1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a safety grater and slicer.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The kitchen graters and slicers currently available in the market can cause injury to the user by cutting and/or slicing the user's fingers. Even the slicers and graters that include so-called protective “rest holders” are insufficient to guard against serious injury because the user can disregard the safety instructions and slice and grate food without the protective rest holder. A slicer and grater is taught by German Patent Reference DE U1-296-23-430. Every injury can be a potential lawsuit.
The safety grater and slicer of this invention can eliminate the possibility of injury and thus legal action against the manufacturer by designing a rest holder called a “safety holder” with two major safety advantages.
The safety grater and slicer of this invention includes a safety holder that covers the blades while in use, thus fully protecting the user's fingers.
The safety grater and slicer of this invention will not work without the safety holder in place.
The user must attach the safety holder before the cutting blades can be inserted into the safety grater and slicer of this invention. It is impossible to insert the blades/graters without the safety holder in place. Conversely, after completing the slicing and grating task, the user must remove the blades/graters before the safety holder can be removed. It is impossible to remove the safety holder unless the blades/graters are removed first.
This invention is explained by the following diagrams:
The safety grater and slicer of this invention is shown in
The body (1) has two rails (5) and (6) at the sides, on which the safety holder (2) can slide. The first rail (5) is T-shaped and the opposite rail (6) is L-shaped. Furthermore, the body (1) has an opening (7) at the side where the user places the blade inserts (4). Between the rails (5) and (6) there are two waved surfaces (8) and (9) split by the opening (7) where the blade inserts (4) fit. The food slides along the waved surfaces (8) and (9) during use. At the end of the body (4) there is a thumb grip (10) to hold the body down on the kitchen counter or other work surface. Finally, there is a moveable block element (11) in the body (1) shown on
Finally, the plate (12) has an L-shaped rail (18) under it which is between the tube (12) and the rail (13) which covers the inner edges of the rail (5) and which has a release element (19) at one side of the end. The inserts (4) can be designed with different blades (20) to meet various slicing and grating tasks. The insert (4) has at the opposite side of the leading edge at least one block (21).
To use the safety grater and slicer of this invention the user must put the safety holder (2) into the body (1). In doing so the block element (11) will be in a down position so that the opening (7) is now ready to accept the blade insert (4). The user cannot introduce the blade insert (4) until the safety holder (2) has been attached to the body (1) because without first placing the safety holder (2) onto the body (1) the block element (11) will be in the way of the blade insert (4).
This guarantees that the safety grater and slicer of this invention is usable only if the safety holder (2) has been put in prior to use. After the safety holder (2) has been fit into the body (1) it fully covers the insert blade/grater (4) no matter where it is placed while sliding along the body during use. Thus the insert blade/grater (4) is accessible only through the safety holder (2). Food, like potatoes, carrots and cucumbers etc. can go through the open top of the tube (13) to the insert blade/grater (4). The stamp pushes the food fully down through the tube to ensure complete slicing and grating. The block element (16) at the block (21) prevents removal of the safety holder (2) from the body (1) while the blade insert (4) is in place. This ensures that after the blade insert (4) has been put into the body opening (7) the safety holder (2) cannot be removed preventing exposure of the blade insert (4). Again, the safety grater and slicer of this invention will not work without the safety holder (2) in place.
A safety grater and slicer of this invention in a second embodiment is shown in
The insert holder (22) is designed like a box and fits into the body (1) and has two L-shaped rails (53, 63) and an opening at the side in order to take the insert (4). The insert holder (22) fits into the shaft (23). After the putting in the insert holder (22) the rails (53, 63) will line up with the rails (51, 52, 61, 62) in the body (1) creating a two seamless rails.
The user slides the insert holder (22) onto the safety holder (2) to create a complete unit that will be placed down into the shaft (23). Only then can the insert blade/grater (4) be introduced into the opening (7) at the side of the body (1). While the insert holder (22) is on the body (1) its underside rails (14) (15) will slide on the rails (53, 63, 61, 62) and cover the insert blade/grater (4). When the safety holder (2) is removed from the body (1) the insert holder will not fit into the body (1) making the safety grater and slicer of this invention impossible to use until the safety holder (2) is reattached.
The safety grater and slicer of this invention in a third embodiment is shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
103 05 969 | Feb 2003 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2004/001336 | 2/13/2004 | WO | 00 | 3/6/2006 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2004/071720 | 8/26/2004 | WO | A |
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2991814 | Popeil | Jul 1961 | A |
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5745999 | Zirkiev | May 1998 | A |
5765472 | Kim | Jun 1998 | A |
20060261196 | Klotz et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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486 721 | Nov 1929 | DE |
865 517 | Jul 1949 | DE |
296 23 430 | Apr 1998 | DE |
198 27 077 | Dec 1999 | DE |
1 264 669 | Dec 2002 | EP |
342456 | Dec 1929 | GB |
9943246 | Sep 1999 | WO |
0236312 | May 2002 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20060231652 A1 | Oct 2006 | US |