GB2493126A

GB2493126A - Knife cleaning apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2493126A
Application number: GB1108679.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Matthew James Edward Erlichman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-05-24
Filing date: 2011-05-24
Publication date: 2013-01-30
Anticipated expiration: 2031-05-24
Also published as: GB2491253A; GB2491253B; GB201300072D0; GB2495871A; GB2495870B; GB201108679D0; GB201300042D0; GB2495870A; GB201121861D0; GB2493126B; GB2495871B; GB201209160D0

Abstract

Apparatus for the safe manual cleaning of knives comprises a knife rack mountable to a bowl, or integral to the bowl, the knife rack 2 comprising knife support means having a plurality of narrow slotted apertures 4, each slotted aperture adapted to receive a respective knife blade inserted therein for the knife handle to seat on the support means with the knives extending downwardly. The bowl may comprise water release means and / or may comprise a knife compartment portioned from a major volume of the bowl, but in fluid communication with it. The bowl may also be provided with a plurality of grooves in the base to enable the bowl to serve as a drying rack.

Description

Knife Cleaning Apparatus

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns primarily a novel apparatus for cleaning of knives.

The apparatus is particularly suited to safe manual cleaning! washing of Sabatiers and other sharp kitchen knives.

Background of the Invention

Since many kitchen knives have wooden handles and many are too long for the average cutlery basket of a domestic dishwasher machine they are most commonly still washed by hand and are generally cleaned by immersion and soaking in a bowl or basin full of hot, soapy water prior to or while wiping down with a cleaning utensil such as a cloth, brush or pad and then drying on a drying rack. Hand washing such knives in this way is inherently hazardous, especially when trying to find submerged knives. There is in particular significant risk of an injury to the individual by accidental impact against the blade of a submerged knife at the bottom of the bowl or sink if the knife has been dropped in the bowl or left there to soak. Knives at the bottom of a washing up bowl will almost invariably be hidden! unseen due to the dirty and soapy water or other crockery!items in the bowl restricting visibility. For some wooden-handled knives there may also be need to keep the wooden handle from entering the water. With current arrangements dirty knives are often placed into the bowl or sink to clear work surfaces while cooking or cleaning and this can risk damage to the handles of wooden-handled knives.

Whereas these problems with manually cleaning kitchen knives are widespread, common longstanding problems there remain no effective solutions other than exercising great care and seeking to wash the sharp knives individually in the hand and without leaving them in the bowl or sink to soak. Whereas the art includes specialized systems and apparatus for automated washing of knives and for sterilizing knives, there remains a need for a simple, effective and low cost solution to the problems of hand-washing knives safely and it is an objective of the present invention to provide such a solution.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a bowl having a knife rack, the knife rack comprising knife support means having a plurality of narrow slotted apertures, each slotted aperture adapted to receive a respective knife blade inserted therein for the knife handle to seat on the support means with knives extending downwardly.

The knife support means preferably comprises a support panel extending from an upper part of the bowl. Preferably the support panel extends substantially horizontally across a part of the bowl and preferably is above the water fill level of the bowl in use. It preferably further has a divider wall panel/baffle extending downwardly in use from the support panel and which serves in use to partition the bowl into a first zone for the knife blades extending below the support panel and a second zone that is suitable for safely washing other items such as dishes and other cutlery and cookware free of risking contact with the immersed blades. The knife rack allows the knives to be soaked in the bowl while the knives are held with their handles above the waterline and their blades are kept safely away from the users hands in the bowl.

In an alternative embodiment the knife support means may comprise a divider wall panel/baffle extending downwardly in use and having a plurality of fins running down at least part of its height and defining the narrow slotted apertures as the gaps between them. This embodiment is best suited as a retrofit to a bowl or sink.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a knife rack mountable to a bowl or sink, the knife rack comprising knife support means having a plurality of narrow slotted apertures, each slotted aperture adapted to receive a respective knife blade inserted therein for the knife handle to seat on the support means with knives extending downwardly and having mounting means to mount it in the bowl or sink.

The mounting means suitably comprise suckers or clips or hooks or other engagement means.

The apparatus provides a defined safe place to stand dirty sharp knives for them to be soaked or to await washing without cluttering the worktops, instead of having them just lying at the bottom of the sink/washing up bowl. The apparatus may operate as either a washing up bowl with an integrated rack for these knives, or as a retrofit' device to mount! attach to a sink or bowl to achieve the same aim. The rack may be formed integrally with the bowl or may be assembled to it. In one embodiment the rack may clip-mount or hook onto the bowl, suitably at a top rim of the bowl. The mounting suitably is such as to restrict movement of the rack on the bowl in use.

The divider wall panel! baffle preferably extends substantially to the floor of the bowl or for a majority of the depth of the bowl to its floor. Where the bowl is elongate, eg of oblong dimensions as viewed in plan, the divider wall panel! baffle is suitably configured to partition the bowl proximate one end of the bowl so that the second zone is the larger portion of the bowl for active washing up activities. The slots are preferably aligned with each other in rows.

To facilitate drainage of the washing-up bowl a third aspect of the present invention provides a washing-up bowl with a water release means, which can be activated while the sink is full of crockery etc. This suitably comprises a plug hole and plug or gated opening in the bottom, eg floor or at a low level on the side, of the bowl that is openable to enable the release of the dirty and! or cold used water and then closable to reseal the bowl in order for it to be refilled with clean warm water, all without need to tip the bowl over or to remove the knives or other items in the bowl such as crockery etc. The water release means is particularly preferably incorporated in the bowl with the knife rack to facilitate the washing process. The knife rack may be located at one end or corner while the water release means is located at the other end or corner-most especially in the arrangements where the rack is integral to the bowl. However, for some embodiments -most especially in the arrangements where the rack is separate from the bowl -suitably they are at the same end or corner since it is preferred that the water release means is in a zone partitioned off from the main body of water in the bowl to avoid risk of cutlery or other items obstructing the release means and the partition panel or baffle of the knife-rack may serve this purpose.

Preferably the water release means is a sluice gate or plug on a substantially rigid actuating arm that is operable by the user from the top of the bowl to remotely open and close the drainage outlet. However, if anthropometrics suit, eg if there is enough space between the baffle and sidewall of the bowl to access a plug, then the plug may not need to have an actuating arm.

Preferably the bowl with water release means has a number of grooves formed in its floor. These preferably taper/slope in the direction of the water release means' location to prevent pooling of the water when draining the bowl. The grooves may also assist to stop water being retained in a vacuum under upturned crockery or glasses on the base. The grooves can also enable the bowl to double up as a drainage rack for after the items have been washed, with the grooves enabling plates etc to be stood on edge leaning against the side of the bowl. By functioning both as a washing up bowl and as a drainage facility the apparatus may provide a useful practical solution to the lack of draining space available in many kitchens that, for example, often otherwise results in the piling up of pans, crockery etc in unstable towers next to the sink. Furthermore, following rinsing, the knife rack can be used for draining clean knives rather than storing pre-washed ones safely.

A filter means such as a catchment tray may be provided at the water release means in order to capture solid matter in the dirty dishwater draining from the bowl to prevent it passing into the sink and potentially clogging plumbing. The filter means is suitably demountable from the bowl to facilitate emptying its contents into a bin.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a bowl having a knife compartment, the knife compartment being partitioned from a major volumef zone of the bowl by a partition panel that does not fully separate the compartment from the main volume! zone of the bowl but allows fluid communication with the main volume/ zone of the bowl so that the knife blades may be soaked in water therefrom.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, solely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment showing the washing up bowl with an integral knife rack moulded into one corner of the bowl and at another corner of the bowl there being a partitioned drainage zone with plughole for draining the bowl, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the bowl from below, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the bowl, showing its use as a drainage rack after completion of the washing up, Figure 4 is a perspective view of the bowl, showing the demountable catchment tray demounted from the drainage outlet; Figure 5 is a plan view of the bowl from above; and Figure 6 is a perspective view of the plug of the drainage facility of the bowl.

Figure 7 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the bowl from above, here having a partitioned drainage zone with plughole in one corner and a compact soaking pool for the knives, rather than a knife rack, in another corner; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the bowl, here having a knife rack along one side rather than at the corner; Figure 9 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the bowl and knife rack, here having the knife rack as a retro-fit to a washing up bowl and which mounts by a hook at each end of the knife rack to the rim of the bowl on opposing sides of the bowl and Figure 10 shows the rack prior to mounting to the bowl; Figure 11 is a perspective view of a variant of the Figure 10 knife rack, adapted to mount to a bowl or sink by suckers and Figure 12 is a perspective view of a variant of the Figure 10 knife rack that mounts by hooks to the corner of a bowl; Figure 13 shows a variant of the Figure 10 knife rack, adapted to mount to a bowl or sink by suckers but in which the knife-receiving slots of the knife rack comprise gaps between a set of fins, and Figure 14 shows a similar variant to Figure 13 but better adapted to fit to the side wall or end wall, rather than to a corner, of a bowl or sink (alternatively the rack can be fitted in any location by virtue of its articulating panels with living hinges and having a selection of mounting slots for suction cups); Figure 15 is a perspective view of a fourth preferred embodiment of the bowl and knife rack, similar to the embodiment of Figure 10 but where the bowl has a plughole for drainage with the knife rack modified to incorporate an actuating rod! plunger for opening and closing the plug hole; and Figure 16 is a further view of the Figure 15 bowl showing the actuating rod! plunger raised opening the plughole and also showing the demountable catchment tray being demounted from the bowl.

Figure 17 is a perspective view of one end of a further preferred embodiment of the washing up bowl where the bowl has a sliding sluice gate for drainage and a complementary demountable catchment tray; and Figure 18 is an external view of the bowl showing the sluice gate raised and catchment tray in place; and Figure 19 is a further external view showing the catchment tray being demounted.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 6, the first embodiment of the invention comprises a moulded plastics washing-up bowl 1 that has a number of unique features integrally moulded into it. The washing up bowl 1 has at one corner a knife rack 2 comprising a substantially horizontal triangular flange portion 3a of the rim 3 of the washing up bowl 1 in which an array of knife-receiving slots 4 are formed.

The knife rack 2 provides a place for safe storage of knives, with the knife blades mounted in the slots 4 extending down the outside of the bowl 1. As can be seen, each of the slots 4 has a rim projecting downwardly on its underside to constrain the knife blade so that each knife will sit securely in place with its hilt! handle resting on the support panel defined by the triangular flange 3a. In this embodiment the knife rack is located externally to the main bowl, with benefits including that this helps to prevent cross-contamination of the water in the washing up bowl in the case that the knives have been used for cutting up raw meat.

The bowl 1 further has a drainage feature at a far corner of the bowl 1 to allow water to be cold and! or dirty dishwater to be drained from the bowl 1 without upending the bowl 1. The drainage feature comprises a plughole 5 and a corresponding plug 6 (see Figure 6) where the plug 6 is operable remotely, having a plunger type form with a long rigid actuating arm 7 so that it may be both raised to open the plughole 5 and lowered to close without the user needing to reach into the bowl 1. Alternatively a standard plug may be used if there is adequate space between the sidewall of the bowl and the divider for access to the plug. The drainage feature further comprises a partition panel or baffle 8 that substantially separates the drainage zone lb of the bowl 1 from the major zone la of the bowl 1 so that the plug 6 may be operated when required unimpeded by cutlery or other small items. The baffle 8 does not completely separate the drainage zone lb from the major zone 1 a of the bowl since its purpose is to receive the water from the major zone la and drain it out to the sink.

To further assist outflow of the waste dishwater, the floor of the bowl 1 has a series of grooves 9 moulded into it that taper! slope towards the plughole 5 preventing pooling of the water. The grooves 9 and ridges alternating between them provide a support for dishes in the bowl 1 and once the water is drained from the bowl 1 through the plughole 5 the bowl 1 can function as a drainage! drying rack for the dishes or other items therein. The grooves 9 provide support to hold dishes! plates or pans in a vertical orientation thereby minimising the space they take up and facilitating their drying. This allows the bowl 1 to perform the multiple functions of washing, draining and drying and is a very efficient space-saving solution -a god-send where drying space is limited. The grooves 9 also prevent water from being trapped by vacuum in upturned cups or glasses in the bowl 1.

A further aspect of the drainage feature of the bowl 1 that is shown in Figure 4 is a filter arrangement comprising a catchment tray 10 that demountably mounts to the underside of the bowl 1 directly below the plug hole 5 to catch solid matter from the dishwater and prevent it from passing straight into the sink pipe-work. The catchment tray 10 is easily demounted for emptying at suitable intervals.

Referring now to Figure 7, the variant of bowl 1 thereshown has (instead of a slotted knife rack) a compact soaking pool! compartment 11 for the knives, which is partitioned from the major zone of the bowl 1 by a dividing panel! baffle 12. The soaking pool! compartment 11 holds the knives stood on end.

Turning to Figure 8, this shows a variant of the bowl 1 that has a knife rack 2 integrally moulded along one side rather than at the corner. By way of further contrast, Figure 9 shows a variant of the bowl 1 where the bowl 1 and knife rack 2 are formed separately and subsequently assembled together, for example with the rack 2 as a retro-fit to an existing washing up bowl. The rack 2 mounts to the bowl 1 by a hook 2a at each end of the knife rack 2 to the rim 3 of the bowl 1 on opposing sides of the bowl 1. The rack 2 comprises a substantially horizontal panel 13 as the slotted support panel for the knives and has a substantially vertical partitioning panel! baffle 14 extending downwardly from the support panel 13.

Figures 11 and 12 show variants of the separately mountable knife rack 2, adapted to mount to a bowl or sink by suckers that are fitted into slots 15 in a mounting back panel 16 of the rack 2. Figures 13 and 14 show variants of the knife rack 2 where the knife-receiving slots 4 of the knife rack 2 are defined by gaps between a set of fins 17 on the back of the baffle 14. The fins 17 replace need for a support panel.

Mounting of these variants is suitably again by suckers and they have living hinged angle-adjustable side walls 18 on the baffle 14 to carry the sucker-mounting slots 16. These angle-adjustable walls give greater mounting freedom eg to sidewalls, end walls or corners of bowls or sinks and this embodiment especially suits retro-mounting to sinks.

Turning to Figures 15 and 16, these show a further preferred embodiment of the bowl 1 and knife rack 2 that is similar to the embodiment of Figure 10 but the knife rack 2 is modified with a socket 19 to incorporate the plug's remote actuating rod! plunger 7 for remotely opening and closing the plug hole from the top of the bowl 1.

Finally, turning to Figures 17 to 19, these show a further preferred embodiment where the bowl has a sliding sluice gate 6 as plug for drainage and a complementary demountable catchment tray 10 that has a remote operating arm 20 for remotely demounting the catchment tray 10.

Claims

<claim-text>Claims 1. An apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a bowl or sink having a knife rack, the knife rack comprising knife support means having a plurality of narrow slotted apertures, each slotted aperture adapted to receive a respective knife blade inserted therein for the knife handle to seat on the support means with the knives extending downwardly.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the knife support means comprises a support panel extending from an upper part of the bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the support panel extends substantially horizontally across a part of the bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the apparatus has a divider wall panel/baffle in the bowl and which serves in use to partition the bowl into a first zone for the knife blades to be soaked and a second zone for safely washing other items free of risking contact with the immersed knife blades.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claims 2 and 4, wherein the divider wall panel/baffle extends downwardly in use from the support panel.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the knife support means comprises a divider wall panel/baffle extending downwardly in use and having a pturality of fins running down at least part of its height and defining the narrow slotted apertures as the gaps between them.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the knife support means is integral to the bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. An apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a knife rack mountable to a bowl or sink, the knife rack comprising knife support means having a plurality of narrow slotted apertures, each slotted aperture adapted to receive a respective knife blade inserted therein for the knife handle to seat on the support means with knives extending downwardly and having mounting means to mount it in the bowl or sink.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the mounting means comprise suckers or clips or hooks or other engagement means such as to restrict movement of the rack on the bowl in use.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims ito 9, that has a divider wall panel/baffle extending downwardly in use wherein the divider wall panel! baffle extends substantially to the floor of the bowl or for a majority of the depth of the bowl to its floor.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 10, the apparatus having a washing-up bowl, the bowl having a water release means that can be activated to enable the release of the dirty and! or cold used water while the sink holds items to be washed.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the water release means comprises a plug hole and plug or gated opening in the bottom, eg floor or lower part of a sidewall, of the bowl that is openable to enable the release of water and then closable to reseal the bowl in order for it to be refilled with clean warm water, all without need to tip the bowl over or to remove the knives or other items in the bowl 13. An apparatus for cleaning of knives and other utensils that comprises a washing-up bowl, the bowl having a water release means that can be activated to enable the release of the dirty and! or cold used water while the sink holds items to be washed, the water release means comprising a plug hole and plug or gated opening in the bottom, eg floor, of the bowl that is openable to enable the release of the dirty and! or cold used water and then closable to reseal the bowl in order for it to be refilled with clean warm water, all without need to tip the bowl over or to remove the knives or other items in the bowl.14. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim ii, 12 or 13, wherein the water release means is in a zone substantially but not completely partitioned off from the main body of water in the bowl to prevent cutlery or other items obstructing the release means.15. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the apparatus has a L1 knife rack with a partition panel or baffle and this serves as the means to partition off the zone of the release means.16. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 15, wherein the bowl with water release means has a number of grooves formed in its floor.17. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claims 16, wherein the grooves taper/slope in the direction of the water release means' location to prevent pooling of the water when draining the bowl.18. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 17, wherein a filter means is provided at the water release means in order to capture solid matter in water draining from the bowl.19. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the filter means is demountable from the bowl to facilitate emptying its contents into a bin.20. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 18, wherein the water release means is a sluice gate or plug on a substantially rigid actuating arm that is operable by the user from the top of the bowl to remotely open and close the drainage outlet.21. An apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a bowl having a knife compartment, the knife compartment being partitioned from a major volume! zone of the bowl by a partition panel that does not fully separate the compartment from the main volumel zone of the bowl but allows fluid communication with the main volume! zone of the bowl so that the knife blades may be soaked in water therefrom.22. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the knife compartment is configured to serve as knife support means to support knives standing on end.23. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the knife compartment is provided at a corner of the bowl.24. An apparatus for cleaning of knives or other utensils that comprises a bowl having a plurality of grooves in the base of the bowl, the grooves being sufficiently deep (eg 2mm or greater) and configured to enable the bowl to serve as a drying rack for plates or bowls stood on edge with a rim of each plate or bowl held in a said groove.25. A knife cleaning apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows: Claims 1. An apparatus for cleaning of knives that comprises a washing up bowl such as may be placed in a sink and used to wash up crockery and cutlery, the washing up bowl having a knife rack in use, the knife rack comprising knife support means proximate an upper pad of the bowl, the knife support means comprising a support panel extending from the upper part of the bowl having a plurality of slotted apertures, each slotted aperture adapted to receive a respective knife blade inserted therein for the knife handle to seat on the support means with the knives extending downwardly from the upper part of the bowl.
2. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support panel extends substantially horizontally across a part of the bowl.
3. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the apparatus has a divider wall panel/baffle in the bowl and which serves in use to partition the bowl into a first zone for the knife blades to be soaked and a second zone for safely (0 washing other items free of risking contact with the immersed knife blades.
4. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claims 1 and 3, wherein the divider wall 0) panel/baffle extends downwardly in use from the support panel.
5. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the knife support means comprises a divider wall panel/baffle extending downwardly in use and having a plurality of fins running down at least part of its height and defining the slotted apertures as the gaps between them.
6. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the knife support means is integral to the washing up bowl.
7. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the knife support means is assembled to the washing up bowl.
8. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the knife support means is assembled to the washing up bowl by mounting means that comprise suckers or clips or hooks or other engagement means such as to restrict movement of the rack on the washing up bowl in use.
9. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 8, that has a divider wall panel/baffle extending downwardly in use wherein the divider wall panel! baffle extends substantially to the floor of the bowl or for a majority of the depth of the bowl to its floor.
10. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 9, the washing-up bowl having a water release means that can be activated to enable the release of the dirty and! or cold used water while the sink holds items to be washed.11 A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the water release means comprises a plug hole and plug or gated opening in the bottom, eg floor or lower part of a sidewall, of the bowl that is openable to enable the release of water and then closable to reseal the bowl in order for it to be refilled with clean warm water, all without need to tip the bowl over or to remove the knives or other items in the bowl 12. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the water (0 release means is in a zone substantially but not completely partitioned off from the o main body of water in the washing up bowl to prevent cutlery or other items obstructing the release means.13. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the knife rack comprises a partition panel or baffle and this serves as the means to partition off the zone of the release means.14. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the bowl with water release means has a number of grooves formed in its floor.15. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claims 14, wherein the grooves taper/slope in the direction of the water release means' location to prevent pooling of the water when draining the bowl.16. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 15, wherein a filter means is provided at the water release means in order to capture solid matter in water draining from the bowl.17. A knife cleaning apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the filter means is demountable from the bowl to facilitate emptying its contents into a bin.18. A knife cleaning apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 16, wherein the water release means is a sluice gate or plug on a substantially rigid actuating arm that is operable by the user from the top of the bowl to remotely open and close the drainage outlet.19. A knife cleaning apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. (4 r (0 0)</claim-text>