Patent ID: 9636833
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: A21C,B26D

Claim:
1. Bagel dough removal tongs for removing bagel dough from a substantially half-toroid-shaped bagel half having a crust with an outer perimeter and a central core and further having a nominal bagel width radially spanning the distance across the crust from the perimeter to the core, a nominal bagel height vertically within the bagel dough as half the bagel width, and a nominal bagel chord across the bagel dough within the crust offset from the core and substantially transverse to the bagel width, the tongs comprising: a first tong member having a first leg terminating distally in a first end; and a second tong member having a second leg terminating distally in a second end, the first and second legs being joined at a proximal hinge opposite the distal first and second ends, the hinge being configured to bias the first and second legs outwardly in an at rest configuration of the tongs wherein the first and second ends are spaced apart and to selectively allow flexing of the first and second legs inwardly in an operative configuration of the tongs wherein the first and second ends are shifted closer together; further wherein: a first end width and a second end width of the respective first and second ends are in a range of one to two-and-a-half inches for substantially conforming to the nominal bagel width, the bagel dough to be removed being located within the crust between the perimeter and the core; a transverse opening of the tongs in the at rest configuration between first and second leading edges of the respective first and second ends is in a range of one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half inches for substantially conforming to and being interiorly offset from the nominal bagel chord, whereby selectively positioning the tongs while substantially in the at rest configuration such that the first and second ends are adjacent to the crust so as to not span the core therebetween and so positioned substantially along a selected nominal bagel chord and such that the first and second leading edges are pushed into the bagel dough without penetrating the crust and then selectively squeezing inwardly on the first and second tong members so as to shift the first and second legs and first and second ends inwardly toward each other substantially in the operative configuration causes a portion of the bagel dough to be trapped between the first and second ends, such that subsequently pulling the tongs away from the bagel half while still in the operative configuration removes the portion of bagel dough therefrom; and a transition from the respective first and second legs to the respective first and second ends of the respective first and second tong members defines bends wherein the first and second legs are angularly diverging and the first and second ends are angularly converging in the at rest configuration of the tongs, whereby the first and second ends and the distal first and second leading edges are angled inwardly to aid in operation and the bends at transition points between the respective first and second legs and the respective first and second ends define an overall width of the tongs that is larger than the transverse opening between the first and second ends in the at rest configuration of the tongs, and wherein an angle between the first and second legs being in a range of twenty-five to forty-five degrees.