Telescoping slicer

1 . A slicer, comprising:

a base;

a lower assembly supported by the base;

an upper assembly moveably coupled to the lower assembly; and

a knife coupled to the upper assembly, where the knife is rotatable around a rotation axis,

wherein the upper assembly is movable along the rotation axis, relative to the lower assembly, between an initial position and a static extended position,

wherein the lower assembly includes a lower engagement portion and the upper assembly includes an upper engagement portion, wherein the lower and upper engagement portions are configured to engage each other such that in the initial position the lower engagement portion, the upper engagement portion, and the knife are rotatable around the rotation axis,

wherein the upper assembly includes an upper shaft, the upper shaft having a top portion and an elongated portion, wherein the elongated portion includes a first groove or detent and a second groove or detent, wherein the first groove or detent is configured to secure the upper assembly to the initial position, wherein the second groove or detent is configured to secure the upper assembly to the extended position, and

wherein the slicer further comprising a safety pin extending between a first end and a second end, wherein the elongated portion further includes a third groove, and wherein the safety pin is moveable between a locked position, where the first end of the safety pin extends into the third groove, and an unlocked position, where the first end of the safety pin is pulled out of the third groove.

2 . The slicer of claim 1 , wherein when the upper assembly is in the initial position, the knife is in an operating position, and wherein when the upper assembly is in the extended position, the knife is in a cleaning position.

3 . The slicer of claim 2 , wherein the knife moves further away from the lower assembly when the knife moves from the operating position to the cleaning position.

4 . The slicer of claim 1 , wherein the lower assembly includes a lower shaft, the lower shaft including a lumen extending through the lower shaft, wherein the elongated portion of the upper shaft extends through at least a portion of the lumen of the lower shaft, and wherein a lower shaft groove or detent is configured to secure the elongated portion of the upper shaft to the lower shaft via the first groove or detent or the second groove or detent of the elongated portion of the upper shaft.

5 . The slicer of claim 1 , wherein when the safety pin is in the locked position, the knife is prevented from being moved from an operating position to a cleaning position.

6 . The slicer of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor, wherein the sensor is configured to prevent the slicer from being started to perform a slicing operation when the safety pin is not in the locked position or when the knife is not in an operating position.

7 . The slicer of claim 1 , further comprising a safety pin extending through a housing of the slicer and extending between a first end and a second end, wherein when the first end of the safety pin extends into the first groove of the elongated portion, the knife is secured to an operating position, and wherein when the first end of the safety pin extends into the second groove of the elongated portion, the knife is secured to a cleaning position.

8 . The slicer of claim 1 , wherein when the upper assembly is in the initial position, the lower assembly, the upper assembly, and the knife are configured to rotate together.

9 . The slicer of claim 1 , wherein the slicer includes safety feature means to disable a slicing function of the knife when the upper assembly is in the extended position.

10 . The slicer of claim 9 , comprising a motor for rotating the knife, where the safety feature means comprises one of:

a sensor configured to detect a knife cover position, disposed in communication with a control board of the slicer;

a safety pin that prevents the knife from being moved from an operating position when the safety pin is in a locked position;

a safety pin in communication with a start button such that the start button is disabled when the safety pin is not in a locked position;

a sensor configured to detect position and/or movement of a safety pin and/or of the knife to form an interlock in communication with the motor such that the motor will not operate the knife unless the knife is in an operating position, and/or unless the safety pin is in a locked position; or

a sensor in communication with the safety pin and with the motor, such that the motor will not be operable due to not receiving power, and/or another essential control condition unless the knife is in the operating position, with the safety pin in the locked position.

11 . A slicer, comprising:

a base;

a lower assembly supported by the base;

an upper assembly moveably coupled to the lower assembly; and

a rotatable knife coupled to the upper assembly,

wherein the upper assembly is movable relative to the lower assembly along a longitudinal axis of the upper assembly,

wherein the upper assembly includes a latch and a shaft release pin, wherein the latch is configured to releasably couple the upper assembly to the lower assembly, and wherein the shaft release pin is configured to be movable to engage the latch and release the latch from engagement with the lower assembly.

12 . The slicer of claim 11 , wherein the shaft release pin is movable along the longitudinal axis of the upper assembly, and wherein when the shaft release pin moves towards the lower assembly, the latch is released from engagement with the lower assembly.

13 . The slicer of claim 11 , wherein the upper assembly includes an upper shaft, the upper shaft having a top portion and an elongated portion, wherein the lower assembly includes a lower shaft, the lower shaft extending between a first end portion and a second end portion, and wherein the top portion of the upper shaft includes the latch configured to releasably couple the upper assembly to the first end portion of the lower shaft.

14 . The slicer of claim 11 , wherein the lower assembly includes a lower engagement portion and the upper assembly includes an upper engagement portion, and wherein the lower and upper engagement portions are configured to engage each other such that the lower assembly, the upper assembly, and the knife rotate together around the longitudinal axis of the upper assembly.

15 . A method of moving the knife of the slicer of claim 11 between an operating position and a cleaning position, comprising:

coupling a telescoping tool assembly to the upper assembly;

moving the knife from the operating position to the cleaning position, by pulling the knife away from the lower assembly via the telescoping tool assembly;

moving the knife from the cleaning position to the operating position by pushing the knife back towards the lower assembly via the telescoping tool assembly; and

removing the telescoping tool assembly from the upper assembly.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the telescoping tool assembly includes a tool release pin, the method further comprising:

pushing the tool release pin to a pressed position; and

holding the tool release pin at the pressed position while moving the knife between the operating position and the cleaning position.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising removing a knife cover before coupling the telescoping tool assembly to the upper assembly.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising disabling a slicing function of the slicer in response to detecting a knife cover is removed from the slicer, a safety pin is not engaged fully with the upper assembly, or both.

19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising moving a safety pin of the slicer from a locked position to an unlocked position before moving the knife from the operating position to the cleaning position.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising moving the safety pin of the slicer from the unlocked position to the locked position after moving the knife from the cleaning position to the operating position.

21 . A slicer, comprising:

a base;

a lower assembly supported by the base;

an upper assembly moveably coupled to the lower assembly;

a rotatable knife coupled to the upper assembly; and

a telescoping tool assembly releasably coupled to the upper assembly,

wherein the telescoping tool assembly is configured to move the knife between an operating position and a cleaning position, where the cleaning position includes the knife remaining attached to the slicer,

wherein the upper assembly includes a latch and a shaft release pin, and the telescoping tool assembly includes a tool release pin, wherein the latch is configured to releasably couple the upper assembly to the lower assembly, and wherein the tool release pin is configured to engage the shaft release pin and move the shaft release pin to engage and release the latch from engagement with the lower assembly.

22 . The slicer of claim 21 , wherein the tool release pin is configured to at least partially release the upper assembly from engagement with the lower assembly such that the knife can be moved from the operating position to the cleaning position.

23 . The slicer of claim 21 , wherein the telescoping tool assembly is configured to move the knife and the upper assembly together relative to the lower assembly.

24 . The slicer of claim 21 , wherein when the knife is in the operating position, the upper assembly is secured to the lower assembly at an initial position, and when the knife is in the cleaning position, the upper assembly is secured to the lower assembly at an extended position.

25 . The slicer of claim 21 , wherein the tool release pin is configured to be pressed to push the shaft release pin towards the lower assembly, such that the latch is pivoted to at least partially disengage from the lower assembly.