Patent Application
20070119058
The invention relates to culinary utensils and more particularly to a hand implement for slicing and spreading butter or other food spreads such as margarine, soft cheese, or the like.
Devices for addressing the problem of how to spread cold and/or cubed butter onto a surface such as fresh or toasted bread, or the like, without tearing the surface, are known in the art. For instance, Japanese Patent Application JP2004121773A2 to Yasuhiro, H. (hereinafter “Yasuhiro”) provides a butter knife comprising a spatula part with an upturned end and a cutting part for thinly shaving a ribbon of butter and spreading the shaved butter onto bread or the like.
Yasuhiro shows the cutting part located in an opening at an opposing end of the spatula part relative to the point of attachment of the handle. The cutting part and opening are parallel to each other and are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the butter knife. Adjacent to the cutting part and opening, distal to the handle, is a blade bed part that is inclined from the flat surface of the spatula part and which has an inwardly curved part at its tapered end. By pushing the spreader across a block of butter such that the blade bed part is parallel with the horizontal plane of the butter, the cutting part thinly slices a ribbon of butter. The butter collects on the upper surface of the spatula part, and is then placed onto a slice of bread or the like. The lower surface of the spatula part can then be used to spread the butter onto the bread.
In use, the motion to shave, place, and spread the butter is awkward. It is desirable to have a slicer/spreader for butter and other food spreads that allows for greater ease of use, and wherein the spreader may be further adapted to facilitate spreading the food spread. These and other desirable characteristics will become apparent from a review of the following disclosure and description below.
There is provided a hand implement for slicing and spreading butter or other food spreads such as margarine, soft cheese, or the like. The implement comprises a handle and a substantially planar spreader part extending longitudinally from the handle. The spreader part defines a longitudinal opening and has a longitudinal cutting element projecting into and downwardly of the opening. The longitudinal cutting element is adapted to direct the food spread to a spreading surface of the spreader part.
In one aspect, the spreader part is made of stainless steel.
In another aspect, the spreader part comprises a supporting framework and a silicone coating.
In another aspect, the supporting framework of the spreader part is made of stainless steel.
In yet another aspect, there is also provided a method for spreading a food spread.
In order that the invention may be readily understood, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
The present invention relates to a hand implement for slicing and spreading butter, or other food spreads. While the embodiments illustrated in
Slicer/spreader 100 comprises a handle 102 and a spreader part 104, wherein the latter is substantially planar as shown in
The longitudinal cutting element 108, and handle 102 are manufactured from rigid materials, such as metal or plastics. In a preferred embodiment, longitudinal cutting element 108, and handle 102 are manufactured from stainless steel, which is advantageously food friendly.
In the embodiment illustrated, and as shown clearly in
The supporting framework 116 defines holes 117 through which the silicone extends. In a preferred embodiment, the supporting framework 116 is manufactured from stainless steel. The silicone coating 110 provides greater flexibility to the spreader part 104 than if the spreader part 104 were manufactured solely from a stiffer material such as metal or hard plastic, thereby facilitating spreading the sliced butter. Furthermore, the silicone coating 110 extends beyond the immediate boundaries of the supporting framework 116 on the side of the spreader part 104 from which the longitudinal cutting element 108 projects. As can be clearly seen in
With reference to
Thus, when the slicer/spreader 100 is in operation, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The butter slicer/spreader of the present application also easily fits in cutlery drawers and other storage spaces, providing for ease of storage of the hand implement.
While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments and examples, the description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Thus, various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments. Further, all of the claims are hereby incorporated by reference into the description of the preferred embodiments.
All publications, patents and patent applications referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in its entirety.
