GB2495870A - Apparatus for cleaning of knives, crockery or other kitchenware. - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning of knives, crockery or other kitchenware items that comprises a washing up bowl that has a plurality of grooves formed in the floor of the bowl to facilitate drainage. The grooves may provide raised edges to catch the edge of crockery so that crockery may be stood on edge in the bowl for draining/ drying, whereby the washing up bowl may be both a washing up bowl and a drainage rack for draining/ drying a plurality of plates, bowls, glasses or other kitchen items. The grooves may be continuous channels in the bowl floor; the grooves may take an intermittent form; the grooves may be formed from an array of raised hemispherical bumps. The bowl may have a water release opening in a side and/or the floor and there may be a moveable closure means for selectively closing the opening. The movable closure means may be adapted to twist, turn, tilt, rock, lift, slide or pivot between open and closed states and there may be a magnetic interface to facilitate holding the opening open or closed.

Description

Knife Cleaning Apparatus

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns primarily a novel apparatus for cleaning of knives, crockery or other kitchenware items.

Background of the Invent ion

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.

Other problems faced when manually cleaning knives or other utensils in a washing up bowl include issues with emptying the bowl without having to raise the heavily laden water-filled bowl to tilt it for draining the water. This has been partially addressed in the art by inclusion in some washing up bowls of substantially conventional plugs or sliders that can be raised to open a plughole in the bottom of the bowl but these generally are awkward to operate. The plugs or sliders use a friction based plugging system either on the base of the bowls in a standard plug orientation or in a slider orientation on the side of the bowl and can be difficult to operate due to the forces required to activate them. As such they are likely to fail and leak as it can be difficult to exert the necessary level of force required to seal the system and no way of knowing this has been achieved. This makes them difficult to operate for all users, especially so with those with arthritis and other debilitating issues. An upwardly extending actuator arm to remotely move the plug or slider is needed to facilitate access from high level (top of the bowl), due to the location of the plugging point being at the bottom of the bowl. Due to the friction fit requirements of existing systems this need for an actuator arm compounds the problem. This is, furthermore, especially true for a side slider odentated plug, due to the nature of the shape there is a lot of contact area required to faces, which increases friction and thus the forces needed to seat and unseat the plug.

Additionally there is frequently an issue of a lack of stacking space for cleaned items for the user. This inevitably leads to either perilous stacking on the draining board, the user having to stop washing to dry and put away items or the user washing up in multiple stages once the first batch has dripped dry.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for cleaning of knives, crockery or other kitchenware items that comprises a washing up bowl that has a plurality of grooves formed in the floor of the bowl to facilitate drainage.The grooves provide raised edges that catch the edge of crockery so that crockery may be stood on edge in the bowl for draining! drying, whereby the washing up bowl is both a washing up bowl and a drainage rack for draining! drying a plurality of plates, bowls, glasses or other kitchenware items.

To facilitate drainage of the washing-up bowl the washing-up bowl suitably has 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 to facilitate the washing process. A 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, rocker system 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.

The washing up bowl 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 integrating drainage channels into the base of the bowl these act to both drain away water into the previously mentioned water release opening and as a resting point to enable the stacking of plates, bowls and other items for an economic use of space. Thus functioning both as a washing up bowl and as a drainage and drying facility the apparatus may provide a useful practical solution to the lack of draining and drying 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. The grooves may be continuous or intermittent. They may be formed as elongate channels in the floor of the bowl or may be defined by the space between raised bumps in the floor of the bowl such as, for example, by a substantially regularly spaced apart matrix array of hemispherical bumps in the floor. An infinite diversity of shape and patterns of raised bumps may serve the same function of creating draining channels and raised edges by which to catch the edge of crockery.

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 poo1 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.

Figure 20 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the washing up bowl with a water release having a closure means that is magnetically held in the closed state closing the water release opening, the closure means here being an internal plunger Figure 21 is a perspective view of an embodiment similar to Figure 20 but the closure means here being a rocking! pivoting closure that doubles as a partition baffle.

Figure 22 is a close up view of the rocking! pivoting closure of Figure 21.

Figure 23 is a perspective view of an embodiment similar to Figure 20 but the closure means here being a rocking! pivoting closure that is external to the bowl and where a change in angle required to create a pivot is on the bowl.

Figure 24 is a perspective view of a variant of the embodiment of Figure 23 but the rockingf pivoting closure external to the bowl has the change in angle on the angled rocker.

Figure 25 is a perspective view of a variant of the embodiment of Figure 23 but the external closure is a vertical sliding closure.

Figure 26 is a perspective view of a variant of the embodiment of Figure 23 but the external closure is a channel-guided vertical-to-horizontal curving sliding closure.

Figure 27 is a perspective view of a variant of the embodiment of Figure 26 where the vertical-to-horizontal sliding closure is not guided by channels but by magnet interaction.

Figure 28 is a perspective view of the Figure 27 variant from below, the water release means being here shown in the open position.

Figure 29 is a perspective view of the Figure 27 variant from above.

Figure 30 is a perspective view of a variant of the embodiment of Figure 27 where this version of the embodiment has an external vertical to radius slider design and a side access slot drainage hole design formed in the bowl to maximise water release while minimising blocking from food stuffs or cutlery.

Figure 31 is a perspective view of an embodiment of washing up bowl having drainage holes in a down-step or foot projecting downwardly from the main floor of the bowl.

Figure 32 is a part cut-away perspective view of the Figure 31 embodiment showing a grate covering the drainage holes in the bowl's floor.

Figure 33 is a close-up sectional view of a foot with drainage holes and further having a series of vertical sidewall openings like gills.

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 ito 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 ii 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 ii 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.

Embodiments of the invention featuring a magnetism-based water release closure system will now be described in more detail with reference to Figures 20 to 30.

Figure 20 shows an embodiment of the washing up bowl with a water release opening 21 having a closure plug 22 that is magnetically held in the closed state closing the water release opening 21. Here the closure plug 22 has the form of a plunger that is held inside the bowl, the plunger having an actuating arm! rod 23 that extends upwardly from the plug 22 and which has a grip! handle 23a at the top which is here shown as ball-shaped. The arm 23 allows for ease of operation by the user from the top of the bowl to open and close the water release opening! array of plughole apertures 21 in the floor of the washing up bowl. The arm 23 may have a resting point! protrusion part way up its length to seat! rest in a socket 26 provided at the top of a baffle 25. This embodiment has a partition wall! baffle 25 that partitions off the corner of the bowl in which the closure plug! plunger 22 sits ( NB.

The plug 22 is shown raised and the baffle 25 is shown in outline or transparent form simply so that the closure plug! plunger 22 can be clearly seen in the same view). A magnet is provided on the floor of the bowl, preferably on the underside of the bowl and suitably located at the solid centre of the array of plughole! drainage apertures 21 to attract the plug 22 to the closed! sealed state closing! sealing the plughole! drainage apertures 21. The plug 22 for this suitably incorporates a complementary magnetic element, either a complementarily oriented magnet or a metal! ferro-magnetic material that is magnetised by the magnet of the bowl.

Conversely, the plug 22 may have a magnet and the floor of the bowl might simply have a metal! ferro-magnetic material that is magnetised by the magnet.

Figures 21 and 22 show an embodiment similar to that of Figure 20 but in which the closure means is a rocking! pivoting closure 27 of which a substantially upright part 27b doubles as a partition baffle to block cutlery obstructing the drainage! plug holes. The rocking! pivoting closure 27 is approximately Z-shaped with a footplate portion 27a, the substantially upright part 27b and a headplate portion 27c. The footplate portion 27a serves to close/seal over the plughole! drainage apertures 21 of the bowl, while the substantially upright part 27b is equivalent to the stem 23 of the plunger of the Figure 20 embodiment and the headplate portion 27c is the handle! grip for operating the closure 27. The long lower front edge at the transition from the footplate portion 27a to the substantially upright pad 27b serves as pivot point! fulcrum about which the closure 27 may rock back and forth between a state in which the footplate portion 27a is flat over the plughole! drainage apertures 21 closing them to a state in which the footplate portion 27a is inclined upwardly opening the apertures 21 for draining the water away.

Again the rocking! pivoting closure! baffle 27 is shown in outline! as transparent for visualisation purposes. In this diagram the array of drainage holes 21 in the floor of the bowl is shown as having a triangular formation with a thin metal triangular frame overlaid to mate with the underside of the footplate portion 27a to seal the array of drainage holes 21 closed The rocking! pivoting closure! baffle 27 may incorporate the magnet. It may, for example, be made from plastic moulded with magnetic filings whereby the footplate portion 27a is magnetic to attract to the metal triangular frame on the floor of the bowl.

Turning to Figure 23, this shows a variant of the pivoting! rocking closure arrangement where the closure 28 is external to the bowl and, rather than having a bend in the closure 28 to define the fulcrum, has instead a relatively flat closure L1 plate 28 that pivots about a change in angle of the external surface of the bowl's sidewall. The sidewall of the bowl to which the closure is mounted transitions at pivot line 29 from being substantially vertical in its upper part to being inwardly inclined at its lower part. In one example construction a rubber magnet is bonded to the bowl's lower part's external face adjacent the drainage opening 30 there and to be magnetically attracted thereto and seal the opening 30 closed the flat closure plate 28 is suitably made from metal.

Turning to Figure 24, this shows a further version of the external pivot system. In this instance, as per the Figure 21 embodiment, the fulcrum is formed by a bend 32 in the closure plate 31. In this case the bend 32 causes the lower part of the plate 32 to incline outwardly from the sidewall of the bowl when the upper part of the closure plate is fiat against the sidewall. The closure plate 31 is again magnetised to the closed state. Suitably it may have a rubber magnet bonded to its face and the flat-sided bowl may have block magnets in its sidewall adjacent the drainage opening 30 embedded during the manufacturing process to attract the closure plate 31.

Turning to Figure 25, this shows an externally mounted vertical slider type of closure 33. This may, for example, comprise a plastic slider 33 with bonded magnets 34 and with the bowl having a complementary metal part adjacent the drainage holes 35 in the bottom of the sidewall and with guiding channels 36 in the sidewall on each vertical edge of the closure! slider 33.

Turning to Figure 26, this particular embodiment has the closure 37 as an external vertical-to-horizontal moving slider the lower tip of which passes under the floor of the bowl, with drainage holes 38 in the floor of the bowl and guiding channels 39 in the bowl. A flexible sheet rubber magnetic slider 37 is located externally and held in place and guided to and from the closed state by the guiding channels 39 which are created by the mould of the bowl. The bowl in this variation of the embodiment preferably has a thin formed metal layer bonded externally to the bowl following the profile of the flat and curved! radius parts of the bowl.

Turning to Figures 27 to 29, this embodiment is like that of Figure 26 and has the closure 37 as an external vertical-to-horizontal moving slider, the lower tip of which passes under the floor of the bowl, with drainage holes 38 in the floor of the bowl. A flexible sheet rubber magnetic slider 37 is located externally but does not require the guiding channels 39. Instead it is managed by a rubber magnetic strip 40 bonded to the exterior of the bowl around the drainage holes 38. The alignment of poles between the magnets of the slider 37 and the rubber magnetic strip 40 negates the requirement for guiding channels. Figure 27 shows the assembly in a closed position, with the handle 37a of the slider 37 filling the aesthetic role of the lip! rim 41 of the bowl by having a matching form and when the slider 37 is in this closed state the handle 37a and bowl rim 41 are level and the handle 37a appears as a continuation of the bowl rim 41.

Figures 28 and 29 show the slider 37 raised up with its handle 37a above the level of the bowl rim 41 and the lower end of the slider 37 pulled away from the drainage holes 38 allowing water to drain out of the washing up bowl.

Turning to Figure 30, this embodiment of washing up bowl has an external vertical-to-radius slider as the moveable closure means, similar to the Figure 27 embodiment but the slider lower end terminates at the curved transition! radius 42 to the floor rather than under the floor. Here, instead of the drainage holes being in the floor of the bowl, the drainage holes 43 are in the bowl radius 42 and, furthermore, they are formed as side opening slots 43 that allow water to flow into them laterally! substantially parallel to the sidewall of the bowl. This side slot variant of the water drainage opening! gate maximises water release while minimising blocking from food stuffs or cutlery.

Turning to Figure 31, this shows an alternative arrangement configured to reduce risk of blockage of the drainage holes by cutlery! utensils or them accidentally pushing the gate! closure open. This embodiment of washing up bowl has the drainage holes 44 provided below the main floor of the bowl in a hollow foot 45 projecting downwardly from the main floor of the bowl. This may be covered over by a grate 46 as a filter! utensil block as shown in Figure 32 and this can span the bowl orthogonal to the wall having the drainage openings and thus have a large grating size in that direction and not itself be liable to clogging. The level of the top of the drainage opening 44 out of the bowl is below the level of the bowl's floor and not accessible to the cutlery! utensils. Furthermore, by minimising the width of the foot parallel to the wall the chances of any obstruction from a diagonal direction are substantially removed.

Turning to Figure 33, this shows a further alternative arrangement for drainage to reduce clogging! blocking! disruption by utensils. Here there is again a foot 45 with drainage holes in the foot but here the sidewall further has a series of insteps 47 with vertical openings 48, resembling the gills of a fish. These may be provided additionally or alternatively to the drainage holes 44 in the foot 45.

The above described embodiments of Figures 20 to 33 variously fall into several ditferent categories of closure movement. These movements may be non-exhaustively summarised below: Movements A) Sealer' type' A movable closure which we will refer to as a sealer' can be used to cover a drainage hole or holes in the base or side (located near base) of the bowl. It can be accessed directly or via an upwardly extending arm for ergonomic ease, with the contact face of the sealer to the bowl either internal or external to the bowl. The void! opening can be opened by either lifting or pushing the part away from the sealing faces in a direction perpendicular (or other angle) to the faces. A movement in the opposite direction will reinstate the seal. The orientation of this is dictated on internal or external design of the moving part. Alternatively the sealer could be tilted on one of its edges to release the water through the void.

B) Rocker' type A movable part which we will refer to as a rocker' can be used to cover a drainage hole or holes in the base or side (located near base) of the bowl. It can be accessed directly or via an upwardly extending arm for ergonomic ease, with the contact face either internal or external to the bowl. The bowl here can be comprised of at least two angles to allow a flat part (rocker) to pivot over it, releasing and closing the gate!void. Alternatively the bowl can be flat and a rocker comprising of more than one angle can pivot an the flat surface, releasing and closing the gate. The pivot point can be attached magnetically or mechanically at the pivoting point from rocker to bowl. If a magnetic pivot is used then the radius between the two angles along with magnetic strength will determine the forces required to flip' the rocker open and closed. Any combination of the four contacting faces (when open & closed) can use magnetism to hold the rocker in position. Alternatively a friction fit mechanical version of this design is feasible to hold the faces in contact.

C) Slider' type A movable part which we will refer to as a slider' can be used to cover a drainage hole or holes in the base or side (located near base) of the bowl. It can be accessed directly or via an upwardly extending arm for ergonomic ease, with the contact face either internal or external to the bowl. The gate/closure can be opened by means of sliding the movable part away from the opening. The slider can be moved in varying planes dependant on the orientation of the design. The slider can sit within a guiding channel system, as part of the bowl assembly or slider. The shape is dictated by a male/female relationship between the two. Alternatively magnets can be used on both the bowl and slider, with the associated poles dictating alignment and direction of movement. The slider can be made from a rigid or flexible material.

Notably a rubber magnet is ideal for transferring a vertical movement by the user at the side of the bowl, to a horizontal movement by the gate on the base of the bowl.

In the above described embodiments of Figures 26 to 30 an extra benefit is provided by the altered corner configuration of the washing up bowl. In particular, we have found that to provide better access to externally operated versions of the design, one corner of the bowl can be chamfered to provide more ergonomic hand access. This corner can then additionally be used as a means by which to pour unwanted waste down the sink before putting items into the bowl. By coincidental virtue the hand access location also gives a passage past the bowl for items to be rinsed during the cleaning process without the rinse water going into the bowl. This will avoid the rinse water cooling the water in the bowl, over-filling the bowl and reducing soap concentration levels Types of magnet to be used with the various embodiments: As previously stated in all variants either the bowl or moving part (or assemblies which make either of the two) can be magnetically charged, or both. Possible magnet variants include the use of solid magnets (various types and protective outer layers), rubber magnets, magnets embedded within the mould and magnetic material mixed within the plastic as an additive. Electromagnetic systems could also be integrated into the bowl/slider, to enable more remote access to the movement.

This would be especially suited to users with more severe arthritis or physical disabilities.

Catchment systems: The shape and location of the drainage closure! gate and associated bowl assembly will dictate whether or not items are likely to block and clog the water flow when the closure is opened. In turn this may reduce! stop water release and possibly inhibit the closure of the gate. A number of methods are proposed to counter this issue, all of which can be orientated on either the side, base or a transitioning radius or angled flat section between the two.

A grate over the area of the drainage openings or closure will restrict the likelihood of large objects such as cutlery from blocking the closing of the closure/gate.

However any reduction in aperture size will increase the likelihood of clogging from food stuffs. This in turn can be counteracted by pins/ribs in the bowl acting as a sieve around the area.

A blocking baffle can be used to block large objects blocking gate reinstatement, while allowing a large water release hole to prevent blocking by food stuffs. This can be either a separate part, integrated into the bowl or on some embodiments it could be part of the moving element when internally located.

An alternative method entails the use of a side slot' system. This system benefits from the fact that the majority of items small enough to block the slot will, on the whole, be long by comparison, i.e. a knife, fork or skewer. As such if the direction of access to the gate/ drainage opening is from the side then the blocking item would need to be orientated as such too. If located on a sufficiently short side (end wall) of the bowl (or ideally chamfered corner) then the objects will not be able to block the gate as the length of them will clash with the opposing walls. A further alternative configuration entails providing the drainage holes in the sidewall at a down-step of the bowl floor, eg in a hollow foot, so that the holes are below the main level of the floor. As a further variant the drainage holes may be in a sidewall of the bowl where the sidewall is in-stepped in one or more tiers allowing one or more drainage holes at each tier that open substantially vertically. Seals

Due to the nature of the magnetically closed designs it is imperative that a water tight seal is achieved, through the force of the magnet(s) used. As such either the tolerances in manufacture must be extremely high, or alternatively at least one face will require the use of material with some flexibility, to soak up imperfections. A rubber/elastomer or material of similar properties is suitably used to achieve this.

This part can also be integrated into the magnet itself, using cut rubber magnet sheet to perform the job of the slider, bowl (or assemblies thereof) or both.

Whereas the present invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a number of preferred embodiments and inventive aspects, other inventive aspects will be apparent to the skilled reader from the foregoing and are part of this application. Furthermore, any novel and inventive feature or combination of the features variously herein described and illustrated are within the scope of this application.

Claims (1)

1. <claim-text>Claims 1. An apparatus for cleaning of knives, crockery or other kitchenware items that comprises a washing up bowl that has a plurality of grooves formed in the floor of the bowl to facilitate drainage.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the grooves provide raised edges to catch the edge of crockery so that crockery may be stood on edge in the bowl for draining! drying, whereby the washing up bowl is both a washing up bowl and a drainage rack for draining! drying a plurality of plates, bowls, glasses or other kitchenware items.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the grooves have a continuous form, being elongate channels in the floor of the bowl that channel water.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. An apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the grooves have a non-continuous form being intermittent in the floor of the washing up bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the grooves are formed by an array of raised hemispherical bumps in thefloorofthewashing up bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the washing up bowl has a series of the grooves moulded into its floor, with the grooves and the ridges alternating between the grooves providing support for dishes, plates or pans in a vertical orientation in the washing up bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. An apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the washing up bowl has a water release opening in a side and! or the floor thereof.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the washing up bowl has a movable closure means for selectively closing the water release opening.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the grooves are tapered towards the water release opening.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. An apparatus according claim 7. 8 or 9, wherein the grooves slope towards the water release opening.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. An apparatus according claim 8, wherein the movable closure means is adapted to twist, turn, tilt, rock or pivot between the open and closed states.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the movable closure means is adapted to lift or slide between the open and closed states.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a magnetic interface is provided between the washing up bowl and the closure means to facilitate holding the opening open, closed or to facilitate movement between the open and closed states.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the movable closure means is internal to the washing up bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the movable closure means is external to the washing up bowl.</claim-text> <claim-text>16. A cleaning apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.</claim-text>