Foods and beverages: apparatus – Cereal-puffing – Corn-popper type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-26
2002-10-08
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Cereal-puffing
Corn-popper type
C099S323900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06460451
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to popcorn devices and more particularly to devices for making popcorn, utilizing a combination of popping means.
BACKGROUND ART
Popcorn is typically made by cooking uncooked corn kernels, which expands and bursts the corn kernels into popped corn, the popped corn commonly being called “popcorn.” Each of the corn kernels contains a small amount of water stored within a layer of soft starch, the soft starch being surrounded by the corn kernel's outer surface of hard starch, the corn kernel having approximately 13.5 to 14 percent moisture. As heat is applied to the corn kernel, the corn kernel heats up, the water within the corn kernel begins to expand, and pressure builds against the hard starch. Eventually, this hard surface of hard starch gives way, causing the corn kernel to explode. As the corn kernel explodes, the soft starch inside the corn kernel becomes inflated and bursts, turning the corn kernel inside out. The steam created by heating the water inside the kernel is released, and the popcorn is popped, the optimum popping temperature being between 400 and 460 degrees Fahrenheit.
Popcorn devices typically make popcorn, utilizing, what has come to be known as, either “wet” or “dry” popping means. Wet popcorn devices typically use a liquid, such as cooking oil to cook the corn kernels in, and convert the corn kernels into the popped corn, and dry popcorn devices typically use hot air to convert the corn kernels into the popped corn.
Dry popcorn devices have become the preferred choice, because of distinct advantages over wet popping. Dry popping has been shown to be more efficient, requiring less energy, being more efficient, converting the corn kernels to the popped corn quicker, and yielding fewer calories in the same amount of popcorn than wet popped popcorn. Although wet popping allows flavoring to be added during popping of the corn kernels, flavoring may be added after popping the corn kernels into the popcorn in dry popping, if required.
Most dry popcorn poppers immerse the corn kernels in hot air, in order to pop the corn kernels into the popcorn, and although popping the corn kernels in hot air is typically more efficient than wet popping, an improved and more efficient popcorn maker is necessary, which utilizes a combination of popping means, and converts the corn kernels to the popped corn quicker, more efficiently, and with improved taste, compared to conventional dry popping. The popcorn maker should use a combination of roasting, agitation, heating, and convection to convert the corn kernels into the popcorn, and expel the popcorn out of the popcorn maker.
The popcorn maker should be easy to use, the corn kernels and the popcorn easily viewable and fun to watch during popping, the popcorn maker producing the popcorn in a quick, convenient, and efficient manner. The popcorn maker should discharge the popcorn from a convenient discharge chute into a receptacle of choice, resemble, and have the appearance of an old fashioned popcorn maker. The popcorn maker should be free standing, easy to clean and maintain, and be of long lasting, durable material. The popcorn maker should be light weight, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, of simple construction, and easy to store.
Different devices and methods for heating, cooking, and roasting popcorn, coffee, and other food items have heretofore been known. None of these devices or methods adequately satisfies the aforementioned needs.
Different popcorn devices and methods, and in particular hot air or convection popcorn devices and methods, have heretofore been known. However, none of these popcorn devices or methods, and in particular these hot air or convection popcorn devices, adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,158 (Ishihara) discloses a popcorn popper having a popping chamber, which has a plurality of radially arranged holes along a bottom periphery, a lower wall portion of gradually smaller diameter, and a bottom having a raised portion. The popcorn popper also has a diffusing device, which directs heated air inward from an outer periphery and upward through the holes in the bottom of the chamber, for more even and efficient heating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,247 (Friedman) discloses a popcorn popping and coating machine, comprising a hot air popcorn popper having a discharge chute in communication with a rotary driven receptacle. The popping and coating machine also has a pivoting gate, which blocks passage of the popcorn through the discharge chute until the popper becomes filled with popped kernels, so that the kernels continue to be heated until the popcorn is introduced into a coating receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,139 (Lee) discloses a popcorn maker having a flap, which closes off a passageway to prevent corn, especially unpopped corn, from reaching a discharge outlet. The flap is balanced in its closed position and is pushed open by any build up of popped corn, to allow the popped corn to be discharged, which then remains open until closed manually.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,974 (Tienor) discloses a hot air corn popper having a body, which has a lower body portion closed by a removable cover, a hollow stainless steel popping vessel, which is removably held in the lower body portion, the hollow stainless steel popping vessel having a bottom end closed by a perforated grill, and a gravity flow feed hopper formed in the lower body portion, which provides automatic flow of unpopped kernels into the popping vessel, the unpopped kernels being contained on top of the perforated grill. An upwardly directed hot air flow produced in the lower body portion is directed through the popping vessel. The air flow pops the unpopped kernels and carries the popped kernels out of the popping vessel and the body to a storage receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,253 (Rehmeyer, et al.) discloses a convection oven corn popper and method in which a device is provided to air-pop popcorn in combination with a convection-type oven. The device comprises a spring-mounted bowl to hold corn kernels, and includes a slot in a sidewall for popped popcorn to exit therefrom. The exiting popcorn falls into a cooking chamber of the oven, where the popcorn is held warm until ready to eat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,427 (Kiczek) discloses a popcorn popper, having a receptacle for receiving corn which has been popped and a popping vessel substantially centrally mounted to the receptacle. The popping vessel receives heating oil and kernels of unpopped corn therein, which are heated to a popping temperature to pop the kernels of corn to form popcorn. A deflecting mechanism is provided so as to deflect the corn, which has been popped upward out of the popping vessel into the receptacle, thus, separating the corn that has popped from the kernels of corn in the popping vessel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,568 (Kiczek) further discloses a popcorn popper, which utilizes an oil heating mechanism having a pair of heating elements for heating kernels of unpopped corn to form popcorn. The popcorn popper has a base member and a heating mechanism for heating oil and the kernels of unpopped corn to form popcorn. An alternate embodiment of the popcorn popper is disclosed, in which the heating mechanism has an air heating mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,546 (Fingerhut) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,922,355 (Green) disclose devices and method for popping corn, each of the devices having a housing and a popping device, including an air duct, means for blowing gases through and suspending unpopped corn kernels in the popping device, and means for heating the suspended corn kernels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,798 (Nakamura) discloses a popcorn processing machine having a heating chamber into which a measured quantity of raw corn kernels are fed in each of a number of operating cycles. The raw corn kernels are heated, agitated, and popped by hot air supplied under pressure, as a whirling rising vortex, which results in the production of popcorn. The bottom of the heating chamber
Bond Gregg
Helman Andrew
Jacobs Marvin E.
Simone Timothy F.
The Helman Group Ltd.
LandOfFree
Popcorn maker does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Popcorn maker, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Popcorn maker will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2999963