Sanitary knife

Abstract

A food grade safety knife includes a safety knife blade, a handle, and a stepped region adjacent the juncture therebetween. The handle is defined by a pair of spaced apart major surfaces that include an enlarged palm portion; a flared end distal to the enlarged palm portion that anchors the safety knife blade, and a neck region intermediate between. The stepped region has a thickness greater than the enlarged palm portion. The stepped region rises in a plurality of discrete steps from the generally planar major surfaces and generally increases in thickness with increasing distance from the enlarged palm portion to a maximum thickness most nearly adjacent to the safety knife blade. At least one of the plurality of steps within the stepped region is provided with at least three generally linear segments each angularly offset from adjacent ones of the at least three generally linear segments.

Claims

1. A food grade safety knife, comprising: a safety knife blade; and a handle defined by a pair of spaced apart, generally parallel, and generally planar major surfaces having: an enlarged palm portion distal to said safety knife blade; a flared end distal to said enlarged palm portion, said safety knife blade extending from said handle flared end in a direction distal to said enlarged palm portion; a neck region intermediate between and relatively narrower than said enlarged palm portion and said flared end; a longitudinal axis terminating adjacent to said safety knife blade; and a stepped region within said flared end and immediately adjacent to said safety knife blade, said stepped region of thickness greater than said enlarged palm portion and having a plurality of discrete steps rising from said generally planar major surfaces to a greatest thickness most adjacent to said safety knife blade; individual ones of said plurality of discrete steps having a step edge geometry defined by a first linear segment extending along an axis transverse to and crossing said handle longitudinal axis and having a first termination and a second termination distal to said first termination, a second linear segment extending from said first linear segment first termination at an angle intermediate between the axis along which the first linear segment extends and said handle longitudinal axis and increasing in distance from said handle longitudinal axis with an increase in distance from said first linear segment first termination, and a third linear segment extending from said first linear segment second termination at an angle intermediate between the axis along which the first linear segment extends and said handle longitudinal axis and increasing in distance from said handle longitudinal axis with an increase in distance from said first linear segment second termination, both said second and third linear segments increasing in distance from said enlarged palm portion with an increase in distance from said first linear segment.

2. The food grade safety knife of claim 1, wherein said stepped region generally increases in thickness with increasing distance from said enlarged palm portion to a maximum thickness most nearly adjacent to said safety knife blade, wherein said stepped region is thereby adapted to resist a person's thumb sliding off of said handle toward said safety knife blade.

3. The food grade safety knife of claim 2, wherein an offset is provided between said stepped region most nearly adjacent to said safety knife blade and said safety knife blade, and wherein the offset is adapted to provide adequate time for a person to stop squeezing before contacting said safety knife blade.

4. The food grade safety knife of claim 1, further comprising a protrusion extending from and thereby locally widening said neck region.

5. The food grade safety knife of claim 1, wherein said enlarged palm portion further comprises a rounded edge terminating said enlarged palm portion most distally to said flared end, said rounded edge radiused about an axis perpendicular to said generally planar major surfaces.

6. The food grade safety knife of claim 1, wherein said safety knife blade further comprises: a rounded and blunt tip terminating said safety knife blade longitudinally distal to said enlarged palm portion; an anchoring region captured within said handle flared end; and a cutting edge intermediate between said rounded tip and said anchoring region.

7. The food grade safety knife of claim 6, wherein said cutting edge further comprises a concave U shape having a small radius adapted to block a human finger from entering into contact therewith.

8. The food grade safety knife of claim 1, wherein said handle further comprises a food grade composition.

9. The food grade safety knife of claim 8, wherein said handle further comprises a first color indicative of contact with raw food.

10. A food grade safety knife, comprising: a safety knife blade having: a rounded tip terminating said safety knife blade at a first end; an anchoring region terminating said safety knife blade at a second end distal to said first end; and a cutting edge intermediate between said rounded tip and said anchoring region; a handle defined by a pair of spaced apart, generally parallel, and generally planar major surfaces having: an enlarged palm portion distal to said safety knife blade; a flared end distal to said enlarged palm portion, said safety knife blade anchoring region captured within said handle flared end and said safety knife blade extending from said handle flared end in a direction distal to said enlarged palm portion; a neck region intermediate between and relatively narrower than said enlarged palm portion and said flared end; a longitudinal axis terminating adjacent to said safety knife blade; and a stepped region within said flared end and immediately adjacent to said safety knife blade, said stepped region of thickness greater than said enlarged palm portion and thereby rising in a plurality of discrete steps from said generally planar major surfaces and generally increasing in thickness with increasing distance from said enlarged palm portion to a maximum thickness most nearly adjacent to said safety knife blade, at least one of said plurality of steps within said stepped region provided with a first linear segment extending along an axis transverse to and crossing said handle longitudinal axis and having a first termination and a second termination distal to said first termination, a second linear segment extending from said first linear segment first termination at an angle intermediate between the axis along which the first linear segment extends and said handle longitudinal axis and increasing in distance from said handle longitudinal axis with an increase in distance from said first linear segment first termination, and a third linear segment extending from said first linear segment second termination at an angle intermediate between the axis along which the first linear segment extends and said handle longitudinal axis and increasing in distance from said handle longitudinal axis with an increase in distance from said first linear segment second termination, both said second and third linear segments increasing in distance from said enlarged palm portion with an increase in distance from said first linear segment.

11. The food grade safety knife of claim 10, wherein an offset is provided between said stepped region most nearly adjacent to said safety knife blade and said safety knife blade, and wherein the offset is adapted to provide adequate time for a person to stop squeezing before contacting said safety knife blade.

12. The food grade safety knife of claim 10, further comprising a protrusion extending from and thereby locally widening said neck region.

13. The food grade safety knife of claim 10, wherein said enlarged palm portion further comprises a rounded edge terminating said enlarged palm portion most distally to said flared end, said rounded edge radiused about an axis perpendicular to said generally planar major surfaces.

14. The food grade safety knife of claim 10, wherein said cutting edge further comprises a concave U shape having a small radius adapted to block a human finger from entering into contact therewith.

15. The food grade safety knife of claim 10, wherein said handle further comprises a food grade composition.

16. The food grade safety knife of claim 15, wherein said handle further comprises a first color indicative of contact with raw food.

17. A food grade safety knife, comprising: a safety knife blade; a handle defined by a pair of spaced apart, generally parallel, and generally planar major surfaces having: an enlarged palm portion distal to said safety knife blade; a flared end terminating said handle distal to said enlarged palm portion, said flared end perpendicular to and spanning between said pair of spaced apart, generally parallel, and generally planar major surfaces, said safety knife blade protruding and extending directly from said handle flared end in a direction from said flared end opposite from said enlarged palm portion; a neck region intermediate between and relatively narrower than said enlarged palm portion and said flared end; a longitudinal axis terminating adjacent to said safety knife blade; and a stepped region within said flared end and immediately adjacent to said safety knife blade, said stepped region of thickness greater than said enlarged palm portion and having a plurality of discrete steps rising from said generally planar major surfaces to a greatest thickness most adjacent to said safety knife blade; individual ones of said plurality of discrete steps having a step edge geometry defined by a first linear segment extending along an axis transverse to and crossing said handle longitudinal axis and having a first termination and a second termination distal to said first termination, a second linear segment extending away from said first linear segment first termination at an angle intermediate between the axis along which the first linear segment extends and said handle longitudinal axis and increasing in distance from said handle longitudinal axis with an increase in distance from said first linear segment first termination, and a third linear segment distal to said second linear segment and extending from said first linear segment second termination at an angle intermediate between the axis along which the first linear segment extends and said handle longitudinal axis and increasing in distance from said handle longitudinal axis with an increase in distance from said first linear segment second termination, both said second and third linear segments increasing in distance from said enlarged palm portion with an increase in distance from said first linear segment, said first, second, and third linear segments providing a thumb stop configured to resist a person's thumb sliding off of said handle in a direction toward said safety knife blade.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The foregoing and other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention can be understood and appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment sanitary knife handle designed in accord with the teachings of the present invention from a top plan view.

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment sanitary knife blade designed in accord with the teachings of the present invention from a top view.

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates the preferred embodiment sanitary knife handle of FIG. 1 in further combination with the preferred embodiment sanitary knife blade of FIG. 2, the combination sanitary knife designed in accord with the teachings of the present invention from a top plan view.

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates the preferred embodiment safety knife of FIG. 3 from a side view.

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates the preferred embodiment safety knife of FIG. 3 from an end view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(7) Manifested in the preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a safety knife handle 10, a safety knife blade 20, and a combination handle 10 and blade 20 that together form a safety knife 1.

(8) FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment handle 10 that forms the primary body of safety knife 1. As illustrated therein, a smooth and contoured palm portion 11 is defined by a pair of spaced apart, generally parallel, and generally planar major surfaces designed to be cradled comfortably and conveniently within the palm of a hand. Rounded end 12 facilitates this cradling by most preferably fitting within the oblique arch between the thumb and little finger, roughly between the abductor pollicis brevis muscle of the thumb and the abductor digiti minimi muscle of the little finger. This ensures that rounded end 12 will nestle with the edge pressing comfortably and yet securely into the palm of the hand.

(9) A slightly narrower neck region 13 is adapted to be grasped by a person's fingers, in particular the middle and ring fingers. A small bump or protrusion 14 is provided that is configured to fit comfortably between the middle finger and index finger, with the middle finger resting in the narrowest part 15 of neck 13, and the index finger resting within a local narrow portion 16. Handle 10 flares outward from narrow portion 16 to terminate at flare 17.

(10) The majority of handle 10 is relatively flat as may be viewed in FIG. 4, defining two opposed parallel major surfaces, but with slightly rounded edges 19 to provide greater comfort when being grasped. These major surfaces defined by opposed sides of palm portion 11 are in the preferred embodiment relatively flat except adjacent to the edges. As a result, a person's palm will wrap about the edge and readily apply force to either or both surfaces to better control rotation about the longitudinal axis. The generally planar major surfaces thereby assist with stability during handling, even when a person's hands are slippery. Nevertheless, it will be understood that in alternative embodiments these major surfaces may instead be domed or rounded in any suitable way. The spacing between the generally planar major surfaces defines a thickness, and an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and the thickness defines the width of palm portion 11. Rounded end 12 defines one longitudinal termination of the enlarged palm portion 11, and is radiused about an axis perpendicular to the generally planar major surfaces.

(11) The generally planar major surfaces defined by opposed faces ofpalm portion 11 extend from one longitudinal end of handle 10 nearly to the other longitudinal end. However, adjacent to flare 17 there is provided a stepped region 18 which gets progressively thicker than palm portion 11 and neck 13. As visible in FIG. 3, stepped region 18 is thickest most nearly adjacent to blade 20, and thereby provides a thumb stop that is adapted to help keep a person's thumb from sliding off of handle 10 toward blade 20. Particular in the case of the food industry, but for many other applications as well, a person using the safety knife may not always have clean hands. This is particularly the case for a worker who opens packages with wet contents. In such instance, the features of the stepped region 18 provide the desired degree of gripping ability and stability within a person's hand, while still retaining desirable cleaning in an automatic dishwasher or the like.

(12) Even in the event a person's hand does slide off of handle 10 toward blade 20, there is most preferably sufficient offset between the highest point of stepped region 18 and blade 20 that the person's hand will in most circumstances still not come into contact with blade 20. The amount of offset will be determined by a designer and may be varied for different industries and applications, but will preferably provide adequate time for a person to stop squeezing before contacting blade 20, or, in the alternative, to not only slide off of handle 10 but also past blade 20 before their pinching grasp contracts sufficiently that it would otherwise contact blade 20.

(13) Because different persons may grasp handle 10 differently, and because they may also grasp handle 10 differently for a particular task, each step within stepped region 18 is provided with three generally linear segments 18a, 18b, and 18c, each angularly offset from the other. This allows a person to user their thumb to press against stepped region 18 from three different directions, while still gaining optimal traction therewith.

(14) FIG. 2 illustrates preferred embodiment knife blade 20 in greater detail and separate from handle 10. Knife blade 20 has a rounded tip 21, a ground cutting edge 22, and an anchoring region 23. Most preferably, cutting edge 22 forms a V or U shaped opening that is sufficiently narrow to not permit a person's finger to enter into and contact cutting edge 22. Likewise, the outer perimeter of knife blade 20, including rounded tip 21, is sufficiently wide and blunted to not present any real hazard to a person's hand. The particular geometry of anchoring region 23 is not critical to the present invention, an so may take on any suitable form that facilitates knife blade 20 being securely affixed within handle 10. Consequently, anchoring region 23 may be much larger than illustrated, and may further have holes or the like formed through the thickness of knife blade 20, to assist with secure anchoring into handle 10.

(15) FIG. 3 illustrates preferred embodiment safety knife 1 fully assembled, incorporating both handle 10 and knife blade 20. The particular technique to anchor knife blade 20 into handle 10 is also not critical to the present invention. In the case of preferred embodiment safety knife 1, handle 10 is preferably formed around knife blade 20, such as by injection or other plastic molding technique. As apparent from the Figure, knife blade 20 does not extend radially beyond flare 17 and instead is preferably radially recessed slightly therefrom. Consequently, flare 17 operates in a manner similar to stepped region 18, and may, if so desired in alternative embodiments, be provided with similar discrete steps.

(16) FIG. 4 illustrates the preferred embodiment safety knife 1 from a side view, while FIG. 5 illustrates the preferred embodiment safety knife 1 from an end view. Each of these views show in particular the stepped region 18. Steps are preferred, since the sharp edges or discontinuities created at the junction between riser and tread provide improved grasping, while retaining the ability to be completely cleaned using equipment such as an automatic dishwasher. Further, these steps do not create any areas that could entrap food particles or liquids.

(17) In use, a person will grasp safety knife 1 by placing their thumb with their thumb print pressed against the major surface visible in FIGS. 1 and 3, immediately adjacent to and preferably in contact with steps 18. Their index finger will slip into local narrow portion 16, with the joint between distal phalange and intermediate phalange close to or wrapping around the edge of handle 10. Likewise, some combination of the index finger intermediate phalange and proximal phalange will preferably butt against stepped region 18 on the major face of handle 10 opposite to the major face where the thumb print contacts the stepped region 18. When viewed from the end view of FIG. 5, the person's index finger will form a U-shape wrapping around both edges and one side of stepped region 18, while the person's thumb will contact the other side of stepped region 18. Owing to flare 17, when a person squeezes their index finger, the index finger will tend to slide away from blade 20 and toward palm portion 11 of handle 10. Of course, protrusion 14 will limit this movement. Consequently, both the person's thumb and index finger will work cooperatively to keep the person's hand from sliding into contact with knife blade 20.

(18) Should the person's hand still inadvertently slide off of handle 10 and into the vicinity of knife blade 20, the combination of flare 17 and stepped region 18 will still create a substantial gap in the radial direction relative to knife blade 20. This radial gap is sufficient to give the person adequate time to release and re-grip safety knife 1 without ever contacting knife blade 20.

(19) Most preferably, the material for knife blade 20 is a metal that may be readily detected using common metal detectors known in the food preparation industry. Handle 10 is preferably fabricated from a food grade plastic, and as noted herein above is explicitly designed to not have any fine grooves, undesirable porosity, or pockets that might entrap food particles or liquids. The resulting preferred embodiment safety knife 1 is sanitary, light weight, comfortable to use, easy to control, and, perhaps most importantly, extremely safe to use.

(20) In accord with a preferred method of processing food, there are provided at least two collections of preferred embodiment safety knives 1. A first collection comprises handles 10 of a first color, for exemplary and non-limiting purposes fabricated with a red material. A second collection comprises handles 10 of a second color different from the first color. For exemplary and non-limiting purposes, the second color is blue. The first color, red in the example, is preferably used in the processing of raw meats. The second color, blue in the example, is exclusively used in the processing areas that only handle ready-to-eat food. By providing at least two distinct handle colors, the chances of contamination of the ready-to-eat food is decreased.

(21) While the foregoing details what is felt to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, no material limitations to the scope of the claimed invention are intended. Further, features and design alternatives that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be incorporated herein. The scope of the invention is set forth and particularly described in the claims herein below.