AU6552701A - Kitchen tongs - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: Craig A. Baron Craig A. Baron CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

Kitchen Tongs Details of Associated Provisional Application: PQ9893 filed 1 September 2001 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: CULINARY TONGS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to tongs and is particularly concerned with separable culinary tongs having a wide range of food processing functions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Culinary tongs are an essential utensil for both amateur and professional cooks alike. A typical set of ordinary tongs comprises two elongate tong members pivotally connected at one end to each other by means of a hinge pin or by virtue of an inherent resiliency in the material of fabrication. Separate means can be provided i at the point of connection to resiliently bias the tongs to a normally open position ready for use, and a catch of one form or another can be provided to hold the tongs in a closed position, particularly so that they can be easily stored.

oeeee Because culinary tongs are particularly useful in handling raw and cooked food, they are constantly being used by cooks. This can lead to a build up of food matter on the tongs, particularly at the point where the tongs are connected to one another. Bacteria and other toxic microorganisms can accumulate resulting in a health hazard as such tongs are difficult to clean properly even in conventional dishwashers.

Further, although culinary tongs are very useful, they have their limitations as to what they can be used for. Because they are always at hand in a kitchen, it would also be useful if they included additional food or drink related processing functions.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide culinary tongs which can readily be separated for effective cleaning.

It is a further object of the invention to provide culinary tongs that incorporate one or more of the following features, at least: a blade, a serrated edge, a bottle opener, a scaler, a peeler, a shredder, a zester, and/or other like food preparation amenity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a set of multi-function culinary tongs comprising two elongate tong members hingedly interconnected adjacent one end to each other, each said tong having an inwardly facing open channel section for handling and a food grasping end, wherein the food grasping end splays outwardly from the channel section to include a longitudinal cutting edge on one side, and wherein the hinge connection comprises a removable pin to enable the said tongs to be separated from one another.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The culinary tongs are suitably resiliently biased to an open position by a coil hinge spring which o o 30 fits about the pin however other biasing means which enable the same or similar effect to be produced can be used.

Preferably, an opposing longitudinal edge to the cutting edge of the food grasping end of the tong, is serrated so that it can be used as a scraper or as an additional cutting edge. The design of the tongs can be such that when they are in a fully closed position, the 4 blades and/or serrated longitudinal edges align with one another and can optionally be in face-to-face contact.

An inner facing region of the blades can be recessed with an appropriate shape so as to provide a bottle cap removing function.

A slot can be formed in the food grasping end of either one or both tong members to provide a peeling function.

The tip of the food grasping end of either one or both tongs can be pointed, rounded or squared-off. In this latter configuration, the tong alone or the tongs together could be used as a screw driver.

The opposite end of each tong member adjacent to the hinge connection, preferably extends beyond the hinge connection by a short distance and provides another 20 food treatment function. Preferably a zester is provided oo.o here for removing thin strips of skin from fruit such as lemons. The other of the two tong member ends can be ooooo si fodscha shaped so as to put grooves or channels in food such as zucchinis and cucumbers.

The removable hinge pin can be a screw with an internal housing which either has a finger flange for removal by hand or a recessed slotted head for removal with the aid of a screw driver.

Preferably, the pin is stainless steel and there is a removable clip to enable the tongs to be dismantled. A stainless steel spring can be inserted from the rear of the tongs after the pin and clip are secured. The tongs can have two selections for the hinge pin to be inserted to provide a small width setting or a wide width setting of the separate tong sections. This can be effected by one side of the tongs having a one hole entry and the other side incorporating the two hole selection for the opening width settings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a single tong of a set of culinary tongs according to one aspect of the invention, and Figure 2 is a top plan view of the culinary tongs shown in Figure 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in both of which like reference numerals refer .I to like parts.

Referring to both drawings simultaneously, the culinary tongs comprise two elongate tong members 10, 11 hingedly connected together by a screw-headed pin 12. A hinge spring, in the form of a helical coil spring, is located about the pin 12 and has its respective ends resiliently biased against a respective tong member 11 to normally bias the food grasping end of the tongs to an open position as illustrated in Figure 2. The hinge spring cannot be seen in the drawings as it is hidden behind end flaps 14, 15 of the tong members.

The food grasping end 13 of the tongs has a plurality of features to increase the utility of the tongs. These features comprise a bladed region 17; a serrated cutting or scraping region 19; and peeling slot 20; a flattened screw-driver end-piece 21; and a bottle cap remover 22.

The opposite end of the tongs adjacent to the hinge incorporates a zester 23 for removing thin strips of skin from fruit and a section 24 for producing a channel in foodstuffs.

The culinary tongs provide a very useful and versatile kitchen utensil, which is simple to use and is highly desirable in that it can be readily dismantled and properly cleaned in a dishwasher or by hand.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

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Claims (8)

1. A set of multi-function culinary tongs comprising two elongate tong members hingedly inter- connected adjacent one end to each other, each said tong having an inwardly facing open channel section for handling and a food grasping end, wherein the food grasping end splays outwardly from the channel section to include a longitudinal cutting edge on one side, and wherein the hinge connection comprises a removable pin to enable the said tongs to be separated from one another.

2. Culinary tongs as claimed in claim 1, wherein an opposing longitudinal edge to the cutting edge of the food grasping end of a tong, is serrated.

3. Culinary tongs as claimed in claim 1 or 2, i wherein an inner facing region of the blades is shaped to provide a bottle cap removing function.

4. Culinary tongs as claimed in any one of claims 1-3, wherein a slot is formed in the food grasping end of eeoee either one or both tong members which provides a peeling function.

Culinary tongs as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a zester is formed on the end of each tong member adjacent to the hinge connection. *e

6. Culinary tongs as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and including a coil hinge spring which fits about the removable pin to resiliently bias the tongs to a normally open configuration.

7. Culinary tongs substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1; 1 L

8 DATED this 29t Day of August 2001 Craig A. Baron By His Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO. 0@* .00. 000 0 0. 0