FR3049206A1 - FOOD CUTTING DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (D) for cutting food of the type comprising a frame (100) receiving at least one blade so that the relative movement in translation (F1) of the food relative to the blade has for effect the cutting of the food, remarkable in that it comprises a control module (500) for adjusting the sliding cutting thickness inside the frame (100) interposed between the frame (100) and the mobile platform (400), said control module (500) being preformed with degree projections (510) on which are supported projections (420) preformed on the underside of said mobile platform (400), the sliding (F3) of said control module (500) moving (F2) said mobile platform (400). Applications: food cutting.

Description

DEVICE FOR CUTTING FOOD

FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of kitchen utensils for cutting foods also known as mandolins. The present invention more particularly relates to a mandolin allowing adjustment of the cutting thickness in the best conditions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

A mandolin is a kitchen utensil used to cut food and especially raw vegetables slices more or less thick.

This vegetable cutter, generally manual, conventionally comprises a blade associated with a movement surface of the vegetable which, moved back and forth on said surface and maintained in abutment on the latter by the user, is progressively cut .

There is also an inverted configuration where it is the support of the blade which is displaced relative to the vegetable which is maintained in support on said support. An example of such an inverted configuration is described in WO2015189520.

This document describes a mandolin food cutting device of the type comprising: a movable blade support defining a cutting plane and reciprocatingly moving in translation relative to the feed in accordance with an inverted configuration; and - a sheath associated with a pusher allowing the introduction of food and their maintenance on the path of passage of the movable blade holder.

This device comprises a container with an opening equipped with flanges proposing sliding surfaces for said movable blade support and a lid which, independent of the container, comes to close it by cooperating with said flanges and holding said movable blade support in contact with the sliding surfaces, said cover being preformed with a passage which, transverse to the stroke of the movable blade support, accommodates the sheath associated with a pusher allowing the introduction of food and their maintenance on the pathway of the support mobile blade.

The movable blade holder is preformed to releasably receive one or more interchangeable cutting tools. In order to adjust the thickness of the cut, the cutting tool comprises a blade associated with a support frame comprising bearing flanges cooperating with notches in the movable blade support. These notches are preformed at different heights. The sliding of the flanges in one or the other of the pairs of notches makes it possible to adjust the thickness of cut.

Such a solution requires that the entire mobile support is removed from the rest of the device. It further requires the blade support frame to be removed from the occupied notches of said movable support and then slid into the desired notches. The mobile support is then reengaged in the fixed part of the device. Such a succession of operations is tedious and requires the handling of the blade support.

Another solution is described in WO2012097214. In this document, the blade has a fixed position in the mobile support and it is the surface on which bears the food which has an adjustable position in the movable support. To do this, this bearing surface is equipped with sliding pins that slide in grooves inclined at forty-five degrees made in the movable support. This movable support surface is equipped with a motion control module integral with said bearing surface. This control module comprises a slider also moving at forty-five degrees and having an elastic structure with locking lugs cooperating with preformed holes at different heights in the edges of the movable support. The deformation by the user of the slider allows the release of the holes by the lugs and thus the displacement in the right position. Such an adjustment solution avoids having to remove the movable support from the fixed part or to remove the blade support from the movable support. Nevertheless, the solution of displacement at forty-five degrees as well as the use of an elastic slider having the same stroke, make the adjustment difficult by proposing very close cursor positions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

What is clear, the Applicant has conducted research to optimize the setting of the cutting thickness of food for a mandolin-type food cutter. This research has resulted in an original device for proposing a thickness adjustment solution not only for the inverted configuration device as described in WO2015189520 but also for other mandolin type cutters.

The food cutting device of the invention is therefore of the type comprising a frame receiving at least one blade and at least one platform forming on its upper face a bearing surface for the food, so that the relative movement in translation of the food relative to the blade (the food being movable relative to the blade or the blade being movable relative to the food) and to the bearing surface, has the effect of cutting 1 ' food, the frame being preformed on its inner edges of grooves, the platform being movable relative to the blade and preformed on its outer edges of pins sliding in said grooves to guide a movement in a direction perpendicular to said translational movement for purposes adjusting the cutting thickness of the food.

According to the invention, this device is remarkable in that it comprises a control module for adjusting the sliding thickness sliding inside the frame by interposing between the frame and the mobile platform, said control module being preformed projections to degrees (steps) on which come to support pre-formed degrees projections on the underside of said mobile platform, the sliding of said control module setting in motion said mobile platform.

This feature is particularly advantageous in that an additional element is inserted between the mobile platform and the frame of the mobile support. The adjustment of the cutting thickness will thus be optimized. It can be applied both for a conventional configuration where the food is moved in translation relative to the blade and for an inverted configuration where the blade moves relative to the food. It preserves the advantages of the devices already known in that it is not necessary to remove the mobile support from the fixed part or the blade support frame of the mobile support, to allow and implement the adjustment of the 'thickness. It is the setting in motion at any time by the user of the control module that causes the moving platform to move in order to adjust the thickness. The axes of movement may not be parallel. In addition, using degrees, positions are more pronounced and supports are guaranteed.

To do this, according to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, said degrees alternate flat surfaces parallel to the bearing surface formed by the movable platform and flat surfaces inclined at forty-five degrees. Parallel flat surfaces provide good support while sloped surfaces facilitate movement and processing.

Indeed, according to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, said control module slides in said frame in a movement parallel to the bearing surface formed by the mobile platform. Thus, the inclined surfaces of the degrees transform this translational movement of the control module into a translational movement perpendicular to the mobile platform.

To guide this movement, said grooves are, according to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, preformed in the frame to be arranged perpendicularly to the bearing surface formed by the mobile platform. These grooves do not serve as a support but simply a guide for the vertical translation.

In order to allow the platform to move in the opposite direction, the latter is, according to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, preformed in the upper surface of inverted degree flanges with respect to the degrees of projections and with which cooperates a stop of solidarity support of the control module. This stop creates an inverted support with respect to the contacts between the projections described above. Indeed, while the degrees of the control module are disposed under the degrees of the mobile platform, this connection proposes that the preformed degrees in the upper surface of the platform are disposed under the stop of the control module. The association between this connection and that between the degrees of projections optimizes the change of position of the mobile platform and thus the adjustment of the cutting thickness for the device of the invention.

To facilitate its use, said control module is, according to another particularly advantageous feature of the invention, preformed with a handle. The position of this handle in the frame of the support serves as a reference for the chosen cutting thickness.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said device is remarkable in that said frame is a movable blade support defining a cutting plane and moving reciprocally in translation relative to the food which is fixed thereto in accordance with an inverted configuration, the device comprising a container with an opening equipped with flanges providing sliding surfaces for said movable blade support, a lid which, independent of the container, comes to close it by cooperating with said flanges and maintaining said movable support of blade in contact with the sliding surfaces, said cover being preformed with a passage which, transverse to the stroke of the movable blade support, accommodates a sheath associated with a pusher allowing the introduction of food and their maintenance on the way of passage of the movable blade holder.

The basic concepts of the invention having been described above in their most elementary form, other details and characteristics will emerge more clearly on reading the description which follows and with reference to the appended drawings, giving non-limiting example, an embodiment of a device according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic drawing of an outer perspective top view of an embodiment of an inverted configuration food cutting device;

Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of an outer perspective view of the movable blade support of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic drawing of an exploded perspective top view of the movable support of Figure 2;

Figures 4a, 4b, 4c are schematic perspective views of the mobile platform and the control module in three positions corresponding to three different cutting thicknesses;

Figures 5a and 5b are schematic drawings of two top views illustrating the two limit switches of the control module in the movable support.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As illustrated in the drawing of Figure 1, the food cutting device referenced D and said mandolin is of the type comprising a movable blade support 100 defining a cutting plane and moving in a reciprocating translation movement (arrow Fl) relative to the fixed food (not shown) according to an inverted configuration.

This device D comprises a container R with an opening equipped with flanges proposing sliding surfaces for said movable blade support 100. It further comprises a lid C which, independent of the container R, comes to close it by cooperating with said flanges and now said movable blade holder 100 in contact with the sliding surfaces. Said lid C is preformed with a passage P which, transverse to the stroke of the movable blade support 100, accommodates a sheath G associated with a pusher allowing the introduction of food and their maintenance on the path of passage of the movable support of blade 100.

As illustrated in the drawings of FIGS. 2 and 3, the movable blade support 100 adopts the shape of a frame with rounded edges and preformed at a first end of a handle 110 to facilitate its movement in translation back and forth (arrow Fl) by the user. The interior space of this frame accommodates a plurality of elements with which the foods to be cut cooperate.

As illustrated, the interior space accommodates a first fixed platform 200 filling the interior space located at the second end of said frame, providing a flat upper horizontal support surface, the free edge of this fixed platform 200 is equipped with a transverse cutting blade 210.

Although this is not mandatory for a single cut, the movable blade support 100 here accommodates in the configuration shown, a removable additional cutter 300 formed of vertical blades and disposed under the transverse blade 210.

Facing the wire of the blade 210, the movable blade support 100 also accommodates a mobile platform 400 which occupies the interior space of the frame between the blade 210 and the handle 110. The mobility of this platform 400 allows the adjustment of the thickness of the cut proposed by the blade 210 by providing several positions relative to the blade 210. As shown in the drawing of Figure 2 by the double arrow F2, this mobility is exclusively vertical. To do this, the frame is preformed on its inner edges of vertical grooves 120 which will guide the vertical movement (double arrow F2) of the mobile platform 400 and prevent horizontal movement. The mobile platform 400 is preformed on its outer edges pins 410 sliding in said grooves 120. According to the preferred embodiment but not limited to the illustrated, the mobile platform 400 is preformed with two lugs 410 on each side. The implementation of the vertical translation movement (double arrow F2) is performed by the action of the user on a control module 500 sliding horizontally in the mobile support 100 according to the double arrow F3 and which is inserted between the mobile platform 400 and the mobile support 100.

As illustrated in the drawings of FIGS. 4a, 4b and 4c, the lower face of the mobile platform 400 is preformed with projections 420 directed downwards and proposing on their edge degrees directed downwards.

The upper face of the control module 500 is preformed with projections 510 upwards and proposing on their edge degrees directed upwards and on which come into contact the preformed degrees in the projections 420.

This pre-formation in degrees is substantially identical for the downward projections 420 and the upward ones 510. It alternates plane surfaces inclined at 45 degrees and flat horizontal surfaces that is parallel to the upper surface of the platform. 400.

The transformation of the horizontal translational movement (double-arrow F3) of the control module 500 into a vertical translation movement (double-arrow F2) for the mobile platform 400 is achieved by contacting the plane surfaces arranged at 45 degrees. and 511. The mobile platform 400 being fixed in horizontal translation, the horizontal sliding (double arrow F3) of the control module 500 ensures the vertical movement (double arrow F2) of the mobile platform 400.

The different vertical positions of the platform 400 corresponding to as many different cutting thicknesses, are taken when the flat horizontal surfaces 422 and 512 come into contact. Three different positions are illustrated by the drawings of Figures 4a, 4b and 4c. However, according to the preferred but nonlimiting embodiment illustrated, the degrees are preformed to provide five levels.

In order to facilitate the descent of the mobile platform 400, said platform 400 is preformed on the upper surface of inverted-degree flanges 430 with respect to the degrees of the projections 420, that is to say that they offer edges with surfaces of 90.degree. support oriented upwards and alternating flat surfaces inclined at 45 degrees 431 and horizontal flat surfaces 432 that is to say parallel to the upper surface of the platform 400. These flat surfaces cooperate with an integral support stop 520 of the control module 500. This stop 520 prevents the platform 400 from tilting, once reached high position in a first direction of translation of the control module. In addition, it forces the platform 400 to descend in a second direction of translation of the control module 500 by creating an inverted contact compared to that proposed by the projections 420 and 510.

The transition from the high position illustrated in the drawing of FIG. 4a to the lower position illustrated in the drawing of FIG. 4c is achieved by an action towards the rear of the user on the handle 530 of the control module 500, FIG. that is, by passing the control module 500 from the position shown in the drawing of Fig. 5a to the position shown in the drawing of Fig. 5b. As illustrated in the drawings of these figures, the mobile support 100 is equipped with visual cues 130 on which said handle 530 of the control module 500 slides. These visual cues 130 correspond to the positions taken by the handle 530 for each degree so that the handle position shows the user the chosen cutting thickness.

It is understood that the device, which has just been described above and shown, has been for the purpose of disclosure rather than limitation. Of course, various arrangements, modifications and improvements may be made to the example above, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (7)

1. Device (D) for cutting food of the type comprising a frame (100) receiving at least one blade and at least one platform forming on its upper face a bearing surface for the food, so that the movement relative translation (Fl) of the food relative to the blade (the food being movable relative to the blade or the blade being movable relative to the food) and to the bearing surface, has the effect of cutting the food, the frame (100) being preformed on its inner edges of grooves (120), the platform (400) being movable relative to the blade and preformed on its outer edges of pins (410) sliding in said grooves (120) for guiding a movement in a perpendicular direction (F2) to said translational movement (F1) for adjustment of the cutting thickness of the food, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT it comprises a control module (500) adjustment of the sliding cutting thickness inside the frame (1 00) by interposing between the frame (100) and the mobile platform (400), said control module (500) being preformed with degree projections (510) on which are supported projections (420) preformed on the lower face of said mobile platform (400), the sliding (F3) of said control module (500) moving (F2) said mobile platform (400). 2. Device (D) according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT said degrees alternate flat surfaces (422) parallel to the bearing surface formed by the movable platform (400) and flat surfaces (421) inclined at forty. -five degrees. 3. Device (D) according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT said control module (500) slides (F3) in said frame (100) in a movement parallel to the bearing surface formed by the mobile platform (400). ). 4. Device (D) according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT said grooves (120) are preformed in the frame (100) to be arranged perpendicularly to the bearing surface formed by the movable platform (400). 5. Device (D) according to claim 1 CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT said movable platform (400) is preformed in the upper surface of flanges (430) with degrees inverted relative to the degrees of the projections (420) and with which cooperates a stop of support (520) integral with the control module (500). 6. Device (D) according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT said control module (500) is preformed with a handle (530). 7. Device (D) according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT said frame (100) is a movable blade support (210) defining a cutting plane and moving in reciprocating translational movement (Fl) relative to the food fixed thereto in an inverted configuration, the device (D) comprising a container (R) with an opening provided with flanges providing sliding surfaces for said movable blade holder (210), a lid (C) which, independent of the container (R), comes to close it by cooperating with said flanges and by maintaining said movable blade support (210) in contact with the sliding surfaces, said cover (C) being preformed with a passage (P) which, transverse to the stroke of the movable blade support (210), accommodates a sheath (G) associated with a pusher allowing food introduction and maintenance on the path of passage of the movable blade support (100) ( 210).