Cutting board

A cutting board with a planar cutting surface and one or more generally vertical retaining members extending upward from and perpendicular to the cutting surface, the retaining members thereby defining a vertical retention surface. The vertical retaining members may be in the form of solid wall shoulders at each end to accommodate a knife handle, a wall with a notch to permit cutting perpendicular to the retention surface, or a plurality of pegs which may be arranged in various positions on the cutting board.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A cutting board or cutting block is simply a piece of durable material with 
a relatively flat surface upon which an item may be placed to be cut with 
a knife. The cutting board protects an underlying surface--such as a 
countertop or kitchen appliance--from being scratched by the knife blade. 
The cutting board is also very useful for carrying the cut items to 
different locations within the workplace. 
Cutting boards are common fixtures in most household and commercial 
kitchens. They vary in style and size from small, square, or circular 
planks of wood to ornate free-standing tables, and have been constructed 
from other materials including glass, plastic, and stone. Cutting boards 
have been equipped with slides and recessed into kitchen cabinets, made 
part of kitchen appliances such as dishwasher lids or stove tops, or 
mounted to the surface of the countertop. Several products currently 
employed as countertop veneer--Formica, for example--have scratch 
resistant properties allowing them to be used as cutting surfaces. 
A number of adaptations of the traditional cutting board have developed, 
including boards with slotted cutting surfaces which hold knives when not 
in use, and cutting boards equipped with strainers removably mounted flush 
with the cutting surface to catch items as they are cut. 
While cutting boards of various styles and presenting distinctive 
utilitarian and ornamental advantages are available both to culinary 
professionals and the average lay person, the existing designs of cutting 
boards have several drawbacks in common which limit their effectiveness 
and convenience, no matter how skilled the user may be. 
It is very difficult to slice a multilayered item on the traditional 
cutting board. A person using two hands may hold the knife in one hand and 
part of the item to be cut in the other, but the remaining portion of the 
item will often be disheveled. 
It is even more difficult to dice an item which is wet or slippery, or an 
item which is round, such as an onion or tomato, on the traditional 
cutting board. To dice such an item, a person must make a series of 
parallel cuts in each of three dimensions at ninety degree angles to one 
another. The first two series of cuts produce slices and julienne, the 
final series of cuts completing the dicing process. It is preferable if 
the slices and julienne can be held in the shape of the original item 
while the successive cuts are made, since this allows the entire item to 
be diced using the least number of total cuts and therefore the least 
time, in addition to presenting a more uniformly diced product and 
alleviating the need to scoop up several diced portions off the cutting 
board. In practice, however, it is usually necessary to restack the slices 
before making the julienne cuts, and with many items it is impossible to 
restack the julienne before dicing. Instead, a person must bundle a few of 
the julienne together at one time and dice them, and repeat the process 
several times. The result of this time consuming operation is often 
several unevenly diced portions scattered around the cutting board, each 
containing some undiced julienne strips. If the cutting board is too 
small, the diced product may spill over the countertop and floor when the 
person attempts to scoop up the portions or carry the board to another 
location. 
Household culinary demands are infrequently so rigorous that a precisely 
uniform diced product is necessary, although one may be desired, 
considering the constraints of a particular recipe or the expectations of 
the chef. In a commercial environment and among competitive professionals, 
however, the preparation of haute or nouveau cuisine regularly requires 
perfection. And in any setting, convenience and efficiency are always 
preferred. When an inconvenient or cumbersome task must be performed 
repeatedly each day, or just once when time is of the essence, such 
annoyances are quickly transformed into aggravating nuisances. 
Finally, the materials used to make most cutting boards are smooth and 
resilient to minimize scratching from the knife blade and make them easier 
to clean. As a result, the cutting surfaces of these boards become slick 
or slippery. If a tough or hard-to-cut item is placed on the board, such 
as a roast or turkey, the item will slide on the cutting board and be 
nearly impossible to slice evenly without considerable effort. 
The cutting board of this invention presents several advantages over the 
traditional cutting boards. The incorporation of a vertical retaining 
member permits multilayered items to be pressed against a retention 
surface, so they will not shift or fall apart when they are being cut. 
Items which are slippery and round may still be thoroughly diced with a 
minimum number of cuts, because the retention surface prevents the item 
from losing its shape or disintegrating while being cut into slices or 
julienne strips. 
The cutting board of this invention also provides an improved means to 
transport cut items from one location to another. The pocket formed in the 
joint between the vertical retaining member and the cutting surface may be 
used to carry diced portions without having them spill over the edge, and 
may be used as a convenient pouring spout when transferring those portions 
from the cutting board to a small mouthed container or cooking pot. 
The cutting board of this invention is furthermore adaptable for use with a 
variety of cutting implements, and enhances a chef's ability to cut both 
large and tough or small and fragile items quickly and conveniently. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The cutting board of this invention is particularly characterized by one or 
more generally vertical retaining means extending perpendicular to the 
cutting surface. 
These vertical members define a generally vertical retention surface. An 
item to be cut may be rested on the cutting surface and pressed against 
the retention surface, and a knife blade used to cut the item along a line 
between the retention surface and the source of the pressing force. 
In one embodiment, the vertical retaining means is a solid piece of 
material, with a notch wider than a knife blade extending from the top 
edge of the vertical retaining means downward to the cutting surface, so 
that the item may also be cut along a line generally perpendicular to the 
retention surface and extending through the notch. The notch may be used 
to hold a knife when not in use. 
In another embodiment, the vertical retaining means is in the form of a 
number of pegs which fit snugly into corresponding holes through the 
cutting surface. The pegs may be repositioned to obtain the desired 
retention surface. 
In yet another embodiment, the vertical retaining means is a solid piece of 
material in the form of a headboard, shorter in height relative to the 
cutting surface on its ends than in its middle, to accommodate the handle 
of a knife when the blade of that knife is placed parallel to and 
overlapping or abutting the retention surface. 
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be readily 
understood as the following description is read in conjunction with the 
accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like 
elements throughout the several views.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The cutting board of this invention is shown in FIGS. 1-11, and identified 
generally by the reference numeral 10. Particular embodiments of the 
cutting board 10 are generally referred to by the numerals 20 in FIG. 5, 
50 in FIG. 9 and 60 in FIG. 1. 
The cutting board 10 is shown in combination with a knife 12 having a blade 
14 and handle 16 in FIG. 3, in operation with an item of foodstuff 18 in 
FIG. 5, and pouring that item 18 after it has been cut in FIG. 4. While 
the cutting board 10 may be constructed from any number of materials such 
as wood, plastic, glass, or stone, high density polystyrene, polyethylene, 
and polypropylene have been found to be particularly suitable. 
The notched wall embodiment 20 of the cutting board 10 is shown in FIGS. 
5-8. A generally horizontal platform 21 with a smooth and resilient 
cutting surface 22 has a vertical retaining member 24 extending generally 
vertically upward from the cutting surface 22. The retaining member 24 has 
a retention surface 26 which is generally perpendicular to the cutting 
surface 22. Upright retaining member 24 may be molded integrally with base 
platform 21 or secured thereto by screws extending upward through the 
horizontal platform 21 and into the bottom of the retaining member 24. 
The retaining member 24 also has a notch 28 extending from the top edge 30 
of the retaining member 24 downward to the cutting surface. The notch 28 
has a width 32 great enough to accommodate a knife blade 14, and may have 
a slanted side wall 34 to facilitate accurate cutting. The notch 28 also 
acts as a holder for the knife 12 when it is not in use. 
Although the platform 21 may be constructed in any shape, it will generally 
have a side edge 36 perpendicular to, and an end edge 38 parallel to, the 
retention surface 26. It is best anticipated that a distance 40 should be 
left between the vertical retaining member 24 and the side edge 36 to 
accommodate a knife handle 16 when the knife blade 14 is placed in 
parallel, overlapping, and abutting proximity to the retention surface 26 
to create a clearance space for the knife handle 16 and hand of the user. 
In operation, an item of foodstuff 18 is rested on the cutting surface 22 
and pressed against the retention surface 26 by hand pressure. The item 18 
can then be cut along lines 42 parallel to the retention surface 22, or 
along a line 44 perpendicular to the retention surface extending through 
the notch 28. 
If the item 18 to be cut is large and heavier than the cutting board 10 
itself, the addition of antiskid feet 46 to the bottom of the platform 21 
will prevent the cutting board 10 from sliding when such item 18 is being 
cut. 
The pegs and holes embodiment 50 of the cutting board 10 is shown in FIGS. 
9-12. In this embodiment a series of holes 52 are made through the cutting 
surface 22 of the platform 21 along a line or in a staggered 
configuration. Pegs 54 are snugly inserted into various holes 52 to form a 
vertical retention surface 56. The pegs 54 may also be molded or 
constructed as unified parts of the platform 21. 
In operation, the number of holes 52 may be greater than the number of pegs 
54 actually used, so a variety of placements and cutting patterns may be 
achieved. This also permits the number of resulting notches between pegs 
and the width 33 of each such notch to be altered. The pegs and holes 
embodiment 50 permits items 18 to be cut along a line parallel to the 
retention surface 56, as well as along any of a number of lines at varying 
angles 58 (FIG. 12) extending through the retention surface 56. It is 
contemplated that the peg holes 52 could be arranged in an arcuate 
configuration. Pegs positioned in such an arcuate pattern would snugly 
accommodate and retain curved items such as heads of lettuce, fruit, or 
melons for secure retention while being sliced. 
The headboard configuration 60 of the cutting board 10 is shown in FIG. 
1-4. In this embodiment, the vertical retaining member 24a extends upward 
from the platform 21, and is placed adjacent to both the side edge 36 and 
end edge 38. Preferably, vertical member 24a is molded integrally with 
platform 21. Relative to the cutting surface 22, the height of the 
vertical member at its end portion 62 is substantially shorter than the 
height of the vertical member at its middle portion 64, which creates 
recesses 66 along the top edge 30a of the vertical member 24a. These 
recesses 66 are sized to accommodate the knife handle 16 when the knife 
blade 14 is placed parallel with and in touching abuttment to the 
retention surface 26a defined by the front face of vertical member 24a. 
In operation, an item 18 is rested on the cutting surface 22 and pressed 
against the retention surface 26a as in the foregoing embodiments. When 
cutting the item 18 along a line parallel to the retention surface 26a, 
the recesses 66 permit the knife blade 14 to overlap a greater portion of 
the cutting surface 22 without having the knife handle 16 obstructed by 
the vertical member 24a, thereby creating a clearance space for the knife 
handle 16 and hand of the user. 
In the notched wall and headboard embodiments 20, 50 the joint 68 between 
the platform 21 and the vertical member 24 forms a pocket 70 which can be 
used to transport items 18, or as a pouring spout when transferring items 
18 from the cutting board 10 to a small mouthed container 72 as 
illustrated in FIG. 4. 
The dimensions of the various components of the cutting board, as well as 
the angles between the vertical members 24 or pegs 54 and the cutting 
surface 22 and the angle of the slanted side wall 34 (FIG. 6), may be 
altered in different embodiments to make the cutting board 10 workable 
with a variety of cutting to make the cutting board 10 workable with a 
variety of cutting implements. 
While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been 
described, it should be understood that various changes, adaptations, and 
modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.