GB2363316A

GB2363316A - Holder for knives

Info

Publication number: GB2363316A
Application number: GB0014709A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Minoru Tsuchida
Original assignee: Master Cutlery Corp
Current assignee: Master Cutlery Corp
Priority date: 2000-06-15
Filing date: 2000-06-15
Publication date: 2001-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 2020-06-15
Also published as: HK1043292B; GB2363316B; GB0014709D0; HK1043292A1

Abstract

A knife block comprises slotted blade guides (12A, 12A) having a clearance through which a blade part (C1) of knives (C) is inserted to lead the blade part (C1) in a predetermined direction, a cover part (10) against which the grip parts (C2) of the knives (c) abut, a casing (20) surrounding the circumference of the blade parts and a base plate (30) on which the casing (20) uprightly stands with inclination to the vertical. The cover part (10) and a support plate (13) beneath the cover part are themselves slotted to receive the blade guides (12A). A similar guide (12B, Figure 3B) may be provided for a file to sharpen the knives.

Description

2363316 KNIFE BLOCK The present invention relates to a knife block to hold

a plurality of cooking knives and a f ile to grind such cooking 10 knives together (hereinafter referred to only as knives).

In the kitchen of common house or restaurant there are provided with kitchen knives for cooking. In recent days, 15 not limited to restaurant but even in common house, it is general to prepare a plurality of kitchen knives in conf orm-ity with cooking materials.

In ordinary case, there is provided with a kitchen knif e housing part inside the partition door under the kitchen 20 scullery. In other case, a plurality of kitchen knives are housed in a kitchen drawer. In either case, the knives are taken out when they are demanded f or cooking.

However, there are some inconveniences complai-ned. For instance, when quick cooking is demanded, it is not easy 25 to take out knives from inside of the partition door. In particular, in the case when several different kinds of kitchen knives are demanded to proceed one kind of cooking, it is of annoyance to take out the knives f rom or put back them to inside of the partition door after washing the knives with water and wiping off. For this reason, most people 5 lay the knives temporarily on the scullery after they used the knives. However, these knives placed unconsciously on the scullery are very dangerous and insanitary. Thepresent invention has been made with the foregoing background in mind. The aim of the present invention is to offer a knife

10 block of a simple structure and yet very convenient in handling these knives.

The present invention offers a knife block comprising 15 a plurality of kni-f e guides provided with slots through which each knif e is inserted downward, respectively. Each of slots is provided with narrow gap to lead the knife to slide straightly and vertically downward. Theknifeblockof the present invention further comprises a cylindrical cover 20 plate made of stainless steel surrounding the standing knives There is a lid on the upper end of the cylindrical cover. The lid is provided with a plurality of slots as above mentioned. Said cylindrical cover stands in an upward direction with a predetermined pertinent inclination.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a general perspective view indicating a part of the broken part of a kn1f e block according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an analytical perspective view indicating the 5 knife block according to the present invention.

Fig. 3A indicates a first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention along an arrow marked X direction in Fig.l.

Fig.3B indicates a second aspect of the embodiments 10 of the present invention along an carrow marked X direction in Fig.l.

Fig. 4A is a side elevation of a kni-f e guide according to the present invention.

Fig. 4B is a perspective view of a knif e guide according 15 to the present invention.

Fig.4C indicates the Y-Y cross-section in Fig.2.

Fig.5 indicates the state inside the cover part and is a cross section along the Z-Z line in Fig.l.

Fig.6A is a perspective view of a lower aperture of 20 a cover part of the present invention.

Fig. 6B is a cross -section along the W-W line in Fig. 6B.

25 - In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a kn:lf e block.

The knife block 1 comprises a holder part 10 to retain the knives C, a cover part 20 surrounding a blade part Cl of the knives C, a base plate 30 to secure the cover part 20 upwardly with a predetermined pertinent inclination. The 5 cover part 20 presents a cylindrical state and it has the holder part 10 on the upper aperture. The lower aperture of the cover part 20 is detachably secured with respect to the base plate 30.

In Fig. 2, the upper aperture of the cover part 20 is 10 fixedly covered with a cap part 11. There are provided a plurality of insert holes 15A, 15A, on the cap part 11. In the f irst aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there are eight insert holes as shown in Fig. 2.

Configuration of the insert holes is determined depending 15 upon the configuration of the blade part Cl of the knives C to be retained. In the first aspect of the embodiments, as shown in Fig. 3A, the insert holes 15A, 15A, of three dif f erent dimensions are provided in contrast with each other with respect to the center line UCL. A plurality of blade 20 guides 12A, 12A, are f i-xedly fitted to said insert holes 15A, 15A, respectively. Meanwhile, there is provided with a support plate 13 under the holder part 10 as shown in Fig. 1.

In the support plate 13, there are provided with a plurality of support holes 14, 14, which correspond to said insert 25 holes 15A. The blade guides 12A,... are f ixed with respect to each of said support holes 14.....

The relation between the blade guide 12A and the cap part 11, also between the blade guide 12A and the support plate 13, as well as the structure of the blade guide 12A are explained with reference to the Fig.2 and Fig.4. A 5 plurality of the insert hole 15A, the blade guide 12A and the support hole 14 are offered in the present invention.

Each of the basic structure of the insert hole 15A, the blade guide 12A and the support hole 14 is identical with each other. For this reason, one example is explained 10 hereinafter.

Fig.4A is a side elevation of the blade guide 12A.

Fig. 4B ls a perspective view of said blade guide 12A. Fig. 4C is a Y-Y cross section in Fig.2. The blade guide 12A, as shown in Fig. 4A and 4B, presents a f orm of vertically divided 15 guide body 12b and each of the two divided guide body 12b is integrated together through the left and right circumf erential edges 12c, 12d. For this reason, the guide body 12b has a clearance SP through which the blade part Cl of the knives C is inserted.

20 The guide body 12b is made of plastics and offers plasticity. It retains the blade part Cl of the knives C inserted into such clearance SP. One cj-rcumf erential edge 12d is formed thicker comparing with the thickness of the other circumferential edge 12c. The blade part Cl slidably 25 connects with respect to the circumf erential edge 12d. There is provided with a protrusion 12e at the lower end of the circumferential edge 12d. A user can judge the slidable connecting side of the blade Cl quite easily at a glance.

A flange like engagement part 12a is formed on the aperture side of the guide body 12b. There is provided a 5 f lat tapered plate 12i at one side of the guide body 12b.

The other side of the guide body 12b is also provided with the other flat tapered plate 12i. Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 indicate one of the surfaces of the guide body 12b. The flat tapered plate 12i and 12i are formed tapered in upright direction 10 and gradually expanded toward the blade guide 12A. One slit 12f is formed between the tapered part 12i and the circumf erential edge 12c. The other slit 12f is f ormed between the flat tapered plate 12i and the circumf erential edge 12d.

Upper end parts 12g, 129 are formed on the upper end of the 15 f lat tapered plates 12i, 12i. (Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 show one f ace only.) There are predetermined distance L between the upper end parts 12g, 129 and the engagement part 12a (refer to Fig.4A).

The blade guide 12A is, as shown in Fig. 2, fitted into 20 the insert hole 15A, and the engagement part 12a of said blade guide 12A is engaged with the cap part 11. Meanwhile, the lower end of the blade guide 12A is f itted into the support hole 14 of the support plate 13. The support hole 14 interferes with the flat tapered plates 12i, 12i gradually 25 expanding upwardly. Then, each of the flat tapered plates 12i, 12i moves toward the direction to reduce the clearance SP due to actuation of slits 12f, 12f and the support hole 14 goes up further. When the support hole 14 goes over beyond the upper end parts 12g, 12g, the flat tapered plates 12i, 12i are released interference by the support hole 14 and 5 expands due to elastic action of the guide body 12b. A position of the support plate 13 when the support hole 14 goes over the upper end parts 12g, 12g is indicated by the imaginary line in Fig.4C (herei-nafter the position is referred to as a preparation position).

10 The circumference of the support plate 13 is folded downwardly and forms a connecting part 13a. In short, when the support plate 13 is housed within the cover part 20, the connecting part 13a slides the inner surface to lead the support plate 13 to move (refer to Fig. 4C). For this 15 reason, stability of the support plate 13 is improved. The, support plate 13 is prevented from being inclined in the cover part 20.

A bolt 16 passes through the support plate 13. When the blade guide 12A is reached to said preparation position, 20 the bolt is screwed in. The tip end of the bolt 16 connects the inner surface of the cap part 11 and the support plate 13 is pressed downward. The support plate 13 is reached to the upper end parts 129, 12g of the blade guide 12A (ref er to the actual line in FigAA) The support plate 131s engaged 25 with the upper end parts 12g, 12g and supported. The thickness of the cap part 11 is larger than the thickness of the cover part 20. The cap part 11 is endurable against the pressed bolt 16.

Fig. 5 indicates inner state of the cover part 20. It is a cross sectional view of the knife block along the Z-Z 5 line indicated in Fig.l. The support plate 13 is held in the cover part 2 0 to f orm a space 17. In short, inside surface of the cover part 20 and outside part of the support plate 13a are not touched throughout the circumference but the support plate 13 presents space between the cover plate 20 10 at its both sides along the longitudinal direction and thus a space 17 is generated. Accordingly, when inside of the cover part 20 is washed, water existing between the support plate and the cap part 11 is drained off smoothly (refer to Fig.5).

15 As mentioned above, the holder part 10 with respect to the embodiment of the present invention comprises the cap part 11, a plurality of the blade guides 12A, 12A, the support plate 13, and bolts 16, 16.

The lower aperture of the cover part 20 is detachably 20 f ixed to the base plate 30. The structure thereof is explained with the accompanied drawings Fig. 2, Fig. 6A and Fig. 6B. Fig. 6A indicates a perspective view of the lower aperture 21 of the cover part 20. Fig.6B is a cross section along the W-W line in Fig. 6A. The lower part of the cover part 25 20 is sliced off with an inclination with respect to the center line CL of the cylinder (ref er to Fig. 6B). The sliced surface forms the lower aperture 21.

Meanwhile, there is formed a recessed part 31 on the base plate 30 made of hard rubber or rubber like material. The configuration of a c:lrcumf erential side wall 31a (refer 5 to Fig.2) on the base plate 30 corresponds to the configuration of the lower aperture 21 of the cover part 20. Thus, the lower aperture 21 of the cover part 20 is relatively and fixedly fitted to the circumferential side wall 31a from the inclined direct-ion. Due to such 10 configuration, the lower aperture 21 is placed horizontally with respect to the surface 'of the base plate 30. An acute angle part 21a of the lower aperture is engaged with the circumferential side wall 31a of the recessed part 31 of the base plate 30. Now the cover part 20 stands with an 15 inclination but it stands stably. As the base plate 30 is made of hard rubber or rubber like material, the cover part 20 is always held stably due to elastic power of the material of the base plate 30. It is also easy to take out the cover part 20 from the circumferential side wall 31a of the base 20 plate 30.

There are formed protrusions 21b, 21b, 21b around the circumferential edge of the lower aperture 21. The three protrusions 21b, 21b, 21b are intended to set the cover part 20 stably on the base plate 30. It is thus required to provide 25 said three protrusions at a position to connect them at least with a triangle conf iguration (ref er to a dot line in Fig. 6A).

In particular, when configuration of the cross section of the cover part 20 presents an ellipse configuration, one protrusion 21b is placed on one end of the longitudinal axis and other two protrusions 21b and 21b are provided at contrast 5 positions on the circumferential edge of the lower aperture 21 with respect to the center line of the longitudinal axis of the lower aperture. It goes without saying that the configuration of the lower aperture 21 of the cover part 20 not strictly limited to a fixed ellipse configuration 10 but other conf iguration such as Japanese straw shoes or cocoon are also included.

One end of said longitudinal axis of the lower aperture 21 indicates an acute angle part 21a. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the other end of said 15 longitudinal axis indicates an obtuse angle side part 21c as shown with two dots line in Fig.6B.

The cover part 20 is surrounded with stainless steel plate and is welded two edges together. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the edge to be welded 20 is the other end of the longitudinal axis of the cover part 20. Welding is performed along the edges of the cover plate starting from the obtuse angle side part 21c of the lower aperture 21. When welding is performed it is required to finish the welded parts with preferable f ini- shing treatment 25 such as grinding or the like. If the obtuse angle side part 21c should not be f ormed, a recess is appeared at the starting position of the welding and it becomes impossible to repair the cover part 20 afterward. Formation of the obtuse angle side part 21c is thus desired to conceal such a recess in finishing treatment.

Next, a method to assemble the knife block 1 according to the present invention and the ef f ect thereof are explained with the accompanied drawings Fig.1, Fig.2 and Fig.4.

As shown in Fig. 2, the lower part of the knif e guide 12A is relatively fitted in the insert hole 15A. As shown 10 in Fig.4, the flange like engagement part 12a formed on the upper part of the blade guide 12A is caught to the upper surface of the cap part 11.

Next, press the support plate 13 into the cover part 20. The support hole 14 of the support plate 13 is relatively 15 fitted into the lower part of the blade guide 12A. When the support plate 13 is further pressed, the support plate 13 is reached to the preparation point indicated with the imaginary lines in Fig.4.

When the support plate 13 is placed on the preparation 20 point, bolts 16, 16 are tightened. The clearance between the support plate 13 and the cap part 11 is expanded and an engagement part 12a of the blade guide 12A is engaged with the cap part 11. The upper end parts 12g, 12g are assembled to the support plate 13. The holder part 10 is 25 completely fixed to the upper aperture of the cover part 20.

Next, f ix the lower aperture 21 of the cover part 20 into the recess part 31 of the base plate, 30. The cover part 20 stands upright with a predetermined pertinent inclination The knife block is thus completed. When the knife block 5 1 is practlcally used, the base plate 10 is placed on a table. As indicated in Fig. 1, the cap part 11 stands upright with apredetermined pertinent inclination to use saidknif e block 1. The knives C are retained in the holder part 10 in the cap part 11. In practice, the knives C are inserted through 10 the clearance SP of the blade guide 12A. The blade guide 12A to receive the blade part Cl is fixed to the cap part 11 arid the support plate 13. The direction of the knives C to be inserted is lead by the blade guide 12A and trembling defect in leftward and rightward direction is prevented.

15 Meanwhile, as inserting the blade part Cl a grip part C2 is engaged with the cap part llandstopped. Inotherwords, the grip part C2 of the knives C is engaged with the cap part 11. In short, the grip part C2 of the knives C is engaged with the cap part 11 and it is placed between the blade guides 20 12A and 12A. The knives C retained as such are easily taken out when it is demanded. No drawers and no opening gate under the scullery is required. It is quite convenient to treat cooking materials.

When washing the knife block 1, it is easy to wash the 25 Cover part 20 taking out the knives C from the knife block 1 because the coverpart 20and the base plate 30 are detachable There is a space 17 between the connecting part 13a of the support plate 13 and the inner surface of the cover part as shown in Fig. 5. Water is easily drained out. Automatic washing machine is applied quite easily.

The inventor has explained the detail of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Next, the detail of the second embodiment of the present invention is explained. In Fig. 3B, as indicated in the f irst embodiment, there are provided a plurality of insert holes 10 15A, 15A,... and the blade guides 12A, 12A In this embodiment, a f ile bar insert hole 15B and the blade guide 12B are provided. The insert hole 15B and the blade guide 12B comprises a clearance SP. The conf iguration of the clearance SP is formed such that the crossing point of the 15 longer axis and the shorter axis of the ellipse is piled on the center of the circle. The length of the shorter axis of the ellipse is shorter than the radius of the circle configuration.

In common, grinding part of the f ile bar presents circle 20 or ellipse configuration. Thus, the above configuration of the insert hole 15B and the blade guide 12B is convenient to receive a file of circle or ellipse configuration.

According to the present invention, to house a plurality of knives and taking out them quickly becomes 25 possible. It is very convenient to use them in cooking. It is saf er because the knives are guided by means of the blade guide and saf ely retained. Each of the knives is independently kept without touching each other. The structure of the knife block according to the present invention is simple. It is easy to manufacture. 5

Claims

1. A knife block for holding a plurality of knives each having a blade part and a grip part, the knif e 5 block comprising a hollow, substantially cylindrical cover part having an upper end and a lower end, a holder part in the upper end of the cover part and including therein a plurality of knife guides each incorporating therein a slot through which the blade part of an 10 associated knife can be inserted, the grip part of each knife, in use, engaging the holder part to retain the knife in an operative position in the block in which the blade part thereof is housed within the cover part, and a base plate on which the lower end of the cover part is 15 received such that, in use, the cover part extends upwardly f rom the base plate at an angle to the vertical.

2. A knif e block comprising:

a knif e guide providing with a clearance through which a blade part of each knIf e is inserted to lead each of the knife downward, a holder part to retain each of the knives by engaging each grip part of the knives the holder part being provided on an aperture of a cover, 10 a cylinder like cover part surrounding the blade parts of the knives, and a base plate to secure the cover part in upright direction with inclination.

3. A knife block substantially as described with 15 reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.