Dispenser for extra-hot peppers

Abstract

An extra-hot pepper dispenser for peppers like Habanero that allows dispensing without the danger of sneeze-causing dust or the accidental act of getting pepper on the hands. The dispenser can include a generally cylindrical container (or other shape) with a flip-top cap. A grating with a particular sized hole or holes for the pepper being used fits into an end of the container under the cap. The cap fits snugly in the container with a lid in a closed position to prevent children from opening it. One or more holes in the grating causes exactly the correct rate of pepper dispensing to take place so that there is little danger of dust or contact, or danger or too much pepper being dispensed.

Description

This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent application No. 60/783,954 filed Mar. 20, 2006. Application 60/783,954 is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of spice dispensing and more particularly to a special dispenser including a special cap for extra-hot peppers.

2. Background of the Invention

The use of different peppers on pizza and other foods is well-known. Most peppers, while being somewhat hot, are fairly benign. However, there are types of peppers such as the Habanero pepper can be characterized as extra-hot. The relative heat of peppers is normally measured on a scale called Scolville Units. Orange Habanero has a value of 200,000 to 300,000 units with a red variety (called Savana Red) that has 500,000 units. This is much hotter than a Jalapeno with a value of 25,000 units.

There several hazards associated with handling and dispensing extra-hot peppers. The first is eye contact, and the second is sneezing. It is very undesirable to get any of the pepper dust on the hands since contact with the eye can lead to severe burning. Also, when extra-hot peppers are dispensed with prior art methods, the associated dust can lead to sneezing bouts. In some cases, sneezing due to dust on dispensing Habanero pepper has persisted for over 30 minutes. This leads to extreme discomfort and even burning of nasal membranes.

It would be advantageous to have an extra-hot pepper dispensing apparatus that would eliminate the any stray pepper on the hands and prevent dust that can cause sneezing while still easily dispensing the pepper on a slice of pizza or other food product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an extra-hot pepper dispenser that can include a generally cylindrical pepper container (or any other shape) for holding a supply of extra-hot pepper; a flip-top cap attached to the pepper container with a lid connected with a hinge, where the flip-top cap fits snugly to close the container. The lid has a closed position where the pepper is protected and allows dispensing of pepper in an open position. The device can also have a grating covering an opening in the container where the grating contains a round or elliptical hole between around ⅛ inch or an ellipse around 3/16 inch by ⅛ inch or contains multiple holes each not larger than a size chosen for a particular pepper such as Habanero.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the special cap of the present invention.

FIG. 1B shows the embodiment of FIG. 1A with the lid closed.

FIG. 1C shows a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1D shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A shows a perspective view of a grating.

FIG. 2B shows a top view of the grating of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C shows a side view of the grating of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 shows the cap of FIG. 1 inserted into a test tube-like pepper container.

Several drawings and illustrations have been presented to aid in understanding the present invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning to FIGS. 1A-1D, an embodiment of the present invention can be seen. A generally cylindrical pepper container cap 1 can be seen. This container cap 1 can be equipped with a lid 2 that can flip open on an attached hinge 3. The lid 2 can latch closed for storage by engaging the rim 4 of an inner top 5. The rim 4 can be shaped to snugly hold the lid closed when the device is not in use. A tab 6 can facilitate opening the lid 2. The device can have optional grips 7 that allow the cap to be inserted and snugly remain inserted into a test tube-like cylinder or other-shaped pepper container. A cylindrical embodiment of a container is shown in FIG. 3 with the cap of FIG. 1 inserted. The extra-hot pepper is normally placed inside the container 11 using a filling machine or filling method that prevents dust. The cap 2 in place can be clearly seen in FIG. 3. The inner top 5 of the cap can contain one or more holes 8. This hole can be larger than necessary to dispense the pepper since the flow is metered by a grating.

Under the inner top 5, a grating 9 contains one or more holes 10 of an exact size for dispensing the pepper in a sneeze-free manner. This hole(s) is chosen for the exact grain size of the pepper. Pure Habanero pepper granules can be supplied in #8 mesh. This is the preferred mesh size for application of this pepper to pizza and similar foods. The size of the hole 10 in the grating 9 for this mesh size of Habanero pepper should be around ⅛ in. or a little smaller An elliptical hole of around ⅛ in. by 3/16 in. also works A larger hole results in too much pepper being dispensed and possible dust; too small a hole results in clogging. It is within the scope of the present invention to use different hole sizes with different peppers and different hole sizes with the same pepper for different dispensing properties.

To use the dispenser of the present invention, the user simply flips the lid open and dispenses the pepper onto the food with a normal shaking motion. This can be done with the present invention without fear of dispensing too much, of getting pepper on the hands and thence into the eyes and of creating dust that can cause sneezing. The dispenser of the present invention is safe around small children because they cannot generally open the flip top.

Several descriptions and illustrations of the present invention have been presented to better aid in understanding the structure and functioning of the invention. One skilled in the art will realize that numerous changes and variations are possible without deviating from the spirit of the invention. Each of these changes and variations are within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An extra-hot pepper dispenser comprising:

a generally cylindrical pepper container with an open end for holding a supply of extra-hot pepper;

a flip-top cap insertable into the open end of said pepper container, said cap having a lid attached to the cap by a hinge, said lid locking to close said container in a closed position and allowing dispensing in an open position;

a grating in said flip-top cap covering an opening in the pepper container, said grating containing a hole of around ⅛ in. in size.

2. The extra-hot pepper dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of holes in said grating, each of said holes not larger than ⅛ in. in diameter.

3. The extra-hot pepper dispenser of claim 1 wherein said flip-top cap has a body with grips for fitting snugly into said container.

4. The extra-hot pepper dispenser of claim 1 wherein said flip-top cap is plastic.

5. The extra-hot pepper dispenser of claim 1 wherein said grating is removable.

6. The extra-hot pepper dispenser of claim 1 wherein said hole is an ellipse of major axis 3/16 inch and minor axis of ⅛ inch.

7. A pepper dispenser for dispensing extra-hot peppers comprising a pepper container with a snugly fitting cap, said cap having a flip-top lid with an open position and a closed position, said cap also having a grating for metering said pepper, said grating containing at least one hole of around ⅛ inch in size.

8. The pepper dispenser of claim 7 wherein said grating is removable.

9. The pepper dispenser of claim 7 wherein said hole is an ellipse of around 3/16 inch by ⅛ inch.

10. The pepper dispenser of claim 7 wherein said grating contains a plurality of holes.

11. A method of dispensing extra-hot peppers comprising:

loading extra-hot pepper into a container with a generally cylindrical opening;

placing a cap on said container, said cap fitting snugly on said opening in the container, wherein the cap contains a grating having a hole of around ⅛ inch in size.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said grating contains a plurality of holes.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said grating is removable.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said hole is an ellipse of around 3/16 inch by ⅛ inch.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein said cap contains a flip-top lid.