Patent Application
20160338542
The technology disclosed herein relates to methods and systems for securing food items.
Skewers are typically elongated rods that may be used to hold food items that are to be barbecued, roasted, or otherwise cooked. Skewers may be made of different types of materials, including metal, bamboo, wood, plastic, and/or the like.
Skewers may also be used to hold food items for display purposes. For instance, pieces of fruits held by skewers may be organized into different decorative arrangements, such as floral arrangements, bouquets, and the like.
Food items held on skewers may be coated with different materials, such as dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, powdered sugar, and/or the like. To coat the food items on a commercial scale, systems, such as those described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0030399, may be used for performing the coating.
In various aspects, the invention provides skewers for holding food items and methods and systems for coating food items.
One aspect of the invention provides a skewer for securing a food item and insertion into an aperture of a skewer holder. The skewer comprises a retention portion at one end of the skewer configured to receive and secure the food item, a grip portion at an opposite end of the skewer, and an engagement portion between the retention portion and the grip portion. The engagement portion has a compressed configuration when it is in contact with an inner surface of the aperture, and the longest cross-sectional width across the engagement portion is less than a shortest cross-sectional width of the aperture in the compressed configuration. When the engagement portion is not in contact with the inner surface of the aperture, the engagement portion is in an expanded configuration in which the longest cross-sectional width across the engagement portion is greater than the shortest aperture cross-sectional width.
In some embodiments, the engagement portion comprises a compression aperture and a bridge member connecting the retention portion and the grip portion around the compression aperture. In some embodiments, the bridge member moves into the compression aperture upon contact with the inner surface of the aperture. In some embodiments, the bridge member extends away from a side of the skewer at an angle at or greater than 90°. In some embodiments, the skewer comprises two compression apertures and two bridge members. In further embodiments, the two compression apertures and two bridge members are symmetrical about a longitudinal axis of the skewer. In other embodiments, the engagement portion comprises a plurality of bridge members and a plurality of compression apertures. In further embodiments, the plurality of bridge members and the plurality of compression apertures are symmetrical about a longitudinal axis of the skewer. In some embodiments, the bridge member is integral to the structure of the skewer. In some embodiments, the bridge member is connected to the skewer around a cavity to form the compression aperture.
In some embodiments, the engagement portion comprises an engagement member and a cavity shaped to fit the engagement member, and the engagement member moves into the cavity upon contact with the inner surface of the aperture. In some embodiments, the engagement portion comprises a compressible member. In further embodiments, the compressible member comprises foam.
In some embodiments, the skewer comprises a holding member that is biased against a surface of the skewer holder after the insertion of the skewer into the aperture. In some embodiments, the holding member comprises a ring-shaped protrusion.
In some embodiments, the retention portion of the skewer terminates in a beveled tip. In some embodiments, the skewer is symmetrical about its longitudinal axis. In some embodiments, the skewer is part of a system for coating the food items.
Another aspect of the invention provides apparatuses for coating a plurality of food items and methods for coating a plurality of food items.
In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following detailed description.
Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
Throughout the following description specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding to persons skilled in the art. However, well known elements may not have been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure. The following description of examples of the technology is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the system to the precise forms of any example embodiment. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.
One aspect of the invention provides a skewer for securing a food item and insertion into an aperture of a skewer holder. The skewer comprises a retention portion at one end of the skewer configured to receive and secure the food item, a grip portion at an opposite end of the skewer, and an engagement portion. The engagement portion has a compressed configuration when it is in contact with an inner surface of the aperture. In the compressed configuration, the longest cross-sectional width across the engagement portion is less than a shortest cross-sectional width of the aperture. When the engagement portion is not in contact with the inner surface of the aperture, the engagement portion is in an expanded configuration in which the longest cross-sectional width across the engagement portion is greater than the shortest cross-sectional width.
In the illustrated embodiment, retention portion 12 and grip portion 16 are connected by the remaining elongated structure of skewer 10 and an engagement portion 20. In this embodiment, engagement portion 20 is between retention portion 12 and grip portion 16. In some embodiments, engagement portion 20 may be located closer to retention portion 12 when compared to its distance to grip portion 16. In some embodiments, engagement portion 20 may be located closer to grip portion 16 when compared to its distance to retention portion 12. Engagement portion 20 has a compressed configuration when it is in contact with an inner surface of aperture 8, and the longest cross-sectional width across engagement portion 20 is less than a shortest cross-sectional width of aperture 8 in the compressed configuration. When engagement portion 20 is not in contact with the inner surface of aperture 8, engagement portion 20 returns to an expanded configuration in which the longest cross-sectional width across engagement portion 20 is greater than the shortest cross-sectional width of aperture 8.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the illustrated embodiment, bridge member 22 (22A and 22B) extends away from a side of skewer 10 at an angle θ until an apex 26 (26A and 26B). Engagement portion 20 has the longest cross-sectional width across apexes 26A and 26B. Bridge member 22 (22A and 22B) then extends towards the side of skewer 10 from apex 26 (26A and 26B). In this embodiment, angle θ is greater than 90°. In other embodiments, angle θ is 90°. In some embodiments, angle θ is less than 90°. In other embodiments, engagement portion 20 may have uniform cross-sectional width across the entire length of engagement portion 20.
In some embodiments, engagement portion 20 comprises an engagement member and a cavity shaped to the fit the engagement member. Upon contact with the inner surface of aperture 8, the engagement member is forced into the cavity by a force exerted by the inner surface of aperture 8 and the longest cross-sectional width of engagement portion 20 is reduced so as to allow skewer 10, including engagement portion 20, to move through aperture 8. In one embodiment, the engagement member is rectangular in shape and the cavity is shaped to fit the rectangular shape. In some embodiments, the engagement member may be an annular protrusion and the cavity is shaped to fit the annular shape.
In some embodiments, engagement portion 20 comprises a resiliently compressible member that reduces in size upon contact with the inner surface of aperture 8. The size reduction of the compressible member leads to the reduction of the longest cross-sectional width of engagement portion 20 so that it can move through aperture 8. In some embodiments, compressible member comprises foam, such as ethafoam® polyethylene, polyether poly urethane, polyester polyurethane, and the like. As may be appreciated by a person skilled in the art in light of the present disclosure, the compressible member may comprise many different shapes and/or configurations, such as annular, rectangular, square, triangular, and the like.
In the embodiment illustrated in
Skewer 10 as illustrated in
In some embodiments, apertures 8 of skewer holder 1 may be arranged in rows and columns. In some embodiments, apertures 8 of skewer holder 1 may be arranged in a random fashion. In some embodiments, apertures 8 of skewer holder 1 may be arranged in an N×M array in which the numerical values of N and M may be in the range of 3 to 20 or greater than 20. In some embodiments, the numerical values of N and M are the same. In other embodiments, the numerical values of N and M are different.
As more clearly illustrated in
Another aspect of the invention provides apparatuses for coating food items comprising the skewers as described herein, a skewer holder, including the skewer holders as described herein, and coating material, such as dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, powdered sugar, and/or the like. In one embodiment, food items 6 are secured on skewers 10. Skewers 10 are then inserted into apertures 8 in skewer holder 1, which may contain a plurality of apertures 8. Apertures 8 in skewer holder 10 are dimensioned to removably engage skewers 10. Skewer holder 1 may be turned upside down to expose food items 6 secured on skewers 10 to coating material, which may be in a vat, tub, tank, container, and/or the like. Engagement portion 20 in expanded configuration 32 prevents skewers 10 from falling out of skewer holder 1 through apertures 8. In some embodiments, skewer holder 1 is placed over a vat of coating material and lowered to expose food items 6 to such coating material in the vat.
Another aspect of the invention provides methods for coating food items. In one embodiment, the method comprises a first step of securing food items 6 on skewers 10. Securing members 42 of skewers 10 may be used to prevent food items 6 from being inserted too far into skewers 10. Each skewer 10 with secured food items 6 are then inserted into an aperture 8 of skewer holder 1. In some embodiments, grip portion 16 is the first portion being inserted. In some embodiments, apertures 8 are smoothbored. In some embodiments, skewers 10 are inserted into skewer holder 1 without food items 6, and food items 6 are secured onto these inserted skewers 10. As a skewer 10 is inserted into an aperture 8, engagement portion 20 contacts the inner surface of aperture 8 at top edge 8A. The contact with inner surface of aperture 8 compresses engagement portion 20 and engagement portion 20 changes from expanded configuration 32 to compressed configuration 34. Engagement portion 20 may be removably retained within aperture 8 in compressed configuration 34. Skewer holder 1 is then turned upside down and lowered into coating materials, such as chocolate, powdered sugar, and/or the like, to coat food items 6. After coating is performed, skewer holder 1 is lifted up to remove food items 6 from the coating material. Skewer holder 1 is then turned right side up. In some embodiments, the methods are repeated for different coating materials to achieve layered coatings on food items 6. Skewers 10 with coated food items 6 may then be removed from skewer holder 1. In some embodiments, food items 6 are removed without removing skewers 10. In some embodiments, skewers 10 are inserted such that engagement portion 20 passes through bottom edge 8B of aperture 8 and engagement portion 20 changes from compressed configuration 34 to expanded configuration 32 upon release from contact with inner surface of aperture 8.
In some embodiments, the method comprises the use of skewers 10 having engagement portions that comprise bridge members 22 and compression apertures 24. In these embodiments, upon insertion of a skewer 10 and its engagement portion 20 into aperture 8, bridge member 22 moves into compression aperture 24 after contact with the inner surface of aperture 8, and engagement portion changes from expanded configuration 32 to compressed configuration 34.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. For example:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims:
Words that indicate directions such as “vertical”, “transverse”, “horizontal”, “upward”, “downward”, “forward”, “backward”, “inward”, “outward”, “vertical”, “transverse”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”, “top”, “bottom”, “below”, “above”, “under”, and the like, used in this description and any accompanying claims (where present), depend on the specific orientation of the apparatus described and illustrated. The subject matter described herein may assume various alternative orientations. Accordingly, these directional terms are not strictly defined and should not be interpreted narrowly.
Specific examples of systems, methods and apparatus have been described herein for purposes of illustration. These are only examples. The technology provided herein can be applied to systems other than the example systems described above. Many alterations, modifications, additions, omissions, and permutations are possible within the practice of this invention. This invention includes variations on described embodiments that would be apparent to the skilled addressee, including variations obtained by: replacing features, elements and/or acts with equivalent features, elements and/or acts; mixing and matching of features, elements and/or acts from different embodiments; combining features, elements and/or acts from embodiments as described herein with features, elements and/or acts of other technology; and/or omitting combining features, elements and/or acts from described embodiments.
It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions, omissions, and sub-combinations as may reasonably be inferred. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of U.S. Application No. 62/165434 filed 22 May 2015 and entitled FOOD SKEWER AND FOOD DIP COATING METHODS AND APPARATUSES, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62165434 | May 2015 | US |
