Patent Application
20060162578
Many new beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, as well as other recipes suggest an improved taste results from extraction of the juices of a fruit wedge into the beverage. This has long been accomplished by simply pressing a fruit wedge into the top rim of a glass or inserting a wedge part way into a bottle. Neither method is advantageous, however, as each leaves the consumer with the task of squeezing the fruit or pushing it into the bottle. In either situation, the juice extraction is messy and seldom efficient.
Juice extractors of a counter top size, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,277 to Matsumoto, have long been in use, however, their extremely large size and cost prohibits their use on an individual consumer basis. Many hand tools have been designed for fruit juice squeezing, however, none of these designs are suitable for individual consumer use as required in a restaurant of bar, due to their size, cost and messy handling of the juice. An example of this type of fruit squeezer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,168 to Zysset. This type of device is clearly bulky, costly and would be inefficient as a disposable fruit squeezer for home or restaurant use.
Bulky contraptions have recently been invented to accomplish the fruit juice introduction into a beverage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,155 to Segal describes a plunger type mechanism which purports to inject an entire fruit wedge section into a bottle. This device, however, is inefficient, as it thrusts the entire fruit section into the bottle, rather than simply permitting the juice to enter the bottle. Moreover, the device is necessarily limited to use with bottles, due to its small round lower orifice. Most importantly, this type of device is bulky and contains numerous components, thereby rendering it prohibitively expensive for use as a fruit injector to be reused or disposed at the user's whim.
Some attempts have been made to develop an individual disposable fruit squeezer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,013 to Stein and U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,502 to Kaufman each describe individual use fruit squeezers. The Stein version, however, is simply a squeezer and has no attachment or other means by which the juice may easily flow into a bottle or glass. Similarly, the Kaufman device is a squeezer which necessarily resides outside the beverage receptacle, thus requiring the user to accomplish the squeezing and transfer of juice again without ready means for transference into the receptacle. As such, both of these types of squeezers are inefficient, messy and not easily used be the typical consumer.
What is needed is a simple low cost device in which the user may squeeze the juice of a fruit section into any commonly used receptacle. Such a device should be disposable and would be improved if its surfaces were designed and constructed in a manner to facilitate the imprinting of advertising or other graphical content.
The present invention meets the need for a simple efficient and economical device which will enable the user to squeeze a fruit section for juice extraction directly into a beverage container, regardless of construction of the container. Moreover, the simple design of the present invention facilitates low cost production thereby rendering the device disposable if the user or purveyor so desires. Finally, the present invention, having generally flat sides, nicely meets the need for use as an advertising vehicle, as logos, advertising or other graphical material may be imprinted on its exterior surfaces.
The present invention contemplates a generally wedge shaped elongated body section having at least two upwardly angled walls between which a fruit wedge or section is placed. The lower end of the device includes a pair of generally parallel finger-like extensions which slip over the rim of the receptacle so as to position the wedge shaped body perpendicular to the top edge of the beverage container and at a descending angle with respect to the edge to permit juices to flow into the container. The inner of the two fingers is formed integrally with the base of the wedge shape thereby creating a lengthwise channel from the base of the wedge to the bottom end of the inner finger to permit uninterrupted flow of the extracted juice into the container.
Once a section of fruit is placed into the wedge opening, the device is pressed onto the edge rim of a container and the two elongated fingers retain the device in the preferred orientation. The user then simply squeezes the device, typically with thumb and index finger, causing the fruit's juices to be extracted and flow down the wedge channel and directly into the receptacle. In so doing, the user may add the appropriate amount of juice as desired to taste. Following extraction of the juices, the squeezer may remain in place, may be refilled with another fruit section or may be disposed.
Referring to
In the preferred embodiment, each side 2 may further include an insert blade 4, which functions to both grasp the fruit section and improve the juicing function by cutting the individual pulp segments. As shown in
Although the typical use of the invention would be for squeezing a citrus type fruit, the fruit squeezer could readily be used for any fruit for which the user desires juices, pulp or portions to be extracted into a container.
The outer surfaces of the sides 2 and outer finger 6, having relatively smooth surfaces, are also well-suited for application of art work, logos and graphics for advertising and promotional purposes.
