Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a device for guiding
a knife to facilitate uniform cutting of meat slices into a
plurality of stacks. In particular, the invention relates to an
apparatus for commercial preparation of dishes of the type
including small chunks of mea~ placed on skewers, such as
"souvlaki" or shish kebab.
The above type of dish is normally prepared by first
providing ~lices of meat and then cutting the slices into small ~,
' chunks which are eventually placed on skewers, ready Eor further
processing by broiling or the like.
One of the important aspects of commercial preparation
of the above type of dishes is that individual dishes should ,~
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have as a uniform overall weight as possible. This requires a
skill in cutting ~he chunks of meat and in their placing on the
skewers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
simple apparatus wherein the operation of cutting of chunks o
meat and placing same on the skewers is considerably acilitated
to both r'educe the r'equired'skil~ and speed up the overall
~20 operation, at the same time facilitating the storage of the
'dishes ready for the bxoiling or the like.
According to the invention~ a device;is provided for ~
guiding a knife to facilitate uniform cutting of a stack ''
includiny meat slices into a plurality of'stacks each including
meat chunks,of generally uniform size. The device comprises
a generally rectangular container structure including a bottom
and our generally upright walls for receiving said stack. A
plurality of vertical 510ts iS provided in each of said walls.
~ The slots are equidistantly spaced from each other whereby the
slots form a plurality of pairs of slots._ Each pair of slots is
located in a generally vertical plane disposed at a right angle
with respect to the walls in which the slots of said pair are
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disposed. F.ach of the slots extends over a substantial portion
of .he height of the respective wall. Thus, the blade of a
knife can be inserted to pass through both slots of each of said
pairs and to be guided by same along the respective generally ^~
vertical plane, as it cuts through said stack.
The invention thus provides an apparatus for commercial'
preparation of a plurality of di.shes of the type including small
chunks of me~t placed on skewers, the apparatus including a
generally rectangular container means having side wall means and
bottom means. Coupling means are provided for releasably
securing the side wall means and the bottom means to each other.
A compressing plate means having a top face and a bottom face
and peripheral edges is arranged to be received within the !
container and to be ur~ed towards the bottom means. A plurality ,
of vertical slots extends substantially the entire height of
each wall of said wall means, the slots being arranged at an
,equidistant spacing from each other. The bottom face of said .
plate means is provided with longitudinal and transverse grooves
extending the entire length and width thereof and equidistantly
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spaced ~rom each other. The spacing between the yrooves
corresponds to ~hat of the vertical slots such that, on placi.ng
of the plate means into the container, each of said grooves
extends between a respective pair of the slots of mutually
opposite walls. Thus, each of said grooves and the associated
pair of slots fonm guide means for guiding a knife blade~
. The inventio~ will now be described in greater detail
by way of a.preferred embodiment shown in,.the accompanying ,-.
drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus in
30 - operation, partly cut out to display the, slices of meat
located therein; ' ,
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective vi~w of the
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apparatus as shown in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a bottom view of a guide plate for use in
the present invention; and
Figure 4 is a side view of the plate of Figure 3.
Turning now particularly to Figure 1, it will be seen
that the device comprises a generally rectangular container
structure which, in general terms, comprises a ~ottom 1 and four
generally upright walls 2, 3, 4 and S. The walls 2, 3, 4, 5
form a compact unit, held together by corner angles 6. As best
seen from Figure 1, the container formed by bottom 1 and side
walls 2, 3, 4 and 5 is arranged to receive a stack of meat
slices 7 therein. -
A plurality of vertical sl~ts 9 - 34 is provided in
each of the walls 2, 3, 4 and 5, the reference numerals 9 - 34
being only used to designate the slots of walls 2, 3 and 5, it
being understood that the wall 4 has slots disposed substantially
in the same manner as those of wall 2. The slots are equi~
distantly spaced from each other. In other words, the distance ,~ ;
of e.g. slots 26-27 is the same as the distance bstween slots
24 and 23 and corresponds, in turn, to the spacing of any of `~
two adjacent slots in any of the walls. With reference to
Figure 2, therefore, it will be appreciated that the slots form
a plurality of pairs of slots 17 - 34; 18 - 33; 19 - 32; 20 - 31;
21 - 30 etc., each of the pairs of slots being located in a
generally vertical plane disposed at a right angle with respect
to the walls in which the slots of said pair are disposed. For
instance, ~t will be appreciated that slots 25 and 26 are
locat~d in a common vertical plane which is perpendicular to
both the front wall 5 and the rear wall 3 in which the respect-
ive slots are located. It lS also apparent from Fisure 1 and
Figure 2 that each of the slots 9 - 34 extend over a substantial
portion of the overall height of the respective wall 2, 3, 4 and
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5. Thus, as shown in Figure 1, a blade 35 of a knife can be
inserted to pass through any of the pair of slo~s generall.y as .
shown in Figure 1 and to be guided by same along the respective -
vertical plane as it cuts through the stack of slices 7.
As best seen from Figure 2, the bottom 1 is formed by ~
an assembly of a heavy base or frame 36 having an upright ~:
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peripheral protrusion 37 whose outside contour generally
corresponds to the contour of a solid bottom plate 38 which, in
turn, .~upports a bottom wall 39 provided with a plural~
ity of openings 40. The peripheral contour of the bot-tom wall . ':~
39 and of the bottom plate 38 is such as to allow the receiving
of ~he two plates inside the upright wall assembly of walls 2-5.
The upright walls 2 and 4 are provided at the bottom part
thereof with openings (not shown) for receiving locking pins 41
arranged to pass through respective bosses 42 formed in the
frame 36. Thus, the pins 41 are capable of locking the assembly
of wa.lls 2-5 firmly to the base elements as referred to abov~
The pins 41 and their associated portions may generally be .. ;
referred to as coupling means for releasably securing said side .
wall means and said bottom means with each other.
The device further comprises a compressing plate 43,
also referred to as a rectangular guide plate 43. As best seen .
from Figures 3 and 4, the plate 43 has a top face 44 and a
bottom face 45. The plate 43 is of a rectanyular plt3n
includi~g a front edge 45, a rear edye 46 and two side edges 47,
48. The dimensions of the plate defined by edges 45-48 is such ~ .
that the plate 43 can be received within the lnside clearance ~:
of the upright walls 2 - 5, as viewed in top view. In other
words~ the perimeter of plate 43 generally corresponds to but :~
is slightly less than the plan of the inside of the container.
The top face face 44 of plate 43 includes bosses 49
which form a part of an arrangement urging the plate toward the
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bottom of the container, a5 described in greater detail herein-
after.
The bottom face 45 of plate 43 is provided with a
plurality of longitudlnal grooves 51 - 59 and with a plurality of
transverse grooves 60 - 68. As best seen from Figure 3, each
of the grooves 51 - 59 extends the entire length of plate 43
while each of the grooves 60 - 68 extends the entire width
thereof. The grooves 51 - 68 are equidistantly spaced from each
ot~er, the spacing between adjacent grooves corresponding to
that of the vertical slots 9 - 34, as referred to hereinabove.
In other words, e.g. the spacing ~etween grooves 66 and 67 ~,
corresponds to the spacing between grooves 10- 11, the spacing
; betwe~n grooves 52-51 corresponding to that of slots 33-34 or
18-17. Consequently, when plate 43 is placed in container
defined by walls 2 - 5, each of said grooves extends between a
respective pair of said slots of mutually opposite walls. For
instance, the groove 53 ~Figure 4) is capable of guiding the
blade 35 of the knife between slots 32 and 19. Each of the
grooves thus forms, together with the associated pair of slots,
guide means for the knife blade` 35.
The grooves 51 - 68 divide the overall area of the
~ottom of plate 43 (Figure 3) into a plurality of longitudinally
and transversely arranged small rectangular areas such as area
69a, each of which is ~ro~idea with a generally, centrally located
passage, only one passage namely passage 69 of the area 69a
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limited by grooves 51,52,67 and 68 being referred to ln Figure 3,
for the sake of clarity. Fi-yure 4 shows that the passages extend
generally perpendicularly to the bottvm face 45 of the plate 43.
The-mutual spacing between ~he passages is, again, e~uidistant and
corresponds to the spacing of slots in upright walls 2-5. It also
corresponds to the spacing and pattern of the openings 40 provided
in the bottom wall 39. When the plate 43 is inserted into the
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container (Figu.re 1) i-t will be ~ppr~ciated that th~ openings
39 in the top plate 43 form with the respective openings 40 of
the bottom wall 39 a plurality of pairs of coaxial openings-
One such pair of`openings is formed by opening 69 as marked in
Figure 2 and an opening 50 in the bottom wall 39 it being
understood that the opening 50 actually belongs to the system
o openings 40 as referred to.
The size of the openings 40, 50 in the bottom wall 39
is greater ~han that of passages 69 in the top plate 43. The
size of openings 69 is slightly in excess of diameter of skewers
70 (Figure 1). Consequently, it will be appreciated that on
pi~cing the top plate 43 into the container defined by walls
2 - 5, skewers 70 can be passed through the stack of slices 7
either before or after the cutting o~ knie blade 35.
. Apart ~rom the above mentioned means for releasably
securing the bottom 1 to the walls 2 - 5, which includes pins 41 :
and their associated parts, the device further includes means
~or urging the guide plate 43 generally vertically downwardly j~.
towards the bottom to slightly compress the stack of slices 7 --
j 20. located in the container. Such means include. two vertical ~.
. screws 71 fixedly securtt~d to the central top edge of walls 2 and
- 4, as best seen.in Figures 1 and 2. The screws slidably receive
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pressure plates 72 whose bottom edges engage the top face of
the respective bosses 49 as best shown in Figure 1. A trans-
verse beam member 73 (no~ shown in Fig. 2) extends between the
screws 71 and forms a centering element thereof. ~he selective
compression is exerted by ~ùts 74 provided with suitable handles
75.
- In Gperation, relatively laxge slices 7 of meat are
first placed into the container releasably secured to the bottom :~
1 as described above. Subsequently, the top plate 43 is placed ,~
on top of the stack of slices 7 whereupon skewers 70 are
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ins~rted through all of the openings 69, 40, 50, r~spectively.
Before or after the insertion of skewers 70, the stack is
sllghtly compressed by operating nuts 74 to slightly compress
the entire stack. The blade 35 of a knife can then be inserted
into the container such that it is first inserted through one
slot (e.g. slot 9 as shown in Figure 1), then, with the blade
urged against groove 68, ~he blade passes through the slot in
the opposite wall 4 until the position as shown in Figure 1
is reached. The entire stack can now be easily cut by moving
the blade 35 downwards until the bottom wall 39 (which is made
of wood or another suitable material to prevent undue damage to
the cutting edge of blade 35) is reached. The knife is then
removed from the containex and inserted in adjacent slot 10 to
be guided by groove 67 and suhsequently by slot 10 and its
associated slot in the opposite wall 4. The operation is
repeated until the entire stack has been cut as desired. The
- coupling pins 41 are then removed to enable removal of the -
entire assembly of walls 2 - 5 from the stack of precut dishes
which can then be either placed in a refrigerator or used
immediately for broiling etc. It will be appreciated that the ~
~ removal of the top plate does not pose any problem. At the ~-
- ~ ~ same time, i~ will be appreciated that the bottom tips of each
of the skewers 70 have reached the area of openings 40, 50 in
the bottom wall 39.
I Thus, the present invention provides a simple,
relatively inexpensive and eff.icient tool for restaurants and
;~ similar commercial outfits, the device xeducing the skill
requirements and, at the same time, increasing the speed of
preparation of the above type of dishes.
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate many
modifications which may differ from the above embodiment. For ~;
instance, the arrangement of the walls 2 5 may be of a
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completely knock-down type such that each of the walls would be
releasably se~ured -to its adjacent walls. The selective
compression o~ the top plate 43 can also be effective by
means different from those shown. 'rhese and many other modifica-
tions of the embodiment as described above, however, do not
depart from the scope of the present invention as defined in
the accompanying claims.
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