CA1080960A - Food meter - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A food meter comprising a base and four upstanding walls defining three spaces for the metering of spaghetti-like food. The spaces are generally in the form of troughs and are of graduated width for the selective metering of the food. A hole is made in the base for hanging the instrument if so desired.

Description

This invention relates to a food meter particularly for msasuring the proper amount of spaghetti-like food prior to cooking~
TherB i9 a need to provide a simple, easy to use, in-expensive-to-manu~acture and an easily-cleanable and storabls kitchen instrument for the metering or measurement of spaghetti or similar fibrous or filamentous food. Such food has swelling properties 90 that, when cooked, it occupias mora volume than when uncooked. Therefore, it i8 difficult to measure a precise amount even when tha correct proportion of swelling is known.
Accordingly, it is an object of th0 present invantion to provide a food meter which is-simple, easy to use, non-costly to produce and easily cleanable and storable.
It is a further object of the presant invention to provide a ~ood mster wherein it i8 insured that the proper amount of spaghetti will be metered. -~
These and othsr objects o~ the pre~snt invention are accomplished in accordance with a pre~erred~embodiment of the present invention by the provision o~ a body formed by a base with upstanding parallel walls~ The walls are progrsssively spaced apart to define compartments of diPferent sizes~ Praf0rably9 a hole is provided in case the instrument is to be hung. -~
The above will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description and also to ths preferred embodiment itsel~, illustrated by way of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the m0ter;
Figurs 2 i8 a top view showing the spaghetti like food in dashed outline;
Figure 3 is a crosR-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and ' ', :' -: .

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Figure ~ is a side view.
The instrument oP the invention is preferably molded as a one piece body ~rom a synthetic resin and includes a base 1 and integral~
upstanding~space~ substantially parallel walls 2~ 3~ 4 and 5~ The walls and ths base ars generally rectangular in configuration having the appearance of a thr~e~dimensional comb. Walls 2~ 3~ 4 and 5 ars progressively spacsd apart tw~-by-two to dafina compartmsnts 6~ 7 and B of progressivs width which ars used ~or receiving various amounts o~ food. As is readily apparent,the three compartments can contain three diffsrent volumss of uncooksd spaghetti A7 noodles or like food when sach compartment~ as the case may be~is fillsd to the same level flush with the top edges of the walls.
Ths two wider compartments prefsrably havs widths whi~h ars two and three times~ respectivsly the width of the narrowest -compartmentO `:
Thus ths instrument can msasurs ssrvings for one, two or thre0 parsonsc The thres compartments may also be usad for persons of varying appstites, it is to be notad~
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A hols Y is provided in case tha instrumant is to ba hung~ as for example on a kitchan wall, '~'`'; ' ,.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A food meter molded as a one0piece body from synthetic resin and comprising a base and at least four upstanding, spaced, substantially parallel walls of substantially equal height defining three compartments, said base and said walls being generally rectangular in the horizontal and vertical planes respectively, said compartments being fully open at the top and at both ends, said walls having top edges lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said base, the surfaces of each compartment as defined by said base and two associated walls being continuous, smooth and free of any protrusion including the edges of said base and walls, said walls being progressively spaced apart two by two and defining compartments of progressive widths, the two wider compartments being two and three times, respectively, the width of the narrowest compartment, whereby uncooked rigid spaghetti-like pasta or similar rod-like rigid food may be inserted in anyone compartment longitudinally of the latter with the end portions of the rod-like food protruding from the open ends of the compartment, the rod-like food being in contact with the entire surfaces of said compartment, the latter measuring a precise quantity of such rod-like food when the latter fills the compartment and is flush with the top edges of the two walls of anyone compartment.