A ROLLER FOR A CHEESE CUTTER

Abstract: A roller for a cheese cutter having a handle, a rod extending from the handle, and a string arranged alongside the rod. A gap of free space is present between the roller and the end of the rod so as to allow a nut positioned at the end of the rod to be screwed towards the handle in order to allow for exchange of the string, even when the roller is mounted on the cheese cutter. The roller is suitable for being mounted on existing cheese cutters, is preferably made from a plastic material or a metal.

Description: A ROLLER FOR A CHEESE CUTTER The present invention relates to a roller for mounting on an existing cheese cutter of a given type. More particularly, the invention relates to a roller for mounting on a cheese cutter of the type where a rod with a parallel string elongates from a handle and the rod acts as a counterpart of the cheese cutting string. The rod, in the cheese cutters normal function, slides over the surface of the cheese. The roller is mounted on the rod and converts the sliding movement, of the rod over the cheese surface, to a rolling movement of the roller over the cheese surface for easing the cut resulting in even cheese slices and no damage to the surface of the cheese or the cheese slices. BACKGROUND It is known to have cheese cutters having a cheese cutting string as well as a counterpart comprising either a rod and a roller or just a roller being held rotatably in both ends, and with a handle positioned in parallel or perpendicularly to the side of the roller and string. This type of cheese cutters have disadvantages when being used, since fine-adjustment of the thickness of the cheese slice is done by tilting the cutter. The tilting of the cutter is generally difficult to control for such cutters. The cheese cutters of such type is also typically of a size that makes them unpractical to wash in a dishwasher. It is also known to have a cheese cutter having a handle placed elongated from a rod with the rod acting as a counterpart to a cheese cutting string. A disadvantage of these cheese cutters is that they have no roller as counter part to the cheese cutting string but a stationary rod, this increases the friction between the cheese and the cheese cutter resulting in a damaged surface of the cheese slice and a increased tendency to make uneven slices. Danish patent DK 16952 discloses a cheese cutter having a handle, a rod extending from the handle and a cheese cutting string arranged alongside one side of the rod and substantially in parallel with the rod. The distance between the rod and the string may be varied so as to allow for variation of the thickness of the slices of cheese being cut by the cheese cutter. The rod may be provided with a tube being permanently arranged around the rod, the tube being capable of rolling on the outside of the rod. The cheese cutter disclosed does not provide a roller which is suitable for being mounted on an existing cheese cutter, including a cheese cutter having a string extending along two opposite sides of the rod. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a roller for a cheese cutter for reducing the friction between the cheese being cut and the cheese cutter, said roller being suitable for mounting on various kinds of existing cheese cutters. It is a further object to provide a roller for a cheese cutter, said roller, when mounted on a cheese cutter, allowing exchange of the cutting string of the cheese cutter. According to the present invention there is provided a roller for a cheese cutter, said cheese cutter comprising a handle, a rod extending from the handle substantially from a first end to a second end of the rod, the first end of said rod being secured to the handle and the second end of said rod being a free end, first retaining means being arranged substantially at the first end of the rod, second retaining means being arranged substantially at the second end of the rod, a cheese cutting string extending from the first retaining means to the second retaining means, said rod being a circular rod and the cheese cutting string being spaced from the rod with a spacing distance determining the maximum thickness of a cheese slice to be cut by the cutting string, by means of the second retaining means the cheese cutting string is given a suitable tension and the spacing distance is kept substantially constant, the roller being formed as a tube having a wall thickness and a length, said thickness being insignificant compared to the distance from the rod to the string, and the roller being arranged around the rod so that the rod and the roller have substantially coincident symmetry axes, and so that the roller is able to rotate in relation to the rod around said symmetry axis, and wherein a gap of free space is defined as the difference between the length of the roller and the free rod length being defined as the free length of rod, where the roller is able to rotate around the rod, said gap of free space being 5 mm or more. It is surprising that it is possible to provide a roller making it possible to convert a cheese cutter from being of the type having a rod as the counterpart of the string, to a type having a roller as the counterpart of the string. It is the prejudice that a cheese cutter is not a convertible construction, it is either originally made to have a roller as the counterpart or a rod as the counterpart. It is also the general opinion that the distance between the counterpart and the string is of such importance that the dimensioning of this distance is done from the original type of cutter, and that introduction of a roller to a cheese cutter without the roller changes the distance from the counterpart to the string in such a way that the cheese cutter will only be able to cut slices of a size that is too thin for practical use. It is further surprising that it is possible to make a roller having a thickness big enough to provide a stabile counterpart to the string, in such a way that the roller rotates freely during use and the roller is not damaged during normal use at the same time as it has no significant influence on the cheese slice thickness. This makes the use of a known cheese cutter more optimal so that the cheese cutter is to be used with the best result to both cheese that has a tendency to pack on cheese cutters with rollers and to cheese that only has this tendency in small amount and which is preferably to be cut in slices with a smooth surface. It is further a prejudice that if a roller is introduced into the mentioned cutter having a rod as counterpart to the string, the roller would be in conflict with the nut on the end of the rod which is supposed to be able to be screwed in a direction towards the handle, the screwing of the nut in this direction being necessary for mounting or dismounting the string. The fact that the gap of free space is 5 mm or more allows for the nut to be screwed towards the handle even when the roller is mounted on the cheese cutter. It is thus possible to exchange the string of the cheese cutter while the roller is mounted, even if the cheese cutter is of the kind where the cutting string is arranged alongside the rod on two opposite sides of the rod, so that effectively two cutting strings are available. A free rod length is defined as the free length of rod where the roller is able to rotate around the rod. The length of the roller is thus shorter than the free length of the rod. The reason for the difference in free rod length and roller length is to provide a space where the second retaining means is able to slide down the rod from its normal position. The movement of the second retaining means is normally done to make it possible to mount or dismount the cheese cutting string as described above. In a further embodiment of the invention a roller for a cheese cutter is provided wherein the cheese cutter is made so that the cheese cutting string, having two ends each having a knot substantially at the end, is retained in both ends by means of the knot on the string being in engagement with the first retaining means, and the second retaining means retains substantially the middle of the string, so that a first part and a second part of the cheese cutting string extending from the ends to the middle part is placed alongside and on opposite sides of the rod with suitable tension. In this embodiment of the invention the roller will be in use for cutting cheese with any of the two parts of string as described above. In a further embodiment of the invention the roller is mounted on a cheese cutter where the spacing distance between the rod and the first part of the cutting string is different from the spacing distance between the rod and the second part of the cutting string. In this embodiment the cheese cutter with a roller mounted is able to cut cheese with two different well defined thicknesses, also where the inner diameter of the roller is not equal to the outer diameter of the rod, when this is the case the roller will be pushed in abutting engagement with the rod by the cheese. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the roller is made from a plastic material preferably one of the following plastic materials, polypropylen, vinyl®, teflon®, or polyvinylcloride. However, other plastic materials could also be used. The physical properties of the plastic material should indicate that the plastic is able to withstand any kind of cheese without liberating any substance. The material should be able to be manufactured with a smooth surface and to withstand washing up in a dishwasher substantially without changing the physical character of the material. In a another preferred embodiment of the invention the roller is made from metal preferably one of the following metals, brass, stainless steel, or aluminium. However, other metals could also be used. The physical properties of the metal should indicate that the metal is able to withstand any kind of cheese without liberating any substance. The material should be able to be manufactured with a smooth surface and to withstand washing up in a dishwasher substantially without changing the physical character of the material. The thickness of the roller wall is in a preferred embodiment substantially equal to or less than 0.5 mm. In a further preferred embodiment it is substantially equal to or less than 0.3 mm. In yet a further preferred embodiment it is substantially equal to or less than 0.2 mm. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the difference in free rod length and roller length is more than 5 mm, preferably more than 10 mm, most preferably more than 15 mm. Most preferably, the gap of free space is defined so that the second retaining means is able to move along the rod so as to allow mount or dismount of the cheese cutting string. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1a shows an exploded view of a cheese cutter 10 of the typical type together with a roller 1 , Fig. 1 b shows the cheese cutter 10 of Fig. 1a with the roller 1 mounted, and Fig. 2 shows the function of the roller 1 on a cheese cutter 10 of the typical type. Figs. 1a and 1b show a cheese cutter 10 having a handle 4 and a rod 2 extending from said handle 4. The cheese cutter 10 further has two retaining means 3 and 5 for retaining a string 9 that runs from the first retaining means 3 to the second retaining means 5 and back to the first retaining means 3. The rod 2 is in engagement with the handle 4 and the first retaining means 3 in a first end of the rod 2 and the rod 2 is in engagement with the second retaining means 5 through a threaded end part 8 of the rod 2, the threaded end part 8 being positioned opposite to the first end of the rod 2. A nut part 6 of the second retaining means 5 is screwed on the threaded end part 8 of the rod 2. Further, in Fig. 1b, a roller 1 is positioned on the rod 2 so that the roller 1 may rotate around the axis of symmetry of the rod 2 and is kept in the wanted position axially by the first 3 and the second 5 retaining means. Further, the rod 2 is connected through the first retaining means 3 to the handle 4. In the shown embodiment the second retaining means 5 comprises a nut 6 and a retainer 7, the string 9 is bend over the retainer 7 while the nut 6 is screwed down to the end of a screw thread 8 to make it possible to position the string 9. The string 9 is put into operating position with the two ends connected to the first retaining means 3 and the middle part of the string 9 connected to the retainer 7. When the string 9 is positioned correctly the nut 6 is screwed towards the end of the rod 2 and thereby also towards the end of the screw thread 8. The screwing of the nut 6 is tensioning the string 9 to a suitable tension. To make this operation possible the roller 1 has to have a length that is the same or less than the length from the first retaining means 3 to the nut 6, when the nut 6 is in its bottom position, i.e. screwed as close to the first retaining means 3 as possible. When the nut 6 then is screwed towards the end of the rod 1 to make the sufficient tension in the string 9 a gap or free space 14 is present between the nut 6 and the roller 1, thus making it possible for the roller 1 to slide from a top position with no gap or free space 14 between the nut 6 and the roller 1 , and a bottom position with a maximum gap or free space 14. In Fig. 2 the cheese cutter 10 is shown in operation together with a slice of cheese 11. The roller 1 is rolling on the cheese surface 12 and the string 9 is cutting the cheese into slices 13. The roller 1 is rolling on the cheese surface 12. Thus, nothing is sliding on the cheese surface 12, this results in less friction and less damage to the cheese surface 12. The friction is now only between the roller 1 and the rod 2, and this friction can again be minimised by using the right sur ace structure and the right material to have the suitable friction. Thus, a cheese cutter is provided which allows slices of cheese to be cut without causing damage to the cheese. Furthermore the roller according to the invention may easily be applied to a large number of the existing cheese cutters currently being sold. The string of the cheese cutter may be exchanged, even if the roller is mounted on the cheese cutter.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A roller (1) for a cheese cutter (10), said cheese cutter (10) comprising a handle (4), a rod (2) extending from the handle (4) substantially from a first end to a second end of the rod (2), the first end of said rod (2) being secured to the handle (4) and the second end of said rod (2) being a free end, first retaining means (3) being arranged substantially at the first end of the rod (2), second retaining means (5) being arranged substantially at the second end of the rod, a cheese cutting string (9) extending from the first retaining means (3) to the second retaining means (5), said rod (2) being a circular rod and the cheese cutting string (9) being spaced from the rod (2) with a spacing distance determining the maximum thickness of a cheese slice (13) to be cut by the cutting string (9), by means of the second retaining means (5) the cheese cutting string (9) is given a suitable tension and the spacing distance is kept substantially constant, the roller (1) being formed as a tube having a wall thickness and a length, said thickness being insignificant compared to the distance from the rod (2) to the string (9), and the roller (1) being arranged around the rod (2) so that the rod (2) and the roller (1) have substantially coincident symmetry axes, and so that the roller (1) is able to rotate in relation to the rod (2) around said symmetry axis, and wherein a gap of free space (14) is defined as the difference between the length of the roller (1) and the free rod length being defined as the free length of rod (2), where the roller (1) is able to rotate around the rod (2), said gap of free space (14) being 5 mm or more. 2. A roller (1) according to claim 1, wherein the cheese cutter (10) is made so that the cheese cutting string (9), having two ends each comprising a knot, is retained in both ends by means of the knot being in engagement with the first retaining means (3), and the second retaining means (5) retains substantially the middle of the string (9), so that a first part (15) and a second part (16) of the cheese cutting string (9) extending from the ends to the middle part is placed alongside and on opposite sides of the rod (2) with suitable tension. 3. A roller (1) according to claim 2 where the spacing distance between the rod (2) and the first part of the cutting string (15) is different from the spacing distance between the rod and the second part of the cutting string (16). 5 4. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the roller (1) is made from a plastic material. 5. A roller according to claim 4, wherein the plastic material is selected from the group consisting of polypropylen, vinyl®, teflon®, and polyvinylcloride. 10 6. A roller (1) according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the roller (1) is made from metal. 7. A roller according to claim 6, wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of brass, stainless steel, and aluminium. 15 8. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the wall thickness of the roller (1) is substantially equal to or less than 0.5 mm. 9. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the wall thickness of the 20 roller (1) is substantially equal to or less than 0.3 mm. 10. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the wall thickness of the roller (1) is substantially equal to or less than 0.2 mm. 25 11. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the gap of free space (14) is 10 mm or more. 12. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the gap of free space (14) is 15 mm or more. 30 13. A roller (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the gap of free space (14) is defined so that the second retaining means is able to move along the rod (2) so as to allow mount or dismount of the cheese cutting string.

Inventors: LARSEN ALFRED BOJESEN, LARSEN, ALFRED, BOJESEN
Applicants: ALTING DESIGN AS, LARSEN ALFRED BOJESEN, ALTING DESIGN A/S, LARSEN, ALFRED, BOJESEN
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B26B27
IPC codes: B26B27