Patent Publication Number: US-2012042526-A1

Title: Knife blade

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 099127555, filed on Aug. 18, 2010, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a knife blade, more particularly to a knife blade for a food processing apparatus for cutting a food product with hard and soft textures. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     There are two shapes of blades as follows: a plain-edge blade having a smooth cutting edge for cutting a soft material to form a flat cut plane on the cut material, and a serrated-edge blade having many sharp points of contact with a hard material. A serrated-edge blade is typically suitable for cutting a hard material, while cuts made with a serrated-edge blade are typically less smooth and precise than cuts made with a plain-edge blade . However, it is difficult to cut a food product with both hard and soft textures, such as satisfactorily cutting a semi-finished agar product, with either the plain-edge blade or the serrated-edge blade as mentioned above. Therefore, it is desirable to improve the aforesaid knife blade to cut a food product with hard and soft textures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a knife blade which can easily cut a food product with hard and soft textures. 
     According to this invention, the knife blade includes a blade body configured to extend along a cutting line, and having first and second major surfaces which are opposite to each other in a direction transverse to the cutting line, and which respectively have first and second marginal regions. The first and second marginal regions are configured to extend toward the cutting line to join to form a cutting edge which includes successive cutting edge areas. At least one of the cutting edge areas is cut along an inclined plane relative to the cutting line to form upstream and downstream surfaces which are spaced apart from each other in a direction of the cutting line by a slant slot. The downstream surface is configured to extend to join one of the first and second major surfaces to form, in terms of one cutting direction, a leading edge which extends toward the cutting line to form a piercing site at a corresponding one of the cutting edge areas. A food product may have a soft part cut by the cutting edge, and a hard part cut by the piercing site and the leading edge, thereby rendering cutting of the food product having soft and hard textures convenient and effortlessly. 
    
    
     
       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 of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of the first preferred embodiment of a knife blade according to this invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a fragmentary perspective view of the first preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a fragmentary side view of the-first preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of the first preferred embodiment in a state of use; and 
         FIG. 5  is a fragmentary schematic view of the second preferred embodiment of a knife blade according to this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that same reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the first preferred embodiment of a knife blade according to the present invention is shown to be in the form of a one-piece circular blade  2  for use with a food processing apparatus (not shown). The circular blade  2  comprises a central region  3  and a surrounding blade body  4  surrounding the central region  3  and extending along a circular cutting line (L). The blade body  4  has first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42  which are opposite to each other in a direction transverse to the cutting line (L), and which respectively have first and second marginal regions  411 ,  421 . The first and second marginal regions  411 ,  421  are configured to extend toward the cutting line (L) to join to form a cutting edge  43  which includes successive cutting edge areas  431 . 
     Each of the cutting edge areas  431  is cut along an inclined plane relative to the cutting line (L) to form upstream and downstream surfaces  44 ,  45  which are spaced apart from each other in a direction of the cutting line (L) by a slant slot  47 . The upstream and downstream surfaces  44 ,  45  extend through the first and second marginal regions  411 ,  421  and into the blade body  41  to terminate at internal edges  442 ,  452  that cooperatively define a collecting port  48 . An enlarged cavity  46  extends through the first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42 , and is disposed downstream of the collecting port  48  for putting away broken-off particles of a cut solid food product. An annular reinforcing rib may be further disposed around the enlarged cavity  46  to reinforce the structural strength in the slant slot  47 . The downstream surface  45  is configured to extend to join one of the first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42  to form, in terms of one cutting direction, a first leading edge  451  which extends toward the cutting line (L) to form a first piercing site  453  at the corresponding cutting edge area  431 . In this embodiment, the upstream surface  44  is configured to extend to join the other one of the first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42  to form, in terms of the opposite cutting direction, a second leading edge  441  which extends toward the cutting line (L) to form a second piercing site  443  at the corresponding one cutting edge area  431 . Preferably, the second leading edges  441  of the upstream surfaces  44  at two consecutive ones of the cutting edge areas  431  are respectively disposed at the first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42 , and the first leading edges  451  of the downstream surfaces  45  at two consecutive ones of the cutting edge areas  431  are respectively disposed at the first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 to 4 , in use, the central region  3  of the circular blade  2  is mounted on a rotary spindle  11  of a food processing apparatus to cut a food product  12  moved upwardly toward a bottom portion of the circular blade  2 . By rotation of the circular blade  2  with the rotary spindle  11 , the cutting edge areas  431  are moved to cut the food product  12  along the cutting line (L), and the corresponding ones of the first and second piercing sites  443 ,  453  and the first and second leading edges  441 ,  451  confronting the food product  12  in terms of a cutting direction are in turn brought to pierce and cut the food product  12 . Since, in this embodiment, the first (second) leading edges  441  ( 451 ) at two consecutive ones of the cutting edge areas  431  are alternately disposed at the first and second major surfaces  41 ,  42 , the food product  12  can be cut by the first (second) leading edges  441  ( 451 ) in a left-and-right cutting manner. Briefly, the food product  12  is subject to be cut by a central part, a left side part, a central part, a right side part, a central part, and etc. of the circular blade  2  in this order. 
     During rotation of the circular blade  2 , a food product  12  may have a soft part cut by the cutting edge areas  431 , and a hard part cut by the first and second piercing sites  443 ,  453  and the first and second leading edges  441 ,  451 , thereby rendering cutting of a food product  12  having soft and hard textures convenient and effortless. Furthermore, a plurality of the circular blade  2  may be mounted on the rotary spindle  11  to be rotated together for cutting a food product  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the second preferred embodiment of the knife blade according to this invention is shown to be similar to the first embodiment, except that the knife blade of the second embodiment is a rectangular blade which includes an elongated spine portion  3  and an elongated blade body  4  such that the cutting line (L) is a straight line. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.