Cheese slicer with accessories for removing crust

Abstract

 The invention relates to a cheese slicer (1) having accessories for removing crust, said means for removing crust comprising a crust knife holder (4) that can be pivoted from the stem (3), in which said crust knife holder can be locked in the folded-out position and has its outer end provided with a specific cutting member in the form of a snapped-on crust knife (6), by which the cheese slicer (1) is used for slicing the cheese and the exchangeable crust knife (6) is used for removing the crust from the cheese, thus producing an efficient utensil for the consumer.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device or utensil for slicing and removing crust from elastic block-shaped foodstuffs, such as e.g. blocks of cheese, being a cheese slicer having crust removing means, said cheese slicer substantially comprising a plane slicing plate and a stem having crust removing means, said plane slicing surface being provided with an elongated opening transverse to the slicing direction, said elongated opening being provided with a cutting member, said crust removing means comprising special cutting members.

[0002] A utensil for slicing thin slices from foodstuffs, such as blocks of cheese, is known from American Patent US 4 628 603 of applicant FROSTS KNIVFABRIK AB in Sweden and inventor FROST P.E., published December 23, 1985, entitled: "Hand Implement For Slicing Foodstuffs". This only concerns a common cheese slicer, comprising a slicing plate having a transverse slot opening provided with a separate cutting element in order to prevent the foodstuf, in this case the slice of cheese, from adhering to said slicing plate, said cutting element being manufactured of metal, such as stainless steel, and the slicing plate being manufactured of an inflexible plastic and the cutting element having its rear side projecting arcuately above the cutting plate for preventing the slice of cheese from adhering to the slicing plate, as mentioned earlier.

[0003] This concerns a variation on the known cheese slicer design, in which the cutting element is formed directly to the slicing plate and in which, with a view to the present invention, there is no separate cutting member for removing the crust of cheese. A difficulty is that this should be done with a separate knife or with the cheese slicer itself, causing the cheese slicer to get blunt quickly, as a result of which slicing neat slices of cheese is no longer possible.

[0004] Further, PCT/DK00/00396 with international publication number WO 01/5561A3 discloses a chees knife for removing the actual crust of cheese. The PCT-application was filed on July 13, 2000 with priority date July 16, 1999 of applicant Alting Design A/S in Denmark, Vinkelvej 14b, Kjellerup. The title of the PCT-application is "A Cheese Knife". The inventor is LARSEN, Alfred, Bojesen, Denmark, Edelgranen 2, DK-8620 Kjellerup. This concerns a cheese knife for cutting off edges or crusts from the surface of a block of cheese and comprises a blade sliding along the crust when this blade is advanced and further comprises a depressed cutting edge, which will move below the crust of cheese on said advancement, thus cutting the crust from the cheese.

[0005] Here, the difficulty is that this is a knife that must be purchased separately and may be attached to the cheese slicer and which is often not around when it is needed, so that the slicer will still be used for acting on the crust of the cheese, which again will cause the problem mentioned earlier.

[0006] Then, a method for removing cheese crust on an industrial scale is known from German Offenlegungsschrift DE 3305668 A1, filed on February 18, 1983 of applicant DMV-Campina B.V., of Veghel, Netherlands. Inventors are HESSELS, W.A.J. of Maasbracht and ELAND, R. of Veghel.

[0007] The above invention relates to an industrial method and thus concerns an industrial device for large scale removal of cheese crust by milling or slicing, in which, however, the losses of cheese are minimalized.

[0008] In this case, the difficulty is that this costly device does not apply for household use for removing a single crust of cheese. For the catering industry, this device is too voluminous as well.

[0009] The object of the present invention is to provide such a cheese slicer with accessories for removing crust, which can be used in any household in a financially sound way.

[0010] To this end, a utensil, in this case a cheese slicer having crust removing means according to the present invention has been modified and improved in such a way, that it does not have the difficulties described above and the device or utensil can also be marketed in a financially sound way. The utensil, the cheese slicer with accessories according to the invention is characterized in that said crust removing means comprise a pivoting crust knife holder at the bottom of the cheese slicer stem, in which this crust knife holder can be folded out across an angle α in relation to the stem, said specific cutting members at the outermost end of the crust knife holder being in the form of a U-shaped elongated crust knife having a back length of X mm and the raised side lengths of Y mm.

[0011] The advantage is that the actual cheese slicer is spared and is only used for slicing slices of cheese and the crust removing means are directly at hand at all times, and thus the user always has a practical utensil at his disposal.

[0012] Further, the utensil according to the invention is developed further in such a way, that it is characterized in that said pivoting crust knife holder is mounted transversely to the longitudinal direction at the bottom of the cheese slicer stem and it can be locked in the folded-in or folded-out position, said angle α being between 70 and 130 degrees, preferably about 100 degrees, thus producing a roughly T-shaped utensil, which is useful for removing cheese crust.

[0013] The advantages are that the crust removing means can always be folded-out stably and they are locked in that position by small means, so that a safe utensil will arise, that can be easily operated with one hand. The other hand will be used to hold the block of cheese.

[0014] Further, the device according to the invention is developed further in such a way, that said back length X is between 20 and 40 mm, preferably about 30 mm, and the raised side lengths Y are between 1 and 6 mm, preferably about 3 mm.

[0015] The advantage is that the least possible amount of cheese is lost with the various crust thicknesses.

[0016] Hereinafter, the invention is explained further by way of a preferred embodiment, illustrated in the drawing. Here:

figures 1A through 1D show various views of the cheese slicer with accessories for cheese crust removal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

figure 2 shows a perspective view of the cheese slicer with accessories of figures 1A through 1D, said crust removing means being folded-out;

figures 3A through 3E show perspective views of the various parts of the cheese slicer with crust removing means according to the invention; and

figures 4A through 4C show cross-sections across the line IV of figure 2 concerning the mechanism for enclosing the pivoting crust knife holder in the cheese slicer stem.

[0017] In figures 1A through 1D, the cheese slicer 1 having crust removing means according to the invention is illustrated in various views. In figure 1A, the cheese slicer is illustrated in plan view. The cheese slicer 1 comprises the slicing plate 2 connected with the stem 3 comprising the crust removing means. The stem is designed as a body for containing the crust removing means in a suitable way; said means generally comprising a crust knife holder 4 having a cover plate 5 (see also figure 1B) and the actual crust knife 6.

[0018] Figure 1B illustrates a bottom view of the chees slicer 1 and the figures 1C and 1D illustrate side views of the cheese slicer 1, with folded-in and folded-out crust knife holder 4, respectively. A transverse slot 7 with cutting portion or cutting edge 8 for slicing the cheese is provided in the slicing plate 2.

[0019] Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the cheese slicer 1, in which the same positional numbers have been maintained for various parts. Here, the cover plate 5 is depressed and for locking the crust knife holder 4 said cover plate 5 moves upward (see figures 4A through 4C).

[0020] Figures 3A through 3E illustrate perspective views of the various parts of the cheese slicer 1 and crust removing means. Figure 3A, illustrates the stem 3 having the body for crust removing means. The cover plate 5 is illustrated in figure 3B, in which the specific details become visible. Figure 3C illustrates the crust knife holder 4 in more detail and in perspective view, in which the crust knife holder 4 is rotatable around an shaft 9. Figure 3D shows the crust knife 6 in more detail. De dimensions for X and Y are indicated in the claims. In figure 3E the cutting plate 2 is illustrated in detail.

[0021] In figures 4A through 4C illustrate a cross-section across the line IV-IV in figure 2. Corresponding parts are indicated by the same positional numbers. The crust knife holder 4 rotates upward around the shaft 9 according to the arrow P and thus locks its position, causing the cover plate 5 at the right hand side to move upward to indicate that locking has been established.

[0022] In closed or folded-in position, when said crust knife holder 4 is within the stem 3 of the cheese slicer 1, the crust knife holder 4 snaps behind a tab 10. Releasing it occurs by pulling projecting edge 11 downward with thumb and index finger. Thereupon, the crust knife holder 4 pivots to open and subsequently the user pushes the crust knife holder 4 upward (see figure 4C), by which it is blocked or locked in that position. For cleaning the crust knife holder 4 with crust knife 6, the user pulls the whole downward, causing the crust knife holder 4 to move from the body of stem 3. The normal fixation is after all a clamping connection by injection moulding.

[0023] Finally, it should be stated with emphasis, that a preferred embodiment of the invention is described above and that obviously further modification and the like are possible without leaving the scope of protection of this patent.

Claims

1. Utensil for slicing and removing crust from elastic block-shaped foodstuffs, such as e.g. blocks of cheese, being a cheese slicer having crust removing means, said cheese slicer (1) comprising substantially a plane slicing plate (2) and a stem (3) having crust removing means, said plane slicing plate (2) being provided with an elongated opening (7) transverse to the slicing direction, said elongated opening being provided with a cutting member (8), said crust removing means comprising special cutting members, characterized in that said crust removing means comprise a pivoting crust knife holder (4) at the bottom of the stem (3) of the cheese slicer (1), in which this crust knife holder (4) can be folded out across an angle α in relation to the stem, said specific cutting members at the outermost end of the crust knife holder (4) being in the form of a U-shaped elongated crust knife (6) having a back length of X mm and the raised side lengths of Y mm.

2. Utensil according to claim 1, characterized in that said pivoting crust knife holder (4) is mounted transversely to the longitudinal direction at the bottom of the cheese slicer stem and it can be locked in the folded-in or folded-out position.

3. Utensil according to claim 1, characterized in that said back length X is between 20 and 40 mm, preferably about 30 mm, and the raised side lengths Y are between 1 and 6 mm, preferably about 3 mm.

4. Utensil according to claim 1, characterized in that said angle α is between 70 and 130 degrees, preferably about 100 degrees, thus producing a roughly T-shaped utensil, which is useful for removing cheese crust.

5. Utensil according to claim 2, characterized in that said lockability of the pivoting crust knife holder (4) is of plastic, such as e.g. polypropylene and that said U-shaped elongated crust knife (6) is of stainless steel.

Drawing