Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
The present invention refers to a kitchen utensil for
cutting vegetables, in particular potatoes, into strips, said
kitchen utensil comprising a base plate, which has provided on the
upper side thereof at least one slide surface and, when seen in
the direction of cutting, behind said slide surface, knives, which
are open towards the underside of the base plate and the height of
which projects beyond that of saicl slide surface, said knives
being arranged in transverse rows, which are displaced relative to
each other, and being provided with U-shaped cutting edges, the
underside of said knives being inclined towards said base plate
from the cutting edge to the end of the knife.
Such kitchen utensils are used for preparing potato
fritters, raw vegetable salads and the like. A kitchen utensil
according to the generic clause is known fron~
German-Offenlegungsschrift 30 09 213. The utensil described in
said Offenlegungsschrift comprises scoops of trapezoidal
cross-section, which are arranged on one side of the base plate
and which are used for gra-ting the object to be grated. These
scoops are distributed such that they define a plurality of
transverse rows almos-t up the base plate end positioned in the
direction of cutting.
The potato strips which can be produced by means of -the
known grater are far from being perfect, since the potatoes are
only partially cut by the scoops of -the last transverse rows and
since the strips thus produced are not cut off. When -the potato
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is again moved over the grater, part of the par-tially cut s-trips
will take up a position in front of and at right angles to the
scoop openings and will be cut through, consequently, or they
will again be driven into a scoop in the longitudinal direction so
that they will be cut through longitudinally a second time. This
will result in non-uniform cut material as well as in a great of
clogging of the grater. Moreover, the risX o-f clogging is
increased due to the inclined cutting edges of the scoops, since
said inclined cutting edges cause~ already in the initial cutting
phase, squeezing of the material to be cut. So-fter vegetables,
such as half-cooked potatoes, which are used e.g. for producing
"Berner-Rosti" (fried potatoes Bernese style), cannot be cut by
means of the known grater to the extent which would be desirable.
The present invention is based on the task of providing
a kitchen utensil which can be used for cut-ting vegetables, in
particular raw and half-raw potatoes, into strips and by means of
which it is possible -to cut, in a simple and fast manner, strips
which are ready for use, in particular -for the purpose of
producing fried potatoes Bernese style.
In accordance with the invention, this task is solved by
the features that the knives are constructed as double-edge knives
each having opposed cutting edges which extend parallel to the
direction of cutting, the upper side of the base plate being
provided with two slide surfaces between which the knives are
arranged.
On the basis of this solution, it is possible to
adequately cut :in a simple and fast manner vegetables, as for
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instance potatoes, into strips. Moreover, said solution permits a
space-saving structural design of the kitchen utensil, since
strips are now cut during the forward movement as well as during
the return movement and since, consequently, the same working
speed can be achieved by a number of knife rows which is only half
as large as in the case of the pr:ior art. The cutting edges
extending parallel to the direction of cutting advantageously
provide the possibility of cutting even half-raw potatoes without
any problems, since, during the initial cutting phase, the potato
strips are not yet subjected to any transverse forces. The slide
surfaces arranged on both slides of the knife rows promote easy
cutting even more, since the potato can be moved rapidly over the
rows of knives. This has the effect that the force required for
moving the potato over the cutting edges is reduced so -that
potatoes, especially also half-raw potatoes, are prevented from
being destroyed by excessive holding forces before the potato has
been fully cut.
It will be particularly advantageous when two rows of
knives are provided. This will have the effect that, after having
been fully moved over the rows of knives, the underside of the
potato will almost be flat again so that almost identical strips
are cut in the case of each forward and return movement over the
rows of knives.
Furthermore, it is also advantageous that the cut-ting
edge has the s~lape of an annular segment. This has the effect
that a cylinderlike arcuate surface is created on one side of the
potato strips. During the subsequently following browning of the
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potato strips, this will have the eEfect that the side oE the
potato strips facing the bottom of the pan will, in most cases, be
the arcuate side so that uniform browning of the potatoes will
take place without any premature excessive browning of protruding
corners.
Due to the fact that the knife end is provided on the
underside of the knife such that :it sticks out from the plane of
the base plate an advantageous result is achieved, viZo the resu]-t
that in particular the half-raw potatoes can be cut such that
chiplike curling strips are obtained. The term knife end
describes in this case the part of the knife at which the potato
strip leaves the knife. The above-described shape produces the
effect that, on the one hand, the fried potatoes Bernese style
will become particularly light and that, on the other hand, it
will be more probable that, when the potato strips are being
browned, they will contact the bottom of the pan with their
cylinderlike arcuate upper side, and -this will promote uniform
browning. In order to obtain these advantages, it will be
particularly advantageous when the bottom side of the knife
extends along a concave line from the cutting edge to the knife
end. In accordance with a further development, the cutting edges
have a concave shape and are curved in a chiplike manner.
For the purpose of forming slightly helical potato
strips, the knife thickness may be distributed asymmetrically
relative to an axis extending parallel to the direction of
cutting. The slide surfaces consist of smooth surfaces in
accordance with an advantageous embodiment so that the potato
slides on its non-cut webs during the cutting process.
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For achieving even better free cutting of -the knives, it
will be advantageous when openings are provided in the base pla-te
below the knives, said openings widening after the fashion of a
cone from the upper side of the base plate towards the lower side
thereof.
Handling of the kitchen utensil is addi-tionally
simplified by the fact that, when seen in the direction of
cutting, at least one end of the base plate has attached thereto a
handle.
It will be particularly advantageous when the transverse
rows of knives each consist of a stamped strip of metal. In this
case, it will be possible to sharpen the edges of the strip prior
to the strip stamping operation so that the U-shaped cutting
edges, which have been formed after the strip stamping operation,
will be particularly sharp, whereby cutting of the potatoes will
essentially be facilitated.
In the following, embodiments of -the invention will be
explained in detail on the basis of the drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a general perspective view of a first
embodiment of the kitchen utensil according to the invention,
Fig. 2 shows an enlarged sectional view of -the kitchen
utensil along line II-II of Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 shows an enlarged longitudinal section through
the knives along the line III-III of Fig. 1,
Fig. 4 shows an enlarged detail from Fig. 3 with a
potato,
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Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment
and
Fig. 6 shows an enlarged sectional view along the line
VI-VI of Fig. 5.
Fig. 1 shows the kitchen utensil according to the
invention, which will be reEerred to as "Rosti" cu-tter 1 in the
following and which essentially consists of a flat base plate 2
having provided on the upper side thereof two slide surfaces 3 and
~.
Between the slide surfaces 3 and 4 there are arranged
two rows of knives 5 and 6, which extend transversely to the
direction of cutting A. The knives 5 are displaced relative to
the knives 6 in such a way that behind the space between two
Xnives 6 one respective knife 5 is centrally located. Below the
knives 5 and 6, the base plate ~ is provided with openings 7
having the shape of an elongate hole and used for guiding the
potato strips to the underside of the "Rosti" cutter. The
openings 7 widen after the fashion of a cone towards the lower
side of the base plate 2.
Guide webs ~3 extending in the direction of cutting are
attached to both longitudinal sides of the base plate 2, said
guide webs terminating in a handle 9 at the "Rosti" cutter end
positioned in the direction of cutting.
As will be more clearly evident from Fig. 3, the knives
5 and 6 are provided with cut-ting edges 10 and 11 at both sides of
the direction of cutting. The cutting edges 10 and 11 are
orientated parallel to the direction oÇ cutting A. This means
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that, although the front of the cutting edges extends transversely
to the direction of cutting A, the underside and -the upper side of
the forward area of the cutting edges 10 and 11 extend parallel to
the direction of cutting up to a certain knife depth. As far as
the upper part of the cutting edges 10 and 11 is concerned, this
means that said upper part is orientated parallel to the base
plate 2. The knives 5 and 6, which are constructed in the same
manner, are inclined towards the base plate 2 from the cutting
eages 10 and 11, which extend parallel to the base plate 2 and to
the direction of cutting A, up to their knife ends 12. The knife
end 12 is orientated approximately perpendicular to the base plate
2. The inclined underside of the knife ex-tends along a concave
line from the cutting edges 10 and 11 up to the knife end 12
approximately in the form of the inner side of a right angle bend.
As will be evident from Fig. 2, the cutting edges of the knives
have the shape of an annular segment in a direction transverse to
the direction of cutting. The cutting edge width at the level of
the base plate amounts to approximately four times the maximum
cutting height. In the case of the embodiment described, the
cutting edge width is approx. 8mm.
Fig. 5 shows an additional embodiment of the present
invention. This embodiment essentially corresponds to the
above-described embodiment. Hence, only the special features will
be described. Indentical re~erence numerals will be used for
identical and for similar structural components.
In contrast to the first embodiment, the knives 5 and 6
each consist of a metal strip 13 and 14, respectively, and are
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produced by means of stamping. The metal strips 13 and 14,
respectively, extend continuously from one guide web 8 to the
next. The distance between two neighbouring knives 5 and 6,
respectively, is bridged by means of a stamped groove 15, which is
positioned below the plane oE the slide surEaces 3 and 4,
i.e. below the actual cutting region.
The upper side of the knives 5 and 6, respec-tively, is
provided with a stamped transverse groove 16, which extends across
the whole width of the kitchen utensil and which defines the
downwardly inclined knife ends 12.
Fig. 6 shows a transverse section through a metal strip
13 provided within the kitchen utensil. It is clearly evident
that the metal strip is embedded in the base plate 2 with its
lower stamped grooves 15 ex-tending in the direction of cutting.
If the kitchen utensil is made of plastic ma-terial, the metal
strips 13 and 14, respectively, can be installed during the
casting process.
A special advantage of the metal strips is to be seen in
the fact that they can be sharpened prior to the stamping process
so tha-t the cutting edges of the knives 5 and 6, respectively,
will be particularly sharp.
In the following, the mode of operation of the "Rosti"
cutter will be explained in detail. The "Rosti" cutter is equally
suitable for cut-ting raw, half-raw and, to a certain extent, even
cooked potatoes. The potato to be cut is, for example, inserted
in-to a holding means, which is no-t shown, since it is already
known, and is then positioned onto the slide surface 3 with the
aid of said holding means. The potato is then moved across the
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knives 5 and 6 in the direction of cutting A, and in the course of
this process, a strip is cut off on the underside of the potato.
The strip will assume a chiplike arcuate shape depending on the
type of potato - raw, half-raw or cooked - which has been used
(Fig. 4)-
When the potato has been fully moved across the two rowsof knives and is positioned on the slide surface 4, the underside
thereof will almost be flat again. The pota-to is now moved Erom
slide surface 4 against the knives 6 with more or less force, and
in the course of this process strips will be cut out of the potato
in the manner which has already been described. This operation
will be repeated until the potato has been fully cut. The guide
webs 8 are used as a support for the holding means, which is not
shown, and, consequently, -they are slightly higher than the
maximum height of the cutting edges of the knives 5 and 6.
Although the "Rosti" cutter and in particular the knives
may also be produced Erom metal, sheet metal or the like, they
have been produced in one piece from a plastic material by means
of injection moulding in the case of the first embodiment.
The "Rosti" cutter cannot only be used for cutting
potatoes, but it can also be used for cutting other vegetables for
preparing e.g. raw vegetable salads. The cutting edges of the
knives may in this case also have a trapezoidal shape.
In contrast to the representation in the case of the
embodiments, the transverse rows of knives may also be arranged
such that they are slightly inclined relative to the direction of
cutting, in which case, however, the cutting edges will again be
positioned parallel to the direction of cutting.
