Under cabinet knife storage unit

Abstract

An under the cabinet knife storage unit with a knife storage board with a planar top surface and a number of inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets that act as contact points for removable PLA brackets; removable PLA (or equivalent material) brackets with inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets; and a mounting bracket arrangement for mounting the knife storage board under a kitchen cabinet. The mounting bracket arrangement alternating between an extended position for the knife storage board and a retracted position for the knife storage board. The extended position being at least four inches forward of the retracted position. In the extended position, the knife storage board lies at an angle of between 15 degrees and 60 degrees from the knife storage board in the retracted position.

Description

BACKGROUND

Various arrangements are available for storing knives, utensils and small tools or under cabinet cook book holders, but no product addresses a multitude of uses such as, inducing but not limited to, knife storage unit, cook book holder, electronics charging station, or display unit. A popular method to store knives is the knife block, which is utilizes elongated predetermined slots for the storage of each item and its sole purpose is to store cutlery. This method not only takes up precious counter space but provides a crevice for mold and bacteria to grow, a dark secluded area for unwanted insects to hide, and the user has to blindly select the desired item as they are out of site. The present invention provides a surface that is in full view and can be cleaned and sanitized. Another item on the market is a magnetic bar that is mounted to the wall with screws. The present invention is mounted under a cabinet so the knives are not in full view, especially children. The present invention also does not require the damaging of walls or backsplashes. The in-drawer knife storage unit is another option on the market. This invention utilizes a slotted piece of wood that is placed inside a drawer and again, the knives take up precious space and are hidden from view for easy selection. The current invention also incorporates very strong neodymium rare earth magnets encased in a PLA, polylactic acid or polylactide, is a biodegradable thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn, corn starch, tapioca roots, chips or starch, or sugarcane, and is a nontoxic resin, or comparable material bracket, which is a unique feature not included on other units. The current invention uses recessed neodymium disk-shaped magnets placed on the board itself for the complimentary magnetically charged brackets to be attached. This is to allow for easy removal of the magnetic brackets for: cleaning, replacement, and various other reasons. Under cabinet cook book holders and display units are also available but are designed solely for those purposes. The ability to remove the magnetic brackets also allows the unit to be used as a cookbook holder, electronics charging station, viewing surface for electronics, and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye as the current invention can be manufactured in a multitude of colors and finishes to both the board and magnetic bracket assemblies.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to the storage of kitchen cutlery, small utensils/tools, or any reasonably magnetically susceptible items as well a cook book holder, charging station for electronics. The current invention utilizes a board which can be positioned in a virtually unseen position under a cabinet when not in use (FIG. 1), lowered to view stored items by use of a handle or comparable item, select the desired stored item (FIG. 2), then return to the original position utilizing a spring hinge mechanism. The invention uses neodymium disk-shaped magnets encased in rectangular shaped elongated PLA brackets to securely hold reasonably magnetically susceptible items such as knives, scissors, screw drivers, or comparable items. The magnetic brackets are removable therefore making the unit multifunctional. After removing the magnetic brackets, the unit can be utilized as, but not limited to, a cookbook or a multitude of items on the unit for their viewing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an under cabinet multifunctional knife storage unit designed to hold knives, scissors, small utensils, or any reasonably magnetically susceptible item as well as but not limited to a cook book holder, electronics charging station, or display unit.

2. Description of Prior Art

There are several under cabinet knife storage units on the market, however none of them are equivalent to the present invention because they do not provide for the multitude of uses as the current invention does.

U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0351570 A1, issued Dec. 10, 2015, to Susan Lukjan, displays an under counter knife storage unit utilizing hinges and stationary ceramic magnets encased by a U-shape metallic channel. The current invention has removable neodymium disk-shaped magnets encased in a PLA or equivalent material bracket. The magnetic brackets are removable to expand the usage to a book holder, charging station for electronics, or any number of uses.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,005, issued Nov. 5, 1974, to Marie R. Harper, displays a utensil storage unit that utilizes slots to store knives. The current invention uses neodymium disk-shaped magnets encased in a PLA bracket, entire selection of objects is viewable at one time, no slots for bacteria and/or pests to hide, easily cleanable, and is multifunctional as a book holder or electronics charging station.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,839,349, issued Jun. 17, 1958, to Paul C. Culver, displays a knife drawer unit that utilizes slots for knife storage and is designed to go inside a drawer. The current invention is an under the cabinet unit that utilizes neodymium magnets encased in a PLA bracket, as well as reasons cited above.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,416, issued Jun. 28, 1951, to Carleton Engler Saecker, displays a book holder. The current invention is designed to store knives and any reasonably magnetically charged object as well as function as a book holder.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,145, issued Oct. 14, 1981, to Masumi Ando, displays a book holder. The current invention is designed to store knives and any reasonably magnetically charged object as well as function as a book holder.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,634 B1, issued Aug. 20, 2002, to Audrey K. Webb, John R. Hamilton, Michael Welsh, Scott Miller, and Kevin Miller, displays a display shelf apparatus. The current invention is designed to store knives and any reasonably magnetically charged object as well as function as a book holder.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,851,306 B2, issued Oct. 7, 2014, to Steven Michael Joseph Spurr, displays a concealable storage rack designed to hold containers of concentrated drinks. The current invention is designed to store knives and any reasonably magnetically charged objects as well as function as a book holder.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,348,068 B2, issued on Jan. 8, 2013, to Mark Huentelman, displays and under the cabinet knife storage unit that is stationary, doesn't display entire selection of knives at once, knife blades are not discretely hidden under cabinet, and uses slots to encase knife blades. The current invention utilizes hinges, displays entire selection of knives at one time, retracts discretely under the cabinet. The current invention is also multifunctional in that magnets can be removed and unit can function as book holder or a charging station for electronics.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,971,736 B1, issued Jul. 5, 2011, to John Michael Stewart, displays a magnetic knife holder that is stationary and is designed to attach to a wall. The current invention attaches to the underside of a cabinet discretely retracts out of view by the use of a hinge mechanism. The current invention is also multifunctional as mentioned in above argument.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,499,943, issued Aug. 6, 2013, to Jaqueline P. Neldner, displays a decorative magnetic tool holding apparatus and method of holding scissors. The current invention attaches to the underside of a cabinet and retracts out of view by the use of a hinge mechanism. The current invention is also multifunctional as mentioned in above argument.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the current inventions advantages will be apparent from the following descriptions when taken in conjunction with the drawings, which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention mounted to the underside of a cabinet unit in the closed position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention in the downward open position which enables the viewing of stored items.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention displayed in the unmounted and closed position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention displayed in the unmounted partially open position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the present invention displayed in the unmounted open position.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the spring hinge mechanism in the open position.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the current invention in accordance with one embodiment of the present subject matter.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of the current invention in accordance with one embodiment of the present subject matter.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are perspective views of alternative uses for the unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention has utility as a storage unit for knives, scissors, small utensils, or any reasonably magnetically susceptible material. Additionally, the present invention can be utilized as a cookbook holder, charging station for electronics, or to display/hold a multitude of items. The present invention allows the owner to safely and securely store their items discreetly under a cabinet in a sanitary and easily cleanable manner or the above mentioned purposes.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the knife storage unit 10 in the retracted position, where it is stowed under the cabinet 12, nearly out of sight.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the 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 48, to enable the user to grasp the knife storage unit 10 to pull in a downward fashion from the cabinet to the position in FIG. 1

The under cabinet knife storage unit 16 has a plurality of elongated brackets 24, 26 that encase neodymium rare earth magnets 22. Two elongated rectangular shaped magnetic brackets 26 extend in a front-to-back orientation. The magnetic brackets 22, 24 preferably project upwardly above the generally planar surface of the knife board so that they contact the blade 28 of the knife when the knife handle 30 is lying flat on the planar top surface of the knife board 16.

As depicted in FIG. 2, there is a large space in the right-to-left direction on the right end of the knife board 16, which provides a place for the handles 28 of the right-to-left oriented knifes to rest, while the blades 28 of those knives contact the neodymium rare earth magnetics 22. The front edge lip 18 provides a stop for the blade and handle of the lowermost right-to-left oriented knife.

On the left side of the knife board 16 of FIG. 1, to the rear of the front-to-rear midpoint, there is one right-to-left magnetic bracket 24, which contacts the blades 28 of the 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 right-to-left orientation, with their blades 28 contacting the two front-to-back oriented magnetic brackets 26, and the shorter knives are oriented in the front-to-back direction, with their blades contacting the right-to-left oriented magnets 26. The additional front-to-back magnetic bracket provides two contact points 26 to avoid pivoting and movement of knife handle 30 when unit is raised and lowered.

When the under cabinet knife storage unit 10 is in the extended position shown in FIG. 2, 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 be able to reach all the knives to remove them and replace them from the storage unit 10. When the under cabinet knife storage unit 10 is in the retracted position show shown in FIG. 1, 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. Two hinge legs 40 are pivotally connected to each upper plate 36 at pivot points 40 and extend downwardly, where they are connected to a respective lower plate 42 at pivot points 44. The left and right lower hinge plate supports 42 and are secured to the bottom surface of the knife board 16 using the appropriate number of wood screws.

This hinge arrangement 14 has an advantage in that it brings the under cabinet 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 objects 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.

The isometric view depicted in FIG. 7 exhibits the neodymium magnet bracket 24, 26, placement onto knife board 16. On the left hand side of the knife board 16, approximately two-thirds distance from front lip 18, in a left-to-right configuration, there will be two predetermined recesses in which a single disc shaped neodymium magnet will be placed with a complimentary polarity to the adjoining magnetic bracket assembly 24. The two front-to-back magnet brackets attach to the knife board 16 using the same technique: two predetermined recesses 46 strategically placed for each magnetic bracket to attach at both top and bottom of bracket.

The perspective views 9,10, depict additional uses for knife board 16.

The preferred embodiments of the current invention may be constructed using the following steps:

• • 1. Obtain knife board may be constructed from a variety of materials such as wood, bamboo, or a plastic composite to name a few.
  • 2. Insert a small amount of adhesive in predrilled predetermined recesses and insert disk-shaped neodymium magnets.
  • 3. Attach the left and right hinges using wood screws or appropriate technique for material of knife board.
  • 4. Attach pull down handle using appropriate fasteners taking into account knife board material and decorative handle used.
  • 5. Obtain magnet bracket with predrilled inserts for magnets.
  • 6. Insert small amount of adhesive in predrilled predetermined recesses and insert disk-shaped neodymium magnets.
  • 7. Place removable magnet brackets along the knife board, aligning appropriate magnetic poles.

It will be obvious 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.

Claims

1. A knife storage unit, mountable under a cabinet or shelf, the knife storage unit comprising; (a) a knife storage board comprising a planar top surface and a plurality of inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets the magnets positioned to act as contact points for removable knife brackets;(b) a plurality of removable knife brackets with inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets;(c) a mounting bracket arrangement for mounting the knife storage board under the cabinet or shelf, said mounting bracket arrangement defining an extended position for the knife storage board and a retracted position for the knife storage board, wherein the extended position is at least four inches forward of the retracted position and wherein, in the extended position, the knife storage board lies at an angle of between 15 degrees and 60 degrees from the knife storage board in the retracted position.

2. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein the mounting bracket arrangement comprises two extendable hinge brackets, one extendable hinge bracket positioned on each lateral side of the knife storage board and attachable to an underside of the cabinet or shelf.

3. The knife storage unit of claim 2 wherein each extendable hinge bracket further comprises a retraction spring facilitating movement of the knife storage board from the extended position to the retracted position.

4. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein the knife storage board further comprises a front edge lip positioned on and extending up from a front edge of the planar top surface.

5. The knife storage unit of claim 1 further comprising an operational handle positioned on the knife storage board to facilitate movement between the retracted position and the extended position.

6. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of removable knife brackets comprises a downward facing surface and an upward facing surface, the downward facing surface positioning a plurality of the inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets on the removable knife bracket to contact the plurality of inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets on the knife storage board, the upward facing surface positioning a plurality of the inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets on the removable knife bracket to contact and secure a knife.

7. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of removable knife brackets comprise PLA material.

8. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of removable knife brackets comprise at least two brackets oriented parallel to each other to facilitate securing an individual large knife at a point on each bracket for a more secure attachment of the knife.

9. The knife storage unit of claim 8 further comprising at least one removable knife bracket oriented orthogonal to the at least two brackets oriented parallel to each other.

10. A knife storage unit, mountable under a cabinet or shelf, the knife storage unit comprising: (a) a knife storage board comprising a planar top surface;(b) a plurality of knife brackets, each knife bracket having a plurality of inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets;(c) a mounting bracket arrangement for mounting the knife storage board under the cabinet or shelf, said mounting bracket arrangement defining an extended position for the knife storage board and a retracted position for the knife storage board, wherein the extended position is at least four inches forward of the retracted position and wherein, in the extended position, the knife storage board lies at an angle of between 15 degrees and 60 degrees from the knife storage board in the retracted position.

11. The knife storage unit of claim 10 wherein the mounting bracket arrangement comprises two extendable hinge brackets, one extendable hinge bracket positioned on each lateral side of the knife storage board and attachable to an underside of the cabinet or shelf.

12. The knife storage unit of claim 11 wherein each extendable hinge bracket further comprises a retraction spring facilitating movement of the knife storage board from the extended position to the retracted position.

13. The knife storage unit of claim 10 wherein the knife storage board further comprises a front edge lip positioned on and extending up from a front edge of the planar top surface.

14. The knife storage unit of claim 10 further comprising an operational handle positioned on the knife storage board to facilitate movement between the retracted position and the extended position.

15. The knife storage unit of claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of knife brackets comprises a downward facing surface and an upward facing surface, the downward facing surface fixed to the knife storage board, the upward facing surface positioning a plurality of the inlaid neodymium disk-shaped magnets on the knife bracket to contact and secure a knife.

16. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of knife brackets comprise PLA material.

17. The knife storage unit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of knife brackets comprise at least two brackets oriented parallel to each other to facilitate securing an individual large knife at a point on each bracket for a more secure attachment of the knife.

18. The knife storage unit of claim 17 further comprising at least one knife bracket oriented orthogonal to the at least two brackets oriented parallel to each other.