FOOD HOLDER

Abstract

An eating utensil for gripping food such as chicken drumsticks is disclosed. The utensil has a tube which is shaped and dimensioned to accommodate the end of the chicken drumstick. The utensil is made of a springy material such as silicone so that finger pressure may bend the material to grip the chicken. The opening is sized to accommodate the shape of the food and provide more secure gripping thereof. A material such as a soft non-slip grip silicone may be used. A plastic ridge surrounds the top to act as a plastic “grease dam” and keep drips from the hand. A small hole at the bottom allows for easy cleaning and drying.

Claims

1. A food holder, comprising: flexible polymer walls defining a tubular body and an open end opposite a closed end along a longitudinal axis, the tube having a flared flange on the open end that extends outward from the tubular body, a total length L of the holder being between 4-8 inches, and a diameter D of the tubular body being between about 2-4 inches, and a wall thickness being between about 0.10-0.20 inches such that a user may squeeze the walls of the holder around a food item such as a chicken drumstick to hold without touching the food item.

2. The food holder of claim 1, further comprising a small hole centered in the closed end to permit water drainage when cleaning.

3. The food holder of claim 2, wherein the closed end has a hemispherical shape.

4. The food holder of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of inwardly-directed ribs connected to the tubular body and made homogeneously of the same material.

5. The food holder of claim 4, wherein the ribs comprise walls having a thin axial dimension that span a chordal angle C of at least 60°.

6. The food holder of claim 5, wherein there are just two of the ribs diametrically opposed to each other.

7. The food holder of claim 4, wherein the ribs comprise thickened portions of the tubular body that extend an axial length L2 of a majority of a total length L of the holder.

8. The food holder of claim 7, wherein the axial length L2 is between 4-5 inches.

9. The food holder of claim 1, wherein a total length L of the holder is about 6.5 inches, and the diameter D of the tubular body is about 3 inches.

10. The food holder of claim 9, wherein the closed end has a hemispherical shape.

11. A food holder, comprising: flexible polymer walls defining a tubular body and an open end opposite a closed end along a longitudinal axis, a total length of the holder being between 4-8 inches, and a diameter of the tubular body being between about 2-4 inches, and a wall thickness being between about 0.10-0.20 inches such that a user may squeeze the walls of the holder around a food item such as a chicken drumstick to hold without touching the food item, and further comprising a plurality of inwardly-directed ribs connected to the tubular body and made homogeneously of the same material.

12. The food holder of claim 11, further comprising a small hole centered in the closed end to permit water drainage when cleaning.

13. The food holder of claim 11, wherein the closed end has a hemispherical shape.

14. The food holder of claim 11, wherein the ribs comprise walls having a thin axial dimension that span a chordal angle C of at least 60°.

15. The food holder of claim 14, wherein there are just two of the ribs diametrically opposed to each other.

16. The food holder of claim 11, wherein the ribs comprise thickened portions of the tubular body that extend an axial length L2 of a majority of a total length L of the holder.

17. The food holder of claim 16, wherein the axial length L2 is between 4-5 inches.

18. The food holder of claim 16, wherein there are just two of the ribs diametrically opposed to each other.

19. The food holder of claim 11, wherein a total length L of the holder is about 6.5 inches, and the diameter D of the tubular body is about 3 inches.

20. The food holder of claim 19, wherein the closed end has a hemispherical shape.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a food gripper utensil of the present invention for gripping a chicken drumstick and having a grease dam.

[0029] FIGS. 2A-2C are orthogonal and sectional views of the first embodiment of the food gripper utensil, with FIG. 2B showing the utensil with a chicken drumstick inserted therein.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a food gripper utensil of the present invention for gripping a chicken drumstick and having horizontal internal ribs.

[0031] FIGS. 4A-4D are orthogonal and sectional views of the second embodiment of the food gripper utensil.

[0032] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a food gripper utensil of the present invention for gripping a chicken drumstick and having axial internal ribs.

[0033] FIGS. 6A-6D are orthogonal and sectional views of the third embodiment of the food gripper utensil.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Unless defined otherwise, all terms of art, notations and other technical terms or terminology used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. All patents, applications, published applications and other publications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forth in this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with a definition set forth in the patents, applications, published applications, and other publications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definition set forth in this section prevails over the definition that is incorporated herein by reference.

[0035] Unless otherwise indicated or the context suggests otherwise, as used herein, “a” or “an” means “at least one” or “one or more.”

[0036] Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, any specific dimensions mentioned in this description are merely representative of an exemplary implementation of a device embodying aspects of the invention and are not intended to be limiting.

[0037] Referring to the drawings, the present invention is an eating utensil for gripping food. The food gripper utensil is adapted to be positioned between a user's fingers (or finger) and thumbs. The utensil is preferably approximately one and seven-eighths inches in length, seven-eighths inches in height at the front, one and one-eighth inches in height at the rear, three-quarters inches in width at the front and one and one-quarter inches in width at the rear to generally conform to the size and shape of the forefinger and thumb (more specifically, the front portions thereof) of an average size user.

[0038] The utensil preferably includes a tube with an enclosed bottom and ridged opening. The tube is preferably a piece (or sheet) of plastic or other suitable flexible material which allows bending thereof so that it can open and close around the food. The tube is also preferably composed of a material which has memory so that after the is closed it tends to revert back to its extended shape and position. Thus, the tube has a springy feel when closed manually and springs back to its open (or extended) position upon release of the manual pressure exerted thereon. This allows the tube to be in an open position normally and when the utensil is grasped and ready to be positioned around the end of a chicken drumstick (or other such suitable piece of food). The springy characteristic of the tube is not of such a high degree that it presents inordinate resistance to closing the tube manually. In such an open default position, the utensil is sufficiently open to allow it to be easily positioned around a piece of food.

[0039] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a food gripper utensil 20 of the present invention for gripping a chicken drumstick and having a grease dam, while FIGS. 2A-2C are orthogonal and sectional views of the first embodiment of the food gripper utensil.

[0040] The food gripper utensil 20 comprises a generally tubular body 22 with a substantially closed end 24 opposite an open end 26 along an axis 28. The closed end 24 may have a hemispherical or otherwise rounded shape and may have a small hole 30 disposed at a center thereof. The open end 26 flares outward into an outward flange 32, much like the horn of a trumpet. The outward flange 32 may be entirely circular, or less than circular such as the oval shape indicated at 34 in dashed line in FIG. 2C.

[0041] FIG. 2B shows the utensil 20 with a chicken drumstick inserted therein. Due to the highly flexible nature of the material with which the utensil 20 is made (e.g., silicone), a user can easily squeeze the tubular body 22 to grasp the bone end of the drumstick. Various internal ribs or other such features may be provided on the inner surface of the tubular body 22 to improve the grip, as will be shown below. It should be understood that any features disclosed herein for one embodiment, such as internal ribs or the flange 32, may be incorporated or otherwise combined into any other embodiment, unless physically mutually exclusive.

[0042] The hole 30 in the otherwise closed end 24 allows water to drain out to facilitate cleaning of the utensil 20. The outward flange 32 provides a greased dam of sorts to help prevent grease or other liquids from the food being held to run down the outside of the tubular body 22.

[0043] Various dimensional indicators are provided which are exemplary only. For instance, an outer rim 36 of the flange 32 may be rounded, and the flange may make an angle A with the longitudinal axis 28 of about 95°, so as to be slightly tilted away from the closed end 24. The flange 32 also preferably makes a flare radius r of about 0.25 inches. A thickness t of the walls of the utensil 20 is desirably between about 0.10-0.20 inches, preferably about 0.10 inches. The closed end 24 may have a hemispherical shape with a radius R of about 1.5 inches. A total length L of the utensil 20 is desirably between about 4-8 inches, more particularly between about 5-7 inches, and in a preferred embodiment is 6.5 inches. A diameter D of utensil 20 is desirably between about 2-4 inches, and more particularly is about 3 inches. Finally, the small hole 30 may have a diameter d of about 0.2 inches. These dimensions are exemplary, and where features are common are representative of the dimensions for the other disclosed embodiments.

[0044] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a food gripper utensil 40 of the present invention for gripping a chicken drumstick having horizontal internal ribs 42, while FIGS. 4A-4D are orthogonal and sectional views of the second embodiment of the food gripper utensil. The ribs 42 extend radially inward from an outer tubular body 44, comprise walls having a thin axial dimension, are made homogeneously of the same material, and are located closer to a closed end 46 than an open end 48. Though the open end 48 is shown as a circular end of the tubular body 44, a flared flange as in the first embodiment may also be used, as mentioned.

[0045] As seen in FIG. 4C, there are two of the ribs 42 diametrically opposed to each other and spanning a chordal angle C which is preferably between about 60-120°, such as 90°. A thickness t2 of each rib 42 may be about half the thickness t of the walls of the utensil (which is about 0.15 inches), or about 0.08 inches. The ribs 42 may extend inward a distance S so as to narrow an internal diameter d2 to be around 2 inches, preferably 1.9 inches. The ribs 42 are desirably located a distance Lr from the open end of about ⅔ of the way into the utensil 40. Thus, if the total length L is 6.5 inches, the distance Lr is between about 4-5 inches, more preferably about 4.5 inches. Though the ribs 42 are shown perpendicular to the wall of the tubular body 44, they may also be angled toward the closed end 46, as shown at 50. Finally, there may be more than two ribs 42, such as three or four, and there may be a series of axially-spaced ribs 42 rather than just two diametrically opposed ribs.

[0046] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a food gripper utensil 60 of the present invention for gripping a chicken drumstick and having axial internal ribs 62, while FIGS. 6A-6D are orthogonal and sectional views of the third embodiment of the food gripper utensil. The ribs 62 extend radially inward from an outer tubular body 64, are made homogeneously of the same material, and are generally centered between a closed end 66 and an open end 68. Though the open end 68 is shown as a circular end of the tubular body 64, a flared flange as in the first embodiment may also be used, as mentioned.

[0047] As seen in FIG. 6C, there are two of the ribs 62 diametrically opposed to each other and spanning a chordal angle C which is preferably between about 60-120°, such as 90°. An axial length L2 of each rib 62 may extend along a majority of the total length L, such that if the total length L is between 4-5 inches, or about 4.1 inches. Thus, the ribs 62 do not resemble the thin axial profile of the ribs 42 described above, but instead more resemble thick inner extensions of the walls of the tubular body 64. The ribs 62 may commence a short distance Lr in from the open end 68, such as about 1.0 inches or less. The ribs 62 may extend inward a distance S so as to narrow an internal diameter d2 to be around 2 inches, preferably 2.2 inches. In this embodiment, the wall thickness t is less than before, preferably around 0.10 inches. Finally, there may be more than two ribs 62, such as three or four, evenly distributed around the inner circumference.

[0048] The utensil is preferably unitary such that all the components thereof are integral with each other. The utensil is also preferably composed of a suitable plastic material. These features enable the utensil to be inexpensive to manufacture and purchase.

[0049] Accordingly, there has been provided, in accordance with the invention, a utensil for gripping and eating food that fully satisfies the objectives set forth above. It is to be understood that all terms used herein are descriptive rather than limiting. Although the invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiment set forth above, many alternative embodiments, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the disclosure set forth herein. Accordingly, it is intended to include all such alternatives, embodiments, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims hereinbelow.

[0050] Another aspect of the device is that the utensil may be manufactured economically. Further, the utensil may be made from readily available materials.

[0051] Additionally, the present application contemplates disposable chicken holders that one would use for an event or party to help guests keep their hands clean. They would be ridged like cupcake pan liners in a square shape and made of a paper that grease could not get through like a wax paper, parchment paper, or cardboard, etc. The utensil may be enlarged to have larger, similar design that could go on end of a rib.

[0052] Key features of the silicone food utensil include: [0053] Keeps hands clean so you can move between fork and drumstick [0054] Kid-safe—no more “icky fingers” [0055] Dishwasher safe [0056] PVC free, BPA free [0057] Different colors for kids to be excited about [0058] Non-slip [0059] Protects hands from heat [0060] Small hole at bottom for easy cleaning and drying [0061] Grease dam at top to further protect hands (optional)

[0062] Alternatives to add to the silicone food utensil include internal gripping mechanisms, vertical ridges, a bump, horizontal ridges, and/or a bump pattern on an inside wall.

CLOSING COMMENTS

[0063] Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures disclosed or claimed. Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of elements, it should be understood that those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. Elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.