Abstract:
A knife safety apparatus that is used to protect the fingers from being cut while cutting and chopping the food items is disclosed. The knife safety apparatus includes a food holding body and a handle connected to the food holding body. The food holding body helps to hold the food firmly with the help of its bottom sidewall. The handle has a gripping surface which helps to hold the knife safety apparatus. The apparatus has a knife guiding slit which acts as a knife receiving and knife cleaning space. The apparatus is helpful to cut, chop, and mince a food item irrespective of its size and shape.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This original non-provisional application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/384,529, filed Sep. 20, 2010 and entitled “Knife Safety Apparatus,” which is incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to cooking. More specifically, the present invention is an apparatus for protecting a user when wielding a cooking knife for chopping food items. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a novel apparatus that holds food in place while cutting and chopping; protects fingers from being cut while chopping food; removes excess pieces of food stuck to sides of knife after chopping food; and reduces time handling sharp knives during the food handling process. The invention comprises a food holding body having a cutting face, a handle face, and a sidewall between the handle face and the cutting face, a section of the sidewall defining a knife guiding slit adjacent extending through the body between the handle face and the cutting face; and a handle having a gripping surface, a first end attached to the food holding body and a second end distal from the food holding body, the handle extending from the handle face and defining a knife-receiving space adjacent to at least part of the knife guiding slit and at least part of the handle face. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a knife safety apparatus of the present invention with a knife inserted therein and a food item thereunder. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the preferred knife safety apparatus of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear view of the preferred knife safety apparatus of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the preferred knife safety apparatus of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a knife safety apparatus and cutting methods that will help cooks around the world cut and chop food safer than current devices and/or methods. The knife safety apparatus is a tool with a unique design that has several different functions. Primarily, it protects fingers while chopping and cutting food because it eliminates the users contact with the knife blade. 
       FIGS. 1-4  show the preferred embodiment of the invention. The knife safety apparatus has a food holder (or food holding body)  10  with a cutting face  12  on one side and an opposing handle face  13 . A sidewall  21  separates the cutting face  12  from the handle face  13 . Opposite the cutting face  12 , a handle  14  having a gripping surface  15 , a first end  17  attached to the food holding body  10 , and a distal end  19  protrudes from the food holder  10 . The sidewall  21  comprises a bottom edge  16  along its perimeter and extending from the bottom edge  16  into the food holder  10  is a knife guiding slit  18 . The handle  14  defines a knife-receiving space  25  adjacent to the knife guiding slit  18  and at least part of the handle face  13 . 
     As mentioned, the primary purpose of the knife safety apparatus is to protect a user who is using a knife to cut and/or chop food. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a user holds the knife safety apparatus with the handle  14 . The bottom edge  16  can be pressed against food items to hold a food item  11  in place while cutting. Is this regard, a knife blade  24  of a knife  20  passes through the knife guiding slit  18  while the bottom edge  16  holds the food item in place. Alternatively, the user may slide the knife  20  along the cutting face  12  of the food holder  10  so that the wide side  27  of the knife blade  24  slides along the cutting face  12 . 
     The bottom edge  16  can be flat, serrated, toothed, or otherwise adapted to hold whatever type of food is being cut. For example, the pictures show a bottom edge  16  that is serrated with large grooves  29  defined by the adjacent serrations  37 . Large food items such as potatoes and leeks partially fit within the large grooves  29  and the large groove  29  helps hold these items in place while the knife blade  24  is run through the knife guiding slit  18  to slice items. As another example, the bottom edge  16  could be toothed so that the teeth along the bottom edge  18  poke into a piece of food  11 . Moreover, bottom edge  16  could be sharp and the knife safety apparatus could be used for chopping and/or mincing. 
     As mentioned, the handle  14  extends from the food holder  10  from the handle surface  13  of the food holder  10  opposite the cutting face  12 . Preferably, the handle  14  extends from the food holder  10  over and around the knife guiding slit  18  in the food holder  10  forming a knife-receiving space  25 ; however, handle  14  could extend from the food holder  10  in other areas. In the preferred embodiment, the user&#39;s hand wraps around the gripping surface  15  of the knife guiding slit  18  such that the palm of the user&#39;s thumb is on one side of the knife guiding slit  18  and the user&#39;s fingers are on the other side of the knife guiding slit  18 . Preferably, the handle  14  is contoured and is universal so it can be held by both right-handed and left-handed users. The gripping surface  15  comprises alternative convex sections  31  and concave sections  33  to facilitate maintaining a solid grip on the apparatus. 
     The food holder  10  also preferably features a guard  22  extending along both the top end and both sides of the food holder  10  to protect fingers even when the wide side  27  of the knife blade  24  is positioned planar to the cutting face  12 . The guard defines a guard space  35  between a portion of the gripping surface  15  and the handle face  13 . 
     A wide side  27  of the knife blade  24  can be positioned planar to the cutting face  12  to chop items. In this regard, the cutting face  12  is positioned adjacent to the food item  11  and the knife blade  24  is moved up and down in a chopping motion along the cutting face  12 . If desired, the user can press a wide side  27  of the knife blade  24  against the cutting face  12  during the chopping. The guard  22  protects the user&#39;s hand, which would be at least partially occupying the guard space  35 , if the knife blade  24  inadvertently comes down on the handle side of the food holding member  10 . 
     After chopping meats, fruits, and vegetables excess food is commonly stuck to the sides of the knife blade  24 . The knife safety apparatus keeps the user from having to touch the knife blade  24  with his/her bare hand and eliminates the chances of being cut while attempting to wipe excess food off of the blade. To remove food stuck to the knife blade  24 , a user positions the knife guiding slit  18  of the knife safety apparatus over the knife blade  24  at the handle end of the knife blade  24 . The user moves the knife blade  24  through the knife guiding slit  18  toward the handle side of the knife safety apparatus (i.e., into the knife-receiving space  25 ) by moving the knife safety apparatus and holding the knife  20  static, by moving the knife  20  and holding the knife safety apparatus static, or by moving both. Knife guide sidewalls  41  of the knife guiding slit  18  remove the food which is stuck to the knife blade  24 . The removed food falls to the cutting surface below and in front of the cutting face  12  of the knife safety apparatus. Preferably, the knife guide sidewalls  41  of the knife guiding slit  18  have a flexible material  26  attached thereto, which helps scrape the food from the knife blade  24 . 
     The knife safety apparatus is also perfect for pushing chopped food from the cutting surface into bowls, pots, pans, and other vessels. After cutting the food, the user puts the knife  20  down and uses the knife safety apparatus to scoop food from the cutting surface to the desired carrying vessel. The user pushes the cutting face  12  of the knife safety apparatus to the food on the cutting surface and with its free hand the user holds the food against the cutting face  12 . The user then lifts the food and the knife safety apparatus to the vessel and deposits the food by removing his/her free hand from the food. Alternatively, the user can use the cutting face  12  to push the food from the cutting surface into the vessel or could even uses the handle face  13  to pull the food into the cooking vessel. By using this technique, the user further reduces the chance of being cut by the knife  20 . Additionally, the knife blade  24  remains sharp and ready for more cutting, thus saving the time and money associated with sharpening. 
     The apparatus is preferably made out of one solid piece of hard, durable plastic except for the flexible material  26 , which is preferably made of rubber. In addition, the knife safety apparatus is preferably made of dishwasher-safe materials and as many corners as possible are rounded to eliminate sharp edges. 
     The present invention is described in terms of preferred embodiment in which a specific apparatus described. Those skilled in the art will recognize that alternative embodiments of such an apparatus can be used in carrying out the present invention. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention may be obtained from a study of this disclosure and the drawings, along with the appended claims.