Patent Application
20060042480
“Not Applicable”
“Not Applicable”
“Not Applicable”
The present invention relates generally to kitchen appliances and, more particularly, to a canned food screw press designed for ease of use and to provide the user with a mechanical advantage utensil that exerts a leveraged rotational force producing a higher linear force applied to a canned food to forcefully separate liquid from solid canned food products, particularly seafood such as canned tuna fish.
There are many solid food products such as meats, tuna, salmon and the like, and related products that are canned with a high content of liquid, such as water or oil or the like. It is desirable or necessary to remove the liquid from the solid food during food preparation. This is usually achieved by cutting the lid from the can and holding the cut lid against the can contents while the can is inverted to let the liquid drain from the can. This procedure is hazardous because of the sharp edges, messy and ineffective because a limited amount of force can be applied and is based on a persons hand clamping strength. Attempts have been made to address the sharp edges hazard and the messiness issue, but none of the devices can develop the pressure needed to thoroughly remove the liquid from the solid food and liquid mixture in the can.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive and compact device in the nature of a rotating mechanical screw press which can be introduced on to the cut can lid or directly to the contents of an opened can of food product canned with liquid, such as fish or sea food with water or oil, and can be tightened with the mechanical leverage of a threaded screw to thoroughly squeeze out fluid from the can while being inverted to allow for draining the fluid.
Another object of the present invention in the provision of a novel screw press implement of the type described in the immediately preceding paragraph, wherein the knob arm length can increase in size to directly increase the amount of torque on the screw which translates to higher axial force transmitted in the screw applied on to the food and liquid mixture, increasing the fluid separation creating drier food.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.
A canned food press for compressing solid food packaged in a can forcing the fluid to separate and drain leaving drier product. The device comprises of a housing having a base for mounting a standard size can with an arch support over it accepting a threaded rod with a handle for turning on one end and a swivel disk on the other that contacts against the top lid of an opened can. The rod moves perpendicular to the can lid when rotated in one direction creating pressing forces against the disk, lid and food. The housing has a handle for stability and draining.
Referring now to the drawings in detail there is illustrated a preferred form of the canned food screw press device constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and designated generally in its entirety by reference numeral 10 and comprises a housing consisting of an open arch shape 11 with a bottom 12 and a handle 13. The cylindrical handle 13 has a rubberized grip 14 pressed over it and is spaced at distance from the arch to allow for gripping. At the top of the arch 11 is a hole perpendicular to the base 12 accepting a press fit threaded bushing 15. The bushing 15 is cylindrical with a shoulder and an internally threaded hole. The bushing 15 is pressed into the hole in the arch 11 keeping it from rotating. The base 12 of the housing has a circular cut out at a depth and concentric to the top hole in the arch 11 to retain a food can 16. The bottom of the base 12 is flat. A left-handed threaded rod 17 is screwed into the threaded bushing 15. The threaded rod has a molded four-arm knob on one end 19. The arms extend perpendicular to the threaded rod 17 for hand rotation. The opposite end of the threaded rod 17 is rounded 17a and snapped into a similarly contoured hole in disk 18 forming a swivel joint allowing the threaded rod 17 to rotate and the disk 18 to remain stationary. This pivotal coupling of the two members 17, 18 clearly seen in
Rotating knob 19 clockwise rotates the attached threaded rod 17 clockwise. As the threaded rod 17 rotates in the threaded bushing 15, that is fixed in place in the housing arch 12, it moves linearly through the bushing. This translation of rotational force to linear force creates a mechanical advantage to produce more linear force on the disk 18 than is produced by rotational force on the knob 19. The disk 18 attached to the end of the threaded rod 17 is sized to contact the lid 20 of a standard food can found in the market for such food products. The opened lid 20, which has been cut away from the can base or bottom of the can, will be forced against the food 21 by the disk 18 creating compression forces against the food and pressing out the liquid from the food as illustrated in
The above described canned food screw press will press a majority of the liquid from a canned food product such as tuna fish and the like with a minimum amount of human/input force. The canned food screw press will work with or without the lid present but the lid must be cut away from the can base as shown in
It is to be understood that the form of this invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that this invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction as to shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of the novel concepts thereof, or the scope of the sub-joined claims.
