This application does not claim priority to any other application.
The field of this disclosure is strainers; specifically, overflow strainers for separating waste solids from a fluid containing waste solids.
Many restaurants use a type of sink called a “dipper well” to clean utensils such as ice cream scoops. After use, an ice cream scoop is covered with leftover ice cream, such as almond chocolate ice cream. The used scoop is placed into a water reservoir in the dipper well. Water continuously flows from a fill tube, into the water reservoir, around the scoop, and exits into an overflow tube. One major manufacturer of these dipper wells is The Dipwell Co. Additional information is available at the website of The Dipwell Co. (https://dipwell.com/products/6-round-deep-drawn-dipwell).
The water cleans the scoop and warms the scoop (so the scoop cuts through the ice cream like a hot knife through butter). Unfortunately, solid waste such as nuts and fruits tend to clog the overflow tube, either at the top of the overflow tube or (even worse) somewhere downstream in the pipes.
Dipper wells may be used for many other purposes, such as cleaning ladles or other food utensils.
In
The top of the overflow tube is approximately four inches above the bottom of the well, thus limiting the water level to approximately four inches above the bottom of the well (unless the overflow tube is blocked with solid waste).
The overflow tube is prone to blockages from solid waste such as nuts, and such blockages tend to cause messy overflows out of the well.
The present disclosure relates to an overflow strainer designed to utilize the internal volume of the overflow tube to capture solid waste.
In one embodiment, an overflow strainer includes: a restraining portion (two or more tabs configured to prevent the overflow strainer from falling down the overflow tube, and/or a lip configured for the same purpose); a sealing portion (a lip configured to seal against the top of the overflow tube, and/or a body configured to seal against an internal wall of the overflow tube, and/or a concentric outer seal configured to seal against an external wall of the overflow tube); and a mesh portion configured to block waste solids while allowing fluids to pass. The overflow strainer may also be used for other purposes such as placement in an ordinary sink.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present disclosure and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
Specifically, in this embodiment the overflow strainer includes: two tabs (TAB-A and TAB-B) configured to help a user remove the overflow strainer from the overflow tube; a lip (or rim) configured to seal against the entire top surface of the overflow tube (and to similarly help the user), a non-perforated body configured to provide structural strength and to seal against the inside of the overflow tube; and a mesh truncated cone with perforations sized to block solid waste having some predetermined diameter.
The mesh may include round perforations or square perforations. The mesh may be made of interwoven wires. The truncated portion of the cone may have a solid bottom for strength, or may have a perforated bottom for additional straining. The overflow strainer may be made of metal, or rubber, or plastic, or any combination of these and other well known materials. In one embodiment, the entire overflow strainer is made from thermosetting plastic.
In view (b) of
The overflow strainer utilizes some of the internal volume of the overflow tube to serve as a waste volume. Specifically, the waste volume is defined as the internal volume of the mesh portion of the overflow strainer (plus the internal volume of the body if a body is used). The waste volume is a subset of the internal volume of the overflow tube (overflow tube internal volume). When the overflow strainer is in place, the waste volume is the volume inside of the overflow strainer that is capable of capturing and holding solid waste.
In the embodiment of
In
A seal against the overflow tube may be formed by the lip, or by the body, or by both the lip and the body. One or more tabs may extend beyond the outer diameter of the overflow tube to facilitate a user removing the overflow strainer by grabbing one or more tabs. The lip may extend beyond the outer diameter of the overflow tube to facilitate a user removing the overflow strainer by grabbing a portion of the lip extending beyond the outer diameter of the overflow tube (similar to the tab). Using tabs saves on materials, but using an extended lip (and no tabs) simplifies the design.
Further, two tabs (and/or one lip) prevent the overflow strainer from slipping too far into the overflow tube, and thus serve as a restraining portion.
In summary, in one embodiment an overflow strainer includes: a restraining portion (two or more tabs configured to prevent the overflow strainer from falling down the overflow tube, and/or a lip configured for the same purpose); a sealing portion (a lip configured to seal against the top of the overflow tube, and/or a body configured to seal against an internal wall of the overflow tube, and/or a concentric outer seal configured to seal against an external wall of the overflow tube); and a mesh portion configured to block waste solids while allowing fluids to pass.
The lip may serve as a restraining portion and simultaneously as a sealing portion. A concentric outer seal is shown below in
The bottom of the mesh cylinder may be solid or may be mesh.
Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.