Device For Directing Food Waste Into Garbage Disposal Inlet

Abstract

A device for safely directing food waste through a flexible cover guard and into the inlet of a garbage disposal unit. The device comprises a pusher-scraper blade. Integrally formed at the end of the pusher-scraper blade is a hand grip. Auxiliary pusher blades are formed along the sides of the pusher-scraper blade and extend partially therealong at right angles thereto. The auxiliary pusher blades extend lengthwise along the pusher-scraper blade from the vicinity of the hand grip to a point removed from the free end of the pushing-scraping blade. The auxiliary blades serve to facilitate the opening of the flexible cover guard so that food waste passes from a sink into the inlet of a garbage disposal unit. The hand grip is sufficiently large so that it cannot advance beyond the cover guard and pass into the garbage disposal unit. The pusher-scraper blade is sufficiently short so that even when inserted fully through the cover guard, it will not contact the moving parts of the garbage disposal unit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Garbage disposal units generally have an inlet which is covered by a rubber or plastic guard. The guard is generally separatd radially into a plurality of flaps. The flaps can be pushed open by the exertion of pressure thereupon as by pushing food waste through the guard and down into the garbage disposal unit.

In the past, it has been the custom of housewives to push the food waste into the garbage disposal unit using their fingers, spoons, spatulas, and the like. Clearly, this is not a safe procedure, since if the garbage disposal unit is operating, the fingers, spoons, spatulas, or the like can become enmeshed with th moving parts of the garbage disposal unit, thereby causing great harm to the hand, spoon, or spatula, as well as to the garbage disposal unit.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for safely and sanitarily directing food waste through the inlet of a garbage disposal unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which can be used to scrape food off plates or off a sink bottom and to eliminate direct hand or kitchen utensil contact of the food waste in moving the food waste directly through the guard inlet of a garbage disposal unit.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for safely and sanitarily directing food waste through the guard inlet of a garbage disposal unit in which the device is proportioned so that even when inserted as far as possible through the guard inlet, the device cannot contact the movable parts within the garbage disposal unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the present invention for directing food waste into a garbage disposal unit.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device shown in FIGS. 1-3, taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 2.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A device for safely and sanitarily directing food waste through the inlet of a garbage disposal unit comprising: a pusher-scraper blade; a hand grip attached to the end of the pusher-scraper blade opposite the pushing-scraping end thereof; and at least one auxiliary pusher blade formed along the side of said pusher-scraper blade and extending lengthwise along said pusher-scraper blade, said auxiliary blade serving to facilitate the opening of the flexible cover guard of the inlet from a sink into a garbage disposal unit.

The pusher-scraper blade and the auxiliary pusher blade or blades must, of course, be small enough to be insertable into a garbage disposal unit and large enough to force open the flaps of said unit.

Preferably, the auxiliary pusher blade is attached perpendicularly to said pusher-scraper blade along the perpendicular bisector thereof and spaced from the free end thereof; preferably, the device includes two auxiliary pusher blades each attached perpendicularly to said pusher-scraper blade along the perpendicular bisector thereof, said two auxiliary pusher blades being attached to said pusher-scraper blade on opposite sides thereof. It is preferred that the manual grip be large enough so that it cannot pass through the flexible cover guard and into the inlet of a garbage disposal unit. It is also preferred that the pusher-scraper blade by short enough so that even when inserted fully into a garbage disposal unit it will not contact the movable parts within said unit. In the exemplary embodiment, the pushing-scraping end of said pusher-scraper blade is rounded to reduce scratched plates and sinks which contain garbage disposal units. It is also preferred that the gripping means includes a hole for hanging the device from a hook means, e.g., a nail or the like, whereby the device can be mounted nearby a sink. It is further preferred that the gripping means be integral with the pusher-scraper blade.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrated in FIGS. 1--4 is the device 9 of the invention which comprises a pusher-scraper blade 10 having a rounded pushing-scraping end 11. A handle 12 is attached to the pusher-scraper blade at the end thereof 13 opposite the pushing-scraping end 11. The handle 12 is adapted for easy manual gripping in that it contains a hole 14 wherein the four fingers of a hand may be inserted and a gripping portion 15 which rests in the palm of the hand. The handle further contains a second hole 16, whereby the device may be hung vertically from a hook or the like.

The width of the handle extending from side 17 thereof to side 18 thereof is large enough so that the handle and, hence, the entire device, cannot pass through a guard into a garbage disposal unit.

The device 10 also comprises two auxiliary pusher blades 19 and 20, each auxiliary pusher blade being disposed perpendicularly to the pusher-scraper blade 10 along the perpendicular bisector thereof, said two auxiliary pusher blades being disposed to said pusher-scraper blade on opposite sides thereof. The auxiliary blades 19 and 20 in the exemplary embodiment extend from the hand grip 12 to a point removed from the free end of the pusher-scraper blade 10. The handle 12, the pusher-scraper blade 10 and the auxiliary blades 19 and 20 are preferably integrally formed.

In operation, the pusher-scraper blade 10 is used to scrape food off plates and/or the sink bottom and onto the flexible cover or splash guard of a garbage disposal unit (not illustrated). The pusher-scraper blade 10 is also used to push food waste through the flexible cover guard and into the inlet of a garbage disposal unit. It is in this later operation that the leading edges of the auxiliary pusher blades 19 and 20 become useful in that they serve to gather and contain food waste in front of the blades and to cause the guard inlet of the garbage disposal unit to open sufficiently to allow the relatively unhindered passage of food waste into the garbage disposal unit. It also reduces drawback of the food waste. The handle 12 is sufficiently wide so that it cannot pass through the flexible cover guard into the garbage disposal unit. Further, the pusher-scraper blade 10 is sufficiently short so that even when the device is inserted as far as possible through the flexible cover guard it will not contact the movable parts within the garbage disposal unit.

It is desired in the operation of the device 9 that the pusher-scraper blade 10 extend beyond the auxiliary pusher blade or blades 19 and 20, since this enables the scraping function of the pusher-scraper blade to be implemented.

In the preferred embodiment, the device 9 is made from a semi-rigid, durable plastic, such as polyethylene, which can be washed in a dishwasher. In the exemplary embodiment, the device 9 has the dimensions hereinafter set forth. The width of the handle 12 from side 17 to side 18 is approximately 41/2 inches. The length of the pusher-scraper blade 10 is approximately 41/4 inches from that portion of the handle 12 which in operation approaches nearest to the garbage disposal unit (the side 21). The pushing edge of edges 22 of the auxiliary pusher blade or blades 19 and 20 preferably end at about 1 inch from the pushing-scraping edge 11 of the pusher-scraper blade 10.

Claims

I claim:

1. A device for directing food waste through a flexible splash guard and into the inlet of a garbage disposal unit, said device comprising:

a. a handle;

b. a rigid pusher-scraper blade depending from said handle in a longitudinal direction; and

c. at least one rigid auxiliary pusher blade on said pusher-scraper blade extending longitudinally therealong, said auxiliary pusher blade being disposed perpendicularly along said pusher-scraper blade and having its lower end end spaced above the free end of said pusher-scraper blade.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said auxiliary pusher blade has a lower end wall and the lower end wall of said auxiliary pusher blade is perpendicular to said pusher-scraper blade.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pusher-scraper blade has a lower transverse end wall and longitudinal walls, the lower transverse end wall of said pusher-scraper blade is at right angles to the longitudinal walls of said pusher-scraper blade.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pusher-scraper blade is integrally formed with said handle and wherein said auxiliary pusher blade is integrally formed with said pusher-scraper blade.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said handle extends transversely to form a T-shaped configuration with said pusher scraper blade.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said auxiliary pusher blade has a lower end wall and the lower end of said auxiliary pusher blade is perpendicular to said pusher-scraper blade.

7. A device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said pusher-scraper blade has lower transverse and longitudinal walls and the lower transverse end wall of said pusher-scraper blade is at right angles to the longitudinal walls of said pusher blade.