BACKGROUND
Various arrangements are known for storing knives. A popular arrangement is a knife block, which is a large block of wood that has a separate slot for each knife to be stored. This takes up counter space and requires the user to pull out each knife until he finds the knife he wants to use. Alternatively, knives may be put into a drawer, where they typically rub up against other knives or other utensils, which dulls or otherwise damages the knife.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides a knife storage arrangement that protects the knives against being damaged by rubbing against other utensils, allows the knives to be readily viewed by the user without having to take each knife out individually, takes up no counter space, and is not visually distracting in the kitchen.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view of the under cabinet knife storage unit in the extended position;
FIG. 2 is a view of an alternative arrangement for the knife board of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view of the under cabinet knife storage unit of FIGS. 1 and 2 in the retracted position;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the knife storage unit of FIG. 2 in the extended position when removed from the cabinet;
FIG. 5 is the same as FIG. 4 but from a different perspective; and
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the arrangement of FIG. 5.
DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the under cabinet knife storage unit 10 in the extended position, and mounted under a cabinet 12 by means of a hinge arrangement 14. The knife storage unit 10 includes a knife board 16, which is generally rectangular and defines a planar top surface. (There may be recesses or other irregularities in the top surface as well, if desired.) A front edge lip 18, which extends upwardly above the planar top surface of the knife board 16 defines a central recess 20 that serves as a handle, to enable the user to grasp the knife storage unit 10 to pull it downwardly from the cabinet to the position shown in FIG. 1.
The knife board 16 has a plurality of elongated magnetic strips 22, 24. Two of the magnetic strips 22 extend in a front-to-back direction, and two of the magnetic strips 24 extend in a left-to-right direction. The magnetic strips 22, 24 preferably project upwardly above the generally planar surface of the knife board so that they contact the blade 26 of a knife when the knife handle 28 is lying flat on the planar top surface of the knife board 16.
As shown in FIG. 1, there is a large space in the left-to-right direction on the left end of the knife board 16, which provides a place for the handles 28 of left-to-right-oriented knives to rest, while the blades 26 of those knives contact the magnetic strips 22. The front edge lip 18 provides a stop for the blade and handle of the lowermost left-to-right-oriented knife.
On the right side of the knife board 16 of FIG. 1, to the rear of the front-to-rear midpoint, are two left-to-right magnetic strips 24, which contact the blades 26 of front-to-back-oriented knives, while the front lip 18 provides a stop for the handles of those knives. Since this knife board 16 is longer in the left-to-right direction than in the front-to-back direction, the longer knives are oriented in the left-to-right direction, with their blades 26 contacting the front-to-back magnets 22, and the shorter knives are oriented in the front-to-back direction, with their blades contacting the left-to-right oriented magnets 24.
When the knife storage unit 10 is in the extended position shown in FIG. 1, the planar top surface of the knife board 16 preferably is oriented at an angle of between 30 degrees and 60 degrees from the bottom surface of the cabinet 12 and is moved forward so that its front edge lip 18 lies at least four inches forward of the front edge of the cabinet 12. This enables the user to have a good view of the knives and to be able to reach all the knives to remove them and replace them from the storage unit 10. When the knife storage unit 10 is in the retracted position shown in FIG. 3, the knife board lies parallel to the bottom surface of the cabinet 12, and the front edge lip 18 is no farther forward than the front face of the cabinet 12.
FIG. 2 shows an alternative layout for the knife board 16, with the large space for the handles of the long knives being on the right side of the board, and with the left-to-right-oriented magnets located on the left side of the board 16. (The center of the handle 20 lies at the left-to-right midpoint of the knife board 16.) In both cases, at least one of the front-to-back-oriented magnets lies on each side of the left-to-right midpoint of the knife board 16, while the left-to-right-oriented magnets lie only on one side of the left-to-right midpoint of the knife board 16.
FIG. 3 shows the knife storage unit 10 in the retracted position, where it is stowed under the cabinet 12, nearly out of sight.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but with the knife storage unit 10 removed from the cabinet to more clearly show the hinges 14. This view also shows a ferrous metal plate 30 and a magnet 32, which help hold the knife storage unit 10 in the retracted position, where the metal plate 30 contacts the magnet 32. Other types of known cabinet latching hardware could alternatively be used, if desired.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show the hinge 14 in more detail, with an L-shaped cross-section upper plate 34 extending in the front-to-back direction. When the knife storage unit 10 is installed under the cabinet 12, the top surfaces of the left and right upper plates 34 abut the bottom surface of the cabinet 12. Two hinge legs 36 are pivotably connected to each upper plate 34 at pivot points 38 and extend downwardly, where they are connected to a respective lower plate 40 at pivot points 42. The left and right lower plates 40 support and are secured to the bottom surface of the knife board 16.
This hinge arrangement 14 has an advantage in that it brings the knife board 16 forward and angles the front of the knife board 16 downwardly when it is moved from the retracted position to the extended position, making the knives very accessible to the user.
While this hinge arrangement 14 is shown as one preferred example, there are other known hinge arrangements that alternatively could be used. For example, the board 16 could be mounted to the cabinet 12 by means of a front-to-back oriented track, which allows the user to bring the board 16 forward, and then a hinge or hinges could be provided to enable the user to move the knife board to the preferred angle.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the under cabinet knife storage arrangement shown and described herein without departing from the scope of the present invention as claimed.
Patent Application
20150351570
