Abstract:
A powered baster for the acceptance, containment and distribution of basting fluid. The powered baster is characterized as having a housing, a plunger for longitudinal movement within the housing and a motor for controlling movement of the plunger. The motor is controlled externally of the housing with switching means for turning the motor on and off and for controlling movement of the plunger to travel longitudinally away from and towards the motor.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention involves a baster which is powered for the acceptance, containment and distribution of basting fluids. The baster is provided with a motor for controlling withdrawal of basting fluids, their containment and ultimate distribution in a metered fashion.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Basting is an important part of cooking, particularly when it comes to cooking turkey, chicken and roasts. Baking such consumables tends to try them out and greatly enhanced results can be achieved if juices which leach from them can be reintroduced during the cooking process.  
         [0003]     Up to now, basting has been a rather inexact operation and one which has not been particularly easy to perform for a number of reasons. In this regard, reference is made to  FIG. 1  showing a typical prior art baster  10  composed of stem  12  and compressible bulb  11 . In operation, a user would squeeze bulb  11  to exhaust air contained therein. The air would emanate through stem  12  and out opening  13  whereupon baster  10  would be dipped within appropriate cooking juices or basting fluids whereupon bulb  11  would be release causing these fluids to be drawn up through opening  13 .  
         [0004]     Use of baster  10  is not only inconvenient to use but often times does not provide its user with sought after results. Basting fluid can often times foul stem  12  and bulb  11  making cleaning quite difficult. This is complicated by the recognition that basting fluid is generally high in fat content and is often times a carrier for solid debris that falls from or otherwise separates from the turkey, chicken or roast as it is cooking. Further, it is often times desirable to inject basting fluid directly in a food product, such as within the cavity of a turkey as it is being roasted to commingle with, for example, bread-based stuffing. Pressing upon bulb  11  provides uneven and often times non-existent distribution if basting fluid and the user is not cognizant of how much of such fluid has been appropriately dispensed. Further, basting fluid is quite frequently used to make gravy by adding it to pre-measured ingredients. Applying the basting fluid directly from hand held baster  10  makes dispensing the appropriate amount of such fluid in a gravy recipe quite difficult to control.  
         [0005]     It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a baster which overcomes the various problems as outlined above.  
         [0006]     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a baster which is self-powered to enable a user, through the flip of a switch, to extract, contain and distribute a pre-determined amount of basting fluid in a manner unachievable by the prior art.  
         [0007]     These and further objects will be more readily appreciated when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention deals with a power baster for acceptance, containment and distribution of basting fluids. The power baster comprises a housing, a plunger for longitudinal movement within the housing and a motor for controlling movement of the plunger. The motor is controlled externally of the housing with switching means for turning the motor on and off and for controlling movement of the plunger to travel longitudinally away from and towards the motor.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a side perspective view of a baster of the prior art.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a side partial cut away view of the baster of the present invention showing its internal components.  
         [0011]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  are examples of attachment ends to the baster of  FIG. 2  alternatively showing such attachments as functional elements in practicing the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     As noted previously, the present invention deals with a powered baster for the acceptance, containment and distribution of basting fluids. To more fully appreciate the present invention, reference is made to  FIG. 2 . Powered baster  20  is shown including its outer shell or housing  21  comprised of upper housing subpart  22  and lower housing subpart  23 . Subparts  22  and  23  can be either screwed or fictionally fit to releaseably attach to one another along seam  9  to enable powered baster  20  to be disassembled to facilitate its cleaning and repair.  
         [0013]     In further reference to  FIG. 2 , housing  21  supports motor  27 . Motor  27  can be actuated by virtue of on/off switch  25  functionally connected to motor  27  through wires  26 . In addition, motor  27  is intended to be reversible by virtue of slide switch  28 . It should be noted, however, that slide switch  28  and off/on switch  25  are shown as separate control elements as a preferred embodiment in practicing the present invention. Anyone skilled in this art would recognize that these switches could be incorporated into a single externally located control element whereby, for example, a multi function switch could be employed whereby a first depression of such switch would activate motor  27  while a second depression of the switch would change its direction of operation and a third depression of this switch would turn the motor back to a previous orientation with a fourth depression of the switch turning the motor off.  
         [0014]     Regardless of how motor  27  is controlled, it is contemplated that it be provided with a gear  33  which engages helical shaft  30  which supports plunger  29  at its distal end. Thus, depending upon the orientation of motor  27 , plunger  29  can be moved longitudinally towards motor  27  or away from it in order to control the acceptance, containment and distribution of basting fluids within chamber  39 .  
         [0015]     In operation, a fluid interface attachment such as shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B  would be fit onto powered baster  20  at input orifice  32 . The fluid interface attachment would then be submerged at least as to its own input opening such as openings  36  and  38  of the fluid attachment structures shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , respectively. Upon doing so, plunger  29  would be drawn towards motor  27  the actuation of motor  27  causing gear  33  to appropriately turn upon the helical windings of helically extending shaft  30 . The exact amount of basting fluid contained within reservoir  39  can be seen through transparent window  24  and its metered amount can be determined through the position of plunger  29  along lines of demarcation  31  which could be, for example, expressed in fluid ounces or cups.  
         [0016]     When it is appropriate, switch  28  can be actuated to reverse motor  27  thus causing plunger  29  to extend away from motor  27  and towards opening  32  as longitudinally extending helical shaft  30  as acted upon by gear  33 .  
         [0017]     When dispensing basting fluid contained within powered baster  20 , fluid interface attachments can be employed, as discussed previously. In this regard, reference is made to  FIG. 3A  in which such a fluid interface attachment comprises a cone-like structure having a centrally located channel which is in fluid communication with opening  36  and port  32 . Such a structure is particularly advantageous for withdrawing liquid fats which drip from turkey, chicken, roasts and other meat products and injecting them back within those meat products by employing cone-like structure  35  as a penetrating tool. The present invention can also be used for distributing fluids on food products other than meats. For example, melted butter could be dispensed onto corn conveniently.  
         [0018]     Alternatively, it is often times desirable to brush basting fluids back upon a suitable food product. In this regard, a fluid interface attachment is shown comprised of brush  37  again having a centrally located channel in fluid communication between basting fluid input port  38  and power baster input port  32 .  
         [0019]     The present invention can be employed for drawing, housing and dispensing liquids other than fat which is dripped from a meat product during baking. For example, it is often times advantageous to maintain moisture and fat content in such things as roasted turkey. Because of its size, a turkey must often times be cooked for an extended period of time to ensure that the meat internal to the turkey is fully cooked. In doing so, however, the outer surface and skin of the turkey can dry providing a less than desirable product. The present power baster  20  can be employed by dipping either fluid interface attachment means  35  or  37  into melted butter and dispensing the melted butter onto the meat surface.  
         [0020]     Finally, in producing such things as gravy, it is common to mix basting fluid with pre-measured ingredients which are then served as an adjunct to the meat product. The present power baster, through the use of transparent window  24  and quantity demarcations  31  enables a user to dispense known measured amounts of basting fluid directly into a pre-determined recipe of ingredients.