Work holders – Work-underlying support – Mixing or kneading board
Patent
1991-12-06
1993-04-20
Watson, Robert C.
Work holders
Work-underlying support
Mixing or kneading board
269289R, A47J 4300
Patent
active
052035484
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
Difficulties are experienced in using a food chopping board in that the chopped material has to be scraped together near a portion of one edge of the board and then scraped off into a receptacle. It is often quite difficult to ensure that the chopped material enters the receptacle; spillages are common. Quite often there are juices which tend to run off other edge portions of the board.
According to the present invention there is provided a chopping board having a planar top surface defining a chopping area and a narrower handle area extending therefrom, the board being flexible (ideally in the form of a hinge) along a line extending through the chopping area and the handle area along the length of the board.
With such a board, once the food has been chopped, the sides of the board can be tilted towards one another along the flex line to define a chute from which the chopped material can readily be fed into a receptacle.
In the preferred arrangement there will be at least two longitudinal hinges in the board so that a chute can be defined with a flat central section and angled side walls. Preferably the two hinges will diverge away from one another.
Ideally the board will additionally incorporate a hinge which extends from one side to the other, thus cutting through the longitudinal hinge(s). The hinge extending across the board will preferably be positioned near to the handle area; the handle can then be tilted up with respect to the rest of the board, thus maintaining the chopping area in a flat condition since the longitudinal hinge(s) will be rendered inoperative. In this form of construction the handle could have a projection or two or more projections on its underneath surface which will naturally cause the handle to tilt upwardly when the chopping board is placed on a flat surface. These projections could be near the centre line or near the outer edges of the underside of the handle portion.
In the preferred arrangement biassing means will be provided to cause the board to tend to adopt a flat condition. Such biassing means could be weights in the outer edges of the board or some form of spring member.
A portion at least of the handle area could be so constructed that edge portions project upwardly out of the plane of the board to enable the user to grasp the board easily. Pressure on the upraised edge portions towards one another would then automatically cause tilting of the sides of the board towards one another along the hinge line or lines.
The invention may be performed in various ways and preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a basic chopping board of this invention in use;
FIGS. 2-4 show the board of FIG. 1 in various operational states;
FIGS. 5-9 are illustrations of modified versions of chopping boards of this invention;
FIGS. 10-12 are sectional views illustrating the structure of chopping boards of this invention;
FIGS. 13-15 show operational features of a modified chopping board of this invention;
FIGS. 16-18 illustrate modifications to the type of board shown in FIG. 13;
FIG. 19 is a section through a further example of a construction of the chopping board of FIG. 13;
FIGS. 20 and 21 show a chopping board of this invention with a stiffening wire; and
FIGS. 22-24 illustrate a chopping board of this invention with a modified handle portion.
The basic product shown in FIG. 1 is a chopping board 1 which can be reshaped to form a chute, by grasping a handle part 2 of it, so that chopped food 3 (for example) can be guided into a pan 4 or other receptacle. As can be seen from FIGS. 2 to 4 the product consists of a flat board 1 with a handle detail 2 that allows it to be securely held with one hand. The flat board has a pair of hinges 5 in it (or is flexible) so that it can be reshaped to form a duct or chute. The handle 2 is attached to the board (or is made as part of the board) to enable the board to be grasped and also to reshape the board from the flat to form a chute. A hinge 6 can also be formed acros
REFERENCES:
patent: 120394 (1871-10-01), Petterson
patent: 1497228 (1924-06-01), Purdy
patent: 2935107 (1960-05-01), Bertelsen et al.
patent: 4017063 (1977-04-01), Brusich
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