Abstract
An exemplary dunking tool may have a sinusoidal shape as a result of the interconnection between a handle, a stem, and a body that has feet and elastic or plastic features. The dunking tool may be designed to hold food items and dunk the same in a medium without significant risk of dropping the food item into the medium.
Claims
1. A dunking tool having a sinusoidal shape, comprising: a handle; a stem extending downwardly from the handle; and a body coupled to the stem, the body having a bottom and at least one foot connected to the bottom, wherein the body is configured to elastically deform in order to hold a food item therebetween, wherein at least two of the handle, the stem, and the body contribute to the sinusoidal shape of the dunking tool.
2. The dunking tool of claim 1, wherein the body comprises at least one rib, at least one shoulder, at least one clutch, and at least one opening in the bottom.
3. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of ribs.
4. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of shoulders.
5. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of ribs and a plurality of shoulders.
6. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of clutches.
7. The dunking tool of claim 5, wherein the body comprises a plurality of clutches.
8. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the stem extends substantially over the food item held in the body.
9. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the handle is substantially parallel to the bottom and is aligned with a center of the body.
10. The dunking tool of claim 1, wherein the body deforms outwardly away from each other to hold the food item.
11. A dunking tool having a sinusoidal creature shape, comprising: a handle that is shaped like a creature's head; a stem extending downwardly from the handle that is shaped like the creature's neck; and a body that is shaped like the creature's body, the body having a bottom and at least one foot connected to the bottom, wherein the body is configured to elastically deform in order to hold a food item therebetween, wherein at least two of the handle, the stem, and the body contribute to the sinusoidal shape of the dunking tool.
12. The dunking tool of claim 1, wherein the body comprises at least one rib, at least one shoulder, at least one clutch, and at least one opening in the bottom.
13. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of ribs.
14. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of shoulders.
15. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of ribs and a plurality of shoulders.
16. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the body comprises a plurality of clutches.
17. The dunking tool of claim 5, wherein the body comprises a plurality of clutches.
18. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the stem extends substantially over the food item held in the body.
19. The dunking tool of claim 2, wherein the handle is substantially parallel to the bottom and is aligned with a center of the body.
20. The dunking tool of claim 1, wherein the body deforms outwardly away from each other to hold the food item.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a dunking tool in profile and isometric views, respectively.
[0026] FIGS. 1C-D illustrate the exemplary embodiment of a dunking tool as in FIGS. 1A-1B, from the reverse side and underneath, respectively.
[0027] FIGS. 2A-D illustrate another exemplary embodiments of a dunking tool from multiple vantage points.
[0028] FIGS. 3A-C illustrate another exemplary embodiment of a dunking tool from multiple vantage points.
[0029] FIGS. 4A-D illustrate yet another exemplary embodiment of a dunking tool from multiple vantage points
[0030] In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. The drawing figures, elements and other depictions should be understood as being interchangeable and may be combined in any like manner in accordance with the disclosures and objectives recited herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] With reference to FIGS. 1A-B, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may be comprised of three sections, a holding section 10, an extender section 20, and a handle section 30. Each of sections 10-30 may be formed in any way or shape provided they accord with the goals and disclosures herein. Each of sections 10-30 may be interconnected mechanically or may be made from one integral piece of material. In one aspect, an exemplary dunking tool 100 comprised of interconnection sections preferably has only interconnection points between handle section 30 and extender section 20, as it is preferable to avoid gaps and spaces between pans in the regions that are submerged, e.g., holding section 10 and lower parts of extender section 20 that interact with holding section 10. In another aspect, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may be comprised of interchangeable handle sections 30. In a still further aspect, the dunking tool 100 may take the shape of animals or other creatures to double as a toy for children, an example of which may be illustrated in FIGS. 4A-D.
[0032] With reference to FIG. 1A, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may have a generally sinusoidal or “S” shape formed by the sections 10, 20, and 30. While sections 20 and 30 may deviate from the “S” shape, e.g., having shapes like a number “7” or a partial “Z” letter, it has been found that the U-shaped profile of an exemplary holding section 10 imparts particular advantages to the dunking tool 100. The dunking tool 100 may have a stem 21 and a handle 31. In an exemplary embodiment, the angle between stem 21 and handle 31 may be an acute angle, but may be as large as a right angle. In a preferred embodiment, the angle between stem 21 and handle 31 should be no greater than 45 degrees. In another preferred embodiment, an exemplary handle 31 may extend no further than the length of stem 21. In an exemplary embodiment, the handle 31 may advantageously be placed via stem 21 so that its center of gravity may be substantially aligned with the center of gravity of the food item held in the holding section 10. Implicit in this sinusoidal design is a reduction in the moment created by loading a dunking tool 100 with a food item, which could affect the enjoyment of using the device by children by reducing the amount of control over the dunking process. Where handle 31 is substantially aligned with the center of gravity of the food item to be held in the body, the unwanted effect of moment creation in the dunking tool 100 may be substantially reduced, if not eliminated.
[0033] An exemplary holding section 10 may comprise a body 1, one or more ribs 2, a shoulder 3, and one or more feet 4 disposed below the ribs 2. With reference to FIG. 1B, an exemplary holding section 10 may also have one or more arms 5, a cavity 6, and clutches 7. In an exemplary embodiment, all parts of holding section 10 may be molded from a unitary piece of material, such as a plastic or an elastomer. In a preferred embodiment, the holding section 10 may be molded entirely from silicone rubber. According to the illustrative embodiment of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the body 1 may be the receptacle in which a food item, such as a cookie, fruit, vegetable, meat product, candy, or other confection, may be placed prior to being lowered into a dunking medium, e.g., a glass, bowl, or pot. An exemplary body 1 may hold such a food item steadily by embracing the surfaces of the food item within cavity 6 using a combination of arms 5, shoulders 3, ribs 2, and clutches 7. Arms 5 may tend to “hug” the food item when installed in the tool 100 while shoulders 3 and ribs 2 may keep the food item from tipping out of the tool 100. Finally, an exemplary clutch 7 may also “hug” the food item, but also prohibits it from falling out of the tool 100, especially in the situation where arms 5 may be too tight to hug the food item.
[0034] Where an exemplary arm 5 is made from a flexible material, such an exemplary arm 5 may bend to accommodate food items of different thicknesses and shapes. Similarly, where exemplary shoulders 3 and/or ribs 2 are made from a flexible material, these too may bend and stretch to accommodate food items of different thicknesses and shapes. Where an exemplary clutch 7 is provided with flexibility, it may accommodate food items of larger widths and lengths because the flexing of clutch 7 may be substantially perpendicular to the flexing experienced at an exemplary arm 5, shoulder 3, and/or rib 2. An exemplary clutch 7 may be hook shaped or tapered flat. An objective of clutch 7 may be to prohibit a food item from falling out of the body 1 during dunking with tool 100. Thus, the body 1 of holding section 10 may comprise one or more features that will hold a food item tightly while being immersed in a dunking medium with limited risk of it falling out of the tool 100.
[0035] In an exemplary embodiment where dunking tool 100 may be used to dunk cookies, an exemplary shoulder 3 may be positioned so that it is between 1.25 inches and 1.5 inches above the lower-most surface of cavity 6, which may be half the width of a standard cookie. In another aspect of this exemplary embodiment, an exemplary cavity 6 may be between about 0.25 inches and about 0.375 inches, which may the thickness of a standard cookie. In an exemplary embodiment, an exemplary clutch 7 may be the same height as the shoulder 3 or it may extend upwardly towards the top of holding section 10. According to this latter option, an exemplary clutch 7 may be very flexible and bendable to allow for easy access to the held food item yet protect against it falling out of the tool 100 during dunking operations.
[0036] As may be illustrated in FIGS. 1A-C, spacing between shoulder 3 and rib 2 and spacing between clutches 7 may provide the advantage of increasing the surface area of the food item available for contact with the dunking medium, e.g., milk, broth, or sauces. Another advantage provided by spaced-apart shoulders 3, ribs 2, and clutches 7 may also be a friction fit around the food item within dunking tool 100. In one example, the flexible elastomeric material comprising one or more of shoulders 3, ribs 2, and clutches 7 may tightly hold the food item as it is immersed in a dunking medium and avoid it moving out of place when it is submerged and taken out of the dunking medium. This may be capable where shoulders 3 and ribs 2 are made of a flexible material that wishes to maintain its as-molded conformation so that when a food item is thrust in between opposing shoulders 3 or ribs 2, they may hug or press against the food item in the process. An exemplary friction fit created by the aforementioned features of body 1 in the holding section 10 may also allow a user to take the dunked food item out of dunking tool 100 without the food item breaking apart. In an exemplary method, a user may push on the clutches 7 towards stem 21 so that shoulders 3 and ribs 2 may bow outwardly away from the food item (that is, releasing the elastic grip on the food item). Simultaneously as a user pushes clutches 7 towards stem 21, the circular recesses within space 6 may also urge the food item above ribs 2 and/or shoulders 3 and upwardly near arms 5. According to this exemplary method of using dunking tool 100, a food item that was once flexibly secured within holding section 10 may utilize the same flexibility in components to allow the food item to be released from holding section 10 with little or no risk of breaking or deforming the soaked food item in the release process.
[0037] As may be understood with respect to FIG. 1D, an additional opening 9 may be found in an exemplary bottom 8 of an exemplary tool 100. Opening 9 may be of any variety, shape, or contour provided it allows dunking medium to come in contact with the food item held within body 1 of tool 10. For example, opening 9 may be a plurality of circular openings in the bottom of body 1 of holding section 10 that are sized to permit dunking medium to pass but not to allow the contents of body 1 to fall out.
[0038] An exemplary dunking tool 100 may use one or more feet 4 to maintain the tool 100 in an upright position to allow for the food item held therein to be immersed and in extended contact with the dunking medium. In an exemplary embodiment, feet 4 may be arranged and shaped to fit within the perimeter of a drinking glass or bowl. Alternatively, feet 4 may be capable of manipulation by comprising bendable over-molded components to enable them to fit a desired shape. While an exemplary foot 4 may be illustrated as substantially spherical in a figure, any polyhedron shape may be used to serve the purpose of being an exemplary foot 4, such as cubic, pyramidal, trapezoidal, or combinations of the same. In an exemplary embodiment, each foot 4 may be spaced and sized so that dunking tool 100 may not flip or roll over in response to being loaded with a particular food item. In another embodiment, foot 4 alone or in combination with bottom 8 may have magnetic elements to enable fixation to dunking medium containers comprising embedded metal components. Alternatively, an exemplary magnetic bottom 8 and/or foot 4 may be magnetic to attach to a metal container or bowl.
[0039] With continued reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the junction between stem 21 and body 1 may be round, flat, or contoured in a way that would complement a container into which a dunking medium may be poured, e.g., a cup, bowl, or glass. According to an exemplary embodiment, the junction between stem 21 and body 1 may allow dunking tool 100 to slide along the inside surface of a particular container for a dunking medium with little or no friction or resistance. In another aspect of this exemplary embodiment, the stem 21 and body 1 may have one or more orifices and/or holes through each of their thickness for dunking medium to pass through. Accordingly, an exemplary body 1 and stem 21 may be configured so that they allow passage of as much dunking medium around the food item held within body 1 and/or allow the greatest amount of flow of dunking medium through and into dunking tool 100.
[0040] Referring now to FIGS. 2A-D, an alternative embodiment to that previously illustrated may be depicted. As may be shown, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may comprise similar sections as was shown in FIGS. 1A-D, but with different structures and configurations, which may or may not be used in other embodiments described herein. An exemplary body 1 may now have a base 1b that works in conjunction with foot 4 to stabilize dunking tool 100 in an upright position while holding an exemplary food item. In this embodiment of a dunking tool 100, an exemplary pair of ribs 2 and shoulders 3 may be enclosed by a single clutch 7. According to this exemplary embodiment, there are no arms 5 to flexibly grip a food item as the configuration of body 1 may use space 6 to be a curb or backstop from an exemplary food item moving. While shown as a sloped surface in FIG. 2B, an exemplary space 6 may have edges or other conformations depending on the food item meant to be held by the dunking tool 100. As illustrated in FIGS. 2B-D, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may also have a bottom 8 that runs transversely between base sides 1b. While bottom 8 may be rounded, it may also be truncated to allow a flat surface to be adjacent foot 4, which is shown as a spherical protrusion from body 1. In addition to a bottom 8, the exemplary dunking tool 100 illustrated in FIGS. 2B-D also may have an opening 9 running parallel with shoulders 3 and/or ribs 2. According to this exemplary embodiment, an exemplary opening 9 exposes much of the underside of an exemplary food item to the dunking medium and may even allow it to fill the space 6 between ribs 2 and shoulders 3 and any gaps between food item and clutch 7. Accordingly, the dunking medium may be placed in greater contact with the food item using the various narrow openings of the dunking tool 100 depicted in FIGS. 2A-D so that it takes less time to saturate the food item with the dunking medium. In one embodiment, the material making up body 1 may be an elastomer or may also be a hard plastic. In another embodiment, the material making up body 1 may be injection molded or 3D printed. In yet another embodiment, where body 1 is a flexible elastomer material, the shoulders 3 and/or ribs 2 of the dunking tool 100 may operate in similar fashion to that described with reference to FIGS. 1A-D.
[0041] As may be further illustrated by FIGS. 2A-B, an exemplary stem 21 may extend in multiple directions and flow into a hook-shaped handle 31 that terminates in a textured end 30 (visible in FIG. 2D). As illustrated, dunking tool 100 in FIG. 2A may be at rest on a surface while stem 21 may have a sinusoidal configuration with respect to body 1. In contrast to the sinusoidal configuration involving each of body 1, stem 21, and handle 31 in FIG. 1A, the sinusoid of FIG. 2A may comprise only stem 21 and handle 31. According to an exemplary embodiment, foot 4 may be of sufficient mass and weight to anchor an exemplary dunking tool 100 in an upright position despite the outward sinusoid created by stem 21 and handle 31. In an exemplary embodiment, when body 1 is holding an exemplary food item, the entirety of dunking tool 100 may be better balanced given the opposite leaning disposition of stem 21 and handle 31. However, it may be recognized that dunking tool 100 as may be depicted in FIGS. 2A-D may achieve a sinusoidal arrangement within the container holding the dunking medium. This may occur by placing dunking tool 100 into a container so that foot 4 may slide along the inside surface of the container (like the junction between body 1 and stem 21 in the dunking tool of FIGS. 1A-D). In this way, the food item may be turned at an angle with respect to the bottom of the container in the dunking medium and stem 21 may overhang the food item during the dunking process. Consequently, the center of hook 31 may be substantially aligned with the axis of the container holding the dunking medium and the center of gravity of the food item. Not only may dunking tool 100 may greatly expose the food item to dunking medium in this arrangement, but it can be easily pulled out using the hook 31 without spilling out of the body 1 in the process. Alternatively, dunking tool 100 may be placed into a container with dunking medium just as illustrated in FIG. 2A with hook 31 capable of lifting the entire device at a distance from the dunking position. Having a lifting handle section 30 at position distal from the dunking position of the food item may be advantageous where the dunking medium may be hot or contain coloring that can stain clothes. For example, using the dunking tool 100 as illustrated in FIG. 2A, a user may dunk Easter eggs into colored liquid while the hook 31 is at a distance to avoid getting fingers of the user stained with the colored liquid. In another example, where dunking tool 100 may be used to dunk chicken bones to make broth, the use of hook 31 may keep the user from being splashed by boiling water used to make the broth with the chicken material. While an exemplary end 30 may be smooth or contoured, it may also be magnetic or friction inducing, e.g., having rubber treads or silicone abutments.
[0042] With reference to the illustrative embodiment of FIGS. 3A-C, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may have a similar profile to that shown in FIG. 2A (as may be viewed via FIG. 3C), but may otherwise differ in terms of the configuration of body 1. According to the illustrative embodiments in FIGS. 3A-B, the addition of arms 5 to body 1 may be used in conjunction with the spaced relationship of flexible ribs 2 and shoulders 3 interconnecting the portion of body 1 nearest to stem 21 to spaced-apart clutches 7. As may be illustrated in the rear view shown in FIG. 3B, the spaced apart clutch 7 may be used in much the same way as disclosed with respect to FIGS. 1A-D. However, the design illustrated in FIGS. 3A-C may be used to frictionally-hold a food item in body 1 by a user inserting his or her finger in the space 6 of body 1 to open and close the combination of clutches 7, ribs 2, and shoulders 3. In other words, the force-application methodology employed with FIGS. 3A-C may cause each opposing clutch 7, rib 2, and shoulder 3 combination to operate as its own arm 5 for holding a food item. Accordingly, this particular embodiment may act like a rubber clamp to hold the food item as it is introduced to a dunking medium in a container.
[0043] Due to the nature of operation of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 3A-C, a food item may not need to be as deeply held within body 1, that is, the arm 5 (the combination of ribs 2, shoulders 3, and clutch portion 7) may be resilient enough to hold a food item at a portion rather than about a major portion, leaving more exposed food item for dunking medium interaction. Alternatively, the elasticity of ribs 2 and shoulders 3 may be such that they can fit a variety of different thickness of food item, including food items with features that could make one or both of ribs 2 and/or shoulders 3 bulge. Accordingly, an embodiment of the dunking tool 100 depicted in FIGS. 3A-C may preferably be made of an elastomer, such as silicone, and be extremely flexible in the body 1 region.
[0044] Turning to the illustrative embodiment of FIGS. 4A-D, an exemplary dunking tool 100 may be fashioned after a creature or figurine, such as, for example a dragon, whale, bird, or mermaid. As shown, handle 31 may be made into the head of the animal being formed as part of dunking tool 100. Stem 21 may be the neck of the animal and the torso and tail a part of the dunking tool's body 1. As illustrated, the shoulder 3 may be the “back” of the creature and rib 2 an extension spaced apart from the shoulder 3. Like the feet of the creature depicted, feet 4 may be located on four corners of a base 8, which is flat to hold the dunking tool 100 erect when placed in a dunking medium in a container. As was the case in FIGS. 1A-D and FIGS. 3A-C, clutches 7 may make up the creature's tail and may be spaced-apart. Like the sinusoidal configuration in FIGS. 1A-D, the sinusoid of FIG. 4A may demonstrate the advantage of placing handle 31 above the center of gravity of the food item held in body 1.
[0045] Many further variations and modifications may suggest themselves to those skilled in art upon making reference to above disclosure and foregoing interrelated and interchangeable illustrative embodiments, which are given by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope and spirit of the interrelated embodiments of the invention described herein.
