Cutting board for food products

A cutting board for cutting food products which is composed of a plurality of abrasive inserts arranged in parallel rows. In use, the knife blade is drawn along the channel formed between the adjacent rows, and the contact between the knife blade and the abrasive inserts acts to sharpen the knife blade on both of its sides.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a cutting board for cutting food products, 
and a method of fabricating the same. 
Cutting boards of the described type typically comprise a block of 
hardwood, or a rigid sheet of hard plastic or other similar material. The 
food product is placed upon the cutting board, and the knife or cleaver is 
drawn through the food product while the food product is held down by the 
hand of the operator, or some other instrument which is held by the 
operator, so as to prevent shifting and slipping. 
The juices exuded from many food products, such as meats, render it 
difficult to prevent shifting and slipping of the product on the board, 
and the juices can also create an unclean environment. Also, the contact 
between the edge of the moving knife and the cutting board results in a 
rapid dulling of the knife edge, and the knife must be sharpened at 
frequent intervals. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cutting 
board for food products which not only assists in supporting the food 
product in a non-slip manner, but which is also able to separate and 
collect the natural juices of the food product for easy removal. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cutting board 
of the described type which is able to sharpen the knife during use and 
thereby avoid the separate sharpening operations. 
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a cutting 
board which is totally impervious to the juices encountered during the 
cutting operation, and which is easy to clean. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention are 
achieved by the provision of a cutting board which comprises a generally 
flat support surface, and a plurality of inserts formed of an abrasive 
material mounted on the support surface. Each of the inserts has a base, a 
vertex located centrally above the base, and a peripheral surface which 
extends downwardly from the vertex to the base in an inclined direction. 
The inserts are mounted in a contiguous side by side relation on the 
support surface so as to define a plurality of parallel rows of inserts, 
and each pair of adjacent rows defines a channel along which a knife blade 
may be drawn, and such that the knife blade is sharpened on both sides by 
contact with the inclined peripheral surfaces of the inserts of the 
adjacent rows. 
Preferably, the inserts are arranged on the board to define groups of rows 
which extend in different directions, with the adjacent rows of each group 
defining channels which are each adapted to receive the knife blade. 
The inserts of the cutting board may take a variety of specific shapes, and 
they may be fabricated from a variety of abrasive materials, although a 
ceramic material is preferred. Also, the cutting board may be fabricated 
by first fabricating a plurality of generally rectangular panels which are 
each composed of a plurality of the inserts arranged as described above, 
and then assembling the panels in an end-to-end and side-by-side 
arrangement so as to form a complete cutting board of a given length and 
width. The panels may be separately formed as integral units, or they may 
be formed by first separately forming the inserts and then adhesively 
securing the inserts together to form a panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 illustrates at 10 a cutting board which embodies the features of the 
present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the board includes a 
rectangular support frame 12 which is composed of a bottom wall 13 
defining an upper support surface 14, and four upstanding side walls 16. 
The frame 12 can be fabricated from wood or plastic, but it is preferably 
molded or otherwise formed as an integral unit from a suitable ceramic or 
similar material, such as Corian.RTM. as sold by duPont. 
The support surface 14 supports a plurality of inserts 20 formed of an 
abrasive material, with each of the inserts having a base 21, a vertex 
located centrally above the base, and a peripheral surface 23 which 
extends downwardly from the vertex 22 to the base 21 in an inclined 
direction. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2-3, the base 21 of each of 
the inserts is in the form of a right circular cylinder, and the 
peripheral surface 23 of each of the inserts is in the form of a 
hemisphere, with the upper extremity of the hemisphere defining the vertex 
22. 
The inserts 20 may be separately press formed or cast in a conventional 
manner from a suitable ceramic material, as further described below. After 
being formed, inserts are then adhesively secured on the support surface, 
utilizing a suitable adhesive 25, such as epoxy. 
The inserts 20 are mounted in contiguous side-by-side relation on the 
support surface so as to define a plurality of parallel rows A of inserts, 
and wherein each pair of adjacent rows define a channel along which a 
knife blade may be drawn and such that both sides of the knife blade are 
sharpened by their contact with the inclined peripheral surfaces 23 of the 
inserts of the adjacent rows, note FIG. 3. 
FIG. 2 illustrates that the inserts 20 are mounted in three groups of rows 
A, B, and C. The groups extend in different directions which are angularly 
spaced apart by 60.degree.. Thus the inserts of each row of each group are 
aligned with respective inserts of the adjacent rows of the same group 
along lines which are at a 60.degree. angle with respect to the direction 
of the rows of the group. 
FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention wherein the 
base 31 of the inserts 30 is in the form of a rectangular solid, and 
wherein the peripheral surface 33 of each of the inserts is in the form of 
four triangles that meet at the vertex 32. In this embodiment, the inserts 
30 of each row are aligned with respective inserts of the adjacent rows 
along lines which are perpendicular to the direction of the row. Thus, the 
inserts are mounted in two groups of rows A and B, which are perpendicular 
to each other. 
FIGS. 6-8 illustrate an embodiment wherein the inserts 40 are each of 
generally conical configuration and have a circular base 41 and a rounded 
vertex 42. The peripheral surfaces 43 is in the form of a section of a 
cone. Also, the conical inserts typically have a base diameter of about 
1/4 inch, and a height of about 3/8 inch. Further, the conical inserts are 
arranged in three groups of rows A, B, and C, and as described above with 
respect to FIGS. 2-3. 
FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative assembly process for assembling the 
inserts onto the support surface. In this embodiment, the inserts are 
first fabricated into a plurality of generally rectangular panels 45 
having opposite ends and opposite sides. The panels are then assembled in 
an end-to-end and side-by-side arrangement as seen in FIG. 7 so as to 
define a cutting board surface of substantial size. 
The panels may be press formed or cast from a suitable ceramic material as 
an integral unit, or alternatively, they may be fabricated by first 
forming the individual inserts and then adhesively securing the molded 
inserts together with an epoxy adhesive 25 or the like which overlies the 
bases of the inserts. The panels may then be joined to the support 
surface, again using an epoxy adhesive or the like. 
The panels 45 are generally rectangular in outline, and they may be of any 
convenient size, such as 1".times.1", 2".times.2", 2".times.4", etc. Also, 
since the inserts are arranged to define three groups of rows A, B, C, 
which continue across all of the panels, the knife blade may be drawn 
along each of the channels formed by the rows of any one of the three 
groups of rows. In addition, as best seen in FIG. 8, the knife blade is 
precluded from engaging the bottom valley of the channels, by its 
engagement with the inclined peripheral surfaces 43 of the inserts 40. 
This is believed to provide a more efficient sharpening action. 
The ceramic inserts can be manufactured of several material compositions. 
One suitable composition comprises 96% Alumna S697 as supplied by 
Saxonburg Ceramics of Monroe, N.C., and which comprises a ground ceramic 
powder having a consistency similar to that of talcum powder. 
The inserts 20, 30, 40, or the panels 45, or an entire cutting board 10, 
may be fabricated by one of at least two otherwise conventional ceramic 
manufacturing processes. A first such process, referred to as the standard 
ceramic dry pressing method, involves the following steps: 
A. The ceramic powder is placed in a female mold of the desired part. The 
powder can include a suitable colorant, if desired. 
B. A press is activated so as to compress the powder into the mold under 
sufficient pressure to form the powder into a solid part which conforms to 
the shape of the mold. 
C. The part is removed from the mold and placed in an oven where the part 
is fired at about 3000 degrees F. for 20-24 hours to achieve proper 
fusion. 
D. The part is then polished to remove any rough edges or imperfections on 
the part, which can be performed by hand, or by tumbling, or by 
sandblasting. 
E. The parts are finally inspected and sent to assembly or inventory. 
A second manufacturing process which is suitable for manufacturing the 
elements, panels, or the entire cutting board, involves the casting of the 
parts, and includes the following steps: 
A. The ceramic powder and a suitable colorant are mixed with water to 
produce a paste (approximately 2 parts powder to 1 part water). 
B. The paste is poured into a female mold of the part, and the mold is 
vibrated for 20-30 seconds to completely fill the mold and remove any air 
pockets that may be trapped in the mold. 
C. Curing in the mold takes up to 24 hours at room temperature, or heat can 
be applied to speed the cure time. 
D. After curing, the parts are removed from the mold and inspected for 
defects caused by air bubbles or an improperly filled mold. Any excess 
material can also be trimmed. 
E. The parts are next heat treated, at approximately 3000 degrees F. for 
20-24 hours, to achieve proper fusion of the ceramic mixture. 
F. The parts are next polished to remove any rough edges or imperfections 
on the parts, which can be performed by hand, or by tumbling, or by 
sandblasting. 
G. The parts are finally inspected and sent to assembly or inventory. 
Where the manufactured parts are separate inserts 20, 30, 40, the inserts 
are assembled onto the surface 14 of the cutting board to form the 
patterns of rows as described above, and the inserts are permanently 
secured to the surface by epoxy or other suitable adhesive. 
The inserts may alternatively be first assembled into rectangular panels 45 
as seen in FIG. 6, with the inserts of the panels being bound together by 
a layer of epoxy 25 underlying the bases of the inserts. The rectangular 
panels may then be assembled onto the surface of the frame of the cutting 
board in the manner illustrated in FIG. 7, utilizing additional epoxy to 
secure the panels onto the surface. 
Where the manufactured parts are initially in the form of integral 
rectangular panels 45 as seen in FIG. 6, the initial layer of epoxy is of 
course eliminated, since the panels each will be in the form of an 
integral part as pressed or cast. The panels are then joined to the 
surface 14 of the frame of the cutting board by epoxy as described above. 
In use, the food product F is laid upon the upper surface of the board as 
seen in FIG. 1, and the knife is drawn across the food product so as to be 
aligned with one of the groups of rows A, B, or C. More particularly, the 
knife blade falls into the channel formed between the adjacent rows of the 
group, and the sliding contact between the knife blade and the inserts in 
the rows on opposite sides of the knife blade, acts to sharpen the knife 
blade on both sides thereof. Also, the contact between the relatively 
pointed vertexes of the inserts and the food product serves to prevent 
shifting of the food product, and any exuded juices will collect between 
the inserts and in the cavity defined by the upstanding walls of the 
frame. These juices may later be removed by washing the board in a sink or 
dishwasher. The fact that the above described ceramic materials are 
totally impervious to the juices exuded from the food products being cut, 
greatly facilitates the cleaning of the board. 
While the term "abrasive" has been used herein to describe the texture of 
the surface of the inserts, it will be appreciated that this term is 
intended to encompass a surface texture which is relatively smooth to the 
touch, and so as to impart more of a burnishing action to the knife blade 
edge as it is drawn along one of the channels. 
In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred 
embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, 
they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes 
of limitation.