Abstract:
A food wrap cutter includes a base body disposed under a slot on the front wall of a main body, a guiding element with elastic moving function disposed on the base body, and a guiding wedge of the two guiding elements coupled to a cam slot at a lower panel. Thus, when the guiding element is pressed, the lower panel is lifted by the action of the guiding element on the cam groove such that the upper edge of the lower panel is higher than the upper edge of the cutter; and the guiding element drives the upper panel to lift and separate the upper and lower panels in order to protect a user&#39;s hand from being cut or scratched while pulling out the food wrap.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a food wrap such as a PVC wrap or an aluminum foil for storing food and a kitchenware for easily accessing and cutting the food wrap. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     To assure the freshness of food, prevent food from being contaminated, or cook food by baking, it is common to use food wraps to wrap food in household life or even in restaurants. In general, a food wrap usually includes a film made by PVC material or an aluminum sheet; regardless of PVC or aluminum, the food wraps are manufactured and packed in rolls and stored in a paper box for selling. Such paper box comes with a cutter with sawteeth; the wrap is pulled out to a desired length when it is in use, and the cutter will cut the food wrap. However, users have to hold the food wrap by one hand and the food or kitchenware by another hand for the sealing or packaging operation, and thus it is very inconvenient. 
     To overcome the aforementioned shortcoming, a so-called Food Wrap Cutter was introduced in the market, and the structure of a food wrap cutter is characterized in that the cutter has a main body with a transversally moving cutter, and the food wrap or aluminum foil is placed inside of the main body; after the wrap or foil is pulled out to a desired length, the user manually operates the cutter to move it transversally for cutting the wrap or foil. However, such a traditional food wrap cutter still has its shortcomings in that when the wrap is completely pulled out and cut by the cutter on one side, the stress is not even and the cutting end of the wrap will be softened and drooped without support, which will directly affect the evenness of the cutting, particularly for the thin and soft food wrap. When manually cutting the food wrap by the cutter transversally, the cutting end of the food wrap will curl and affect the evenness of the cutting since the width of the wrap is about 8˜22 inches and the stress is uneven. In other words, a food wrap (particularly when a plastic food wrap is cut) usually produces curls, wrinkles, or tangles; users have to use hands to reorganize or spread out the food wrap. Whiling reorganizing or spreading out the food wrap by hands, the food wrap may be contaminated by foreign substances or germs on the user&#39;s hands. When food is wrapped by such a food wrap, the food may get soured or rotten easily. 
     Further, traditional food wrap cutters have linearly arranged sawteeth with equal heights. The design of sawteeth with equal heights causes the food wrap to have several cutting actions by the sawteeth simultaneously when the food wrap is cut from left to right or from right to left, such that the force exerted from each sawtooth onto the food wrap is reduced. As a result, the food wrap cannot be pierced easily for cutting, and it is necessary to use larger force to complete the cutting. Furthermore, the cut end is usually not even. Therefore, traditional food wrap cutters still need further improvements. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to overcome the inconvenience of placing a food wrap in a package box for its direct use. 
     The secondary objective of the present invention is to overcome the shortcoming of traditional food wrap cutters, including its uneven cut end due to the uneven stress of the cutting and the cutting end of the wrap is softened and drooped without support, which directly affects the evenness of the cut or even the smoothness; and the cut end generally has curls or wrinkles and thus it is inconvenient for cutting and packaging. 
     The third objective of the present invention is to overcome the shortcoming of traditional food wrap cutter that cannot cut the food wrap successfully and evenly. 
     Technical measures taken to solve the foregoing problems are described as follows: 
     The first technical measure taken is to set and fix a cutter transversally on a main body; when the food wrap is pulled out from the main body and attached along the whole cutter, external force is exerted to cut the food wrap. 
     The second technical measure taken is to improve the sawtooth structure of the cutter, which includes a plurality of sawteeth with different heights arranged in intervals to make the cutting of food wrap much easier. 
     The third technical measure taken is to include an upper panel and a lower panel; such upper and lower panels can control their ascending and descending movements. When the upper and lower panels are ascending, the lower panel covers the rear side of the cutter to protect the user hand from being cut while pulling out the food wrap. When the upper and lower panels are descending, the upper edge of the lower panel moves to a position lower than the cutter, and the upper panel will press on the food wrap to fix the food wrap in a position. 
     The fourth technical measure taken is to control the abovementioned ascending and descending movements of the upper and lower panels by using both hands to simultaneously press or release a guiding element each on both sides of the food wrap cutter. 
     Compared with the prior arts, the present invention achieves the first objective by cutting the thin and soft food wrap or aluminum foil evenly and smoothly. The present invention achieves the second objective by conveniently pulling out, cutting, and positioning the food wrap. The present invention achieves the third objective by providing a safe protection design, and cover the rear side of the blade of the cutter before the food wrap is pulled out in order to prevent the user hand from being cut when the food wrap is pulled from the rear end towards the front. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram of the overall appearance of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective diagram of the present invention when the upper panel is removed. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective diagram of the disassembled parts of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is cross-sectional diagram of the side view of the assembled structure of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional diagram of the guiding element being assembled to the axle rod but not being pressed according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional diagram of the guiding element being assembled to the axle rod and pressed to lift the lower panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional diagram of the guiding element not being pressed such that the lower panel is located at the lower section according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional diagram of the guiding element being pressed to lift the lower panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional diagram showing the upper edge of the lower panel is lower than the upper edge of the cutter, and the upper and lower panels are used to fix the food wrap in a position according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional diagram showing the side view of the upper edge of the lower panel being higher than the upper edge of the cutter such that the upper and lower panels are separated to facilitate the pulling out of the food wrap. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective diagram of part of the serrations of the cutter according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The food wrap cutter of the present invention comprises: a base body  14  disposed at the front of a main body  1 ; an upper panel  6  disposed above the base body  14 ; a cutter  5  secured at the front end of the base body  14 , a guiding element  2  each disposed on both ends of the base body  14 ; a side board  3  each disposed on both sides of the main body  1  for sealing main body  1 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3  for further illustration of the detailed structure of the present invention. In the figure, a main body  1  is a box having a hollow space therein, and the interior of the main body  1  is partitioned into an upper space  101  and an lower space  102  by a partitioning board  10  for accommodating two different kinds of food wraps such as a PVC wrap and an aluminum foil; a slot  13  connected to the foregoing hollow space is disposed in the front sidewall of the main body  1 ; a base body  14  is coupled on the external sidewall of the main body  1  below the slot  13 ; a circular axle rod  141  is disposed respectively on each of both ends of the base body  14 , and the end of each axle rod  141  has a central axis parallel to the axle rod  141  and a guiding hole  142  with an appropriate depth; and the upper surface of the base body  14  is preferably a convex curved surface. A pip  11  is disposed at an appropriate position on both sides of the front wall of the main body  1 , and the pip  11  in this preferred embodiment is a cylindrical body having an integrally formed head with a larger diameter similar to a nail. Both sides of the main body  1  form hollow spaces for storing the food wraps. A latch hole  12  is disposed respectively on the upper and lower surfaces proximate both sides of the main body  1 , and protrusions  32  corresponsive to such latch holes  12  are disposed respectively on the upper and lower ends of a side board  3 ; after the food wrap is placed, the side board  3  may be bent slightly to insert the upper and lower ends of the protrusion  32  into the upper and lower ends of the latch hole  12 , and the side board  3  is used to seal both sides of the main body  1 . When the food wrap is exhausted and needs refills, a cylindrical object is used to press the protrusion  32  down from the latch hole  12  at the upper section of the main body  1  to bend and remove the side board  3 . An axial pillar  31  is disposed on the inner surface of the side board  3 , and the axial pillar  31  is used to connect both ends of the rolled food wrap to facilitate the rolling of the food wrap inside the main body  1 . 
     The present invention further comprises two guiding elements  2 , two springs  26 , a lower panel  4 , an upper panel  6 , and a cutter  5 . A first hole  21  and a second hole  22  are disposed respectively on both ends of the guiding element  2 , and the first and second holes  21 ,  22  have different diameters, but the interior of the guiding element  2  is connected with each other. The internal diameter of the second hole  22  is substantially corresponsive to the diameter of the axle rod  141 . The spring  26  is placed into the second hole  22  and the axle rod  141  is passed into the second hole  22  and a wedge axle  25  is passed from the first hole  21  into the guiding element  2  and through the spring  26  into the guiding hole  142 , so that the guiding element  2  is mounted onto the axle rod  141 . In the meantime, the spring  26  is located between the end of the axle rod  141  and the bottom of the second hole  22 . The axle rod  141  passes into the second hole  22  by adopting the sliding method so that the axle rod  141  can axially move between the guiding elements  2 . A protruded base  24  is disposed on the rear side at the same ends of the guiding element  2  and the first hole  21 , and the protruded base  24  has a horizontal guiding groove  241 . The front sidewall of the guiding element  2  integrally forms a guiding wedge  23 . When the guiding element  2  is pressed towards the base body  14 , the spring  26  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ) is compressed; when the guiding element  2  is released, the elasticity of the spring  26  resumes the original position of the guiding element  2  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     The lower panel  4  is substantially in the shape of a rod, and both ends of the lower panel  4  have a larger area, and a cam groove  41  is disposed in the section with a larger area. The cam grooves  41  on both ends of the lower panel  4  are symmetrical, and each cam groove  41  is provided respectively for passing the guiding wedge  23  of the guiding element  2  for the assembly. When the spring  26  is not compressed, the guiding wedge  23  is located at a high point  411  of the cam groove  41  (as shown in  FIG. 7 ). When the guiding element  2  is pushed to compress the spring  26 , the guiding wedge  23  moves along the cam groove  41  and pushes the lower panel  4  upward (as shown in  FIG. 8 ). 
     The cutter  5  of the present invention has a series of sawteeth sets at the upper edge of the main body  1 , and each set of sawteeth respectively has different heights. For example, the cutter of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 11  has at least three kinds of sawteeth: high sawteeth  51 , mid sawteeth  52 , and low sawteeth  53  of different heights disposed at the upper edge of the cutter  5 ; wherein a plurality of high sawteeth  51  are arranged into a set of high sawteeth; a plurality of mid sawteeth  52  are arranged into a set of mid sawteeth; and a plurality of low sawteeth  53  are arranged into a set of low sawteeth. The sets of sawteeth are arranged in ascending order and then in descending order such that when the food wrap is cut linearly in the top-down direction, the food wrap is cut by the high sawteeth  51  first and then the mid sawteeth  52  and the low sawteeth  53  in order. The food wrap can then be cut smoother and evener, totally eliminating the curling and tangling problems. A plurality of insert wedges  54  are disposed on a side of the cutter  5 , and these insert wedges  54  have a diameter slightly larger than the wedge hole  143  on the front wall of the base body  14 , such that these insert wedges  54  are pressed into these wedge holes  143  to mount the cutter  5  onto the base body  14 . 
     The upper panel  6  of the present invention comprises a vertical section  62  and a horizontal section  61  coupled to form a L-shape structure, and both sides of the vertical section  62  have a vertical groove hole  621  and an enlarged hole  622  disposed at the lower end of the vertical groove hole  621  such that the pip  11  of the main body  1  can pass through the enlarged hole  622  and slide into the vertical groove hole  621  such that the upper panel  6  can relatively move vertically with respect to the main body  1 . The lower surface of the horizontal section  61  preferably has a concave curved surface  611  corresponsive to the curvature of the upper surface of the base body  14 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4  for the assembled structure of the present invention. In the figure, it simultaneously shows that the upper and lower spaces in the main body  1  can respectively store two different kinds of food wraps  7 . Please also refer to  FIG. 9 . The food wrap  7  is pulled out from the slot  13  and passes through the guiding groove  241  of the guiding element  2  and between the upper surface of the base body  14  and the horizontal section  61  of the upper panel  6 , and then passes through the lower panel  4  and the cutter  5 .  FIG. 10  shows that the guiding element  2  of the present invention is not compressed by external forces, the upper end of the lower panel  4  is lower than the upper edge of the sawteeth of the cutter  5 , while the horizontal section  61  of the upper panel  6  proximate the upper surface of the base body  14  presses and fixes the food wrap  7  in a position and keeps the food wrap  7  from withdrawing into the main body  1 . If it is necessary to pull out the food wrap  7 , the user needs to push the two guiding elements  2  to axially move them nearer by both hands, and to use the movement of the guiding wedge  23  in the cam groove  241  to push the lower panel  4  upward, so that the upper edge of the lower panel  4  is higher than the upper edge of the sawteeth of the cutter  5 . Such arrangement allows users to pull out the food wrap  7  towards the cutter  5  and prevents the user&#39;s hand from being cut by the cutter  5 . During the moving process of the guiding element  2 , the aslant surface  240  of its protruded base  24  is used to push the upper panel  6  upward, so that the lower surface of the upper panel  6  is separated from the upper surface of the base body  14  (as shown in  FIG. 10 ) to facilitate the pulling of the food wrap  7 . 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation and equivalent arrangements.