1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is generally related to food processing devices, and more particularly, to a multiple slicing device manually operable to simultaneously slice food items into multiple pieces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Slicing food items has long been important in consumption and preparation of food. Some items are often sliced in multiple pieces for immediate consumption, such as a variety of fruits. Food items that serve as ingredients for other foods are also often sliced to a suitable size for being cooked with other ingredients. Other slicing applications include slicing food items to particularly sized or shaped pieces for aesthetic appearance or creating aesthetic patterns. Conventional methods and devices for cutting or slicing food items are time-consuming and/or complicated. A common conventional method is to use a single blade cutting device such as a knife. However, this method is time-consuming. It is also difficult to obtain substantially identical slices using a knife, which may be desirable for aesthetic or functional purposes. In addition, a knife cannot be used to simultaneously slice a piece of food into multiple pieces.
Other devices have included electric powered and manual devices with complicated mechanisms that require two hands to operate and/or make it difficult to control the size or shape of the slices. These devices are also time-consuming to clean and expensive to repair.
The frame 102 further includes a first handle 112 extending from a first portion of the housing 105. In one embodiment, the first handle 112 is fixedly coupled or attached to the housing 105, or is formed from a unitary body of material with the housing 105. The frame 102 further includes a base 110, which can be an integral portion of the housing 105, or it can be a separate component removably or fixedly coupled to the housing 105. The base 110 can be positioned or located toward a second portion of the housing 105, spaced from the first portion from which the first handle 112 extends.
The multiple slicing device 100 further includes a plurality of cutting elements 108 spaced apart from each other at equal or non-equal distances. In one aspect, the cutting elements 108 are fixedly coupled to the frame 102 toward the base 110. In one aspect, the cutting elements 108 are directly coupled to the base 110, the base 110 acting as a frame for the cutting elements 108.
In the illustrated embodiment of
The cutting elements 108 can include any structure or feature that facilitates cutting of food items, for example, mushrooms, tofu, avocado or other fruits, such as kiwi, when the food item is urged against the cutting elements 108. For example, the cutting elements 108 can include blades fabricated from a metallic material, or they can be strings or wires made from fabric, plastic, a metal, a combination thereof, or any other suitable material. Other cutting structures and material used to fabricate the cutting elements 108 are contemplated to fall within the scope of the present disclosure and the claims that follow.
The working portion 104 of the slicing device 100 is more clearly illustrated in
When the food item is placed in the receptacle 106, moving the second handle 116 toward the first handle 112 urges the forcing member 114 against the food item, forcing the food item against the cutting elements 108, which slice through the food item, simultaneously dividing the food item into multiple pieces. In one aspect, at least the first surface 118 of the forcing member 114 includes elongated recesses 120. The recesses 120 allow a portion of the forcing member, including the first surface 118, to move between the cutting elements 108 as the forcing member 114 pushes the food item past the cutting elements 108. The recesses 120 are sized and shaped to receive the cutting elements 108 after they cut through the food item, to ensure thorough slicing or cutting of the food item. In some embodiments, some or all of the elongated recesses 120 extend through an entire thickness of at least a portion of the forcing member 114.
In one embodiment, the working portion 102 further includes a cam mechanism 122 to convert movement of the second handle 116 toward the first handle 112 into movement of the forcing member 114 toward the cutting elements 108, and to collapse the forcing member 114 toward the cutting elements 108. In one embodiment, the cam mechanism 122 includes an elongated cam member 124 (best viewed in
In the illustrated embodiment of
The elongated cam member 124 can include a first gear 128 toward a first end 138 thereof. In one aspect, the first gear 128 is rotatably coupled to the frame 102 such that rotation of the first gear 128 rotates or pivots the elongated cam member 124 about a third axis 130. The first gear 128 is operatively coupled to a complementary second gear 132 positioned toward an end of the second handle 116. The first and second gears 128, 132 can be operatively coupled via complementary teeth formed on the first and second gears 128, 132, respectively. The second gear 132 can be fixedly coupled to, or formed from a unitary body of material with, the second handle 116.
In one embodiment, the elongated cam member 124 is slidably coupled to the slotted cam member 126. For example, the elongated cam member 124 can include a protrusion 134 and the slotted cam member 124 can include a slot 136 slidably receiving the protrusion 134. The protrusion 134 is spaced from the third axis 130 about which the elongated cam member 124 rotates or pivots.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in
In one aspect, as illustrated in
Since the slotted cam member 126 is fixedly coupled to or formed from a unitary body of material with the forcing member 114, movement of the slotted cam member 126 urges the forcing member 114 to pivot about the second axis 127, the forcing member 114 moving toward the cutting elements 108. Therefore, when a food item is placed in the receptacle 106, moving the second handle 116 toward the first handle 112, pivots the forcing member 114, which in turn pushes against the food item, urging it against the cutting elements 108. As the forcing member 114 continues to push against the food item, the cutting elements 108 slice through the food item, dividing it into multiple pieces that can be respectively shaped in accordance with a pattern according to which the cutting elements 108 are mounted, formed or arranged.
As illustrated in
The following discussion describes in more detail transition of the working portion 104 between a first, erected state, illustrated in
As illustrated in
The forcing member 114 is pivoted in response to a force F exerted on it by the protrusion 134. The forcing member 114 pivots as a result of a moment applied thereto, the magnitude of which is proportional to the force F and a distance D between the protrusion 134 and the location at which the forcing member 114 is pivotably mounted along a direction perpendicular to a direction of the force F. In the illustrated embodiment of
In addition, this configuration allows the user to easily use one hand to grip the first and second handles 112, 116, and rotate the second handle 116 toward the first handle 112. The user can apply an approximately constant force to move the second handle 116 toward the first handle 112 while the moment on the forcing member 114 increases. Alternatively, the user can apply less force as the second handle 116 is moved toward the first handle 112 while the moment on the forcing member 114 remains substantially unaffected. Therefore, food items can be sliced or otherwise processed through cutting elements 108 without requiring excessive force. This configuration also improves the useful life of the device 100 because its components are subjected to more moderate forces during the operation, substantially preventing premature deterioration of the components.
As the cutting elements 108 cut into the thickness of the food item 109, the resistance of the food item 109 against movement of the forcing member 114 toward the cutting elements 108 may tend to increase depending on the type of food item desired to be sliced. The multiple slicing device 100 is particularly useful in slicing food items that may impose such resistance because it is configured to increase the moment on the forcing member 114 to counteract and overcome any cutting resistance which may be encountered.
In one embodiment, as illustrated in
Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment of
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the first and second handles 112, 116 can be modified in different embodiments, for achieving various configurations of manipulating the working portion 104. For example, in the illustrated embodiment of
Additionally, although in the foregoing embodiments movement of the first handle 112 is not discussed, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that either or both handles 112, 116 may be mounted to pivot or rotate with respect to the frame 102. For example, in one embodiment, the teeth of the first gear 128 at the end of the elongated cam member 124 can extend further about the first gear 128, than that shown in
In such an embodiment, the second handle 116 can be fixedly mounted without being operatively coupled to the elongated cam member 124 via a gear mechanism. Alternatively, the second handle 116 can be operatively coupled to the elongated cam member 124 as described above, and both handles 112, 116 can contribute to pivoting the elongated cam member 124 as they are forced toward each other.
Furthermore, the cutting elements 108 can be arranged in any pattern. In some embodiments, the cutting element or elements can be formed to slice or process the food item into particular shapes or forms.
For example,
Furthermore, a first surface 218 of the forcing member 214 can include protrusions 220 shaped and sized substantially similar to corresponding cutouts 250, 252, to force the cut or sliced portion of the food item through the cutouts 250, 252 as the forcing member 214 descends toward the cutting plates 246, 248. The protrusions 220 can be formed on a sheet that is removably coupled to the forcing member 214 to form the first surface 218 so that the sheet can be removed and replaced with another sheet having protrusions, which correspond to the cutouts of a cutting plate that is desired to be used.
All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.
These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61161676 | Mar 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12718640 | Mar 2010 | US |
Child | 13768808 | US |