Patent Application
20080216628
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cutting devices, especially cutting or slicing devices in the food industry, and most particularly cutting or slicing devices for baked goods such as cakes and pies and pizzas.
2. Background of the Art
The present invention relates to apparatus for slicing food products into a plurality of precisely shaped pieces. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved food slicing apparatus utilizing tensioned wire cutting elements. The apparatus is adapted for rapidly slicing flat, cylindrical food products such as pies and cakes into a plurality of neatly cut pie-shaped pieces of approximately equal size.
In the past, food slicing apparatus have existed which have used tensioned wire cutting elements. In one such apparatus adapted for slicing cheese, a single tensioned wire is spaced closely adjacent to a parallel elongate roller. The wire and the roller are mounted on the remote end of a handle. In another such apparatus also adapted for slicing cheese, a U-shaped lever is pivotably attached to a cutting board. A single tensioned wire extends between the legs of the lever. Downward swinging of the lever causes the tensioned wire to cut a slice from a block of cheese supported on the cutting board.
Other known slicing apparatus have incorporated a plurality of tensioned wires elements arranged in a predetermined array for slicing or cutting fruit, vegetables, or other food products into a plurality of uniformly dimensioned slices. For example, one such apparatus is adapted for slicing french fries from a peeled potato. It includes a square-shaped frame having a relatively large cut-out region in its center. Two perpendicular rows of spaced apart tensioned metal wire elements criss-cross the cut-out region. These wires are tightly secured at their ends to the frame. This apparatus may be forced down over the peeled potato to produce a plurality of potato segments each having a uniform cross-sectional area. Similar apparatus have also existed heretofore for cutting fruit into precise slices suitable for decorative cuisine.
A number of food products are configured in the shape of a relatively large, flat cylinder. Examples are pies and cakes, and wheels of very soft cheese such as Brie. Typically, these food products are served or divided by slicing them into a plurality of pie-shaped slices. They have a soft consistency or texture which enables them to be neatly sliced by wire cutting elements under suitable tension. It is desirable that the slices appear neatly cut. Due to the relatively high cost of such food products, it is desirable to carefully control the size and weight of individual slices. Heretofore cheesecakes and cheese wheels and other similarly shaped food products of like consistency have typically been sliced by hand using a large knife. This manual slicing process is not only time consuming but frequently results in slices in unequal size. Furthermore, in the case of pies and cakes, slices which are manually cut using a knife are often not symmetrical.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,932 shows an improved cheesecake cutting device comprising a two-part cutting system having an open ended cutting cylinder having a central axis, an annular wall, an upper end, a lower end, and a predetermined diameter; a plurality of wires each being longer than the predetermined diameter; a plurality of wire retaining means mounted on the cutting cylinder for securing the one ends of the wires at respective annularly spaced locations about the cutting cylinder adjacent its lower end; a plurality of adjustable tensioning means mounted on the cutting cylinder for holding the other ends of the wires so that they extend tightly across the cutting cylinder, the tensioning means being annularly spaced about the cutting cylinder adjacent the lower end thereof so that each wire extends substantially diametrically across the cutting cylinder through its central axis; a generally horizontal planar base; a pair of spaced apart vertically extending tracks mounted on the base; an open ended guide cylinder having a central axis, an annular wall, an upper end, a lower end, and a diameter substantially equal to the predetermined diameter; a yoke mounted to the guide cylinder and having side edges slidably engaged with respective ones of the tracks so that the guide cylinder can be vertically reciprocated about its central axis toward and away from the base; and releasable latch means for attaching the cutting cylinder beneath the guide cylinder with their respective central axes in substantial alignment and with the lower end of the cutting cylinder facing the planar base. This is a complex system for a simple task and requires significant and difficult cleaning operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,402 describes a dessert cutter particularly useful for delicate cakes with soft and moist composition. A frame supports a plurality of taut wires in a geometric relationship. The frame provides a grip for pressing the wires through a cake and a guide surface for visual alignment during the cutting application. The wires are supported by a gliding element that enables adjustment of the relative position of the wires along the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,868 describes a pie cutting system comprising a container with slots down its sides and a cutting element comprising blades supported in a cylinder, with the blades fit to slide down the slots.
A slicing or cutting tool for evenly slicing or cutting baked goods or soft solid or cheesy foods into sized segments comprises a cutting frame and a supporting base. The frame comprises a geometric cross-section support structure having multiple slicing filaments extending across an area circumscribed by the frame, with at least some of the multiple slicing filaments overlapping to segment the item to be cut into distinct pieces. The supporting base has a series of depressions therein that correspond to a configuration of the slicing filaments. When the cutting frame is overlaid on the supporting base, at least a portion of the filaments resides in the depressions of the supporting frame and below a supporting surface of the supporting frame to assure that individual filaments can pass completely through the items to be cut.
A slicing or cutting tool evenly slices or cuts baked goods or soft solid or cheesy foods into sized segments. The tool comprises two pieces, a supporting base and a slicing overlay or cutting frame. The slicing overlay or frame comprises a geometric cross-section support structure having multiple slicing filaments extending across an area circumscribed by the frame, with at least some of the multiple slicing filaments overlapping to segment the item to be cut into distinct pieces. By geometric it is meant that the sides of the frame define a central area that is of a geometric shape, either a regular geometric shape (e.g., circle, oval, square, rectangle, etc.) or irregular geometric shape (e.g., with both acute and obtuse angles between portions of sides. Geometric shapes with inwardly facing radii in their curvature and linear shapes with at least ninety degree angles are generally preferred shapes.
The supporting base has a series of depressions or grooves therein that correspond to a configuration of the slicing filaments. When the cutting frame is overlaid on the supporting base, at least a portion of the filaments resides in the depressions of the supporting frame and below a supporting surface of the supporting frame to assure that individual filaments can pass completely through the items to be cut.
The filaments are associated with the frame to maintain a desirable level of tension in the filaments. The tension in the filaments may be adjustable by filament tensioning and/or filaments locking systems. When using polymeric filament, this last feature becomes important as polymeric filaments (e.g., polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, etc.) tend to inelastically stretch or wear out over time, and the tension must be maintained to prevent inefficient slicing or shifting alignment of overlapping filaments. These and other features will be shown and described by reference to the figures.
The technology described herein also comprises a method for slicing an item using a system for slicing items into segments of predetermined relative sizes. The system may have a support surface for the item to be sliced; and a hand held cutting frame. The hand held cutting frame has a distribution of multiple filaments extending across a central area of the frame that will overlie the item to be sliced, at least two of the multiple filaments overlapping each other within the central area to form a distribution. The support surface has depressions therein that match the distribution of the multiple filaments, including a depression corresponding to a point where the at least two multiple filaments overlap. The method includes adjusting tension in at least one of the multiple filaments without removing the at least one filament entirely from the cutting frame. That is, at least one end of the filament remains attached or connected (e.g., it may be drawn through a hole from a source of filament length, but there remains some contact, direct or indirect, with the frame). A user presses opposed sides of the system to force the multiple filaments through the item to slice the item. The tension in the filaments is sufficient that residual tension in the multiple filaments, after the cutting frame (e.g., the lowest surface of the frame) has contacted the support surface, will cause the multiple filaments to pass through a bottom-most surface in the item to be sliced. This can be easily accomplished on a consistent basis by assuring sufficient tension before the device is pressed into the item, such as cake, stiff pudding, pie, and the like. Each filament may have at least one tension adjustment connection at the sides of the frame for increasing or decreasing tension in filaments across the central area, and at least one tension adjustment connection on each of the multiple filaments is adjusted after slicing an item. The filaments may particularly comprise metal or polymeric filament. The tension may be adjusted by a step of advancing a thread on a filament support element to provide tension on at least one filament. As the element is turned, the thread moves the element further from a central area of the frame, applying tension to the filament. The method may also be practiced by having the tension adjusted in at least one of the multiple filaments by drawing the at least one filament through a filament support element (e.g., pulling it by hand) and grasping (by a screw perpendicular to the filament or by a knot) an extended position along the drawn at least one filament to retain tension in the at least one filament. This is particularly useful when providing polymeric threads which have a greater tendency to become stretched (exceed their elastic limit of deformation) more readily than metal filaments, and which display reduced filament tension more rapidly than metal filaments, which may also eventually exceed their elastic limits of deformation upon repeated application of tension that stretches the filaments. The method therefore also includes the at least one filament being a polymeric or metal filament that has exceeded its elastic limit of deformation along at least a portion of a length of the filament. The entire length of the filament may not have exceeded the elastic limit, but if that has occurred, tension becomes lost in the filament even more rapidly with use. The extension of the filament may therefore preferably require that all sections of a filament where the elastic limit has been exceeded are removed from within the center of the frame, between two opposed (on the same filament) tension adjusting or filament securing elements.
Although the figures show specific examples, these are intended to be only nonlimiting examples of the generic concepts contemplated in the practice of this technology. The frames and support may be made of plastic, metal or composite, for example, The grooves and filaments may vary in dimensions according to need. The shape and spacing of the frame may vary, as indicated above, for any geometric shape and portioning. The technology of the prior art, such as the sliding adjustability of the filament supports (still incorporating tension adjustment as taught herein) may also be used.
