Sauce Leveler Device
A leveler device that engages a bulk product container or bucket that allows a user to level off a scooping or measuring device to obtain a predetermined amount of product. The leveler device includes a blade or wall disposed over a container opening of the container. In use, a user levels the amount of sauce within the measuring device by successively running the rim of the measuring device across the blade or wall of the leveler device to remove excess sauce. The excess sauce that is scraped or pushed off of the measuring device rim by the leveler blade may return back into the container. Thus, the user can consistently scrape and pour the desired amount of product.
The present invention relates to a product leveler and particularly to a pizza sauce leveler.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, representative embodiments disclosing specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed invention. However, it will be apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art having had the benefit of the present disclosure that other embodiments according to the present teachings that depart from the specific details disclosed herein remain within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, descriptions of well known apparatuses and methods may be omitted so as to not obscure the description of the representative embodiments. Such methods and apparatuses are clearly within the scope of the claimed invention.
Furthermore, and as described in subsequent paragraphs, the specific mechanical configurations illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify embodiments of the invention and that other alternative mechanical configurations are possible.
The sauce leveler device 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention depicted in the
As shown in
As shown in
Leveler device 20 may be constructed of one or more materials by a variety of processes, such as injection molding. Leveler device 20 may be of unitary construction and may be made of any of numerous materials commonly known in the art depending on specific product and environmental conditions. Some common examples of materials include but are not limited to polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate.
Although leveler device 20 is shown in detail in
As shown in
Although the latching mechanism 40 of the attachment mechanism 30 may be disengaged by a tool, a latch 41 which may be manually operated without a tool is shown in
Although attachment mechanism 30 is shown in detail in the figures, a variety of attachment or mounting mechanisms may be used to assemble the leveler device to the container, causing it to be either permanently or releasably secured. Although not shown, the leveler device or more specifically the attachment mechanism, inclined arms, or center arm may allow for pivoting, possibly about the longitudinal axis of the elongated leveler device, from a first position to a second position that may adjust the scraping angle 0 of the leveler device as desired by the user. Further, the leveler device or a single inclined arm 26 may have an attachment mechanism 30 while the other arm merely engages and receives the container rim.
The measuring device, ladle, or spoon 1 is shown in
As shown in
While several inventive embodiments have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of the other means which are structured for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments described. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials and configurations described are meant to be exemplary only and that the actual parameters, dimensions and materials and/or configurations will depend on the specific application or applications for which the inventive teachings are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation to achieve many equivalents to the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is therefore to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only in that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise then as specifically described and claimed.
Inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to reach individual feature, systems, articles, materials, kits and/or methods described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, are included within the inventive skills evidenced in the present disclosure.
All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.
The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”
The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with “and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when used in conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc. As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should be understood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when used in the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or” as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive alternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.
As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “at least one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should be understood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and every element specifically listed within the list of elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “at least one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.
It should also be understood that, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, in any methods claimed herein that include more than one step or act, the order of the steps or acts of the method is not necessarily limited to the order in which the steps or acts of the method are recited. Also, any reference numerals or other characters, appearing between parentheses in the claims, are provided merely for convenience and are not intended to limit the claims in any way.
In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitional phrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.
It is understood that while certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. A product leveler and bulk product container assembly comprising:
- a bulk product container having a container rim surrounding a container opening;
- a leveler including a elongated bar, said elongated bar including a center arm connecting two depending arms, said center arm includes a planar wall depending therefrom, said center arm is disposed at a predetermined vertical distance above said container rim and over said container opening by said two depending arms, a distal end of each one of said depending arms has an attachment mechanism releasably securing said leveler to said container rim.
2. The product leveler and bulk product container assembly as in claim 1 wherein said planar wall includes laterally opposing ends, said laterally opposing ends of said planar wall engage each of said depending arms, respectively.
3. The product leveler and bulk product container assembly as in claim 1 wherein said planar wall includes a forward and rear planar surface, at least one of said forward and rear planar surfaces outwardly curve into said center arm at an upper edge of said planar wall.
4. The product leveler and bulk product container assembly as in claim 1 wherein said attachment mechanism includes a groove, said groove receives said container rim.
5. The product leveler and bulk product container assembly as in claim 1 wherein said attachment mechanism includes a latch with a bias cam surface.
6. The product leveler and bulk product container assembly as in claim 5 wherein said latch includes a depressible member.
7. The product leveler and bulk product container assembly as in claim 1 wherein said attachment mechanism rotationally fixes said leveler to said container rim.
8. A sauce leveler and container combination for measuring comprising:
- a container having a container opening surrounded by a rim, said rim having a latch retainer; and
- a leveler device having a planar flange disposed over said container opening and spaced a distance above said container rim, said planar flange has a lower scraping edge, said planar flange having a pair of depending arms outwardly extending to said container rim, each said arm having an attachment mechanism securing said leveler device to said container, said attachment mechanism having a depressible member with a latch connected to a hinge whereby said latch is positionable between a engaged position with said container latch retainer and a disengaged position with said container latch retainer.
9. The sauce leveler and container combination as in claim 8 wherein said planar flange has an upper edge outwardly curved therefrom and opposite said lower scraping edge.
10. The sauce leveler and container combination as in claim 8 wherein said attachment mechanism axially and rotationally restricts said leveler device relative to said container rim.
11. The sauce leveler and container combination as in claim 8 wherein each said arm has an upper deck connecting opposing interior and exterior depending walls, wherein said interior depending wall engages an interior surface of said container rim and said exterior depending wall engages an exterior surface of said container rim when said leveler latch is in said engaged position with said container latch retainer.
12. The sauce leveler and container combination as in claim 8 wherein each said arm extends radially outward from said planar flange towards said container rim at an angle.
13. The sauce leveler and container combination as in claim 8 wherein said latch includes a bias cam.
14. A sauce leveler for attachment to a container comprising:
- an elongated sauce leveler extending along a longitudinal axis, said leveler having a pair of mounting brackets at opposing ends of said leveler that are at a first elevation, and a scraping blade positioned at a second elevation between said mounting brackets by a pair of arms, wherein said second elevation is greater than said first elevation, said scraping blade extends a portion of a distance between said pair of mounting brackets; and
- said scraping blade has a pair of planar surfaces extending between an upper edge and a lower edge, wherein said planar surfaces face in opposing directions perpendicular to said longitudinal axis.
15. The sauce leveler as in claim 14 wherein said upper edge extends outwardly from said planar surfaces, respectively, in said opposing directions.
16. The sauce leveler as in claim 14 wherein each said mounting bracket includes a latch connected to a hinge and actuator.
17. The sauce leveler as in claim 16 wherein each said mounting bracket includes a groove, defined by an inner wall and an outer wall.
18. The sauce leveler as in claim 17 wherein said inner wall includes one or more protrusions.
19. The sauce leveler as in claim 17 wherein said latch biases into and out of said groove.
20. The sauce leveler as in claim 17 wherein said groove is defined by at least one curved surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 8, 2010
Publication Date: Mar 8, 2012
Inventor: John H. Schnatter (Anchorage, KY)
Application Number: 12/877,571
International Classification: B65B 3/26 (20060101);