within some tolerance of being exact. For example, as used herein, substantially flush refers to two or more surfaces being at a same level as each other within some tolerance. Typically, the tolerance is based on manufacturing tolerances. Similarly, substantially perpendicular refers to two surfaces being within some tolerance of being directed ninety degrees from each other.
The following briefly describes the various embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This brief description is not intended as an extensive overview. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements, or to delineate or otherwise narrow the scope. Its purpose is merely to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
Briefly stated, embodiments are directed towards a kitchen cutting board that is configured to securely, but removably affix a knife to the cutting board when the knife is not being used. One embodiment of the cutting board may include at least one cutting surface and a shelf that has at least one wall that abuts at least one of the cutting surfaces, such that the wall and at least one of the cutting surfaces share a common edge. A plurality of magnets are disposed within at least one wall and arranged to magnetically affix a ferrous utensil, such as a knife blade, to the wall. In this manner, the utensil is removably secured to the board, minimizing likelihood of the utensil falling from the board.
Various arrangements of the shelf and magnets are described in more detail below, including having the magnets extend through the cutting board so that when a ferrous utensil is placed onto the cutting surface, the utensil may be attracted to the magnets and become removably affixed to the cutting surface. In this manner, should a chef select to rest the utensil on the board, tipping the board is unlikely to result in the utensil sliding off of the board.
In some embodiments, an end of each magnet may extend perpendicular outward from a surface of the wall, such that when a ferrous utensil is affixed to the magnets, there is a space between the utensil and the wall to allow air to circulate.
In one embodiment, the cutting board may be configured as separable portions, including a lower base board portion and an upper board portion. In one embodiment, at least one of the lower base board portion and the upper board portion may include a cutting surface. The upper board portion includes a first end and a second end that forms two walls or sides to the upper cutting board portion. In one embodiment, the walls are located at opposing ends of the upper cutting board portion. Moreover, a plurality of magnets are disposed within at least one wall of the upper board portion and arranged to magnetically affix a ferrous utensil.
In one embodiment, the separable portions of the cutting board may be configured such that the upper board portion may be slid across the lower base board portion or otherwise affixed to the lower base board portion. This may be achieved using any of a variety of mechanism, including a groove/tongue arrangement or the like.
In still another embodiment, the cutting board may be configured as a single board, at least one side having a cutting surface. At least one end of the cutting board may operate as a wall having a plurality of magnets disposed within the at least one wall and arranged to magnetically affix a ferrous utensil.
It should also be recognized that while several illustrations show various ferrous utensils, these are shown for illustration of possible usage of the cutting boards, and not necessarily as components of the variously claimed embodiments.
Additionally, shown is a non-exhaustive, non-limiting example of a utensil 108 being magnetically affixed to wall 104 due to the magnetic attractive force of the plurality of magnets 103. It should be noted that the placement of example utensil 108 is also not to be construed as limiting. For example, while a handle of utensil 108 is illustrated as extending outward beyond cutting block 100, other locations are also possible. For example, the handle of utensil 108 might also be composed of ferromagnetic material, and thus, could also be affixed to cutting board 100, when appropriately placed.
Cutting board 100 may be constructed of any of a variety of materials, including wood, plastic, or even a combination of wood and plastic. For example, cutting board 100 may be constructed of polyethylene or polypropylene, or the like. Other materials may also be employed. In some embodiments, cutting surface 102, wall 104, and shelf 106 may be constructed from a single unity component. That is, in some embodiments, a single block of wood, plastic, or other material, may be cut, or otherwise shaped, to create the shelf 106 with wall 104. For example, a section of the single block of material may be cut from the block of material to form the shelf 106 having a wall 104. However, in other embodiments, such as with plastics, a mold might be formed into which the plastic might be poured into to create the desired structure. Still other approaches may be used to manufacture cutting board 100. For example, wood fibers may be compressed into the structure of cutting board 100 having shelf 106, wall 104, and cutting surface 102. Thus, cutting board 100 is not to be construed as being limited to a particular manufacturing process.
Cutting board 100 may be manufactured having various cutting surface lengths 10 and/or various board widths 11. Thus, cutting board 100 is not to be construed as being limited to a particular width 11 or cutting surface length 10. The shelf height 14 may be selected to provide an overall desired thickness of cutting board 100. Further, various shelf lengths 12 and wall height 13 may also be selected. In some embodiments, the wall height 13 might be selected based on a width of a blade of a utensil that is to be affixed to cutting board 100. For example, wall height 13 might be selected to ensure that a selected blade does not extend above the wall height 13. By selecting a wall height 13 according to a desired blade width, additional protection may be provided, by minimizing likelihood that the blade is bumped when the utensil is affixed to wall 104. However, the wall height 13 may be selected based on any of a variety of other criteria. For example, for some knives, or other utensils, the wall height 13 might be selected to ensure a desired amount of a surface of a defined blade is flush against wall 104, independent of whether some of the blade extends above wall 104. Because it is recognized that various blade widths are available, the wall height 13 may be selected to accommodate a pre-selected blade width, an average blade width, or other criteria. For example, wall height 13 could even be selected to balance an esthetical appearance of cutting board 100 while providing a desired surface area on wall 104 for holding the utensil.
A plurality of magnets 103 is illustrated as being disposed within wall 104 and across a surface of wall 104. The number of magnets may vary based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to a size of the magnets selected, a distance between the magnets desired, a magnetic strength of the magnets, and the wall height 13. In one embodiment, the plurality of magnets 103 may be selected to provide a magnetic attractive force that is determined to be sufficient to attract a ferrous utensil such that the utensil can be securely, but removably affixed to cutting board 100.
In one embodiment, the plurality of magnets 103 may be shaped as disk shaped plugs that are configured to be permanently attached into wall 104. For example, the magnets might be pressed into holes that are bored into wall 104 and/or glued into the holes. As illustrated in
While a shape of the magnets is shown in
Moreover, although the plurality of magnets 103 are illustrated as forming a single row of magnets across a face of wall 104, other embodiments may include a plurality of rows, or even an uneven distribution of magnets. Thus, the arrangement of the plurality of magnets 103 is not to be construed as limiting.
Further, while
As illustrated in
Cutting board 200 may also be constructed from a single unity component, or from multiple components that may then be glued or otherwise permanently attached to each other. For example, shelf 106 with its respective wall 104 might be separately constructed and then glued, or otherwise attached, to cutting surface 102. As shown in
For example,
Non-limiting, non-exhaustive example utensils 310-311 are illustrated as being magnetically affixed to the plurality of magnets 303 such that the utensils are securely, but removably attached to the respective walls 304-305.
As shown in
As shown in
Also shown in
It should be noted that while the arrangements of the plurality of magnets illustrated in
Also shown is one non-limiting example of a mechanism usable to separably attach the upper board portion 702 to lower base board portion 701. Shown in the figure is a groove (706-707) and tongue (708-709) arrangement, where the tongues may be slid into and along the grooves to allow upper board portion 702 to be slid along the cutting surface of lower base board portion 701. In one embodiment, the grooves (706-707) may run a length of one or both sides of the lower base board portion 701's cutting surface. However, less than an entire length is also envisaged. Similarly, the tongues (708-709) may be affixed or be constructed as part of an underside portion of the upper board portion 702, and run the length of the underside or less than the length of the underside of the upper board portion 702. Other mechanisms are also envisaged, including a lip arrangement on edges of the lower base board portion 701, or the like.
The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.
