Patent Application
20120297991
The present invention is related to food preparation devices. More particularly the present invention is directed towards hot dog and sausage preparers that slice and core hot dogs, sausages, and other elongated food stuffs.
The hot dog is a quintessential American food. A hot dog, also known as the Frankfurter, is a type of sausage comprised of highly seasoned pork and/or beef that is cured, smoked, and cooked. While hot dogs are almost always sold fully cooked they are usually heated and served on a bun. However, hot dogs and sausages in general are sometimes cut into smaller pieces and added to other food products such as baked beans or casseroles.
While hot doges are enjoyed by people of all ages, they are particularly popular with children. Unfortunately and most regrettably, children often choke on elongated food stuffs such as hot dogs, sausages, pickles and cheese sticks. A major problem is that children have a smaller esophagus than adults and tend to choke more often on their food. While choking is, thankfully, usually a minor inconvenience it can and has caused serious injuries and even death. Complicating the problems of children choking on food products such as hot dogs and other sausages is that children do not always chew their food sufficiently and tend to stuff their mouths. The elongated shape of a hot dog lends itself to excessively large bites and mouth stuffing. These factors can significantly increase the incidents of choking.
One widely accepted method of reducing choking is to cut food into small, manageable pieces. This approach to reducing choking is not always easy to do with hot dogs, sausages, and other elongated food products. A major problem with those food products is that they are not directly geared to children in that they tend to have diameters suitable for adult consumption. So cutting into small pieces is only effective if the hot dog or sausage is cut such that the pieces cannot readily lodge in a child's throat. This requires forming hot dogs or sausages both laterally, to make short pieces, and longitudinally to make pieces that will not lodge in a throat. While this is not particularly difficult for an adult to do once in a while, not doing it or doing it poorly, can have such dire consequences that any device that makes it easier to do or that ensures doing it properly is highly beneficial.
Unfortunately it is not always possible for a responsible adult to be present to cut up a hot dog or sausage. Busy parenting, neglectful parenting, absent parenting, and irresponsible adults can lead to some children having to prepare their own food. Having a child actually cut a hot dog or sausage into small pieces, either for themselves or other children, using a sharp blade may be more dangerous than the danger of choking. Therefore, a hot dog and sausage preparer that does not use sharp blades would be highly beneficial.
Additionally, cutting hot dogs or sausages into small pieces can become extremely tedious in situations such as schools, camps, and day care. Therefore, a hot dog and sausage preparer that quickly and easily cuts a hot dog or sausage would be highly beneficial.
Prior art hot dog and sausage cutter usually involved the use of a knife of some sort to cut the hot dogs and sausages into small pieces. While generally successful the results are not always optimal. The resulting hot dog or sausage pieces, while small enough to be safe, had no structural elements to hold or retain condiments. For example, mustard, relish, cheese and other condiments could only be lathered on. However, some “finger foods” can be filled with condiments. Therefore, a hot dog and sausage preparer that produces bite-sized pieces having fillable holes would be useful.
Accordingly, a hot dog and sausage preparer that quickly, easily, and safely cuts hot dogs and sausages into safe, bite-sized pieces would be useful. Also useful would be a hot dog and sausage preparer that produces safe, bite-sized pieces having structural features to hold condiments would be beneficial.
The principles of the present invention provide for hot dog and sausage preparers that quickly, easily, and safely cut hot dogs, sausages, and other elongated foods into safe, bite-sized pieces having structural features to can hold condiments.
Those principles are incorporated in a hot dog and sausage preparer having a body formed with a concavity that locates an elongated food product in a predetermined location. The body further includes a plurality of longitudinal slots that run generally perpendicular to the length of the food product. The body also has an end section with a hole having an axis that runs parallel with the length of the food product. A tubular corer passes along the axis to core the food product. The hot dog and sausage preparer further includes a wire cutter that pivots on a pivot mount. The wire cutter includes a plurality of wires that are located on a frame. As the wire cutter pivots on the pivot mount the wires pass through the slots and cut the food product. The result is cored, bite-sized pieces. The hot dog and sausage preparer further includes a rod that passes through the tubular corer to clean the corer.
The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following detailed description and claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which:
The presently disclosed subject matter now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment is shown. However, it should be understood that this invention may take many different forms and thus should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein. In the figures like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The principles of the present invention are described herein with reference to
Referring now to
In operation one or two hot dogs 22 are placed on the upper surface 18 of the base 14. The corer 60 is then inserted into an aperture 34 and pushed along the axis 35 through the hot dog 22. The corer 60 is then removed from the hot dog 22, leaving an aperture through the hot dog 22. If two hot dogs are being prepared the corer 60 is then inserted into the other aperture 34, along its axis 35, and the other hot dog 22 is similarly cored. The corer 60 is cleared by pushing the rod 65 through the hole 64. The handles 62 and 68 assist manipulating the corer 64 and rod 65, respectively.
After coring the hot dog(s) 22, the wire cutter 40 is pivoted such that the wires 56 pass into the slots 26 and through the hot dog or hot dogs 22, slicing them into bite sized pieces 80 (see
The pieces 80 are relatively thin while the cored holes 82 reduce the rigidity of the pieces 80. The combination of thinness and flexibility results in bite-sized pieces 80 of hot dog that can be safely eaten by children. The use of the wire cutter 40 in combination with the hot dog bun shaped upper surface 18 makes cutting the pieces 80 quick, safe and easy. If used in a setting where large numbers of pieces are required, such as schools or camps, multiple hot dogs 22 can be cut at a time. Furthermore, while the foregoing has described cutting hot dogs 22 the principles of the present invention are fully applicable to other food products such as sausages, pickles, cheese logs, etc. Additionally, it is possible to form the upper surface 18 such that other shapes can be readily cored and cut.
Most of the hot dog preparer 12 can be configured of metal or plastic. However, it is beneficial that the wires 56 are comprised of a strong metal such as spring steel. Additionally, it is beneficial that the feet 57 be comprised of a material such as rubber or polyurethane.
Therefore, it is to be understood that while the figures and the above description illustrate the present invention, they are exemplary only. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Others who are skilled in the applicable arts will recognize numerous modifications and adaptations of the illustrated embodiments that remain within the principles of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.
