The present invention generally relates to food serving equipment and more particularly to a device to scoop and serve food such as ice cream from a large container.
In a typical ice cream shop, a worker may be required to scoop serving portions of ice cream from a container and place these portions into a cone or cup for each of many individual customers. Repeated long term use of a conventional ice cream scoop by the worker may result in pain and injury. This may be the result of the worker using only muscles of his or her hand to perform these repeated scooping tasks.
It may be seen that there is a need for a system for serving ice cream that will permit a worker to use larger and stronger muscles and reduce the use of smaller and weaker hand and wrist muscles, thus reducing a risk of injuries and pain.
In one aspect of the present invention, an ergonomic food scoop may comprise a scoop bowl and a hand grip. A support member may interconnect the bowl and the hand grip and may be oriented perpendicularly to the hand grip. A wrist support may be oriented parallel to the hand grip. One or more hand grip connectors may connect the hand grip to the wrist support.
In another aspect of the present invention, an ergonomic method for scooping ice cream may comprise the steps of: gripping a hand grip of an ice cream scoop so that fingers of a user are perpendicular to the hand grip; engaging a user's wrist with a wrist support of the ice cream scoop; and dislodging a portion of ice cream from a container by pushing or pulling the ice cream scoop in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the hand grip.
In still another aspect of the invention, an ergonomic method for scooping ice cream may comprise the steps of: pushing a bowl of a scoop into the ice-cream by pushing on a hand grip of the scoop; turning the hand grip right or left; and pulling out the desired amount of ice-cream. The steps of pushing and pulling are performed with muscles of a user's forearm, upper arm, shoulder and torso.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provides a system for serving portions of food, such as ice cream, in which a worker may utilize arm and upper body muscles to perform the task of serving the ice cream.
Referring now to the
As seen if
The scoop 10 may be comfortably held buy a user 22 with his or her fingers perpendicular to and wrapped around the hand grip 16. The user's wrist positioned under the wrist support 20. The scoop 10 may be powered by muscles of the user's forearm, upper arm, shoulder and torso. The bowl 12 may be provided with sharpened edges 12A so that the user 22 may more easily penetrate hard ice-cream 24. The user 22 may push the bowl 12 into the hardened ice-cream 24, by pushing on the hand grip 16 and then pulling out the desired amount of ice-cream (as shown in
The support member 14 may be positioned relative to the bowl 12 and the hand grip 16 to promote greater pressure at a proximal portion of the bowl 12, with less effort. The hand grip 16 may be configured for ease of pushing, pulling and turning of the bowl 12. The connectors 18 may help secure the user's hand on the hand grip 16. The wrist support 20 may inhibit the user's wrist from turning up, thus reducing risk of injuries. The ice-cream scoop 10 may allow for the use of larger and stronger muscles of the user's forearm, upper arm, shoulder and torso, reducing the use of smaller and weaker hand and wrist muscles, thus reducing injuries and pain which may otherwise develop through long term use of conventional ice cream scoops.
It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/313,520, filed on Mar. 12, 2010
Number | Date | Country | |
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61313520 | Mar 2010 | US |