Oven rack tool
An oven rack insertion and removal tool (1, 18) has a grasping handle end (4) on a proximal end (2) and a rack insertion notch (6) and extraction notch (5) on a distal end (3). One embodiment is provided having only one notch (15) for both extracting and inserting an oven rack. The tool may have an eye hook (7) for hanging the tool on a nail or hook proximate an oven (10).
This invention relates to a kitchen tool, more particularly a utensil for partially extracting and inserting an oven rack.
Most often, when one is baking or roasting food in an oven the rack on which the food is being cooked becomes extremely hot. During the cooking process it is usually necessary to partially extract the rack to check the status of the food and then to re-insert it until cooking is completed, at which time the oven rack must be extracted to remove the food. Normally, to decrease the likelihood of being burned when touching the rack one uses mitts, gloves or a towel over one's hand. Unfortunately, such items are frequently out of reach, misplaced or can't be found when needed and often are too bulky to use. Also, even when such items are available, the user must move very close to the heat of the oven, thereby exposing the face and arms to the heat or the splattering and/or spillage of hot juices or greases from the food being cooked. Accordingly, a need exists for at tool for extracting and inserting racks from an oven without exposing oneself to being burned.
The prior art includes the following United States patents:
Although some of the tools disclosed in these prior patents are utilized for the same purpose, none has the same structure as the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary object of the present invention is to provide a tool for partially inserting or extracting an oven rack.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a tool which decreases th likelihood of injury due to a hot rack.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a tool which eliminates the need to use bulky gloves or mitts when inserting or extracting a rack from an oven.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide such a tool which can be located in a position proximate to the oven so that it is readily available for use.
The present invention accomplishes the above and other objects by providing a tool for extracting and inserting a rack of an oven made of a substantially planar rigid piece of material having proximal and distal ends. The proximal end has a handle for grasping by a user's hand and the distal end has at least one notch capable of being placed over a front bar of an oven rack so the oven rack can be pulled to partially extract it from the oven or pushed to insert it into the oven. The tool may take any form, whether it be an animal, such as a fish, in which case the notch for inserting or pushing the rack into the oven may comprise the mouth and the notch for extracting the rack be contained on the underside of the head, a vegetable or whatever. The notch on the underside of the head could serve both purposes of inserting and extracting the rack. The distal or handle end for pushing and grasping by the user could be a tail of the animal or fish. An eye hook could be attached to the tool, preferably on the distal end opposite the handle, so that the tool could be hung on a nail or hook proximate the oven to make it readily available for use.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGSThis invention is described by appended claims in relation to a description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings which are explained briefly as follows:
Listed numerically below with reference to the drawings are terms used to describe features of this invention. These terms and numbers assigned to them designate the same features throughout this description.
Referring to
Although
The oven rack tool of the present invention may take any form, a fish, an animal, a vegetable or whatever, so long as the tool would have at least one notch on a distal end for extracting and inserting an oven rack and a grasping handle on a proximal end.
A new and useful oven rack tool having been described, all such foreseeable modifications, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, mathematical possibilities or combinations of parts, pluralities of parts, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims and not precluded by prior art are included in this invention.
Claims
1. A tool for extracting and inserting a rack of an oven, said tool comprising:
- a substantially planar rigid piece of material having proximal and distal ends;
- the proximal end having a handle for grasping by a user's hand; and
- the distal end having at least one notch capable of being placed over a front bar of an oven rack for extracting and inserting the rack.
2. The tool of claim 1 wherein the at least one notch on the distal end is a convex notch for pushing the oven rack into the oven.
3. The tool of claim 1 wherein the at least one notch on the distal end is a forward curved notch for placing over the bar of the oven rack so the rack can be pulled outward from the oven.
4. The tool of claim 2 wherein the at least one notch on the distal end includes a forward curved notch for placing over the bar of the oven rack so the rack can be pulled outward from the oven.
5. The tool of claim 1 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and a forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
6. The tool of claim 2 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and a forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
7. The tool of claim 3 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and the forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
8. The tool of claim 4 wherein the tool is in the shape of an animal having a tail section of the animal which serves as a handle and the forward section which contains the at least one notch for extracting and inserting the oven rack.
9. The tool of claim 5 wherein the animal is a fish.
10. The tool of claim 6 wherein the animal is a fish.
11. The tool of claim 7 wherein the animal is a fish.
12. The tool of claim 8 wherein the animal is a fish.
13. The tool of claim 1 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
14. The tool of claim 2 wherein the distal end had an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
15. The tool of claim 3 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
16. The tool of claim 4 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
17. The tool of claim 5 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
18. The tool of claim 6 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
19. The tool of claim 7 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
20. The tool of claim 8 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
21. The tool of claim 9 wherein the distal end has an eye-hook secured thereto for hanging the tool in a location proximate the oven.
22. The tool of claim 1 wherein the tool is in the shape of a vegetable.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 4, 2003
Publication Date: Mar 10, 2005
Inventor: Diana Coleman (Kissmmee, FL)
Application Number: 10/656,510