Butter is enjoyable when served at room temperature. It is soft, flavorful and melts easily on warm foods. Unfortunately, it can also be messy. There is need, therefore, for a butter dish that will hold and serve butter at room temperature without creating a mess.
The summary of the invention is provided as a guide to understanding the invention. It does not necessarily describe all alternative embodiments of the invention or the most generic embodiment of the invention.
A room temperature butter dish holds butter or other food spread at room temperature in a clean, sanitary and convenient manner. Referring to
The end walls are vertically mounted on opposite ends of the base and face each other. The end walls, therefore, define a butter container volume 137 into which a portion of butter, such as a stick of butter, is placed. The container volume is the volume between the end walls. The upper edges of said container volume are indicated by dashed lines 139. The bottom surface of the container volume is the bottom of the base. Said container volume may be greater than the volume of 0.25 lb of butter. Said container volume may be about that of 1 lb of butter. In normal operation, a user removes the cover, picks up a knife held in the knife holder and cuts a piece of butter for use. If there is excess butter on the knife, the butter can be removed by dragging the knife across the scraper. The height of the scraper 162 is about the same height as a stick of butter 163. A suitable height of the scraper is about 1.3 inches for Elgin, or eastern US style butter. A suitable height of the scraper for western butter is about 1.5 inches. Thus both the original stick of butter and the excess butter on the knife stay within the container volume. The height of the shoulder 164 is greater than the height of the scraper so that when a user places the cover on the base, the lower edges of the cover 117 are kept out of the container volume. Thus the edges of the cover are kept away from the butter within the container volume and remain clean. A suitable height for the shoulders is about 1.5 inches. The knife U-channels are high enough so that even if there is some butter remaining on the blade of the knife, said butter will not touch a counter or table the base is sitting on. When the cover rests on the base, it fully contacts the base so that there are no gaps large enough for an insect, such as an ant or fly, to get through. The butter, therefore remains insect free and is more sanitary than if it were left out in the open. The side walls have sufficient height 168 such that they will protect the cover from entering the container volume, but low enough so that all of the butter within the container volume can be conveniently scraped out with a conventional butter knife. A suitable height is about 0.35 inches. The side walls may further comprise graduations 174. Each graduation may correspond to standard unit of butter, such as an ounce or a tablespoon. The graduations may be on the top of the side walls, the inside side of the side walls, the outside side of the side walls or combinations thereof. Graduations may also or alternatively be provided on the bottom.
The height of the bottom 141 is sufficient for a person to hold the tabs with his/her fingers to pick up the butter dish. A suitable height of the bottom is about 0.62 inches. The width of the base 143 in combination with the height of the cover 115 is small enough so that a person could reach his/her hand around the cover to pick up the dish by the base. A suitable base width is about 3.58 inches. A suitable cover height is about 1.9 inches. The width of the bottom of the cover 113 may be somewhat larger than the width of the top of the cover 111 so that the cover will be easy to place over the top of the end walls with adequate clearance with the top of the container volume. A suitable width of the bottom cover is about 2.08 inches. A suitable width of the top of the cover is about 2.01 inches. The wedge shape would then guide the cover to a fixed position on the base as the cover lines up with the end walls of the base. The end walls of the base are similarly tapered. The supports on the end walls are tapered to making it easy to orient the cover over the end walls and guide the cover to a fixed position as it is lowered. A suitable bottom width of the supports is about 0.11 inches. A suitable top width of the supports is about 0.07 inches. The clearance between the end walls and the cover bottom when the cover is placed over the end walls also serves to reduce the chance that the cover will come in contact with butter within the container volume. A suitable clearance is about 0.13 inches.
The side walls 112 and top wall 114 of the cover may be flat and may comprise one or more trademarks 116 or other ornamentation. The exterior corners 118 and interior corners 172 of the butter dish may be rounded so that the dish can be easily cleaned. The radius of curvature of the interior corners may be large enough so that a conventional butter knife may be used to scrape out any butter residing therein. The width of the scrapper 166 should be wide enough to accommodate a conventional butter knife. A suitable width is about 0.89 inches.
The detailed description describes non-limiting exemplary embodiments. Any features of one embodiment may be combined with other features disclosed herein as required by different applications for at least the benefits described herein. As used herein, the term “about” means plus or minus 10% of a given value unless specifically indicated otherwise.
The cover may be made of any suitable food-safe material, such as plastic, metal, rubber, wood, glass or combinations thereof. Suitable plastics include those that are compatible with dishwashers and for extended contact with oils. A suitable plastic is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
The base may be made of the same material or a different material than the cover. The colors may be selected for aesthetic considerations. Lighter colors or reflective surfaces may be used for the base and/or cover to reduce overheating of the butter when exposed to sunlight or infrared heat such as from a stove burner. Clips or other locking mechanism (not shown) may be provided to securely hold the cover on the base when transported, such as in a cooler to a picnic.
This disclosure anticipates all obvious variations of the teachings presented herein. For example, the bottom of the base may be rounded to accommodate cylindrical sticks of butter such as those commonly sold in Europe. The bottom may be recessed into the base to give a lower overall height to the butter dish. The butter dish may have any surface features, indicia or colors consistent with its functionality.
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Alfille Innovations Ltd., Owner's Manual Butter Wizard Temperature Controlled Butterdish, www.butterwizard.com. |
Ineos ABS, Lustran ABS 248FC, ABS Medical & Food Contact Grade, www.ineos-abs.com. |
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