Abstract:
A chef knife is provided. The chef knife includes a blade and a handle. The blade has a length and a spine, wherein the spine of the blade defines a flat surface running the entire length of the blade. The spine of the blade protrudes outward from the handle, such that the spine rises above the top surface of the handle. The blade has a cutting edge, wherein the cutting edge extends below and under the handle. The blade has a depth, which depth increases from the point of the blade to the heel of the blade. Under the condition that the knife is oriented in the cutting position, the handle is angled downward with respect to the plane defined by the flat surface of the spine and the handle is angled upward with respect to the plane defined by a main portion of the cutting edge.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[S] 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application to Owens entitled “SCRAPER CHEFS KNIFE,” Ser. No. 61/404,306, filed Oct. 1, 2010, now pending, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The following disclosure relates generally to knives, and in particular to chef knives. 
         [0004]    2. State of the Art 
         [0005]    A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge and has been in existence for centuries. Today&#39;s knives can generally be broken down into two types: fixed blade knives and folding blade knives. Today&#39;s knives are also comprised of at least two parts: the blade and the handle. With a fixed blade knife, the blade and the handle are fixed with respect to one another. With a folding blade knife, the blade is typically structured to retract, fold, or otherwise move with respect to the handle to position the blade, or at least a portion of the blade, within the handle. 
         [0006]    One of the more prominent knives in the Western world is the chef&#39;s knife, a fixed-blade knife that is also known as a French knife or a cook&#39;s knife. The chef&#39;s knife is used prominently in the realm of food preparation and is often utilized as a general-utility knife in a chef&#39;s kitchen. The standard chef&#39;s knife is typically comprised of a blade and a handle. The handle can be attached to the blade after manufacture of the blade itself, or the blade can be integral with the handle, such that the blade and the handle are formed of one piece of material. In the case where the blade is integral with the handle, the portion of the material that forms the handle, or a part of the handle, is referred to as the tang. The tang can extend partially down the length of the handle from the heel of the blade to the butt of the handle or the tang can extend completely down the length of the handle from the heel to the butt. Decorative handles can be formed around the tang by coupling the decorative handles to the tang by way of rivets. 
         [0007]    As mentioned above, conventional chef&#39;s knives are useful in food preparation, and in particular for mincing, slicing, and chopping vegetables and fruits, among other things, as well as slicing meat and disjointing large cuts of meat. However, the usefulness of the conventional chef&#39;s knife is only as good as the knife blade&#39;s cutting edge is sharp. Using the cutting edge of the chefs knife for other purposes, such as to move prepared foods from place to place around the cutting surface by scraping the knife&#39;s cutting edge across the cutting surface, significantly dulls the cutting edge, which reduces the efficiency of the knife and shortens the knife&#39;s life span due to the fact that the knife must more frequently be sharpened. Moreover, the safe use of the knife is diminished in direct correlation with the sharpness of the knife&#39;s cutting edge. As the knife&#39;s cutting edge is dulled, more and more pressure must be applied by the user to achieve the same cutting result as that of a sharp cutting edge. As more pressure is applied, the knife is more likely to slip and result in cuts and punctures to the user. 
         [0008]    There is thus a need in the industry for a chef&#39;s knife that addresses the issues presented above. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    The disclosure relates to knives, and in particular to a new and improved chef&#39;s knife. 
         [0010]    An aspect of the present disclosure includes a chef knife, the chef knife comprising a blade, the blade having a length defined as a distance between a heel of the blade and a point of the blade; a handle; and a spine of the blade, wherein the spine of the blade defines a level surface running the entire length of the blade. 
         [0011]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes the spine of the blade rising above a top surface of the handle, and wherein the handle is angled with respect to the level surface of the spine. 
         [0012]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a cutting edge of the blade, wherein the cutting edge extends below and under a portion of the handle and wherein a depth of the blade increases from the point of the blade to the heel of the blade. 
         [0013]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes the handle being angled downward with respect to the flat surface of the spine and upward with respect to a plane defined by a main portion of the cutting edge. 
         [0014]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes the chef knife comprising a blade, the blade having a heel and a spine, and a handle, the handle having a top surface wherein the handle protrudes from a middle portion of the heel such that the spine of the blade protrudes outward from the top surface of the handle. 
         [0015]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes the chef knife comprising a blade, the blade having a spine that defines a first plane, a handle, the handle having a top surface that defines a second plane, and a cutting edge, the cutting edge having a main portion that defines a third plane, wherein under the condition that the knife is oriented in a cutting position the second plane is angled downward with respect to the first plane and angled upward with respect to the third plane. 
         [0016]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes the angle between the first and second planes being smaller than the angle between the first and third planes. 
         [0017]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes the angle between the first and second planes being smaller than the angle between the second and third planes. 
         [0018]    Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a length of the handle being between 35% and 45%, inclusive, of a total length of the knife. 
         [0019]    The foregoing and other features, advantages, and construction of the present disclosure will be more readily apparent and fully appreciated from the following more detailed description of the particular embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    Some of the embodiments will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures, wherein like designations denote like members: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a left-side perspective view of a chef knife in accordance with the present disclosure; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a right-side elevation view of the chef knife in accordance with the present disclosure; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a right-side elevation view of the chef knife upside-down in accordance with the present disclosure; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a top elevation view of the chef knife in accordance with the present disclosure; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a bottom elevation view of the chef knife in accordance with the present disclosure; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a left-side perspective view of the chef knife in accordance with the present disclosure; and 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0027]    A detailed description of the hereinafter described embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures listed above. Although certain embodiments are shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The scope of the present disclosure will in no way be limited to the number of constituting components, the materials thereof, the shapes thereof, the relative arrangement thereof, etc., and are disclosed simply as an example of embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         [0028]    As a preface to the detailed description, it should be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. 
         [0029]    Referring to the drawings,  FIG. 1  depicts a chef knife  10 . Embodiments of the knife  10  may comprise a blade  20  and a handle  40 . The blade  20  may further comprise a spine  22 , a spine end  23 , a point  24 , a blade end  26 , a cutting edge  28 , and a heel  30 . The handle may further comprise a tang  42 , scales  44  on either side of the tang  42 , rivets  46  that couple the scales  44  to the tang  42 , and a butt  48 . As referred to herein, the length of the knife  10  refers to the direction defined between the point  24  and the butt  48 , the width of the knife  10  refers to the direction defined between opposing sides of the blade  20  of the knife  10  (i.e., left-to-right or right-to-left), and the depth of the knife  10  refers to the direction defined between the spine  22  and the cutting edge  28 . The depth of the knife  10  also refers to the vertical alignment of the knife  10 . 
         [0030]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may include the blade  20  being manufactured from materials that provide sufficient strength to allow the blade  20  to function as and perform the purposes of a chef&#39;s knife. For example, but not a limitation, the blade  20  may be manufactured of steel, such as carbon steel or stainless steel, a laminate of steel metals, or ceramic materials. The blade  20  may be hot-forged or stamped. Once formed, the blade  20  may be sharpened to provide the cutting edge  28 . The blade  20  may have sufficient thickness to allow the cutting edge  28  to accept and hold various edge types, such as, but not limited to: double grind; single grind; flat (V-shape); convex; semi-convex or asymmetrical convex; asymmetrical flat (V-shape); compound or double bevel; hollow ground; chisel or single bevel; chisel with back bevel; and chisel with Urasuki. 
         [0031]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may include the handle  40  being manufactured of plastic, rubber, or composite materials. For example, but not by way of limitation, embodiments of the knife  10  may also comprise the handle  40  being manufactured of a composite material consisting of wood that has been treated with plastic resin to give the handle  40  a wood-like appearance. In view of the above, the handle  40  and the blade  20  may be manufactured separately and coupled together at a later time to form the knife  10 . 
         [0032]    Alternatively, the knife  10  may comprise the blade  20  and the tang  42  of the handle  40  being manufactured integrally with one another, such that blade  20  and the tang  42  are manufactured from the same piece of material, such as steel. Thereafter, the rivets  46  may be utilized to attach the scales  44  to the tang  42  to form the handle  40  that is comfortable in the user&#39;s hand. The tang  42  may extend partially down the length of the scales  44 , such that the tang  42  does not reach the butt  48  of the handle  40 . The tang  42  may also extend completely down the length of the scales  44 , such that the tang  42  reaches the butt  48  of the handle  40 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  4  and  5 . 
         [0033]    As depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , embodiments of the knife  10  may include the spine  22  of the blade  20  being substantially planar from the spine end  23  to the point  24 . A spine  22  that is straight, flat, uniform, or otherwise substantially planar along its entire length, allows the user of the knife  10  to flip the knife  10  upside down, or in other words rotate the knife  10  180 degrees from its cutting position with a cutting edge  28  facing a cutting surface  8  to its scraping position with the spine  22  facing the cutting surface  8 , and use the spine  22  as a scraping surface along the spine&#39;s  22  entire surface, or in other words, along the entire length of the blade  20 . It follows that the cutting surface  8  may provide a dual function depending on the orientation of the knife  10 . The cutting surface  8  may be a cutting surface when the knife  10  is used as a cutting tool with its cutting edge  28  facing the cutting surface  8 . The cutting surface  8  may be a scraping surface when the knife  10  is used as a scraping tool with its spine  22  facing the cutting surface  8 . 
         [0034]    A planar, or otherwise flat, spine  22  along the entire length of the blade  20  provides advantages and benefits over conventional chef&#39;s knives that do not have such a spine. For example, the planar spine  22  of the present disclosure provides a more effective scraping surface for the user to use to avoid dulling the cutting edge  28  of the knife  10 . Specifically, by providing a flat scraping spine  22  that runs the entire length of the blade  20 , when the user flips the knife  10  of the present disclosure upside down, or rotates the knife  10  180 degrees, as described above, the user can efficiently scrape food and other items along, or off, the cutting surface  8  instead of using the cutting edge  28  to do so, which action would quickly dull the cutting edge  28 . 
         [0035]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the spine  22  projecting vertically above the handle  40 . Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include at least a portion of the spine  22 , and in particular the portion of the spine  22  near the heel  30 , being raised above a horizontal plane  41   a  defined by the top surface  41  of the handle  40 . A raised spine  22  provides advantages and benefits over conventional chef&#39;s knives that do not have such a spine. For example, as depicted in  FIG. 3 , when the user flips the knife  10  of the present disclosure upside down, or rotates the knife  10  180 degrees from its cutting edge  28  facing the cutting surface  8 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , to its spine  22  facing the cutting surface  8 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , for the purpose of using the spine  22  as a scraper on the cutting surface  8 , the raised spine  22  provides a distance D 1  between the handle  40  and the cutting surface  8  that conventional chef&#39;s knives do not provide. This distance allows a user to grip the handle  40  in his/her palm with his/her fingers wrapped around the handle  40  without the user&#39;s fingers contacting the cutting surface  8  or coming into contact with the scraped items. 
         [0036]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the spine  22  being flat, straight, uniform, or otherwise planar, along the entire length of the blade  20 , as described above, in conjunction with the spine  22  being raised above the handle  40 , as described above, and shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0037]    As further depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the handle  40  of the knife  10  extending from the heel  30  of the blade  20  at a point between the spine end  23  and the blade end  26 . 
         [0038]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the blade  20  having a depth D 2 , defined by a distance between the spine  22  and the cutting edge  28  along a line orthogonal to the plane of the spine  22  at any point along the spine  22 . Embodiments of the knife  10  may include the blade  20  having a depth D 2  that increases from the point  24  to the spine end  23 , such that a large distance D 3  is defined between the spine end  23  and the corresponding point on the cutting edge  28 . The blade  20  may also have a depth-to-length ratio defined as the large distance D 3  divided by the length of the blade  20  from the point  24  to the spine end  23 . Embodiments of the knife  20  may have a depth to length ratio from between 25% to 55%. Such a ratio produces a blade  20  with sufficient length to provide effective cutting capability and with sufficient depth to keep a user&#39;s fingers out of the processed food. Embodiments of the knife  10  may have a depth to length ratio from between 32% to 50%. Such a ratio produces more efficient cutting capability while providing the advantages described above with respect to the previous range. Embodiments of the knife  10  may have a depth to length ratio from between 38% to 45%. Such a ratio produces even more efficient cutting capability than that described above with respect to the previous ranges while still providing the advantages described above with respect to the previous ranges. The depth of the blade  20  allows the user&#39;s hand that is placed on the knife  10  and operates the knife  10  to remain free and clear of the objects being chopped, sliced, or otherwise processed by the knife  10 . 
         [0039]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the cutting edge  28  of the blade  20  extending horizontally below the handle  40 , such that a portion of the cutting edge  28  is positioned below a portion of the handle  40 . Such a configuration provides the knife  10  with a longer cutting edge  28  and serves to help keep the user&#39;s hand that is placed on the knife  10  and operates the knife  10  to remain free and clear of the objects being chopped, sliced, or otherwise processed by the knife  10 . 
         [0040]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the handle  40  being angled with respect to the horizontal plane created by the planar spine  22 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . In the cutting position, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the horizontal plane  41   a  defined by the upper surface  41  of the handle  40  is angled with respect to the horizontal plane  22   a  of the planar spine  22 . Indeed, the handle  40  is angled downward with respect to the plane  22   a . For ease in explanation, as seen in  FIG. 3 , when the knife  10  is flipped upside down, or rotated 180 degrees from its cutting position to its scraping position, as described above, to engage the planar spine  22  against the cutting surface  8 , the cutting surface  8  and the horizontal plane  22   a  of the planar spine  22  become substantially one-in-the same, or co-planar. Accordingly, an angle A between the handle  40  and the plane  22   a  of the spine  22  can be measured as the angle between the cutting surface  8  and the plane  41   a  of the upper surface  41  of the handle  40 . The angle A provides several advantages over conventional chef&#39;s knives without such an angle. The angle A raises the handle  40  of the knife  10  above the cutting surface  8  even further than does the raised spine  22  alone. Thus, by having a raised spine  22  and an angled handle  40  with respect to the plane  22   a  of the raised spine  22 , the handle  40  is raised even further away from the cutting surface  8  so as to better allow a user to grip the handle  40  in his/her palm with his/her fingers wrapped around the handle  40  without the user&#39;s fingers contacting the cutting surface  8  or coming into contact with the scraped items on the cutting surface  8 . 
         [0041]    In embodiments of the knife  10 , to provide adequate cutting leverage and/or pressure from the handle  40  to the cutting edge  28  as it cuts against the cutting surface  8 , a plane  29   a  defined by the main portion  29  of the cutting edge  28  may be angled with respect to the plane  22   a  of the spine  22 . In the cutting position, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the handle  40  is angled upward with respect to the plane  29   a . For ease of explanation, as shown in  FIG. 3 , an angle B may define the angle between the plane  29   a  of the main portion  29  of the cutting edge  28  and the plane  22   a  of the spine  22 . By comparison, the angle A is less than the angle B, such that the plane  41   a  is angled with respect to the plane  22   a  somewhere in between the angle of the plane  39   a  and angle of the plane  22   a . In other words, when angle A is less than angle B and the knife  10  is oriented vertically in the cutting position, as shown in  FIG. 2 , and is ready to be used by the user, the handle  40  is angled downward with respect to the plane  22   a  of the spine  22  and yet angled upward with respect to the plane  39   a  of the main portion  39  of the cutting edge  28 . This particular angled configuration of the handle  40  not only provides advantageous leverage to the cutting edge  28  on the cutting surface  8  from pressure applied to the handle  40 , but also permits the handle  40  to be angled upward from the cutting surface  8  when the knife  40  is turned upside down. 
         [0042]    Further with regard to the angle of the handle  40  and the cutting edge  28 , as the measure of angle A approaches the measure of angle B, the advantageous leverage effects from pressure applied to the handle  40  are reduced. This is due to the fact that as the measure of angle A becomes closer to the measure of angle B, the handle  40  is no longer angled upward with respect to the plane  39   a  of the cutting edge  28 . Moreover, on the other hand, as the measure of angle A is reduced to zero, the advantageous effects of the handle  40  being raised further above the cutting surface  8  when the knife  10  is upside down and being used as a scraper are likewise reduced. This is due to the fact that as the measure of angle A becomes closer to the angle of the plane  22   a , the handle  40  is no longer angled upward away from the cutting surface when the knife  10  is upside down. Thus, the angle A between the handle  40  and the plane  22   a  of the spine  22  can be between 2 and 10 degrees while the angle B between the main portion  29  of the cutting edge  28  and the spine  22  can be between 11 and 23 degrees. Also, embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the angle A being between 3 and 6 degrees and the angle B being between 14 and 20 degrees, which provides good pressure and leverage to the cutting edge  28  against the cutting surface  8  through the handle  40 . Also, embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the angle A being about 5 degrees and the angle B being about 17 degrees, which provides even better pressure and leverage to the cutting edge  28  against the cutting surface  8  through the handle  40 . 
         [0043]    Embodiments of the knife  10  may further include the handle  40  having a length as a ratio, or percentage, of the total length of the knife  10 . By having the ratio of the length of the handle  40  being within a particular percentage of the overall length of the knife  10 , the knife  10  can be balanced as needed by the weight of the handle  40 , the weight of the handle  40  oftentimes being a product of the length of the handle  40 . Moreover, a relative length of the handle  40  with respect to the length of the knife  10  also provides better grip and maneuvering of the knife  10  during cutting of foods and products against the cutting surface  8 . For example, the length of the handle  40  may be between 35% and 45% of the total length of the knife  10 . 
         [0044]    As depicted in  FIG. 6 , embodiments of the knife  10  may further include a bolster/guard  60 . The bolster/guard  60  may be formed integrally with the knife  10  or may, alternatively, be installed after the knife  10  has been manufactured. The bolster/guard  60  may be configured to protect the user&#39;s palm, hand, or fingers, as the case may be, from pressure that might otherwise apply to the user&#39;s hand from use of the knife  10 . The bolster/guard  60  essentially is configured to dissipate pressure between the user and the knife  10 , such that any one point between the user and the knife  10  during use of the knife  10  does not become overly agitated or distressed. The bolster/guard  60  may be formed integrally with the knife  10  at a position proximate the heel  30  of the blade  20  and the handle  40  near the blade  20 , such that the user may utilize the bolster/guard  60  to grip and better secure the knife  10  within the user&#39;s hand while cutting, or otherwise using, the knife. The bolster/guard  60  may also be configured to attach to the handle  40 , the blade  20 , or a combination of the handle  40  and the blade  20 , so long as the bolster/guard  60  is securely coupled to the knife  10 . For example, as depicted in  FIG. 6 , the bolster/guard  60  may comprise an upper portion  62  and a bottom portion  64 . The upper portion  62  may be configured to form around each side of the spine end  23  and have a width larger than the width of the spine  22  so as to dissipate the pressure between the spine end  23  and the user&#39;s palm or fingers. Similarly, the lower portion  64  may be configured to form around each side of the end of the blade  20  between the blade end  26  and the handle  40  and have a width larger than the width of the blade  20  so as to dissipate the pressure between the blade  20  and the user&#39;s palm or fingers, as the case may be. 
         [0045]    Other configurations of the bolster/guard  60  are contemplated by the present disclosure so long as they provide similar function to the bolster/guard  60  described above. For example, the bolster/guard  60  may cover completely the spine end  23 , such that the spine end  23  is not visible under the bolster/guard  60 . Moreover, the width of the bolster/guard  60  may be larger than that shown in the Figures, so as to dissipate the pressure between the bolster/guard  60  and the user over a larger area. The bolster/guard  60  may further be shaped in a configuration to best receive a user&#39;s grip of the knife  10 . 
         [0046]    While this disclosure has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments outlined above, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure as set forth above are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, as required by the following claims. The claims provide the scope of the coverage of the present disclosure and should not be limited to the specific examples provided herein.