Patent Abstract:
A rotary grater having a removable storage device is disclosed. The rotary grater has interchangeable cylindrical blades for various grating purposes. A removable handle provides for rotational motion for the cylindrical blade to operate. The housing of the rotary grater has a movable press with a lever for applying the material to be grated to the cylindrical blade. The grated material is then dispensed from an exit opening in the housing and retained by a removable storage device.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/671,244 filed on Jul. 13, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to food processing devices, and more specifically to a rotary grater having a storage device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Grating various materials such as food products has proven very useful in the preparation of many culinary dishes. Graters such as box graters and planar graters have existed for many years. In fact, the first cheese grater was invented by Francois Boullier, who developed a grater in the 1540&#39;s so that hard cheeses could still be used. In the 16 th  century, there was a cheese surplus because many farmers had converted their cattle herds to dairy production in response to the current thinking of the time to avoid meat consumption. This resulted in a surplus of dairy, and the market became flooded with cheese. There was more cheese than buyers, and much of it became hard. Thus, Francois Boullier invented the cheese grater to put to use hard cheese that would otherwise be discarded. His invention became very popular in Paris in the 1540&#39;s. Unfortunately, in 1555 a drought hit Europe, drastically reducing dairy production, ending the surplus of cheese and also ending the popularity of his invention. It was not until the 1920&#39;s that an entrepreneur in Philadelphia by the name of Jeffrey Taylor once again made cheese graters popular during the great depression by allowing one to stretch the amount of cheese in a recipe. Taylor owned a cheese shop, and made his first units from shower drains with sharpened openings after reading about Boullier&#39;s invention. It was sold as the “greater”, as it made small portions of cheese appear greater. 
     Graters are commonly made of a metal such as stainless steel, and have perforations throughout. These perforations are commonly round or oval, and have a raised side to facilitate grating of the food product. These perforations may vary in size and number depending on the particular application. For example, cheese may be grated course or fine, and the size of the perforations will dictate the size of the grated pieces. Very small perforations may be desirable in applications such as the grating of spices such as, for example, nutmeg. The grating of other materials, such as citrus rind, may require medium to fine perforations. Typically, a well equipped kitchen will have several size graters to accommodate various culinary applications. While box and planar graters are useful, they are also labor intensive and represent a risk of skinned knuckles or fingers. Rotating graters that employ, for example, a rotating disk either driven manually or by a small electric motor, speed up the process of grating food products and reduce the risk of injury to the user. 
     What is needed is a rotary grater that has interchangeable blades to accommodate various grating applications and a removable handle to facilitate blade interchange. 
     What is also needed is a rotary grater that has a removable storage device configured so that the grated material is deposited into the removable storage device. A lid that is stored on the removable storage device when not in use is also desirable. 
     What is also needed is a press to apply uniform pressure to the food product while being grated and to maintain a fixed and uniform force of the food product on the cylindrical blade as the food product becomes smaller during grating operations. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a rotary grater comprising a housing formed generally as an elliptical cylinder, a cylindrical blade disposed within the housing, a handle connected to the cylindrical blade, an entry opening in the housing for receiving a material to be grated, an exit opening in the housing located below the cylindrical blade for dispensing grated material, a handle opening in the housing to facilitate connection of the handle to the cylindrical blade, a press movably connected to the housing, a lever connected to the press, and a storage device formed generally as an elliptical cylinder and removably connected to the housing for receiving and storing grated material. 
     The foregoing paragraph has been provided by way of introduction, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as described in this specification, claims and the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be described by reference to the following drawings, in which like numerals refer to like elements, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 4  is a long side plan view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom plan view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 6  is a short side view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 7  is an opposing short side view of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the handle of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 9  is a side plan view of the handle of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 10  is an underside plan view of the handle of the rotary grater with storage device; 
         FIG. 11  is a bottom plan view of the lower part of the housing of the rotary grater; 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the lower part of the housing of the rotary grater; 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the upper part of the housing of the rotary grater; 
         FIG. 14  is a top plan view of the press of the rotary grater; 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the press of the rotary grater showing the hinge rod; 
         FIG. 16  is a plan view of the outside of the press of the rotary grater; 
         FIG. 17  is a plan view of the inside of the press of the rotary grater; 
         FIG. 18  is an exploded view of the storage device with lid; 
         FIG. 19  is a side plan view of the storage device with lid; 
         FIG. 20  is a perspective view of an exemplary cylindrical blade; 
         FIG. 21  is a side plan view of an exemplary cylindrical blade; 
         FIG. 22  is a side plan view of an exemplary cylindrical blade; 
         FIG. 23  is a side plan view of an exemplary cylindrical blade; 
         FIG. 24  is a top plan view of the bowtie connector receiver hub; and 
         FIG. 25  is an inside plan view of the bowtie connector receiver hub. 
     
    
    
     The attached figures depict various views of the rotary grater with storage device in sufficient detail to allow one skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. These figures are exemplary, and depict a preferred embodiment; however, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention to the embodiment depicted herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by this specification, claims and drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A Rotary Grater With Storage Device is described and depicted by way of this specification and the attached drawings. 
     For a general understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals have been used throughout to designate identical elements. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a perspective view of the rotary grater with storage device  100  is depicted. The rotary grater comprises a housing  101  formed generally as an elliptical cylinder. The housing  101  may be made from a material such as a plastic that is injection molded and contains features that will be further described and depicted herein. A suitable plastic is, for example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). While the housing  101  is formed generally as an elliptical cylinder (also known as an elliptic cylinder), other geometries such as a cylinder, a parabolic cylinder, a hyperbolic cylinder, and the like, are considered within the spirit and broad scope of the present invention. A cylindrical blade  103  is disposed within the housing. The cylindrical blade  103  is made from a metal, such as a stainless steel, and has perforations as can be seen in the drawings. The perforations may, in some embodiments of the present invention, have a raised area around one side of each perforation to facilitate grating. The cylindrical blade  103  may be stamped from a sheet of metal to provide perforations and a raised area, and then rolled into a cylinder with the ends joined together by way of welding, crimping, or the like. The cylindrical blade  103  has a hub arrangement (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) to facilitate removable connection of a handle  105  to the cylindrical blade. A handle opening (not shown in  FIG. 1 , see  FIG. 2 ) provides for the connection of the handle  105  to the cylindrical blade  103 . The handle  105  may be made from a plastic and may have, in some embodiments of the present invention, a knob  107 . A suitable plastic for the handle  105  and the knob  107  being, for example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). There is also an entry opening  113  in the housing  101  for receiving material to be grated. The entry opening may be a variety of sizes and geometries. There is also an exit opening (not depicted in  FIG. 1 , see  FIG. 11 ) in the housing  101  located below the cylindrical blade  103  for dispensing grated material. Further depicted is a press  115  movably connected to the housing  101 . The press  115  pushes a material to be grated into the cylindrical blade  103  by way of force from a user&#39;s hand or fingers. The press  115  is movably connected to the housing  101  by way of a hinge or similar apparatus. As the material to be grated gets smaller, the press  115  moves the material to be grated closer to the cylindrical blade while protecting the user&#39;s fingers from injury. In some embodiments of the present invention there is a lever  1403  (not shown in  FIG. 1 , see  FIG. 14 ) connected to the press  115  to allow a user to move the press  115  either into or out of the cylindrical housing envelope. The press  115  and lever  1403  may be made from a plastic, and will be further described and depicted herein. A storage device  109  is formed generally as an elliptical cylinder, or with a geometry similar to that of the housing  101 . The storate device  109  is removably connected to the housing  101  for receiving and storing grated material. The storage device  109  may be made from a plastic and further may have a flange  117  that circumscribes the storage device  109  such that it may be retained by a flange receiver  119  that is formed into the housing  101 . A lid  111  may also be retained by the storage device  109  by way of a lid retainer  227  (depicted in  FIG. 2 ) for subsequent covering of grated material that may be contained in the storage device  109 . 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the rotary grater with storage device. The lid retainer  227  can be seen as a reduced size area of the storage device  109 . Further, knurls  223  can be seen within an inner edge for retaining the lid  111  to the storage device  109  at either the top of the storage device  109  or the lid retainer  227 . The knurls  223  are features such as bumps, ridges, grooves, or the like and serve to increase the friction and binding force between the lid  111  and the storage device  109 . 
     Also depicted in  FIG. 2  is a handle opening  221  that allows the handle  105  to couple with the cylindrical blade  103  so that the cylindrical blade can be rotated by movement of the handle  105 . The cylindrical blade  103  can also be seen with a bowtie connector receiver hub  225  that may be made of a material such as a plastic. 
       FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the rotary grater with storage device and  FIG. 4  is a long side plan view of the rotary grater with storage device.  FIG. 5  is a bottom plan view of the rotary grater with storage device where the lid  111  can be seen retained by the lid retainer  227  as further depicted in  FIG. 18 . The handle  105  can be seen with the knob  107  where the knob  107  is free to rotate with respect to the handle  105  by way of a joint, socket, pin, or similar arrangement, thus allowing a user to grasp the knob  107  and rotate the handle  105 , imparting rotary motion to the cylindrical blade  103 . 
       FIG. 6  is a short side view of the rotary grater with storage device. The flange  117  and flange receiver  119  can be seen in cooperation to retain the storage device  109  to the housing  101 . 
       FIG. 7  is an opposing short side view of the rotary grater with storage device. 
       FIGS. 8-10  depict various views of the handle  105  and related structures. 
       FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the handle of the rotary grater with storage device where the knob  107  can be seen movably connected to the handle  105 . 
       FIG. 9  is a side plan view of the handle of the rotary grater with storage device. A bowtie connector  901  can be seen protruding from the lower part of the handle  105 . The bowtie connector provides a releasable connection from the handle  105  to the cylindrical blade  103  (not shown in  FIG. 9 ). This releasable connection allows a user to easily disassemble and clean the rotary grater, and to easily and quickly change cylindrical blades. 
       FIG. 10  is an underside plan view of the handle of the rotary grater with storage device showing clearly the bowtie connector  901 . The bowtie connector  901  mates with the bowtie connector receiver hub  225  that is attached to the cylindrical blade  103 , as seen in  FIG. 2  and subsequently in  FIGS. 20-25 . The bowtie connector  901  may be made from a plastic similar to that of the handle  105 , or may be molded with the handle  105 . 
     The housing  101 , as depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , may be made from a material such as a plastic or a metal. In some embodiments of the present invention, the housing  101  comprises a lower part and an upper part that are attached together by way of an adhesive, a weld, snap fittings, screws, or the like. 
       FIG. 11  is a bottom plan view of the lower part of the housing of the rotary grater. An exit opening  1101  is depicted that is situated below the cylindrical blade when in use, and serves to dispense grated material to be received by the storage device  109  (see  FIG. 1 ). Further, retention tabs  1103  can be seen on the bottom of the lower part of the housing that comprise bumps, ridges, grooves, or the like, and serve to retain the storage device  109  (see  FIG. 1 ) by directing force to a rim or edge of the storage device  109 . 
       FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the lower part of the housing of the rotary grater. A lower hinge receiver  1201  can be seen for coupling to the press  115  (see  FIG. 1 ). The lower hinge receiver  1201  may be, for example, molded with the lower part of the housing of the rotary grater using standard plastic injection molding techniques. 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the upper part of the housing of the rotary grater. An upper hinge receiver  1301  can be seen for coupling to the press  115  (see  FIG. 1 ). The upper hinge receiver  1301  may be, for example, molded with the upper part of the housing of the rotary grater using standard plastic injection molding techniques. 
       FIGS. 14-17  depict the press of the rotary cheese grater. The press  115  is made from a plastic such as, for example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The press may also be referred to as a door. The press  115  generally conforms to the shape of the housing  101 . 
       FIG. 14  is a top plan view of the press of the rotary grater. A hinge  1401  may be connected to, or integrated or molded with, the press  115 . A lever  1403  can be seen that allows a user to move the press towards or away from the cylindrical blade  103 . A retaining edge  1405  can also be seen that acts to stop the press  115  from traveling too far outward, essentially retaining the press  115  within the confines of the housing envelope such that the material to be grated does not fall out of the rotary grater. The retaining edge  1405  may be integrated or molded with the press  115 . The retaining edge  1405  further engages with a similar retaining edge or stop on the housing to prevent unwanted travel of the press. A small bump or extension may also be present on the housing  101  to engage with retaining edge  1405  of the press  115 . 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the press of the rotary grater showing a hinge rod  1501 . The hinge rod  1501  may be made from a metal such as stainless steel and serves to couple the hinge  1401  on the press  115  with the lower hinge receiver  1201  (see  FIG. 12 ) and the upper hinge receiver  1301  (see  FIG. 13 ). The hinge rod  1501  in  FIG. 15  is shown in exploded perspective for clarity. For a complete understanding of the press  115  and related hardware and features,  FIG. 16  is a plan view of the outside of the press of the rotary grater and  FIG. 17  is a plan view of the inside of the press of the rotary grater. 
     The storage device  109  and lid  111  can be seen detached from the housing  101  in  FIGS. 18 and 19 .  FIG. 18  is an exploded view of the storage device  109  with lid  111 . The storage device  109  may be made from a plastic such as, for example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The lid  111  may be made from a softer durometer plastic to allow for easy placement of the lid  111  on the storage device  109 . An example of such a plastic is ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). The lid  111  may, in some embodiments of the present invention, have knurls  223  that can be seen within an inner edge for retaining the lid  111  to the storage device  109  at either the top of the storage device  109  or the lid retainer  227 . The knurls are features such as bumps, ridges, grooves, or the like and serve to increase the friction and binding force between the lid  111  and the storage device  109 . 
       FIG. 19  is a side plan view of the storage device with lid that shows how the lid retainer  227  serves to retain the lid  111  when not in use. 
       FIGS. 20-23  depict various cylindrical blades with various size perforations. Smaller perforations generally produce smaller gratings, and perforation size and spacing is often times dependent on the application. For example, cheese may be grated course or fine. Chocolate may be grated in various sizes depending on the culinary application. Spices such as nutmeg are almost always grated with extremely small perforations to produce small particles of the spice so as not to overpower the food being prepared. The cylindrical blade  103  is made from a metal, such as a stainless steel, and has perforations as can be seen in the drawings. The perforations may, in some embodiments of the present invention, have a raised area around one side of each perforation to facilitate grating. The cylindrical blade  103  may be stamped from a sheet of metal to provide perforations and a raised area, and then rolled into a cylinder with the ends joined together by way of welding, crimping, or the like. The cylindrical blade  103  has a bowtie connector receiver hub  225  to facilitate removable connection of a handle  105  to the cylindrical blade. This hub arrangement will be further described by way of  FIGS. 24 and 25 . 
       FIG. 24  is a top plan view of the bowtie connector receiver hub  225 . A hub  2401  encompasses the end of a cylindrical blade  103  and rotates within the handle opening  221  (see  FIG. 2 ) when the handle  105  turns the cylindrical blade  103 . A first receiver part  2405  and a second receiver part  2407  make up a bowtie connector receiver  2403  that comprises an opening that is similar in shape to a bowtie. This bowtie connector receiver mates with the bowtie connector  901  that is attached to the handle  105  (see  FIGS. 9 and 10 ). The mating of the bowtie connector  901  with the bowtie connector receiver  2403  provides for removable connection of the handle  105  to the cylindrical blade  103 . 
       FIG. 25  is an inside plan view of the bowtie connector receiver hub looking up through the cylindrical blade  103 . A first receiver part stop  2501  and a second receiver part stop  2503  can be seen. These stops provide a fixed point such that the handle turns the cylindrical blade  103 , and does not merely spin freely through the bowtie connector arrangement. The bowtie connector receiver hub  225  is made from a plastic such as, for example, polypropylene. A secondary hub, depicted at the opposite end of the cylindrical blade  103  from the bowtie connector receiver hub  225 , as seen in  FIGS. 20-23  for example, serves to rotate within the exit opening as the handle  105  turns the cylindrical blade  103 , serving as a bearing or bushing of sorts. This secondary hub may also be made from a plastic such as, for example, polypropylene. Both hubs are attached to the cylindrical blade by an adhesive, locking tabs, crimps, or the like. 
     To use the Rotary Grater With Storage Device, a piece of material to be grated is placed through the entry opening  113  and the press  115  is moved inward by way of the lever  1403  so that the material to be grated makes contact with the cylindrical blade  103 . The handle  105  is rotated such that the cylindrical blade  103  in turn rotates, and grated material exits the rotary grater and enters the storage device  109 . Once a suitable amount of material is grated, the storage device  109  is removed from the housing  101 . Additional grated material may be stored in the storage device  109  and sealed with the lid  111 . 
     It is, therefore, apparent that there has been provided, in accordance with the various objects of the present invention, a rotary grater with storage device. While the various objects of this invention have been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of this specification, claims and the attached drawings.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0