Patent Publication Number: US-7900544-B2

Title: Combination food preparation device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to the field of food preparation devices. More specifically the present invention comprises a combination slicing and dicing device for processing food. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Many food processing devices for producing sliced and diced food products are known in the prior art. These devices come in many different designs and configurations. One example of such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,026,691 to McArdle et al. (1936). McArdle et al. describes a cutting machine for selectively slicing, shredding, and dicing vegetables. The McArdle et al. device utilizes a food pusher and a cutting plate attached to a spindle so that when a user turns a handle, the cutting plate spins and the food pusher travels toward the cutting plate. 
     Another processing device is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,687 to Reifenhauser (1983). Reifenhauser discloses a cutting device for cubing meat products. The Reifenhauser device utilizes a hopper to feed meat products in front of a rough-pressing die which pushes the meat through a series of knives. The meat is first cut into strips and is then cut into cubes. 
     While these devices may be well suited for a narrow range of applications, they are poorly suited for others. For example, McArdle et al.&#39;s device would be poorly suited to cut meats and Reifenhauser&#39;s device would be poorly suite to cut vegetables. Additionally, McArdle et al.&#39;s device requires the user to repeatedly turn the handle to process a length of vegetables. The device must then be unspooled by turning the handle in the opposite direction before it can be used again. This process is very laborious and can quickly cause the user to become fatigued. 
     It is therefore desirable to provide a processing device that can be used to cut both meats and vegetables and is easy to use. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention comprises a combination slicing and dicing food processing device. The device generally includes a cutting box and gliding body which travels back and forth across the cutting box. The gliding body features a food cradle that is configured to hold a food product which is to be processed. The food cradle is attached on one end of a principal cutting arm and a handle is attached to the other end of the principal cutting arm. A secondary cutting arm is provided beneath and attaching to the principal cutting arm. A ram is provided on the end of the secondary cutting arm and positioned slightly behind the food cradle so that the ram trails the food cradle as the food gliding body travels back and forth across the cutting box. The cutting box includes a principal cutting blade near one end and a process slot for receiving slices of the food product which are sliced off by the principal cutting blade. The slices are received in a collapsing bin in front of the ram before they are finally processed by a dicing card or julienne cutting card and received in a receiving bin. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view, showing the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view, showing a gliding body. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view, showing a ram. 
         FIG. 4  is a detail view, showing a cutting box. 
         FIG. 5A  is a perspective view, showing a dicing card. 
         FIG. 5B  is a perspective view, showing a julienne cutting card. 
         FIG. 6  is a section view, showing the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a section view, showing the present invention in use. 
         FIG. 8  is a section view, showing the present invention in use. 
         FIG. 9  is a section view, showing the present invention in use. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view, showing an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 10 
                 food processing device  
                 12 
                 cutting box 
               
               
                 14 
                 gliding body 
                 16 
                 principal cutting arm 
               
               
                 18 
                 secondary cutting arm 
                 20 
                 food cradle 
               
               
                 22 
                 handle 
                 24 
                 gliding slot 
               
               
                 26 
                 process slot 
                 28 
                 principal cutting blade 
               
               
                 30 
                 dicing blade 
                 32 
                 dicing card 
               
               
                 34 
                 ram 
                 36 
                 collapsing bin 
               
               
                 38 
                 receiving bin 
                 40 
                 card frame 
               
               
                 42 
                 vertical cutting blades 
                 44 
                 horizontal cutting blades 
               
               
                 46 
                 julienne card 
                 48 
                 ram sleeve 
               
               
                 50 
                 arm slot 
                 52 
                 ram face 
               
               
                 54 
                 block 
                 56 
                 processed product 
               
               
                 58 
                 sliced product 
                 60 
                 blade mating grooves 
               
               
                 62 
                 motor shaft 
                 64 
                 motor housing 
               
               
                 66 
                 switch 
                 68 
                 electrical plug 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention, combination food processing device  10 , is shown in  FIG. 1 . Food processing device  10  includes cutting box  12  and gliding body  14 . Gliding body  14  includes principal cutting arm  16  and secondary cutting arm  18 , which is attached below principal cutting arm  16 . Food cradle  20  is attached to one end of principal cutting arm  16  and handle  22  is the other end. Food cradle  20  is configured to hold a food product such as a block of meat or cheese. Food cradle  20  can take many forms, but the bottom of food cradle  20  is open so that the food product can rest against the top of cutting box  12 . Handle  22  is attached to the opposite end of principal cutting arm  16 . Handle  22  can also take many forms, but handle  22  is configured to enable the user of food processing device  10  to grip gliding body  14  and slide gliding body  14  back and forth across cutting box  12 . 
     Secondary cutting arm  18  is attached beneath principal cutting arm  16  and is received within the interior of cutting box  12  through gliding slot  24 . Ram  34  is attached to the other end of secondary cutting arm  18 . Gliding slot  24  is an elongated cutout which is configured to receive secondary cutting arm  18  and permit gliding body  14  to travel a fixed distance in a forward and backward direction with respect to cutting box  12 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, cutting box  12  is a rectangular box. Principal cutting blade  28  is provided on the top of cutting box  12 . Principal cutting blade  28  is illustrated as a simple straight, stationary blade in  FIG. 1 , but it is understood that principal cutting blade  28  can be any sort of device configured for slicing food products. As another example, principal cutting blade  28  can also be a circular blade that is rotationally driven by a motor. Process slot  26  is placed in front of principal cutting blade  28  to receive portions of food which are sliced off by principal cutting blade  28  as will be explained in greater detail subsequently. 
     A secondary cutting means is provided within the interior of cutting box  12  for further processing the portion of food sliced off by principal cutting blade  28 . In  FIG. 1 , dicing card  32  with dicing blade  30  is shown. Dicing card  32  is removably attached within cutting box  12  to facilitate cleaning and allow for food processing device  10  to be used for different processing applications as will be explained subsequently. Dicing card  32  can be inserted and removed through a slot provided in the side of cutting box  12 . Receiving bin  38  is provided on the side of dicing card  32  opposite ram  34 . Receiving bin  38  receives processed food after it has passed through the secondary cutting means. Receiving bin  38  can be made detachable so that the processed food product can be easily transported. The floor can also be removed from receiving bin  38  so that the processed food product can pass straight through to a storage container placed underneath. 
       FIG. 2  shows a detail view of gliding body  14 . Gliding body  14  is holding block  54  in food cradle  20 . Block  54  can be any product, such as a block of cheese or meat. The reader will appreciate that secondary cutting arm  18  is used to position ram face  52  slightly behind food cradle  20  for purposes that will be explained subsequently. The reader will also appreciate that since principal cutting arm  16  and secondary cutting arm  18  are attached to each other, food cradle  20  and ram face  52  move together in unison when gliding body  14  travels back and forth across cutting box  12 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a detail view of ram face  52 . Ram face  52  has a series of blade mating grooves  60 . Blade mating grooves  60  allow the blades of the secondary cutting means to mate with ram face  52  for a cleaner cut. The reader will appreciate that the tips of the cutting blades cross over the plane of ram face  52  and are received within blade mating grooves  60  when ram  34  is pressed into the secondary cutting means. 
     Cutting box  12  is illustrated in greater detail in  FIG. 4 . Cutting box  12  features principal cutting blade  28  which is configured to slice off a portion of block  54  when block  54  travels across principal cutting blade  28  in one direction. Process slot  26  is provided directly in front of principal cutting blade  28  for receiving the portion of block  54  which is sliced of by principal cutting blade  28 . Elongated gliding slot  24  is also provided in the top of cutting box  12  to receive secondary cutting arm  18  and allow gliding body  14  to travel a fixed distance back and forth across cutting box  12 . 
     The interior of cutting box  12  features ram sleeve  48  which allows ram  34  to move toward and away from the secondary cutting means. Ram sleeve  48  is generally a hollow tunnel which fits relatively tightly around ram  34 . Bearings and aligning features can be employed to enable ram  34  to travel smoothly through ram sleeve  48  while maintaining alignment with the cutting blades of the secondary cutting means. Arm slot  50  is provided where gliding slot  24  joins with ram sleeve  48  to permit secondary cutting arm  18  to pass through ram sleeve  48  behind ram  34 . 
     As described previously, the secondary cutting means is removably mounted within the interior of cutting box  12 .  FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate two types of secondary cutting means that can be employed. In the preferred embodiment a removable cutting card is used to facilitate cleaning and to provide variable processing capabilities. Dicing card  32  is shown in  FIG. 5A . Dicing card  32  includes a set of vertical cutting blades  42  and horizontal cutting blades  44  which are arranged in substantially perpendicular orientation with respect to each other. Vertical cutting blades  42  and horizontal cutting blades  44  can be any means adapted for cutting including sharpened blades, wire or string. Dicing card  32  also includes card frame  40  which borders the cutting blades on three sides. The reader will appreciate that cutting blades span the width and height of ram sleeve  48  so that all product that is received in front of ram  34  is pushed through the secondary cutting means. Julienne card  46 , as illustrated in  FIG. 5B  can also be provided to process the food product into strips. Julienne card  46  is essentially the same as dicing card  32  except, the card only includes horizontal cutting blades  44 . 
     A section view of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 6  to better illustrate the functionality of the secondary cutting means. As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , dicing card  32  is situated beneath principal cutting blade  28  and separates ram sleeve  48  from receiving bin  38 . Collapsing bin  36  is created between ram face  52  and dicing card  32  as ram  34  moves in the direction of dicing card  32  through ram sleeve  48 . 
     The operation of the device is better illustrated in  FIGS. 7 through 9 . With reference to  FIG. 7 , block  54  is situated in food cradle  24 . As block  54  moves across principal cutting blade  28 , sliced product  58  is fed through process slot  26  into collapsing bin  36  in front of dicing card  32 . Once block  54  travels completely across principal cutting blade  28 , sliced product  58  is caught between ram  34  and dicing card  32  as shown in  FIG. 8 . At this point, collapsing bin  36  is approximately the same width as process slot  26 . Those that are skilled in the art will understand that ram  34  can be configured to trail food cradle  20  at a short enough distance to allow ram  34  to “catch” sliced product  58  immediately after being sliced off by principal cutting blade  28 , thereby preventing sliced product  58  from folding over on itself. Sliced product  58  is then pushed through dicing card  32  as ram  34  moves through the remainder of collapsing bin  36  as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . Processed product  56 , which is formed by sliced product  58  being pushed through the secondary cutting means, is then received in receiving bin  38 . 
     The movement of gliding body  14  with respect to cutting box  12  can also be automated so that the operator does not have to manually push and pull handle  22 . One possible configuration of an automated food processing device is shown in  FIG. 10 . This configuration utilizes an electronic motor situated within motor housing  64  to drive motor shaft  62  toward and away from dicing card  32 . Electrical plug  68  may be provided so that the food processing device can be plugged into any standard electrical outlet. Switch  66  enables the user to activate and deactivate the motor. 
     Although many configurations and gearings may be used to orchestrate the movement of motor shaft  62 , one possible configuration uses an electronic switch to reverse the direction of the motor or change the gearing when motor shaft  62  has fully elongated with respect to motor housing  64  and the sliced product has been pressed through dicing card  32 . Another electronic switch can reverse the direction of the motor again or change the gearing back when motor shaft  62  has returned to the unextended state. 
     In addition, a hydraulic press may also be used in place of the motor to move motor shaft  62  back and forth with respect to dicing card  32 . Other mechanical devices may similarly be used as an automation means to create the reciprocating motion. 
     The preceding description contains significant detail regarding the novel aspects of the present invention. It should not be construed, however, as limiting the scope of the invention but rather as providing illustrations of the preferred embodiments of the invention. As an example, many different means could be provided to enable food cradle  20  to travel across cutting box  12 . For example, food cradle  20  could also be mechanically attached to the top of cutting box  12  by tracks. Such a variation would not alter the function of the invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be fixed by the following claims, rather than by the examples given.