HERB SCOOP

Abstract

The present invention provides an herb scoop for use in scooping, transporting, and depositing herbal plant matter from a container into the bowl of a pipe or other smoking device. The user manipulates the scoop to guide the scoop blade portion under the plant matter, guiding it into a trough area of the blade portion. While keeping the trough upright, the user can transport the herb from the container to the pipe or other smoking device. Tilting the scoop to either the left or right side (depending on the user's handedness) will then allow the plant matter to flow out of the trough and into the bowl or equivalent chamber. Using the tool is an improvement over the current methods of pinching the herbs with one's fingers or using prior art tools which lead to plant matter sticking to the fingers as well as the potential spillage of material during transport and dispensing. When not in use, the herb scoop can be stored directly in the herb container for easy access.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to fine materials handling in the nature of tools for scooping and transferring granular material such as ground plant material (e.g., ground or finely diced herbs) from one container or device to another container or device (e.g., a pipe or other smoking device).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Smoking pipes and accessories, used in the combustion of plant matter such as tobacco, are well known in the art. Typically, the plant matter is kept in a container ready for use. The user will typically use two fingers to pinch some of the herbs and deposit it into the bowl of the pipe or other smoking device. This method can lead to waste due to unintentionally dropping the ground material from between the fingers and/or ground material sticking to the fingers and/or tool. While various tools and implements have been developed in the past to assist in the transferring of ground material between containers and devices, there remains a need for a tool which is designed to reduce waste and be easy to manually manipulate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment, the present invention comprises a tool in the form of a unitary scoop for the scooping and transferring of a ground material such as an herb from one container or device to another. It is noted that the tool may be used for handling a variety of materials and that material such as a ground herb is just an example. Thus, the use of the term “herb” herein is used for ease of description only and is to be broadly interpreted to mean any material which a user may desire to use the tool to handle. In a first aspect, the tool eliminates the need to touch the herbs directly with the user's hands or fingers. In another aspect, the tool is ergonomically designed for easy retrieval, transport and dispensing of the material, with less mess and waste than the traditional finger pinch method and prior art tools.

It is therefore an object and advantage of the present invention to provide an improved tool in the form of an herb scoop for transferring the herb from a container to a pipe or other smoking device.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become apparent and be better understood by reference to the following description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventive tool in the form of an herb scoop;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 5 is another perspective view thereof;

FIG. 6 is an end view thereof;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the end opposite the view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing how the herb scoop is manually manipulated to scoop herb from a container;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the herb scoop in a position for depositing scooped herb into a smoking pipe;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the herb scoop inside a container;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view thereof;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view thereof; and

FIG. 13 is another perspective view thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawing, there is seen in the various figures a tool in the embodiment of an herb scoop 10. Herb scoop 10 is preferably formed as a unitary piece of a rigid or semi rigid material such as metal, ceramic, wood, or glass, for example. In a preferred embodiment, herb scoop 10 is formed of a single piece of stainless steel having a thickness in the range of about 15 to 20 thousandths of an inch″.

The geometry of scoop 10 is ergonomically designed to provide the benefits described above. In the preferred embodiment, scoop 10 has opposite top and bottom surfaces 11a and 11b and includes a scoop portion 12 which transitions into a handle portion 14. The scoop portion 12 has a laterally extending, linear bend B and a width W₁ of about 1 inch at the location of bend B. The bend B creates a scoop blade portion 12a having an edge E with a radius which extends from a first radius R₁ near the center of blade portion 12a, to a radius R₂ at either side thereof adjacent the bend B. In the preferred embodiment, R₁ has a radius of about 1.25 inches and gradually tapers toward bend B to a radius R₂ about a 0.5 inch. It has been found that these radii work best with herb containers ranging from about 1.5 inches to about 2.5 inches in diameter.

The bend B creates a trough area T wherein herb is scooped and held on the scoop while it is being transferred to a smoking device. In the preferred embodiment, trough T has a depth D₁ of about 0.75 inches and an internal angle A of about 120 degrees (see FIG. 2).

In a preferred embodiment, the length L₁ of scoop 10 is preferably about 1.5 inches while the length L₂ of scoop portion 12a is about 0.25 inches (see FIG. 2). The narrowest width W₂ (which is located between scoop portion 12 and handle portion 14) is about 0.5 inches, and the major width W₃ of handle portion 14 is about 0.75 inches. In a further preferred embodiment, the radius R₃ of the segment extending between widths W₂ and W₃ is about 1 inches.

As mentioned above, bend B creates a trough area T wherein ground herb is scooped and held for transfer to a smoking device. The scooping, transferring and dispensing process is illustrated in FIGS. 8-13. As seen in FIG. 8, a user's hand H grasps handle portion 14 while directing scoop portion 12 underneath ground herb (not shown) located in a container C. The edge E of scoop blade portion 12a is directed against the juncture J of container side wall Ca and container bottom wall Cb. The radius R₁ of scoop blade portion 12a is selected to closely match the radius R₄ of container juncture J (see FIG. 10) such that the herb cannot escape from between blade portion edge E and juncture J but rather becomes deposited into blade trough T. The user may then easily transfer the scooped herb to a smoking device and tilt scoop 10 to the side while directing the herb from trough T into the bowl b of a pipe P (see FIG. 9). In the preferred embodiment, the top surface 11a of scoop portion 12a has a very low coefficient of friction so that the herb may easily slide off of scoop portion 12 without leaving any herb thereon.

It will thus be appreciated that the geometry of scoop 10 including the angular configuration of trough T at angle A provides a secure containment area for the scooped herb such that accidental spilling of the herb off scoop 10 during transport is substantially minimized. It furthermore facilitates an easy, no spill transfer from trough T into bowl b through a simple tilting motion to the side. In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawing figures, the scoop 10 is symmetrical about the major longitudinal axis X-X thereby allowing the scoop to be tilted to either the right or left side. This allows use by both left and right handed users. In a further preferred embodiment, the scoop 10 is dimensioned to allow it to fit and be stored in container C when not in use.

While this method and apparatus has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described.

Claims

1. A manually operated scoop for picking up a ground material from a container having a bottom wall and side wall forming a juncture (J) having a radius (R4), and transferring and dispensing the ground material from the scoop into another container or device, said scoop comprising: a) a unitary piece of rigid material having a scoop portion and a handle portion adapted for manual operation of said scoop;b) a laterally extending, linear bend (B) formed in said scoop portion; andc) a blade portion defined by said bend (B), said blade portion having an edge (E) having a radius (R1) selected to be substantially equal to the container juncture radius (R4), said bend (B) further defining an internal angle (A) forming a trough area (T) adapted to hold the ground material while transferring and dispensing the ground material into another container or device upon rotation of said scoop about its longitudinal axis (X-X).

2. The scoop of claim 1 wherein said angle (A) is about 120 degrees.

3. The scoop of claim 2 wherein said bend (B) has a width (W1) of about 1 inch.

4. The scoop of claim 3 wherein said radius (R1) is about 1.25 inches.

5. The scoop of claim 4 wherein said edge (E) radius R1 tapers on either side thereof to a radius R2 of about 0.5 inches.

6. The scoop of claim 5 wherein said trough area (T) has a depth (D1) of about 0.75 inches.

7. The scoop of claim 6 wherein the length (L1) of said scoop is about 1.5 inches.

8. The scoop of claim 7 wherein the length (L2) of said scoop portion is about 0.25 inches.

9. The scoop of claim 8 wherein the width (W2) located between said scoop portion and said handle portion is about 0.5 inches.

10. The scoop of claim 9 wherein the major width (W3) of said handle portion 14 is about 0.75 inches.

11. The scoop of claim 10 wherein the radius (R3) extending between widths (W2) and (W3) is about 1 inch.