EP2240646B1

EP2240646B1 - Worktop for kitchens or the like

Info

Publication number: EP2240646B1
Application number: EP08750932A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marcello Cutino
Original assignee: Glem Gas SpA
Current assignee: Glem Gas SpA
Priority date: 2008-01-28
Filing date: 2008-05-14
Publication date: 2012-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 2028-05-14
Also published as: WO2009095738A1; ITMO20080021A1; TW200938123A; EP2240646A1

Abstract

The worktop for kitchens or the like comprises a bearing structure, a work surface supported by the bearing structure and suitable for preparing food, at least one drain opening for removing from the work surface the wastes produced during the preparation of the food, a chute substantially sloped, supported by the bearing structure and arranged below the drain opening, and a collection area for the wastes obtained inside the bearing structure.

Description

Technical Field

This invention relates to a worktop for kitchens or the like.

Background Art

It is known that during the preparation of food it is generally necessary to cut, chop or slice vegetables, meat, fish, etc.
In particular, the use is known of boards made of wood or other material, the so-called cutting boards, having a flat work surface, for the preparation of food. During use, such cutting boards are normally positioned on a table or on the so-called worktop of a piece of kitchen furniture.
The use of such cutting boards generally has a number of drawbacks.
After use, in fact, the cutting boards have to be cleaned of residues and washed for subsequent uses.
Furthermore, during use, food residues can dirty the table or the worktop on which the cutting board is positioned.
In particular, during the preparation of foods, liquid residues can easily slip along the flat work surface and reach the table or kitchen worktop.
Not the least drawback is the fact that, when not used, such cutting boards are normally housed inside compartments intended to accommodate pots and pans or the like and, therefore, take up useful space.
To obviate such drawbacks at least in part, the use is known of special plates, generally made of metal, positionable resting on a common kitchen sink and having a flat work surface.
This permits collecting the solid and liquid residues produced by the preparation of the food inside the sink.
Such plates however, though making it possible to avoid dirtying other areas of the kitchen, such as the table or the worktop, also have their drawbacks.
In particular during the preparation of the food, the sink is engaged and, therefore, cannot be used for other jobs.
Document FR 2514800 A discloses a worktop for kitchens or the like, comprising at least one bearing structure, at least one work surface supported by said bearing structure and suitable for preparing food, at least one drain opening for removing from said work surface the wastes produced during the preparation of the food, at least one chute substantially sloped, supported by said bearing structure and arranged below said drain opening, and at least one collection area for said wastes obtained inside said bearing structure.

Object of the Invention

The main aim of this invention is to provide a worktop for kitchens or the like that allows preparing food and is, at the same time, easy to clean and use. Another object of this invention is to provide a worktop for kitchens or the like that allows to overcome the mentioned drawbacks of the known technique within the ambit of a simple and rational solution, which is easy and effective to use, as well as having a low cost.
The above objects are achieved by a worktop according to claim 1.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of this invention will appear more evident from the description of two preferred but not only embodiments of a worktop for kitchens or the like, illustrated indicatively by way of non limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an axonometric view of a first embodiment of the worktop according to the invention, installed on a piece of kitchen furniture or the like;
Figure 2 is an axonometric view of a second embodiment of the worktop according to the invention;
Figure 3 is a side and section view of the worktop according to the invention illustrated in figure 2.

Embodiments of the Invention

With particular reference to such figures, a worktop for kitchens or the like, usable particularly for the preparation of the food, has been globally indicated by 1.
The worktop 1 comprises a bearing structure, generally indicated by the reference 2, which is associable with the furniture unit M of a kitchen or the like, schematically illustrated in the above illustrations.
The worktop 1 comprises a substantially flat work surface 3, supported by the bearing structure 2, and suitable for preparing food. E.g., the work surface 3 can be used to cut, chop or slice vegetables, meat or fish.
The worktop 1 also comprises one or more drain openings 4 suitable for collecting up, e.g., the product wastes during the preparation of the food.
A substantially sloped chute 5 is supported by the bearing structure 2 and is arranged below the drain openings 4.
The worktop 1 has a collection area 6 for collecting the wastes produced during the preparation of the food, obtained inside the bearing structure 2 and defined close to a lower portion 5a of the chute 5.
The worktop 1 comprises introduction means 7 for introducing a jet of water A along the chute 5.
Such introduction means 7 are associated with the bearing structure 2 at an upper portion 5b of the chute 5, and the jet of water A produced by these pushes the wastes that have fallen off the work surface 3, through the drain openings 4, along the chute 5 as far as the collection area 6.
With special reference to the particular embodiments of the worktop 1 shown in the above illustrations, the collection area 6 for collecting the wastes is composed of a tank obtained inside the bearing structure 2, having an outlet mouth 8.
The chute 5 is composed of a sloped surface obtained inside the bearing structure 2, which extends from the upper portion 5b to the lower portion 5a towards the tank 6.
Usefully, the tank 6 and the sloped surface 5 are made in a single piece and make up the bearing structure 2, which has side walls and an upper opening 2a. Different embodiments of the worktop 1 cannot however be ruled out in which the collection area 6 and the chute 5 have a different shape and arrangement.
The introduction means 7 are schematised in the above illustrations as a water dispensing mouth obtained on a vertical wall of the bearing structure 2, at the upper portion 5b of the chute 5.
The dispensing mouth 7 has a widened shape and extends along nearly the whole width of the sloped surface 5. This allows the dispensing of a jet of water A of widened laminar shape that better distributes on the surface of the sloped surface 5 and which, consequently, better removes the solid and liquid wastes produced by the preparation of food and present on the sloped surface itself, pushing these towards the tank 6.
Usefully, the worktop 1 has a plurality of substantially plate-shaped functional elements, generically indicated by the reference 9, which can be positioned resting at the upper opening 2a of the bearing structure 2, above the chute 5 or the tank 6.
In particular, such functional elements 9 can have different shapes and uses and can be composed, e.g., of a plate 10, of the type of a cutting board or the like, having the above work surface 3.
The plate 10 itself can have a drain opening 4, or the drain opening 4 can be defined by any space between the plate 10 and another functional element 9 adjacent to it.
The plate 10 can be made of metal, glass, polymer material such as nylon or the like, or of other materials.
The functional elements 9 can further be composed of a drip tray 11 (figures 1, 2 and 3), positionable resting, e.g., on the tank 6, or of a substantially plate-shaped weighing scale 12 (figure 1). The manufacture of different functional elements 9 and accessories positionable resting on the bearing structure 2 cannot however be ruled out.
In particular, the bearing structure 2 has two protrusions 2b extending along opposite outer sections of the upper opening 2a. Each of the functional elements 9 has a pair of supports 13, fastened near the edges substantially opposite and positionable resting on the protrusions 2b.
The supports 13 are of the bracket type or the like with an L-shaped profile and are fixed below on each of the functional elements 9, at opposite edges.
The protrusions 2b and the supports 13 extend along straight directions and are complementary to one another, thereby allowing the straight sliding of each of the functional elements 9 inside the upper opening 2a of the bearing structure 2.
During use, the different functional elements 9 of the worktop 1 can be exchanged the one with the other and arranged as required on the upper opening 2a of the bearing structure 2.
Usefully, the worktop 1 comprises at least one water dispenser 14, of the so-called telephone type, which has a grip associated with a flexible hose, not shown in the illustrations, and which is normally housed in a suitable seat 15 obtained on a flat portion of the bearing structure 2, close to the tank 6.
The worktop 1 also comprises a mixer device 16 for starting or interrupting the dispensing of hot or cold water, and a deviator device 17, able to deviate the flow of water between the dispensing mouth 7 and the dispenser 14.
It has in fact been ascertained how the described invention achieves the set objects, and in particular the fact is underlined that the worktop is easily usable to prepare food, for cleaning dishes and for other activities and that, furthermore, the worktop is simple to clean after use.
In particular, the presence of the chute and of the tank allows collecting the wastes during the preparation of food.
Furthermore, the presence of the water introduction means allows keeping clean the chute and the worktop in general or, in any case, allows reducing the necessary cleaning operations to a minimum.
The possibility of combining different functional elements, differently arranged the one with the other, in a simple way, also provides a highly flexible solution adaptable to the particular requirements of each user.
The invention thus conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations.
Furthermore all the details can be replaced with others that are technically equivalent.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements within the protection scope of the following claims.

Claims

Worktop (1) for kitchens or the like, comprising:
at least one bearing structure (2);

at least one work surface (3) supported by said bearing structure (2) and suitable for preparing food;

at least one drain opening (4) for removing from said work surface (3) the wastes produced during the preparation of the food;

at least one chute (5), substantially sloped, comprising at least one sloped surface supported by said bearing structure (2) and arranged below said drain opening (4);

at least one collection area (6), for said wastes, obtained inside said bearing structure (2) and arranged close to a lower portion (5a) of said chute (5); and

introduction means (7) of at least a jet of water (A) along said chute (5);

characterized in that said introduction means (7) are associated with said bearing structure (2) at an upper portion (5b) of said chute (5), and have a widened shape extending along nearly the whole width of the sloped surface (5) of said chute, so as to allow the dispensing of a jet of water (A) of widened laminar shape that is better distributed on said sloped surface (5) for removing the wastes present on it and pushing them towards said collection area (6).
Worktop according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said introduction means comprise at least one water dispensing mouth (7).
Worktop (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that it comprises at least one functional element (9) associable with said bearing structure (2) above said chute (5) or said collection area (6).
Worktop according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that said functional element (9) is positionable by resting it on said bearing structure (2).
Worktop according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that said functional element (9) is associated in a sliding way along said bearing structure (2).
Worktop according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that said functional element (9) comprises at least one plate (10) provided with said work surface (3).
Worktop according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that said plate (10) comprises said drain opening (4).
Worktop according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that said drain opening (4) is defined between two adjacent functional elements.
Worktop according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that said functional element (9) comprises at least one drip tray (11) or the like.
Worktop according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that said functional element (9) comprises at least one weighing scale (12) or the like.
Worktop according to claim 4, characterized by the fact that said bearing structure (2) comprises at least one upper opening (2a) where said functional elements (9) can rest.
Worktop according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said work surface (3) is substantially flat.
Worktop according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said at least one sloped surface of said chute (5) is obtained inside said bearing structure (2).
Worktop according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said collection area (6) comprises at least one outlet mouth (8).
Worktop according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said collection area (6) comprises at least one tank or the like made inside said bearing structure (2).
Worktop according to claim 15, characterized by the fact that said sloped surface (5) and said tank are made in a single piece.