BUTTER HOLDER AND APPLICATION DEVICE
A butter holder for dispensing butter onto food having a base piece which includes at least one wall having inner and outer wall surfaces. The base piece has a floor positioned at a base of the wall, and the inner wall surface and the floor define a cavity for retaining a portion of a stick of butter. The base piece has an open end opposite the floor to permit a portion of the stick of butter to protrude out of the base piece. The inner wall surface has at least one protrusion which extends partially into the cavity. The protrusion extends upwardly on the inner wall surface from the floor toward the open end. The protrusion extends partially into a stick of butter placed within the cavity to help retain the stick of butter within the base piece. The base piece is formed from a flexible food-grade silicone material.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/415,045, which was filed on Oct. 31, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThe present invention pertains to a device for holding and applying a stick of butter. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a butter holder device which has particular use with applying butter to food.
2. Description of the Prior ArtVarious devices exist in the prior art for holding and dispensing a volume of butter from the end of a stick of butter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,899 to Lester discloses an insulated butter dispenser for keeping the stick of butter from getting too warm while it is out of a refrigerator. Also, U.S. Design Pat. No. D315,083 discloses a butter dispenser for incrementally pushing a stick of butter out of a container so that the end of the butter can be applied and dispensed onto food. U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,156 discloses a device for dispensing butter onto food by incrementally moving the length of the stick of butter out of the end of the device so that the end can be applied to the food.
However, none of these devices have obtained commercial success due to a variety of reasons. For example, they may be overly complicated and have too many pieces, and as a result they are too messy and difficult to clean. In addition, the cumbersome nature of these devices may have made them insufficiently user-friendly.
The present invention, as is detailed hereinbelow, seeks to improve upon the existing butter holder and application devices by having minimal moving parts, by being ergonomically friendly and easy to use, by being easy to clean, and also by keeping the user from getting butter on his or her hands during use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a butter holder and application device for dispensing butter onto food which comprises: a base piece having at least one wall, the wall having an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface, and a floor positioned at a base of the wall, the inner wall surface and the floor defining a cavity for receiving and retaining a stick of butter (or a portion of a stick of butter), the base piece having an open end opposite the floor to permit a portion of the stick of butter to protrude out of the base piece, the inner wall surface being positioned adjacent the cavity for engaging against the stick of butter, and the inner wall surface including at least one protrusion which extends partially into the cavity, the protrusion being provided to extend partially into a stick of butter placed within the cavity to help retain the stick of butter within the base piece, and the base piece being formed from a flexible food-grade material.
The base piece can include four walls which are adjoined on the sides thereof to define a rectangular-shaped cavity. The inner wall surface of each wall preferably includes at least one protrusion extending partially into the cavity.
Optionally, the inner wall surface and/or the protrusions can have a textured, or contoured surface which increases the surface area thereof to help grip and retain the stick of butter placed within the cavity.
Optionally, the protrusions are tapered such that the protrusions extends further into the cavity adjacent to the floor, and the amount of protrusion into the cavity decreases along the length of the protrusion extending toward the open end.
Optionally, the protrusions extend only partially up the inner wall from the floor, whereby the protrusion does not extend to the open end. Alternatively, the protrusions can extend all the way from the floor to the open end.
Optionally, the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
Optionally, the butter holder and application device can also include a separate rigidly-formed top piece having at least one wall, and a ceiling positioned at a top of the wall, whereby the at least one wall and the ceiling form a cavity for encapsulating and surrounding the portion of the stick of butter protruding out of the base piece. Preferably the walls of the base piece and the top piece can interconnect with each other to fully enclose the stick of butter.
Optionally, the floor of the base piece includes a flange which extends beyond the base of the wall, and there is also provided a rounded interior corner, or fillet, between the flange and the base of the wall. Preferably, the walls and the open end of the top piece are dimensioned to surround the wall of the base piece, and the top piece frictionally engages with the base piece when the top piece is pressed down onto the base piece to secure the top piece in place.
Optionally, the base of the walls on the base piece include a bead, or enlarged portion extending around the walls to frictionally engage with the walls from the top piece to retain the top piece over the base piece.
Optionally, the top piece is formed from a food-grade polymer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), or polypropylene (PP).
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views in which:
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, and as shown generally in
The cavity can be dimensioned to perfectly fit the stick of butter. But preferably, and as described in greater detail below, the cavity is slightly larger than the cross-sectional area of the stick of butter.
The base piece 12, which includes the walls 14, floor 16, and protrusions 20 (described below), is preferably formed from a flexible food-grade material, such as a flexible silicone material. More preferably, the base piece 12 is formed from a food-grade silicone elastomer, such as one of the silicone elastomers sold by Smooth-On, Inc. under the trademark SORTA-Clear®. Preferably the entire base piece 12 and all of its components are integrally formed together from a single material, such as through an injection molding process, a pour molding process, or the like. Even more preferably, the base piece 12 is formed from a dishwasher-safe material.
The base piece 12 has an open end opposite the floor 16. In use, and as shown in
The wall 14 of the base piece 12 has an inner wall surface 22 positioned adjacent the cavity for engaging the stick of butter. The inner wall surface 22 includes at least one raised portion, or protrusion 20, which extends partially into the cavity. The protrusion 20 can have a uniform thickness, but it preferably is angled, or tapered, and increases in thickness toward the floor 16, as shown in
As shown in
Preferably the size of the cavity is slightly larger than the cross-sectional area of the stick of butter. This makes it easier to insert the butter into the base piece 12. But more importantly, the butter holder and application device 10 will actually function better after several uses because the butter is given several chances to soften while kept out of the refrigerator. This allows the softened butter to engage with, and form around the protrusions 20, thereby providing better grip between the butter and the base piece 12. The butter that is displaced to make room for the protrusions 20 is allowed to move, or flow, into the slight gap between the butter and the inner wall surface 22. The butter that is displaced to make room for the protrusions 20, and which flows into the gap, thereby substantially increases the contact area between the butter and the base piece 12 to help retain the butter within the cavity.
In addition, the inner wall surface 22 and/or the protrusions 20 can optionally have a textured surface 38, or contoured surface. The textured surface 38 also increases the surface area of the inner wall surface 22 and/or the protrusions 20 to help grip and retain the stick of butter placed within the cavity. For example, the textured surface 38 can include a pattern of lines that are engraved or cut into the inner wall surface 22 and/or the protrusions 20, such as knurling or any other suitable type of textured surface that is well-known in the art. Softened butter from a warmed stick of butter flows against the textured surface 38. Once the butter is cooled and re-hardened, then the butter that is tightly engaged against the textured surface 38 will help securely hold the stick of butter within the cavity.
Optionally, and as shown in
Optionally, the outer wall surface 36 can also have a textured surface 38 to provide the user with better grip for grasping the base piece 12.
Preferably the walls 14 of the base piece 12 have a substantially uniform thickness along the length thereof. Alternatively, the thickness of the walls 14 may be greater near the floor 16 than near the open end. In this regard, the walls 14 may optionally flare outwardly toward the floor 16 of the base piece 12.
Alternatively, and as shown in
In yet another alternative embodiment shown in
As shown in
The top piece 28 is preferably formed from a rigid food-grade polymer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), or polypropylene (PP).
As shown in
Similarly, this same feature is shown in
In use, the user grasps the base piece 12 and uses it to manipulate the stick of butter over an item of food. The base piece 12 keeps the user's hand from getting butter on it, and the base piece 12 is very easy to use and clean. And once the user is done with the butter, then he or she can place the optional top piece 28 over the base piece 12 to entirely encapsulate the stick of butter for storage until the next use.
According to the invention described above, a butter holder and application device is provided which has minimal moving parts, is ergonomically friendly and easy to use, is easy to clean, and also keeps the user from getting butter on his or her hands during use.
Claims
1. A butter holder and application device for dispensing butter onto food comprising:
- a base piece having at least one wall, the wall having an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface, and the base piece having a floor positioned at a base of the wall, the inner wall surface and the floor defining a cavity for receiving and retaining a portion of a stick of butter, the base piece having an open end opposite the floor to permit the portion of the stick of butter to protrude out of the base piece, the inner wall surface being positioned adjacent the cavity for engaging against the stick of butter, and the inner wall surface including at least one protrusion which extends partially into the cavity, the protrusion extending on the inner wall surface from the floor of the base piece toward the open end, the protrusion being provided to extend partially into a stick of butter placed within the cavity to help retain the stick of butter within the base piece, and the base piece being formed from a flexible food-grade material.
2. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 wherein the protrusion is tapered such that the protrusion extends further into the cavity adjacent to the floor, and the amount of protrusion into the cavity decreases along the length of the protrusion extending toward the open end.
3. The butter holder and application device of claim 2 the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
4. The butter holder and application device of claim 2 wherein the protrusion extends only partially up the inner wall from the floor, whereby the protrusion does not extend to the open end.
5. The butter holder and application device of claim 4 the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
6. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 wherein the protrusion extends only partially up the inner wall from the floor, whereby the protrusion does not extend to the open end.
7. The butter holder and application device of claim 6 the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
8. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 wherein the protrusion extends up the entire height of the inner wall from the floor to the open end.
9. The butter holder and application device of claim 8 wherein the protrusion is tapered such that the protrusion extends further into the cavity adjacent to the floor, and the amount of protrusion into the cavity decreases along the length of the protrusion extending toward the open end.
10. The butter holder and application device of claim 9 wherein the base piece has four walls which are adjoined on the sides thereof to define a rectangular-shaped cavity, and the inner wall surface of each wall includes at least one protrusion extending partially into the cavity.
11. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 wherein the base piece has four walls which are adjoined on the sides thereof to define a rectangular-shaped cavity, and the inner wall surface of each wall includes at least one protrusion extending partially into the cavity.
12. The butter holder and application device of claim 11 the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
13. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 wherein the protrusion has a textured surface to increase the surface area thereof to help grip and retain the stick of butter placed within the cavity.
14. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 wherein the protrusion extends toward the open end along a straight line, and the protrusion has a curved surface.
15. The butter holder and application device of claim 14 wherein the protrusion is tapered such that the protrusion extends further into the cavity adjacent to the floor, and the amount of protrusion into the cavity decreases along the length of the protrusion extending toward the open end.
16. The butter holder and application device of claim 15 wherein the protrusion extends only partially up the inner wall from the floor, whereby the protrusion does not extend to the open end.
17. The butter holder and application device of claim 16 the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
18. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 the base piece is formed from a food-grade flexible silicone material.
19. The butter holder and application device of claim 1 including a separate rigidly-formed top piece having at least one wall, and a ceiling positioned at a top of the wall, whereby the at least one wall and the ceiling form a cavity for encapsulating and surrounding the portion of the stick of butter protruding out of the base piece; and whereby the walls of the base piece and the top piece are conFIG.d to be interconnectable with each other to fully enclose the stick of butter.
20. The butter holder and application device of claim 19 wherein the top piece is formed from a food-grade polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, and polypropylene.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 31, 2017
Publication Date: May 3, 2018
Inventor: John McLelland (Wyoming, MI)
Application Number: 15/799,094