Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6708853
-
Patent Number
6,708,853
-
Date Filed
Monday, May 12, 200321 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, March 23, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
An apparatus that dispenses a food substance having a housing, a barrel connected to the housing and a lever pivotally attached to the housing. The barrel receives and stores the food substance to be dispensed. A rod having teeth thereon is connected to a plunger that is slidably positioned within the barrel. An advancing mechanism is movably positioned within the housing. The advancing mechanism includes an escapement body, a driver and a spring that engages the driver. The driver engages the teeth on the rod to advance the plunger to dispense the food substance is forced out of the barrel.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to devices for dispensing food items and, more particularly, to a hand held manual cookie press.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Manual hand held extruding devices that dispense food items such as pasta or cookie dough are known in the art. The prior art extruding devices typically include a lever or handle that is used to advance a piston via a pawl or other latching piece that engages the teeth of a rod that is connected to the piston. Prior art extruding devices also typically use a spring to bias the latching piece towards engagement with the teeth on the rod.
As an example of such a device,. U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,450 to Heling illustrates a manual extruder having a cylinder with a movable piston rod disposed therein. The piston rod includes teeth positioned along opposing sides of the piston rod. An operating lever has two prongs that are positioned at the top of the cylinder. Each prong includes a pivot pin and a pawl which rotates about the pivot pin. The pawls contact the teeth on the piston rod. As the lever is depressed, the pawls engage the teeth on the piston rod to move the piston rod in a downward direction. As the lever is raised, the pawls engage the next highest tooth to enable the piston rod to advance during the downswing of the lever. This allows the piston rod to push the food substance out of the cylinder.
Another prior art device that uses a lever and pawls to advance a piston rod is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 972,793 issued to Allred. The Allred patent illustrates a mortar feeding device with a cylindrical body, two hand levers and a piston attached to a rod. The first hand lever is stationary with regard to the cylindrical body. A sleeve featuring external teeth covers and receives the rod. The device also includes two pivotally mounted pawls. The pawls are held in engagement with the teeth of the sleeve by springs. To discharge a substance from the cylinder, the second lever is raised so that the second pawl engages the next highest tooth on the sleeve. The sleeve is held stationary by the first pawl of the first lever as the second lever is raised. As the second lever is moved downward (towards the first lever), the sleeve is moved downwards which advances the piston downwards. As the sleeve moves downwards, the spring of the first pawl is compressed as the first pawl travels over a tooth of the sleeve. As such, while the second pawl is used to push the rod down, the first pawl serves as a lockout to restrain the rod from upward travel when the second lever is raised. The substance in the cylinder is forced out the bottom of the body when the second lever is pressed down.
Another prior art extruder that uses a lever and pawl to advance a piston is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,936 issued to Meth et al. The Meth patent illustrates a toy extruder that molds an object from a soft material. The device includes a body having a chamber therein with a movable piston positioned within the chamber and a handle pivotally connected to the body. One end of a spring is attached to a transverse pin in the piston and the second end of the spring is attached to the base of the housing. The piston includes teeth positioned along the outside surface. When the handle pivots in a clockwise direction, a pawl on the handle engages the teeth and imparts an upward movement to the piston. As a result, the piston moves upwardly within the chamber thereby pushing material out of the top of the chamber into a mold to form a toy.
The advancing mechanisms of the above prior art extruding devices require complex moving elements to properly advance the piston and the attached rod. Also, the prior art extruders are often difficult to refill with the material that is to be extruded.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a manual hand held device for extruding a food item that is easy to use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a manual hand held device with a simplified advancing mechanism that advances a plunger to push the food item out of the device.
It is another object of the invention to provide a manual hand held device for extruding a food item that is compact and easy to store.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an apparatus for dispensing a food substance, such as cookie dough. The apparatus is formed from a housing and a barrel connected to the housing. The barrel receives and stores the food substance. A plunger is slidably positioned within the barrel and a rod having teeth thereon is connected to the plunger. The apparatus also includes an advancing mechanism having an escapement body, a driver positioned within the escapement body and a spring that engages the driver and escapement body. The apparatus also includes a lever pivotally attached to the housing. The lever engages the advancing mechanism such that when the lever is depressed, the plunger advances to depress the food substance from the barrel.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further aspects of the invention and their advantages may be discerned from the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which like characters number like parts and in which:
FIG. 1
is a side elevational view of the manual cookie press of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a top plan view of the manual cookie press illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a cross sectional view of the manual cookie press illustrated in
FIG. 2
taken along line
3
—
3
and with the disc tube removed;
FIG. 4
is an enlarged view of the advancing mechanism of the manual cookie press of
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 5
is a top plan view of the escapement assembly positioned in the manual cookie press illustrated in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 6
is a cross sectional view of the escapement assembly illustrated in
FIG. 5
taken along line
6
—
6
;
FIG. 7
is a cross sectional view of the manual cookie press of
FIG. 3
where the lever is placed in a ready position;
FIG. 8
is a cross sectional view of the manual cookie press of
FIG. 7
where the lever is fully depressed and the rod has been advanced; and
FIG. 9
is a cross sectional view of the manual cookie press of
FIG. 7
where the lever is fully lifted and the driver has moved up one tooth on the rod.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An embodiment of the manual cookie press of the present invention is indicated in general at
11
in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. The manual cookie press includes a cookie barrel
12
and a top cap
14
with an opening
15
therethrough. A moving lever
22
is pivotally connected to the top cap
14
via hinge
24
. A disc tube
18
is positioned over the bottom end of the cookie barrel. The disc tube is used for temporary storage of the various discs
20
that form the cookies. The disc tube and the various discs are removed from the cookie barrel before it is used to form cookies.
As illustrated in
FIG. 3
, a disc
20
is positioned at the bottom of the cookie barrel. The disc
20
includes openings
21
arranged in a variety of patterns to form a template for dispensing cookie dough. A bottom cap
16
with an opening
17
therethrough secures the disc
20
to the bottom of the cookie barrel. As will be explained below, cookie dough is dispensed through the openings
21
of the disc
20
when the lever
22
of
FIGS. 1 and 2
is manipulated.
As illustrated in
FIG. 2
, one end of the lever
22
of the cookie press includes a handle
25
which is easy for the consumer to depress and comfortable for the consumer to hold. The opposite end of the lever includes an oblong shaped opening
23
extending through the lever
22
. A knob
36
is attached to the top end of the rod
32
(FIG.
1
). The opening
23
is sized so that the lever
22
may be pivoted over the knob
36
from the use position illustrated in
FIG. 1
to a storage position, illustrated in phantom at
27
in
FIG. 1
, where the lever is parallel to the cookie barrel
12
. As such, the lever is easy to pivot between the storage position and the use position.
As illustrated in
FIG. 3
, a rod
32
and advancing plunger
40
are positioned within the barrel
12
of the manual cookie press. The rod
32
extends a length greater than that of the cookie barrel
12
. The rod includes a number of teeth
34
that are aligned along one side. The remainder of the rod has a smooth surface. One end of the rod is disposed within an opening at the center of the knob
36
. The opposite end of the rod is disposed within an opening at the center of a plunger
40
. A washer
38
is placed on the rod before it is connected to the plunger
40
. The washer is placed at the connection between the rod and the plunger to distribute the force exerted on the rod across the plunger when the lever is depressed. The plunger
40
extends approximately the complete cross-sectional area of the cookie barrel
12
but is sized so that it is capable of sliding in a vertical direction within the cookie barrel. Additionally, the plunger
40
is sized to lightly contact the inner surface of the cookie barrel, so that it is able to completely engage all of the cookie dough placed within the barrel.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, the cookie press includes an advancing mechanism, indicated at
29
, positioned on the top end of the barrel. The advancing mechanism
29
includes a main housing
30
is cylindrical and includes a centrally located opening
31
therethrough. The main housing
30
that is sized so that it may be positioned over the top end of the cookie barrel
12
. The top cap
14
, which is also part of the advancing mechanism
29
, is placed over the main housing
30
such that the opening
15
in the top cap
16
is concentrically aligned with the opening
31
in the housing
30
. The advancing mechanism also includes an escapement assembly
50
that advances the rod
32
and plunger
40
in the barrel. The advancing mechanism also includes a lockout assembly
68
. As will be explained below, the lockout assembly aids the advancing mechanism by restraining the rod from upward movement when the lever
22
is raised.
As illustrated in
FIG. 3
, the escapement assembly
50
and the lockout assembly
68
are positioned within the main housing
30
of the advancing mechanism. More specifically, the escapement assembly is positioned within the opening
31
of the main housing
30
such that it extends through the opening
31
. The lockout assembly
68
is positioned below the escapement assembly
50
slightly above the top of the cookie barrel
12
.
The advancing mechanism
29
is illustrated in greater detail in
FIG. 4
, a top view is illustrated in FIG.
5
and an enlarged view of the escapement assembly, by itself, is illustrated in FIG.
6
. As shown in
FIG. 6
, the escapement assembly
50
includes an escapement body
52
, a driver
56
, a spring
57
, a drive washer
58
and an escapement cap
60
. The escapement body
52
houses the washer
58
, the escapement cap
60
, the driver
56
and the spring
57
. The escapement body
52
is a cylindrical member with an upwardly extending neck
55
and an open underside. An opening
54
extends through the center of the neck
55
of the escapement body
52
. As shown in
FIG. 4
, the rod
32
extends through the neck
55
of the escapement body so that it may be positioned at the center of the escapement body
52
. The escapement body
52
also includes a flange
53
that extends outwardly from the bottom portion of the escapement body
52
. As illustrated in
FIG. 4
, the flange
53
prevents the escapement body from being removed from the top of the housing of the assembled cookie press. More specifically, once the flange
53
contacts the main housing
30
, it restrains the escapement body
52
from traveling upward.
As shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, the drive washer
58
is a circular disc with a circular central opening
59
therethrough. The drive washer is positioned adjacent to the underside of the escapement body
52
to relieve friction that might occur between the escapement body
52
and the spring biased driver
56
. As illustrated in
FIG. 5
, the top of the escapement body
52
only covers a portion of the washer
58
so that the arcuate outer portions of the washer remain exposed. When the cookie press is used, the exposed portions of the washer
58
are contacted by the protrusions
26
that extend downwardly from the lever
22
(see FIG.
1
).
As illustrated in
FIG. 6
, the driver
56
, spring
57
and escapement cap
60
are positioned below the washer
58
. The driver
56
is generally box-shaped with one end being open to house the spring
57
and the opposite end being angled to matingly engage the teeth
34
in the rod
32
(FIG.
3
). The spring
57
is disposed within the driver
56
. As a result, the spring biases the driver
56
so that it may slide towards the opening
61
to engage the teeth on the rod that is positioned within the opening
61
. The escapement cap
60
abuts the driver
56
such that the driver
56
is positioned between the drive washer
58
and the escapement cap
60
. The escapement cap
60
includes an opening
61
located at the center of the escapement cap
60
and extending through the escapement cap
60
. The underside of the cap includes spaced cavities
62
that act as a seat for compression spring
64
(FIG.
4
). Compression spring
64
is positioned below the escapement assembly. The compression spring
64
urges the escapement assembly upwards when the lever releases the escapement body.
As illustrated in
FIG. 6
, the circular openings
54
,
59
and
61
located through the center of the escapement body
52
, the drive washer
58
and the escapement cap
60
, respectively, are concentrically aligned. Each opening is sized to receive and house the circular rod
32
(
FIG. 3
) of the cookie press. As a result, the circular rod
32
is positioned at the center of the cookie barrel
12
, as illustrated in FIG.
3
.
As illustrated in
FIG. 4
, the lockout assembly, indicated in general at
68
, includes a lockout housing
70
, a lockout
72
, a lockout spring
74
and a lockout cover
76
. The lockout housing
70
includes spaced cavities
79
that act as a seat for compression spring
64
. The spaced cavities
79
of the lockout housing
70
are aligned with the spaced cavities
62
in the escapement cap
60
. As shown in
FIG. 4
, the compression spring is disposed around the rod with one end of the compression spring
64
housed in the spaced cavities
62
of the escapement cap
60
while the other end of the spring is housed in the spaced cavities
79
of the lockout housing
70
. The lockout housing
70
also includes a circular opening
71
through the center. The opening
71
is sized to receive the rod
32
.
The lockout
72
is an “L-shaped” tab with a vertical portion and a horizontal portion. The vertical portion engages spring
74
and a rectangular opening
73
extends through the horizontal portion. The opening
73
is also sized to receive the rod
32
. The lockout
72
is biased by spring
74
so that it engages the teeth
34
of the rod
32
to prevent the rod
32
from sliding upwards. As the rod moves downward, however, the lockout
72
is moved horizontally against the force exerted by spring
74
so that it travels over the next highest tooth in the rod. The lockout cover
76
includes an opening
77
through the center of the lockout cover
76
. The opening
77
is also sized to receive the rod
32
. The lockout cover is positioned under the lockout housing and circumferentially abuts the inner surface of the main housing
30
to prevent the components from being released from the cookie press.
The openings
71
,
73
and
77
of the lockout assembly are aligned with the openings in the escapement assembly
50
so that the rod remains centered within the cookie barrel. As a result, the openings define a path for the rod to travel as it advances the cookie dough.
FIGS. 7-9
illustrate the various positions of the lever
22
, the rod
32
, the driver
56
and the lockout
72
during one complete cycle that the lever of the cookie press travels to dispense a cookie. To prepare the cookie press for use, the knob and the connected rod are lowered to allow the lever to rotate over the knob
36
and the rod
32
. Next, the lever
22
is placed in a use position perpendicular to the cookie barrel, as illustrated in FIG.
7
. The rod
32
is temporarily rotated such that the teeth
34
face away from the hinge
24
and the driver
56
. This enables the rod
32
to be manually raised with respect to the cookie barrel
12
and escapement assembly
50
via the knob
36
. The rod
32
is then rotated so that the teeth
34
are positioned facing the hinge
24
and in engagement with the driver
56
.
To prepare the cookie press for use, with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 3
, the bottom cap
16
, any stored discs and the disc tube
18
are removed and the consumer fills the barrel with cookie dough. After the barrel is filled with cookie dough, the consumer places the desired disc and bottom cap onto the cookie barrel.
As illustrated in
FIG. 7
, the cookie press is ready to press the cookie dough. More specifically, the lever
22
is in the use position and the rod
32
has been rotated so that the driver
56
and lockout
72
engage the teeth
34
of the rod
32
. The escapement assembly
50
is positioned at its upward most position wherein the flange
53
of the escapement body
52
engages the main housing
30
and the driver
56
engages one of the teeth
34
, for example tooth
93
, on the rod
32
.
Since the escapement assembly
50
is in a raised position, the lever
22
is able to engage the washer
58
positioned under the escapement body
52
of the escapement assembly as it is depressed. As the lever
22
is depressed, that is, moved in the direction of arrow A, it pushes the washer
58
and the remainder of the escapement assembly downwards towards the cookie barrel
12
. As the escapement assembly moves downwards, spring
64
is compressed and the spring biased driver
56
forces the rod
32
downwards. With reference to
FIG. 3
, as the rod
32
lowers, the plunger pushes the cookie dough out of the barrel
12
through the openings
21
in the disc
20
thereby forming a cookie.
Additionally, as the rod
32
lowers, the lockout
72
compresses the spring
74
as it travels over the next highest tooth
99
.
FIG. 8
illustrates the lever
22
at the bottom of its stroke. At this point, lockout
72
has traveled over and is now engaging tooth
99
. In addition, spring
64
has been fully compressed.
As illustrated in
FIG. 9
, as the lever
22
is released, the spring
64
begins to expand. As the spring
64
expands, the escapement assembly
50
is forced upwards, in the direction of arrow B, away from the cookie barrel
12
. As the escapement assembly
50
is forced upwards by spring
64
, the driver
56
travels over the next highest tooth thereby compressing spring
57
. Since the lockout
72
already engages the tooth
99
on the rod
32
, the rod
32
is restrained from raising along with the escapement assembly
50
and the lever
22
. Thus, the lockout
72
prohibits the rod
32
from raising when the lever
22
is raised between downward strokes.
The above process may continue until the plunger is lowered to the bottom of the barrel and all of the cookie dough has been dispensed. At this point the knob
36
would be nearly adjacent to the lever
22
.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. An apparatus for dispensing a food substance comprising:a) a housing; b) a barrel connected to the housing and adapted to receive the food substance; c) a plunger slidably positioned within the barrel; d) a rod having teeth thereon and connected to the plunger; e) an advancing mechanism movably positioned within the housing and including: i) an escapement body; ii) a driver slidably positioned within the escapement body; iii) a spring engaging the driver and the escapement body so that the driver is biased toward said rod so that the driver engages a tooth of said rod; f) a lever pivotally attached to the housing and engaging said advancing mechanism so that when said lever is pressed towards said barrel, the driver moves said rod so that said plunger is advanced to dispense the food substance from the barrel.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said lever pivots between a storage position where the lever is generally parallel to the barrel and a use position where the lever engages the advancing mechanism.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one end of the driver is angled to matingly engage the teeth in the rod.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a compression spring positioned around the rod and below the advancing mechanism, wherein the compression spring is adapted to raise the advancing mechanism with respect to the housing.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a bottom cap removably attached to the bottom of the barrel.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a disc having openings that form a template disposed within the bottom cap.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a lockout assembly disposed within the housing and positioned below the advancing mechanism.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the lockout assembly comprises a lockout housing, a tab disposed within the lockout housing and a spring that biases the tab so that the tab engages the teeth of the rod to prevent the rod from sliding upwards.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the tab has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, the vertical portion being biased by the spring and the horizontal portion having an opening to receive the rod.
- 10. An apparatus for dispensing a food substance, said apparatus comprising:a) a housing; b) a barrel attached to the housing and adapted to receive the food substance; c) a plunger for engaging the food substance slidably positioned within the barrel; d) a rod having teeth attached to the plunger; and e) an advancing mechanism disposed within the housing, said advancing mechanism including: i) an escapement body disposed within the housing adapted to move vertically with respect to the housing; ii) a driver positioned in the escapement body such that the driver is adapted to move horizontally with respect to the housing; and iii) a spring biasing the driver towards the rod so that the driver engages the teeth on the rod and the rod is advanced when the escapement body is moved downwards.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:a lever pivotally connected to the housing, wherein the lever is adapted to pivot from a storage position where the lever is parallel to the barrel to a use position where the lever engages the advancing mechanism.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein one end of the driver is angled to matingly engage the teeth in the rod.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a compression spring positioned around the rod and below the means for advancing, wherein the compression spring is adapted to raise the means for advancing with respect to the housing.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a bottom cap removably attached to the bottom of the barrel.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a disc having openings that form a template disposed within the bottom cap.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a lockout assembly disposed within the housing and positioned below the advancing mechanism.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the lockout assembly comprises a lockout housing, a tab disposed within the lockout housing and a spring that biases the tab so that the tab engages the teeth of the rod to prevent the rod from sliding upwards.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the tab has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, the vertical portion being biased by the spring and the horizontal portion having an opening to receive the rod.
US Referenced Citations (20)