CA2124261A1

CA2124261A1 - Universal cutter

Info

Publication number: CA2124261A1
Application number: CA002124261A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Walter Michel
Original assignee: Moha Moderne Haushaltwaren AG
Current assignee: Moha Moderne Haushaltwaren AG
Priority date: 1993-06-07
Filing date: 1994-05-25
Publication date: 1994-12-08
Also published as: EP0628386A1; DE59409133D1; AU6335094A; EP0628386B1; TW330469U; JPH07148693A; AU677831B2; ATE189643T1

Abstract

Abstract A cutter for vegetables, fruit and the like with, disposed in front of the cutting knife, an interchangeable, inclined sliding surface (4) which leads under the knife-edge by the width of the cutting groove. The housing consists of two parts with a lower part (16) that is simultaneously adapted as a support and as a container for the cut produce. The two parts of the housing are associated with one another by means of a separable hinge (17).

Description

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~r Universal cutter ., The invention relates to a universal cutter for cutting 5 vegetables, fruit and the like having a sliding surface for guiding the produce be cut, a knife disposed in the sliding surface diagonal to the direction of sliding that separates the sliding surface into two parts, a cutting groove formed of the knife-edge and the part of the sliding surface lying lower than the knife and a housing that folds out to form a stand.
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Cutters for foodstuffs are indispensable kitchen gadgets since most produce has to be cut into slices, strips, etc. at some stage in its processing. When different shapes have been required in the past it has, however, hitherto been necessary to use several different utensils. It would be desirable to have a universal gadget with which vegetables, fruit and the like could ~ be processed into cut produce of different shapes and sizes.

1 It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a universal cutter with which different shapes and sizes of cut produce can be prepared.
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This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by a universal cutter of the above-described type which is characterised in that the part of the sliding surface disposed in front of the knife consists of a part integral with the housing lying in the plane of the knife and an interchangeable part interposed between this integral part and the knife, and that the sliding surface of the interchangeable part defines an inclined plane leading evenly from the integral part to the cutting groove.
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The sliding surface of the interchangeable part advantageously has the shape of a parallelogram, the angles of which correspond to the pitch of the knife.
. ., s Different interchangeable parts are preferably also present with differently pitched sliding surfaces by means of which cutting grooves of different width are formed to prepare sections of different thickness.

According to a special embodiment, interchangeable parts are provided with a series of cutting edges disposed vertically to the sliding surface with which an incision is made in the produce to be cut before this is cut by the knife-edge in a direction vertical thereto.

According to another preferred embodiment, the housing consists of a main cutting part and a support associated therewith by means of a separable hinge for setting up the cutter in an inclined position. The support is preferably adapted as a container for the cut produce.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the appended drawings. There is shown in Fig. 1 a plan view of a universal cutter, Fig. 2 a side view of the same universal cutter, Fig. 3 a front view of the universal cutter, seen from the side that can be folded out, i Fig. 4 a front view of the universal cutter from the side ~ having the hinge, .~
Fig. 5 a side view of the cutter in the folded out state, Fig. 6 the hinge of the cutter, in partial section.
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As shown in Fig. 1, the cutter has a knife (1) disposed diagonally in a rectangular, corrugated sliding surface. The .,1 s ;~
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corrugated sliding surface consists of three parts: a part integral with the housing (2) which lies ~,ubstantially in the plane of the knife (1); a part (3) also integral with the housing disposed behind the knife; a part (4) forming the shape of a parallelogram with angles which correspond to the pitch of the knife. The corrugated surface of the part (4) is diagonally disposed to the plane of the knife (1) and leads evenly from the common edge (5) with the part (2) to an edge (6) lying below the knife. The edge (6) runs parallel to the knife and is disposed by a distance therebelow which defines the cutting groove together with the knife-edge (7) of the knife which determines the thickness of the sections of the produce to be cut.

The entire sliding surface composed of the corrugated parts (2,3,4) and the knife (1) are disposed in a housing composed of two lateral pieces (8,9) and transverse connections (10,11) at the end, the latter laying underneath the cutting surface.
~' The inserted part (4) also has two lateral pieces (12,13) which fit into corresponding recesses in the lateral pieces (8,9) of the frame.

As shown in Fig. 2, the frame has an extension (14) extending beyond the transverse connection (10) which is bent downwards. The extension (14) ends in another transverse connection (15) which forms a handle.
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As also shown in Fig. 2, the housing has a lower part (16) ;which is arranged as a trough-shaped container. This lower part (16) of the housing is associated with the upper part in the area of the extension (14) by means of a rotating hinge (17).
The rotating hinge (17) consists of a cam (18) shown in Fig. 1 on both sides of the lower part of the housing (16) and corresponding recesses in the lateral parts of the frame (8 and 9) of the upper part. The cam (18) is also clearly visible in the partially cut view shown in Fig. 6.

;Two resilient pins (19) disposed in each of the lower parts of the housing (8 and 9) in the vicinity of the transverse :

..... . .

connection (11) are provided with step-shaped projections which mesh with corresponding recesses in the lower part so that the two parts of the housing cannot become detached from one another independently.

The lower part of the housing (16) has two functions. In the closed state that is best seen in Fig. 2, the lower part of the housing serves to collect cut slices of vegetables, fruit and the like. It is particularly suitable for this when a smaller amount of produce has to be cut. The diagonally disposed end wall (20) of the container is particularly suitable for removing the cut material.

In its second function, the lower part of the housing serves as a support for the diagonally positioned universal cutter as shown in Fig. 5. In this case both parts are folded out until the upper edge of the extension (14) rests against a shoulder (21) in the lower part of the housing provided for this purpose.

' The two parts may easily be separated to clean the cutter and in particular the lower part of the housing. The cam (18) is ! slanted in a wedge shape for this purpose so that the upper part may be slid off the lower part of the housing in the half-open ! position.

, Differently shaped inserts (4) are provided to prepare , slices and other shapes of different sizes which may be , interchanged as required. Different inserts are therefore provided with differently pitched sliding surfaces and consequently cutting grooves of different widths. These inserts make it possible to cut thinner or thicker slices.

Inserts are also provided which have a plurality of cutting edges (22) disposed vertically to the sliding surface (4) the height of which correspond to the cutting groove. These cutting i edges produce parallel incisions in the part of the vegetable, fruit or the like in such a way that this slice may be separated into a plurality of strips after a slice has been cut off by the knife (1).

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Claims

1. A universal cutter for vegetables, fruit and the like having a sliding surface for guiding the produce to be cut, a knife disposed in the sliding surface diagonal to the direction of sliding that separates the sliding surface into two parts, a cutting groove formed of the knife-edge and the part of the sliding surface lying lower than the knife, and a housing that folds out to form a stand, characterised in that the part (4) of the sliding surface disposed in front of the knife (1) consists of a part (2) integral with the housing lying in the plane of the knife and an interchangeable part (4) interposed between this integral part (2) and the knife (1), and that the sliding surface of the interchangeable part defines an inclined plane leading evenly from the integral part (2) to the cutting groove.

2. A universal cutter according to Claim 1, characterised in that the interchangeable part (4) has the shape of a parallelogram, the angles of which correspond to the pitch of the knife (1).

3. A universal cutter according to Claim 1, characterised in that it has various interchangeable parts (4) with differently pitched their sliding surfaces which form cutting grooves of different widths for producing sections of different thickness.

4. A universal cutter according to Claim 1, characterised in that the interchangeable part has a series of knife-edges (22) disposed vertical to the sliding surface with which an incision is made in the produce to be cut before it is cut by the knife-edge (7) in a direction vertical thereto.

5. A universal cutter according to Claim 1, characterised in that the housing consists of a cutting part and a support (16) associated therewith by means of a separable hinge (18) for supporting the cutter in an inclined position.

6. A universal cutter according to Claim 5, characterised in that the support is adapted as a container (16) for the cut produce.