Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Egg Spatula
Background of the invention:
Field of the invention:
The present invention relates to the field of culinary ustensils and is
particularly concerned with a kitchen spatula for handling eggs during the
preparation thereof.
Prior art:
The art of kitchen ustensils is replete with spatulas of various shapes
and sizes. The most common kitchen spatula consists of a substantially flat
spatula blade extending integrally into a handle.
This type of ustensil is freqently used during cooking operations to
flip over food being, for example, grilled in a sauce pan. The conventional
spatula is also often used to manipulate the food when it is being placed or
removed for a cooking receptacle.
In order to improve the efficiency of the spatula in manipulating the
food, a number of spatulas have been provided with various components
mostly dedicated to grasping the food in order to prevent it from slipping off
the spatula blade.
Examples of such ustensils are disclosed in U.S. Patent 2,643,907
issued to J. B. Thomas, June 30, 1953; U.S. Patent 2,292,889 issued to I.
A. McKee, August 11, 1942; U.S. Patent 3,492,039 issued to J. F. Chmela,
January, 1970; U. S. Patent 2,801,873 issued to J. E. Faughnder, August
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6, 1957 and U. S. Patent 4,955,971 issued to Goulter, September 11, 1990.
Although the spatulas disclosed in the above mentioned patents may
be adequate to grip and manipulate various types of food products, they do
not form an elegant solution for the manipulation of eggs.
Indeed, the egg has specific characteristics which structurally sets it
apart from other food products. When an egg is being fried, its yolk portion
bulges upwardly in a substantially hemispherical configuration from the
albumen or so-called "white" portion. The yolk is fragile and susceptible of
being punctured.
Fried eggs are typically served in either a "sunny side up" or an "over
easy" configuration. In both configuration, the yolk remains unpunctured
and surrounded by the albumen or so-called "white" portion. The spatulas
disclosed in the above mentioned patents are not suited for manipulating
an egg without puncturing its yolk.
Summary of the invention:
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an
improved egg spatula.
The egg spatula in accordance with the present invention will allow
the user to grasp the egg being manipulated without puncturing its yolk.
According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a
spatula for manipulating an egg having a yolk portion and an albumen
portion, said spatula comprising a substantially flat spatula paddle, an
elongated paddle handle having a handle proximal end and a handle distal
end, said handle proximal end being rigidly fixed to said spatula paddle,
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an elongated clamping handle having a clamping handle proximal end and
a clamping handle distal end, said clamping handle distal end being hingely
fixed to said handle distal end, a substantially flat clamping member rigidly
fixed to said clamping handle proximal end, a substantially U-shaped
indentation provided in said clamping member, said indentation defining a
pair of fingers projecting substantiallyforwardly, said fingers being spaced
apart by a spacing of sufficient size to accomodate said yolk of said egg,
whereby said clamping handle is adapted to be hingely pivoted relatively
to said paddle handle so that said fingers of said clamping member and
said spatula paddle will act as tongs grasping said albumen portion of said
egg while said yolk portion will be nested between said fingers of said
clamping member.
Conveniently, said biasing means for biasing said paddle handle and said
clamping handle away from each other is positioned between said paddle
handle and said clamping handle.
Preferrably, said biasing means is a bent segment of substantially resilient
material extending integrally from said handle distal end into said clamping
handle distal end.
Conveniently, said spatula is formed entirely of an injected moldable piece
of polymeric material.
In the preferred embodiment, each one of said fingers has a finger width,
wherein said fingers are spaced apart by a distance of at least one inch
and wherein each one of said fingers has a width of at least one quarter of
an inch so thath said fingers will offer a sufficiently large contact surtace
so
as not to damage sais albumen portion..
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Brief description of the drawings:
Fig 1: in a perspective view illustrates an egg spatula in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig 2: in a perspective view illustrates an egg in a frying pan being grasped
by a spatula in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 3 through 7 in sequential elevational views illustrate an egg being
flipped over by a spatula in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
Detailed description:
Referring to figure 1, there is shown an egg spatula 10 in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention.
The egg spatula 10 has a substantially flat paddle 12. An elongated
paddle handle 14 extends integrally from the flat paddle 12. The paddle
handle 14 thus has a handle proximal end 16 attached to the paddle and
a handle distal end 18. A clamping arm 20 having a clamping arm proximal
end 22 and a clamping arm distal end 24 is hingely fixed by an hinge link
to the distal end 18 of the paddle handle 14. In the embodiment illustrated
in figure 1, the hinge link is a bent section 26 of relatively resilient
material
having a substantially curved configuration. The distal end 18 of the paddle
handle 14 thus extends integrally into the section 22 which in turn extends
integrally into the clamping arm 20. The proximal end 22 of the clamping
arm 20 extends integrally into a clamping fork 28.
The clamping fork 28 is substantially flat. The clamping fork 28 has
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a frontal substantially U-shaped indentation 30 which defines a pair of
frontwardly projecting fingers 32.
In use, the clamping arm 20 is adapted to be pivoted about its distal
end 24 relatively to the paddle handle 14. The pivotal action of the
clamping arm 20 is schematized by arrow A in figure 1. The paddle 12 has
a set of optional elongated gripping slots 34 extending therethrough. The
top surface of the paddle 12 has a bevelled section 36 adjacent its
peripheral edge.
Figures 3 through 7 illustrate a sequence of actions which are
typically pertormed when an egg is being flipped over with a spatula 10 in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
When a frying egg 38 needs to be manipulated, for example turned
over, as is the case in the preparation of a so-called "easy over" fried egg,
the user must first scrape the egg 38 from the frying pan 40 by sliding the
flat paddle 12 between the albumen or so-called "white" section 42 and the
bottom wall of the frying pan 40. As illustrated in figures 2 and 3, during
the scraping action, the clamping arm 20 and the clamping fork 28 are kept
in spaced relationship relatively to the paddle handle 14 and the paddle 12.
The spatula 10 is manipulated so that the yolk portion 46 of the egg
38 is positioned in register with the indentation 30.
As illustrated in figure 4, to grasp the egg 38, the hand 48 of the user
squeezes the clamping arm 20 towards the paddle handle 14, causing the
section 26 to bend and the clamping fork 28 to move towards the paddle
12. The albumen or so-called "white" section 42 of the egg 38 is thus
squeezed between the fingers 32 of the clamping fork 28 and the flat
paddle 12, while the yolk portion 46 is nested between the fingers 32. With
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the clamping fork 28 and the paddle 12 acting as tongs, the egg 38 is thus
safely clamped by the spatula 10 without puncturing its yolk section 46.
The egg 38 being securely clamped by the spatula 10, it can be pivoted as
illustrated in figure 5. The egg 38 with its yolk section 46 facing
downwardly as illustrated in figure 6, can then be gently put in contact with
the bottom wall 44 of the pan 40, again minimizing the risk of puncturing the
yolk.
By releasing the grasping action which squeezes the paddle handle
14 towards the clamping arm 20, the user then allows the bent section 26
to bring the clamping arm 20 back to its original spaced relationship relative
to the paddle handle 14 thus allowing the egg 38 to slide off the spatula.
The reference letter S is used in figure 7 to illustrate the spacing
between the paddle handle 14 and the clamping arm 20 when no squeezing
action is exherted on them.
In the preferred embodiment illustrated in figures 1 through 7, the
spatula 10 is formed out of one integral piece of injection molded polymeric
material. The handle proximal end 16 and the clamping arm proximal end
22 are both bent in order to form a spacing V between a plane T defined
by the paddle 12 and a plane U defined by the paddle handle 14.
Each one of the fingers 38 defines a substantially flat grasping
surface. The fingers 38 typically have a width W greater than '/a of an inch
in order to apply the squeezing force over a relatively large surface thus
minimizing the risk of damaging the albumen or so-called "white" portion
42.
