Foods and beverages: apparatus – Means to treat food – By isolating a fluid constituent
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-29
2001-05-29
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Means to treat food
By isolating a fluid constituent
C099S495000, C100S112000, C100S125000, C100S234000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237474
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to manually operated, lever-type garlic presses that are equipped with a press plate cleaner.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Although manually operated garlic presses are useful and effective, they are generally difficult to clean, which particularly involves the removal of the compressed clove from the apertures in the floor plate of the press chamber. In routine use, these apertures tend to become filled with the material from a garlic clove as it is squeezed in the press chamber between the floor plate and an anvil. The anvil compressively descends in the chamber towards the floor plate as the press levers are manually squeezed together by the user so that fluid and paste from the compressed clove can drain out through the floor plate apertures.
Attempts to flush out any remaining material from the apertures using tap water pressure are usually ineffective. Moreover, surface brushing of the floor plate usually does not clear all of the material from the apertures.
Prior art garlic presses have proposed using a cleaning plate with a plurality of spaced, upstanding or projecting pins or projections. The plurality of pins or projections would remove the remaining material or debris from the press floor plate apertures. Various adaptations of this concept have been proposed. However, so far as is known, these adaptations suffer from various drawbacks in that the resulting garlic press, particularly in association with some form of cleaning plate, tends to be cumbersome and unwieldy, and awkward to use, clean, and/or store.
The present invention provides an improved combination of a manually operated lever-type garlic press, associated cleaning plate and mutual interconnection means which reduces or overcomes these drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
More particularly, the invention relates to a new and useful combination of manually operated garlic press and cleaning plate. The press has upper and lower levers. The levers are pivotably associated at their front end regions. The lower lever also includes a cooperating cleaning plate at its front end region.
The combination provides a compact garlic press that is easily used, easily cleaned, and readily stored.
The inventive combination of lever type garlic press with cleaning plate provides an improvement over prior art combinations of lever-type garlic press with cleaning plate, and the inventive combination overcomes or minimizes the drawbacks of the prior art combinations.
In the inventive combination, the lower lever includes side walls and an apertured floor portion of a press chamber in its forward portion. The forward portion is provided with a lateral, continuously extending and preferably flattened exterior front end portion. Against this front end portion, the smooth outer, preferably matingly engagable, surface of a cleaning plate rests when the cleaning plate is in its storage position. The cleaning plate is held in this position by connector members. In this storage position, the aperture cleaning pins (or projections) that are provided on the opposed inner surface of the cleaning plate extend outwardly.
Although various connector members can be used, it is preferred the cleaning plate be provided with opposed side clips that removably engage the side portions of the lower lever adjacent to the front end portion. In addition, preferably the cleaning plate is provided with top and bottom stabilizer legs that are adapted to lie against adjacent front end portions of the lower lever when the cleaning plate is engaged with the lower lever front end.
When the cleaning plate is disengaged from the lower lever front end, it is turned around for positioning over the exterior press chamber floor portion. Preferably a locating flange is provided that is adjacent to the top side of the cleaning plate. This flange serves to locate and position the hooks over a matingly engagable forwardmost edge of the floor portion along the bottom of the front end portion of the lower lever. Preferably alignment lugs are also provided that engage locating grooves. When the cleaning plate inner surface is pivotally advanced against the outer surface of the floor plate, the pins of the cleaning plate are aligned with the apertures. The pins enter the apertures of the floor plate so that debris therein is pushed back into the press chamber for later disposition.
In the preferred embodiment the upper lever is associated with an anvil, in a pivotable manner. The anvil is adapted to reciprocatingly move in the press chamber after the anvil enters the open top of the press chamber, as the upper lever reciprocates and advances towards or retreats from the lower lever.
Preferably, the top leg of the cleaning plate, alone or with the anvil and press chamber, acts as a lock when the cleaning plate engages the lower leg front portion and/or the anvil engages the press chamber. Such engagement generally tends to prevent the upper lever from separating and pivotably moving away from the lower lever. This locking manner is desirable for keeping the garlic press in a closed configuration in a kitchen drawer or the like during storage of the garlic press.
Various other objects, aims, purposes, features, advantages, embodiments, variations and the like will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings of the present specification taken with the associated drawings and the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6109170 (2000-08-01), Short et al.
Clouser, Jr. Leon C.
Huang Daiying
May David
Short Kevin G.
Subsits Diane
Olson & Hierl Ltd.
Simone Timothy F.
The Pampered Chef, Ltd.
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