U.S. patent application number 15/385712 was filed with the patent office on 2018-06-21 for finger mitt for handling food.
The applicant listed for this patent is RICHARD MARK CICCO, ROGER DUANE RHODES-SOUTHWICK. Invention is credited to RICHARD MARK CICCO, ROGER DUANE RHODES-SOUTHWICK.
Application Number | 20180168248 15/385712 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 62556144 |
Filed Date | 2018-06-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180168248 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CICCO; RICHARD MARK ; et
al. |
June 21, 2018 |
FINGER MITT FOR HANDLING FOOD
Abstract
A finger mitt for handling food items, in order to avoid
food-borne illnesses, includes a pair of wings joined by a live
hinge. Each wing has a finger grip surface and an object grip
surface. The finger grip surface forms a finger cavity by attaching
to a finger upper cover on three sides while fourth side remains
free. Free side of the finger upper cover is concave while its
opposite side is convex. The finger cavity is sufficient to
accommodate distal phalanx of a thumb in one wing and distal
phalanx of a middle finger and a thumb in other wing. The finger
grip surface is lined with small protrusions, arranged in
staggering rows and columns, for holding onto the mitt while the
object grip surface with raised concentric semi-circles for
securely holding an object. The mitt is dishwasher safe, reusable,
convenient and also allows a user to squeeze fruit.
Inventors: |
CICCO; RICHARD MARK; (LAS
VEGAS, NV) ; RHODES-SOUTHWICK; ROGER DUANE;
(MUKILTEO, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CICCO; RICHARD MARK
RHODES-SOUTHWICK; ROGER DUANE |
LAS VEGAS
MUKILTEO |
NV
WA |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
62556144 |
Appl. No.: |
15/385712 |
Filed: |
December 20, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 19/01547 20130101;
A41D 13/087 20130101; A41D 2400/80 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A41D 13/08 20060101
A41D013/08 |
Claims
1. A finger mitt for handling food items, further comprising: a
plurality of identical wings joined by a live hinge; wherein each
wing further comprises a finger grip surface and an object grip
surface, the finger grip surface forms a finger cavity by attaching
to a finger upper cover on three sides while fourth side is
free.
2. A finger mitt for handling food items of claim 1, wherein the
finger grip surface is lined with a plurality of protrusions
arranged in staggering rows and columns.
3. A finger mitt for handling food items of claim 1, wherein free
side of the finger upper cover is concave while its opposite side
is convex and rest of the two sides are parallel to each other.
4. A finger mitt for handling food items of claim 1, wherein depth
and width of the finger cavity is configured to accommodate distal
phalanx of a thumb in one wing and distal phalanx of a forefinger
and a middle finger in other wing.
5. A finger mitt for handling food items of claim 1, wherein the
object grip surface comprises raised concentric semi-circles for
securely holding food items.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The embodiments herein relate generally to a finger mitt for
handling food items in order to avoid food-borne illnesses.
[0002] Prior to embodiments of the disclosed invention gloves were
used to handle food items that were inconvenient to use and were
not reusable. Further, other devices such as tongs do not allow a
user to squeeze a fruit. Embodiments of the disclosed invention
solve this problem.
SUMMARY
[0003] A finger mitt for handling food items, in order to avoid
food-borne illnesses, includes a pair of wings joined by a live
hinge. Each wing has a finger grip surface and an object grip
surface. The finger grip surface forms a finger cavity by attaching
to a finger upper cover on three sides while fourth side remains
free. Free side of the finger upper cover is concave while its
opposite side is convex. The finger cavity is sufficient to
accommodate distal phalanx of a thumb in one wing and distal
phalanx of a middle finger and a thumb in other wing. The finger
grip surface is lined with small protrusions, arranged in
staggering rows and columns, for holding onto the mitt while the
object grip surface with raised concentric semi-circles for
securely holding an object. The mitt is dishwasher safe, reusable,
convenient and also allows a user to squeeze fruit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0004] The detailed description of some embodiments of the
invention is made below with reference to the accompanying
figures.
[0005] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the invention shown in
exemplary usage of one embodiment of the present invention.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the
present invention.
[0007] FIG. 3 shows a rear perspective view of one embodiment of
the present invention.
[0008] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of one embodiment of the
present invention.
[0009] FIG. 5 shows a section view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 1
of one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS
[0010] A finger mitt for handling food items, in order to avoid
food-borne illnesses, is disclosed. The mitt is easy to use,
reusable and allows a user to squeeze fruit.
[0011] The mitt 10 has two identical wings joined by a live hinge
20. Each wing has a finger grip surface 16 and an object grip
surface 14. The finger grip surface is partially covered by a
finger upper cover 12 producing a finger cavity 18 for inserting
the fingers. The finger upper cover is attached to the three sides
of the object grip surface, forming the finger cavity, while the
fourth side is free. The free side is convex while the side
opposite to the free side is convex. The rest of the two sides are
parallel to each other. Distance between concave and convex sides
determines the depth of the finger cavity while distance between
two parallel sides of finger upper cover determines the width of
the finger cavity. The depth and the width are configured to hold
distal phalanx of a middle finger and a forefinger 24 on one wing
and distal phalanx of thumb on the other wing.
[0012] The finger grip surface is lined with small protrusions for
a user to hold onto the mitt while the object grip surface is
covered with raised concentric semi-circles for holding an object
28 safely. The protrusions are arranged in staggered rows and
columns. To use the mitt, an operator 22 inserts a middle and the
forefinger in one finger cavity on one of the wings while inserts a
thumb 26 in the other finger cavity on another wing.
[0013] The mitt is produced by using an eight-cavity mold in an
injection mold process and a food grade thermoplastic elastomer
(plastic). The plastic is then heated and injected into the mold
and finally cured to set the mitt in shape. A colorant of choice
can be added to the plastic prior to heating the plastic to impart
color to the mitt. The use of plastic also makes the mitt
dishwasher safe and reusable.
[0014] As used in this application, the term "a" or "an" means "at
least one" or "one or more."
[0015] As used in this application, the term "about" or
"approximately" refers to a range of values within plus or minus
10% of the specified number.
[0016] As used in this application, the term "substantially" means
that the actual value is within about 10% of the actual desired
value, particularly within about 5% of the actual desired value and
especially within about 1% of the actual desired value of any
variable, element or limit set forth herein.
[0017] All references throughout this application, for example
patent documents including issued or granted patents or
equivalents, patent application publications, and non-patent
literature documents or other source material, are hereby
incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, as though
individually incorporated by reference, to the extent each
reference is at least partially not inconsistent with the
disclosure in the present application (for example, a reference
that is partially inconsistent is incorporated by reference except
for the partially inconsistent portion of the reference).
[0018] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright
owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of
the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the
Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise
reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
[0019] Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state "means
for" performing a specified function, or "step for" performing a
specified function, is not to be interpreted as a "means" or "step"
clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 112, 6. In particular, any
use of "step of" in the claims is not intended to invoke the
provision of 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 112, 6.
[0020] Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that
numerous design configurations may be possible to enjoy the
functional benefits of the inventive systems. Thus, given the wide
variety of configurations and arrangements of embodiments of the
present invention the scope of the invention is reflected by the
breadth of the claims below rather than narrowed by the embodiments
described above.
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