Patent Application
20170172349
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Field of Invention
This invention deals with a device that separates fluids/liquids, which are created when cooking fowl, such as turkey, chicken, duck, and meat such as beef, pork and many other foods into desirable (gravy) and undesirable (fat) components using the liquids' specific gravity differentials. Fat, having a different specific gravity from the other liquids formed through the cooking process, rises to the top of the liquids when the liquid is placed into a container and allowed to settle.
Discussion of Prior Art
In the art, there are many well-known devices that separate immiscible liquids. For example, Radna, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,420 separate immiscible fluids by using an apparatus consisting of two metal container sections, one sitting above the other. A separatory funnel like container sits on top of an associated holding container connected by a conduit through which the liquid flows down and whose flow is controlled by a stopcock. However, this is an apparatus consisting of several parts that will not separate the desirable and non-desirable liquids and food particles within a single container, allow for the removal of said desirable fluids from said container and then dispose of the device with the non-desirable liquids and food particles with no further effort.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,713,778 and 3,836,334 both to Karamian, also disclose glass separatory funnels and conduits, controlled by stopcock, through which when the stopcock is open allows the lower layer to be drained. Air is allowed to seep into the glass funnel through a stopper closer at the upper end of the funnel, similar to U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,912 issued to Sugawara. However, unlike Radna, Karamian does not have an associated container to capture the drained fluid. It is a delicate apparatus made from glass, able to neither stand upright without support nor be disposed of with non-desirable liquids and food particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,170 to Marcus, et al, discloses a glass liquid separator apparatus similar to the Karamian design except that the air that flows back into the apparatus is fed through a tube that is connected to the stopcock at the bottom of the apparatus and back up into the glass funnel. Therefore, the air from the atmosphere will flow inside the funnel from the bottom to the top and replace the fluid flowing from the vessel. Similar to Karamian, this device does not have an associated container to capture the drained fluid. It is a delicate apparatus made from glass, able to neither stand upright without support nor be disposed of with non-desirable liquids and food particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 697,613 to Ellis discloses a multi-section cream separator that uses water and ice. It consists of a cone shaped metal funnel used at the lower end of the container; a holder is provided at the lower portion of the cone shaped partition to hold the ice; a conduit extends from the upper section of the container to lower portion of the cone shaped partition for supplying water; and, a discharge pipe connected to the lower portion of the cone-shaped partition which includes an exterior cock or faucet. When the water is supplied it is chilled by the ice and mixes with the milk to separate the cream. The lower level liquids can then be discharged by the pipe. However, this is a large separator system unsuitable for use in a kitchen environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,093,575 to Roberts discloses a visible measuring device for gasoline dispensing and separation of sediment. U.S. Pat. No. 802,997 to Laenger discloses a cistern that operates similar to the Robert's patent, and additionally includes a filter through which the liquid passes before entering container. U.S. Pat. No. 241,033 to Lewis; U.S. Pat. No. 2,419,666 to Werth; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,437 to Jepson disclose different construction of separating devices. Again, neither of these devices can be used effectively in a kitchen environment and are not single use, disposable with the non-desirable liquids and food particles.
All of these devices are useful in some way for separating two immiscible liquids. However, except for the Radna device, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,420, all would be difficult and inefficient to use in an ordinary kitchen environment.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a gravy separating device that overcomes the aforementioned problems with the prior art.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a very light weight gravy separating device made of structured plastic film or thin molded plastic.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide an easy to use gravy separating device that is of one piece and self-contained.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a self-standing gravy separator that can be viewed for accurately controlling the separating process.
It is another objective of the invention to filter non-desirable food particles that are suspended in fluid as said fluid is poured into container.
It is another objective of the present invention to allow the quick and clean disposal of the non-desirable fluids and food particles after removing desirable liquids.
It is another objective of the present invention to create a single use separator that is less expensive and more efficient than any other household centric immiscible liquids separator.
It is another objective of the present invention to allow for the device to require minimal space to store due to the flexible material composition which allows for the device to be folded and stored almost anywhere.
Thus, the embodiments provide for a separator that is lighter, more efficient, less expensive and more attractive than prior art immiscible liquid separator devices. These and other benefits of one or more aspects will become apparent from the consideration and accompanying drawings.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a device for separating immiscible liquids of different specific gravities, comprising of a container shape than can be elliptical, oval, rectangular, square, tapered or not to the shape of a funnel; consisting of a transparent thin film, molded or formed plastic and able to withstand high temperatures and stand upright; open on the upper end for supplying the liquids, and closed at bottom end where desirable liquids are dispensed after separation through a conduit spout, nipple, mammiliated spout found underneath the bottom; attached to or incorporated into the spout is a pincer to regulate the outflow of the liquid; the funnel bag contains two symmetric openings on each side in the upper end that act like handles allowing for easy transport of the device; below the handles on the inner walls of the bag is a pressure sensitive closure, zip-lock, threaded string; below the pressure sensitive closure is a mesh filter; the transparency of the material and measurement markings on one side of the bag provides for accurate volume reading and on the other side the instructions for use.
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Prior to pouring liquid into the separator 100, the user will read instructions 109 and ensure that the bag is in the upright position and that the pincer mechanism or mammiliated spout 114 is closed to prevent any liquid from passing through the spout 112. The bag top and bottom are shaped by means of external or internal structures like film ribbons, rods, embedded structural components or by incorporating additional components. The liquid produced from cooking fowl, for example a turkey, is poured through the top-end opening 103 and into the filter 107 to capture any undesirable food particles. As the liquid is poured through the opening 103, the filter 107 will prevent non-desirable food particles from passing through into the liquid. Once pouring is complete, the bag can be sealed by utilizing the closure 106, 106a or left open.
The upright bag, now filled with liquid can easily be moved to another location by grabbing its handles 104, 104a. Once moved, said bag should be left undisturbed to allow the fat 120 to separate from the gravy 122, as illustrated in the frontal view on
To dispense the desired separated liquid (the gravy), lift said bag by the handles 104, 104a and with the other hand pinch the pincer mechanism, mammiliated spout 114 through the outside of the bag 102. Pinching the pincer will open the spout 112 and allow the gravy to flow out of the separator and into any available container. When the interface 124 between the fat 120 and gravy 122 comes close to the annular opening 126, the user releases the pincer mechanism, mammiliated spout 114, which automatically closes the conduit 112 and blocks any further fluid from flowing out. Thereupon the undesirable liquids and food particles can be disposed of with the separator, by sealing the top-end 103 with the locking mechanism 106, 106a and throwing away the separator 100. There is no need to spend any time and/or resources in cleaning the separator 100.
The ease of use, simplicity of design and novelty of the present invention can be appreciated from the foregoing. This novel device for separating gravy is the only single use, single piece, self-standing gravy or sauce separator available for use in a typical kitchen environment.
Furthermore, the separator device has the additional benefits that it is:
Although the descriptions above contain much specificity, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of several embodiments. For example, the bag can have other shapes such as circular, square, oval, the pincer mechanism can have other shapes and the bag can be opaque on one side and transparent on the other, the pincer can be incorporated into the spout, and act as a bibb, the ribbons can be on the inside of the bag. Additional internal or external structures can be embedded or installed to keep the container in a certain desired shape.
Thus, the scope of the embodiments should be determined by appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
