Cutlery – Handles and blade connections
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-05
2003-05-13
Watts, Douglas D. (Department: 3724)
Cutlery
Handles and blade connections
C030S147000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06560877
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS
The present invention relates to a tool for preparing and treating food, comprising a portion intended to come into contact with food and a handle portion intended to allow the gripping of the tool by a user. The invention also relates to a method for personalizing said tool depending on the type of foodstuff for which it is provided. Moreover, the invention relates to a distinguishing insert for personalizing a tool of the type indicated above and to a handle for said tool. Finally, the invention further relates to a kit of parts for a combined use in the manufacture of a tool of the type described above and to a method for manufacturing said kit of parts.
In this description and following claims, the expression: “tool for preparing and treating food”, is used to indicate any kitchen tool intended to come into contact with food either during the preparation of food and thereafter. In particular, reference is preferably, but not exclusively, made to tools typically used in industrial or community professional kitchens (public kitchens, staff restaurants, public restaurants, etc.); said tools are, for example, knives, large forks, chopping boards, ladles, scissors, strainers or colander, etc. For exemplifying purposes and for simplicity of discussion, in the following description reference shall often be made to knives, and more in particular, to kitchen knives, it being understood that what said can be similarly applied also to the other types of tools mentioned above.
The expression: “kitchen knife”, is used to indicate, in particular, a knife intended to be used in community or industrial professional kitchens for preparing and/or treating foodstuff; the expression: “table knife”, is used to indicate, in particular, a knife adapted to be used by the users as cutlery when eating.
As known, in most European and non-European countries a directive issued by the various hygiene boards and/or ministries of health is in force; said directive obliges the operators of the field of collective catering (public kitchens, staff restaurants, public restaurants, etc.) to sort out the various tools according to the specific type of foodstuff for which they are provided; according to said directive, thus, a predetermined tool must be used only and exclusively for a predetermined typology of foodstuff (meat, fish, vegetables, milk products, etc.).
A first method for complying with the obligations of said directive is to keep the tools intended to be used for a predetermined type of foodstuff physically separate from those intended to be used for a different type of foodstuff, thereby preventing them from being mixed up with one another. It is quite evident that this is difficult to be accomplished into restaurants and kitchens of large size, where there is often a wide and differentiated use of various tools by several operators at the same time.
A second method, which is certainly more functional, for complying with the obligations of the directive mentioned above is that of marking the tools so as to allow the operator to visually distinguish the various tools according to the type of foodstuff for which they must be used; in this way, it is possible to associate a predetermined typology of food with a predetermined type of mark so as to use, for said typology of food, only the tools having said predetermined mark. For example, it is possible to mark the tools according to a colour code selected by the operator, each colour being associated to a predetermined typology of food; all tools marked with the same colour can thus be used only for that predetermined typology of food, and they are easily recognisable from the other tools, which are marked with different colours.
In the field of knives, and above all in that of kitchen knives, tools provided with marks of the type indicated above are known. In particular, they are knives comprising a handle provided with an inside core, integrally formed with the blade, having a first colour, and with an outside coating having a second colour different from the first one; the coating is manufactured so as to only partly cover the core, thus letting it appear from a part of the handle. In said types of knives, the distinguishing mark is thus provided into the knife handle during the manufacturing step of the same and consists of the colour of the core appearing from the handle. Said colour allows the operator to distinguish that knife from the others having a different core colour, so as to use, afterwards, for a predetermined type of food, only knives having a core of a predetermined colour.
Although substantially satisfying the purpose of being easily distinguishable from one another, the knives of the type described above exhibit some drawbacks.
A first drawback relates to the need, for the manufacturer, of providing a differentiated production of a plurality of series of knives, each series having a predetermined pair of core/coating colours, so as to allow the user to use the knives of a first series for cutting a predetermined typology of food and the knives of a different series for cutting a different typology of food; this clearly implies relatively high manufacturing costs and times, which unavoidably reflect on the sales price of the knives.
A second drawback relates to the impossibility, for the operator or user, of varying at his choice the pair of core/coating colours; this implies the need of deciding, at the moment of the purchase order, the typologies of food for which said knives will be used and consequently, the number of series of knives and the number of knives to buy for each series.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The technical problem at the basis of the present invention is that of providing a system for manufacturing and using kitchen tools which is more elastic and flexible than that described above with reference to the knives of the prior art, so as to overcome the drawbacks indicated above.
In a first aspect thereof, thus, the invention relates to a tool for preparing and treating food, comprising a portion intended to come into contact with the food and a handle portion intended to allow the gripping of the tool by a user, characterised in that said handle portion comprises at least one housing intended to house a distinguishing insert.
Unlike the tools indicated above with reference to the prior art, wherein the presence of a distinguishing mark on the handle is provided since the tool manufacturing step, the tools of the present invention are provided with a neutral handle portion, that is, without any distinguishing mark. The personalization of the tools according to the typology of food for which they are intended to be used is not carried out by the tool manufacturer anymore; rather, it is carried out directly by the user by inserting the distinguishing insert into the housing formed into the tool handle portion. This allows providing a system for manufacturing and using the tools which is more elastic and flexible than that associated to the tools described above with reference to the prior art, thus allowing to achieve a series of advantages, both for the tool manufacturer and for the user, which shall be described in detail in the following description.
A first advantage is associated to the fact that, according to the invention, for a predetermined typology of tool (for example knives, large forks, chopping boards, ladles, scissors, strainers or colander) the manufacturer can manufacture a single series of neutral tools, that is, without distinguishing marks, thereby without taking care to differentiate the production in function of the different foodstuff for which the tools are provided; advantageously, the tools can be all equal to each other and thus, they can be obtained from a single die, or from similar dies. That is to say, it is possible to provide for a grand scale production of tools, thus obtaining a considerable reduction of manufacturing costs and times with respect to what was possible with the knives manufacturing systems of the prior art.
A second advantage is associated
Fiskars Montana S.r.l.
Watts Douglas D.
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