Patent Description:
As self-restrained life has been forced in Japan by the recent pandemic outbreak of novel coronavirus, opportunities for cooking at home have been increased while the frequency of dining out has been reduced. Cooking is a technique of making several types of food materials easy to eat and improving the tastes of these food materials by cutting the food materials first into sizes and applying process on the food materials such as boiling, baking, or stir-frying, for example. In many cases, during the cooking, several types of main dishes or side dishes are prepared at the same time. For this reason, in a usual case, while a step such as boiling, baking, or stir-frying proceeds, a food material for a different dish is cut into sizes. In this case, complicated works such as boiling, tasting, addition of seasoning, and stirring of a food material being boiled should be done at the same time, parallel to each other in a kitchen. Instantaneous motion is frequently required, particularly during heating of a food material. Each time such motion is made during cooking, a kitchen knife used for cutting a food material into sizes should unavoidably be returned to a storage unit at a back surface of a door under a sink or at a drawer, for example. This may cause spilling of a food material being cooked out of a utensil or cause the trouble of accidentally damaging a finger. Patent literature <NUM> provides conventional suggestion for a kitchen sterilizing and storage tool including a storage unit for a kitchen knife.

The kitchen sterilizing and storage tool of patent literature <NUM> includes a box-shaped sterilizing lamp storage unit having one side where an opening for insertion of tableware is formed, and a kitchen knife storage case is provided as a lateral utensil storage unit (<NUM>) (the sign (<NUM>) is used only in the description of the prior art literature) on a lateral side of the sterilizing lamp storage unit. The lateral utensil storage unit of patent literature <NUM> is configured to magnetically attract and attach a lateral side portion of a kitchen knife under a top of a spine of the kitchen knife using a magnet attached to an upper end corner of the inner wall of the case as the utensil storage unit. While this allows size reduction of the lateral utensil storage unit itself, more attention is required in putting the kitchen knife in and out of the storage unit to cause difficulty in concentrating on cooking. There is also a disadvantage that making tight contact of the lateral side portion of the kitchen knife with the magnet makes a food material and the storage tool come into contact with each other, causing an unfavorable issue for hygienic reasons.

The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problem described above, and one object of the present invention is to provide a kitchen knife holder capable of storing and holding a kitchen knife stably even if the kitchen knife is handled roughly while being stored and taken out frequently during cooking.

To solve the foregoing problem, the present invention is a kitchen knife holder as set forth in claim <NUM>.

In this configuration, the holder body <NUM> includes
a thin part <NUM> to which the magnet array <NUM> is attached.

The present invention is also configured as a kitchen knife holder unit <NUM> comprising: the kitchen knife holder <NUM> according to claim <NUM>; and a stand unit <NUM> for supporting the kitchen knife holder <NUM> in a horizontally elongated state at an intended height position from a base table <NUM>.

In the kitchen knife holder unit <NUM>, the stand unit <NUM> for supporting the kitchen knife holder <NUM> in the horizontally elongated state at the intended height position from the base table <NUM> may include a rotary arm rotatable vertically or horizontally.

Even if a kitchen knife is required to be stored and taken out frequently, the kitchen knife holder and the kitchen knife holder unit according to the present invention still allow the kitchen knife to be held at a predetermined position through rough and rapid motion, while preventing spilling of a food material out of a utensil or preventing accidental damage of a finger.

An embodiment of a kitchen knife holder and an embodiment of a kitchen knife holder unit according to the present invention will be described below by referring to the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> schematically show the configuration of the kitchen knife holder according to the present invention. In the drawings, a kitchen knife holder <NUM> includes a holder body <NUM> and a magnet array <NUM> provided at the holder body <NUM>.

The holder body <NUM> is a main body of the kitchen knife holder forming a skeleton of the kitchen knife holder to suspend a kitchen knife entirely. According to the embodiment, the holder body <NUM> is composed of a thick plate-like member extending long in one direction.

A plurality of magnets is attached to the holder body <NUM> in such a manner as to be arranged in the lengthwise direction as described later. The holder body <NUM> itself does not exhibit magnetic properties and is made of a material not assuming magnetic force. For example, the holder body <NUM> can be made of rigid plastic, light metal, ceramic, a wooden or bamboo material, or other types of non-magnetic materials.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, with respective plate surfaces of plate-like members arranged at upper and lower positions, the respective centers of the upper and lower plate surfaces are recessed like grooves extending in the lengthwise direction over the entire lengths of the plate-like members to form recesses <NUM> of the holder body <NUM>. As a result, as shown in <FIG>, a shape like an iron dumbbell is defined as viewed from an end surface in which a part sandwiched between the upper and lower recesses <NUM> at the centers forms a thin part <NUM>, and opposite end sides form an enlarged part <NUM>.

The enlarged part <NUM> functions as a base for coupling to an angle fitting or an attachment fitting when the holder body <NUM> is to be attached in a horizontally elongated state to various types of stands or existing lower sections, equipment, etc. of kitchens.

In <FIG> and <FIG>, the holder body <NUM> has a hole <NUM> within the thickness of the holder body <NUM> including the thin part <NUM>. The hole <NUM> is formed into a shape like a thin plate and extends in the lengthwise direction of the holder body. Permanent magnets <NUM> of small sizes, for example, are inserted into the hole <NUM> having a shape like a thin plate from a one-end opening thereof, and the magnets <NUM> are buried in the holder body <NUM> while spaced at an intended interval width. A top t of a spine of a kitchen knife h is magnetically attracted to the magnetic field center of each magnet <NUM>. The permanent magnet <NUM> in the thin part magnetically attracts a top of a spine of the kitchen knife reliably to allow the kitchen knife to be suspended reliably with the edge of the kitchen knife pointed downward. In <FIG> and <FIG>, according to the embodiment, a connection between the lower thin part <NUM> and the lower enlarged part <NUM> has a wall surface tilted downward in a direction of expanding the connection to form trapezoidal space ST. Thus, when the top t of the spine of the kitchen knife is magnetically attracted to the center of this space, sufficient clearance S is formed on the opposite sides of the kitchen knife. This makes it possible to hold the kitchen knife reliably at a set position even through rough handling.

The magnet array <NUM> is magnet means of magnetically supporting the top t of a spine bh of the kitchen knife h in a manner allowing the top t to be attached and detached freely. The magnet array <NUM> is attached to the holder body <NUM> and used for suspending the kitchen knife h at the lower surface of the holder body <NUM> while an edge b of the kitchen knife h is pointed downward. The magnet array <NUM> includes two or more magnets spaced at an interval in an array pattern, and is used for magnetically supporting the top t of the spine bh of the kitchen knife h in a manner allowing the top t to be attached and detached freely. According to the embodiment, two permanent magnets <NUM> are attached as the magnet array <NUM> while spaced from each other at an interval D. Here, <NUM> is a grip of the kitchen knife and <NUM> is a ferrule for attaching the main body of the kitchen knife to the grip <NUM>.

According to the embodiment, the magnet array <NUM> is arranged at a substantially center position of the holder body <NUM> in a width direction as viewed from one end of the holder body <NUM>. By doing so, when the top t of the spine bh of the kitchen knife h is magnetically attracted and the kitchen knife is suspended with the edge b of the kitchen knife pointed downward, the sufficient clearance S is formed on the opposite sides of a blade by of the kitchen knife. Thus, even if the kitchen knife is put in and out roughly, the blade of the kitchen knife is still prevented from contacting a peripheral wall surface or equipment item, for example, during use of the kitchen knife.

The kitchen knife holder <NUM> can be installed and used at many places in a kitchen using a support stand or frame for supporting the holder body <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, a wall section of space, equipment, etc. for storing a kitchen knife can generally be used for directly attaching the kitchen knife holder <NUM> to an existing wall surface or equipment itself.

A kitchen knife holder unit <NUM> according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described next by referring to <FIG>. The kitchen knife holder unit <NUM> includes the kitchen knife holder <NUM> described in the first embodiment, and a stand unit <NUM> for supporting the kitchen knife holder <NUM> at an intended height position.

The stand unit <NUM> is height support means of supporting the kitchen knife holder <NUM> in a horizontally elongated state at an intended height position from a base table <NUM>. In the case of a common Japanese kitchen knife, the stand unit <NUM> supports this kitchen knife at a height at least greater than the length of a line between the edge and the spine of the kitchen knife (blade width). The base table <NUM> is a table for placing the unit on a cooking table or a sink in a kitchen, for example.

Referring to <FIG>, at the stand unit <NUM>, parallel plates <NUM> are fixed parallel to each other in upright positions on a table plate <NUM>, and the kitchen knife holder <NUM> is fixedly supported in such a manner as to be sandwiched between upper portions of the parallel plates <NUM>. In this case, the enlarged part <NUM> of the kitchen knife holder <NUM> is fixed to the inner walls of the parallel plates <NUM> by required means such as adhesion, fitting, or fastening with screws, for example. At this unit, the top t of the spine of the kitchen knife h is magnetically attracted to the center of the kitchen knife holder <NUM> in the width direction. In this state, as space is ensured on the opposite sides of the kitchen knife, the edge or blade of the kitchen knife is prevented from directly contacting the inner walls of the parallel plates <NUM> to maintain hygienic conditions. Furthermore, even if the kitchen knife is put in and out of clearance between the parallel plates roughly, the kitchen knife can still be held with the edge thereof reliably pointed downward. This makes it possible to continue cooking smoothly without the need of interrupting the cooking. Also, trouble such as accidental damage of a finger is prevented.

The stand unit <NUM> may have a configuration of fixedly supporting the kitchen knife holder <NUM> between respective tips of arms <NUM> having chevron shapes fixed in upright positions on the table plate <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, a configuration of supporting the kitchen knife holder <NUM> attached to a rotary arm <NUM> vertically rotatable about a horizontal axis relative to a projecting base column <NUM> on the table plate <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, or a configuration of attaching the kitchen knife holder <NUM> to an upper inner wall of a hollow case <NUM> as shown in <FIG>.

The kitchen knife holder <NUM> described above includes the holder body <NUM> and the magnet array <NUM>. The magnet array <NUM> is arranged at a substantially center position of the holder body in the width direction as viewed from one end of the holder body. By doing so, a top of a spine of a kitchen knife is magnetically supported in a direction along the array of the magnet array. In this state, clearance is formed on the opposite sides of the blade of the kitchen knife. As a result, even if the kitchen knife is put in and out of the holder body with a certain degree of roughness during cooking, for example, it is still possible to suspend the kitchen knife reliably, to prevent a lateral surface of the kitchen knife from contacting a wall surface, etc., and to achieve excellent safety for reason such as preventing unintentional detachment of the kitchen knife.

At the kitchen knife holder unit described above, the kitchen knife holder is supported in a horizontally elongated state at an intended height position from the base table by the stand unit. Thus, while the kitchen knife holder unit is placed in a kitchen or on a table such as a cooking table, the kitchen knife holder becomes available as an independent kitchen knife rest. Furthermore, even if the kitchen knife is put in and out of the holder body with a certain degree of roughness during cooking, for example, it is still possible to suspend the kitchen knife reliably, to prevent a lateral surface of the kitchen knife from contacting a wall surface, etc., and to achieve excellent safety for reason such as preventing unintentional detachment of the kitchen knife.

The kitchen knife holder and the kitchen knife holder unit according to the present invention are not limited only to the configurations described in the foregoing embodiment but other embodiments are also applicable within a range not deviating from the substance of the invention described in CLAIMS.

Claim 1:
A kitchen knife holder comprising: a holder body for suspending a kitchen knife (h) entirely by holding a top (t) of a spine (bh) of the kitchen knife (h); and
a magnet array attached to the holder body, including two or more magnets spaced at an interval and arranged in an array pattern, and configured to be capable of reliably suspending the kitchen knife (h) at the lower surface of the holder body while a cutting edge (b) of the kitchen knife (h) is pointed downward, and said magnet array being used for magnetically supporting the top (t) of the spine (bh) of the kitchen knife (h) in a manner allowing the top (t) to be attached and detached freely; wherein the magnet array is arranged at a substantially center position of the holder body in a width direction as viewed from one end of the holder body;
whereby the top t of the spine of the kitchen knife h is magnetically attracted to the magnetic field center of each magnet (<NUM>) and to the center of the kitchen knife holder <NUM> in the width direction;
wherein the permanent magnet in a thin part of the holder body magnetically is configured to attract a top of a spine of the kitchen knife reliably to allow the kitchen knife to be suspended reliably with the edge of the kitchen knife pointed downward, characterized in that
the holder body <NUM> is composed of a thick plate-like member extending long in one direction, with respective plate surfaces of said plate-like member arranged at upper and lower positions, the respective centers of the upper and lower plate surfaces are recessed like grooves extending in the lengthwise direction over the entire lengths of said plate-like member to form recesses (<NUM>) of the holder body (<NUM> ), wherein as a result, a shape like an iron dumbbell is defined as viewed from an end surface in which a part sandwiched between the upper and lower recesses (<NUM>) at the centers forms said thin part (<NUM>), and opposite end sides form an enlarged part (<NUM>);
whereby a connection between the lower thin part (<NUM>) and the lower enlarged part (<NUM>) has a wall surface tilted downward in a direction of expanding the connection to form a trapezoidal space ST, whereby the top (t) of the spine of the kitchen knife is magnetically attracted to the center of this space, and sufficient clearance (S) is formed on the opposite sides of the kitchen knife.