Patent Application
20200223087
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The disclosure and prior art relates to slicing devices and more particularly pertains to a new slicing device for automated pizza cutting.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that defines an interior space. The housing is coupled to and extends vertically from a first end of a base plate. A bar, which is tubular, is coupled to the housing distal from the base plate. The bar extends perpendicularly from the housing toward a second end of the base plate. A cutting assembly is coupled to and is selectively extendable from a bottom of the bar. An actuator is coupled to the housing and positioned in the interior space. The actuator is operationally coupled to the cutting assembly. The actuator is positioned to urge the cutting assembly to extend from the bar. The cutting assembly extends to the base plate so that a pizza that is positioned on the base plate is sliced.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A bar 26, which is tubular, is coupled to the housing 12 distal from the base plate 18. The bar 26 extends perpendicularly from the housing 12 toward a second end 28 of the base plate 18. A cutting assembly 30 is coupled to and is selectively extendable from a bottom 32 of the bar 26.
The cutting assembly 30 comprises an inner ring 34, an outer ring 36, and a plurality of blades 38. A handle 42 is coupled to and extends radially from the outer ring 36. Each blade 38 is coupled to and extends between the inner ring 34 and the outer ring 36. The blades 38 are evenly spaced on an outer circumference 40 of the inner ring 34. As will become apparent, the even spacing of the blades 38 is designed to provide equally sized slices of a pizza. The plurality of blades 38 comprises from four to ten blades 38. The plurality of blades 38 comprises six blades 38.
A tube 44 is positioned in and is coupled to the inner ring 34. The tube 44 extends from a top 46 of the inner ring 34. An extrusion 48 is coupled to and extends from an inner surface 50 of the tube 44. The extrusion 48 extends spirally around the tube 44 from a lower endpoint 52 to an upper endpoint 54 of the tube 44.
A first rod 56 positioned in the tube 44. A channel 58 extends into an outer surface 60 of the first rod 56. The channel 58 is complementary to the extrusion 48 so that the first rod 56 is gearedly coupled to the tube 44. A second rod 62 extends axially from an upper end 64 of the first rod 56 into the bar 26. The second rod 62 is circumferentially smaller than the first rod 56.
An actuator 66 is coupled to the housing 12 and is positioned in the interior space 14. The actuator 66 is operationally coupled to the cutting assembly 30 and is positioned to urge the cutting assembly 30 to extend from the bar 26. The cutting assembly 30 extends to the base plate 18 so that a pizza that is positioned on the base plate 18 is sliced.
The actuator 66 comprises a microprocessor 68 and motor 70 that are coupled to the housing 12 and positioned in the interior space 14. The microprocessor 68 is operationally coupled to the power module 20. The motor 70 is operationally coupled to the microprocessor 68. A shaft 72 of the motor 70 extends into the bar 26.
A first pulley 74 is coupled to the shaft 72, as shown in
A belt 86 positioned around the first pulley 74 and the second pulley 76. The microprocessor 68 is positioned to actuate the motor 70 to rotate the shaft 72 so that rotation is transferred through the first pulley 74, the belt 86, and the second pulley 76 to the first rod 56. The handle 42 is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user to prevent rotation of the cutting assembly 30. The tube 44 is urged distally from the bar 26, positioning the plurality of blades 38 to slice the pizza that is positioned on the base plate 18.
A disc 88 is coupled to the base plate 18 so that a center 90 of the disc 88 is axially aligned with the first rod 56, as shown in
A controller 102 is coupled to the bar 26 distal from the housing 12, as shown in
The controller 102 comprises a button 104 that is depressible. The button 104 is configured to be depressed a first time to signal the microprocessor 68 to extend the cutting assembly 30 and to be depressed a second time to raise the cutting assembly 30.
In use, the pizza is placed on the disc 88 and the shell 92 is positioned over the pizza with the handle 42 positioned in the cutout 98. The user grasps the handle 42 to prevent rotation of the cutting assembly 30. The button 104 is depressed the first time to signal the microprocessor 68 to extend the cutting assembly 30 to slice the pizza. The button 104 is depressed the second time to raise the cutting assembly 30.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
