Abstract:
A food product dispensing device ( 10 ) includes a housing ( 12 ) with an opening ( 66 ). The device includes a drive screw ( 30 ) for driving a piston ( 42 ) towards the opening. Portions ( 76 ) of a food product are placed in the housing and are forced through the opening by the piston as the screw is rotated. There are separators ( 78 ) between each two adjacent portions. These allow one portion at a time to be ejected through the opening and used or consumed, for example by spreading.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     
         
         
           
             This application claims priority under 35 USC §119(a) to Australian Application No. 2012268820 filed on Dec. 20, 2012 and United Kingdom Application No. GB 1303222.2, both applications being incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. 
           
         
       
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a food dispensing device. More specifically, this invention relates to a device for dispensing discrete portions of food product, and to a method of dispensing such portions. 
     BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
     A traditional method of applying hard spreadable food substances such as butter on bread, corn, or even when greasing a dish for cooking purposes, is by means of a knife, spatula or similar implement. Typically, the implement is used to scrape a portion of the product from a container such as a butter container, before it is applied as needed. 
     When applying such a spreadable product, for example, to bread or toast, a commonly experienced problem is that, because of the hardness of the spreadable product, and the nature of implement used, the bread or toast tears. In addition, in such uses, and also, for example when applying such products such as butter to a dish, there is often difficulty in spreading the product evenly. 
     There are known dispenser devices for dispensing and spreading such products, which involve injecting a portion of the spreadable product from a container, to enable the rubbing of the product and hence spreading thereof onto a surface such as bread. However, it is often difficult to gauge how much of the product is applied. More significantly, applying such spreadable food products to other foods can often result in contamination of that portion of the food product remaining in the dispenser. 
     It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative thereto. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In a preferred embodiment, there is provided a food product dispensing device including:
         a housing defining a dispensing opening;   a piston in the housing, the piston being movable from a first position spaced a first distance from the dispensing opening to a second position spaced a second distance from the dispensing opening, the second distance being less than the first distance;   a plurality of discrete spreadable food item portions disposed in a series arrangement within the housing between the piston and the dispensing opening; and   an actuator attached to the housing and adapted to drive the piston from the first position to the second position thereby to drive said portions sequentially through the dispensing opening.       

     In a preferred embodiment, each adjacent pair of portions are separated from each other by a portion separator. 
     Preferably, the device includes a separator retainer for releasably retaining the or each separator as the portion immediately ahead of the separator towards the dispensing opening is forced through the opening. 
     The separator retainer preferably includes a catch for engaging a said separator as the separator reaches the dispensing opening under driving force of the piston. 
     Preferably, the catch is flexible and is adapted to retain the separator when a first driving force is applied by the piston to the separator, and to flexibly give way to the separator thus allowing ejection of the separator from the housing, when a second driving force, greater than the first driving force, is applied by the piston to the separator. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the actuator includes an elongate drive screw extending within and longitudinally with respect to the housing, the drive screw having an external screw thread, and the piston has a central aperture through which the drive screw extends and a complementary screw thread in the aperture in engagement with the external screw thread, such that rotation of the drive screw relative to the piston causes the piston to ride along the drive screw from the first position towards the second position. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the device includes a ridge extending longitudinally along an inner surface of the housing, wherein the piston includes a piston notch shaped complementarily with respect to a cross-sectional shape of the ridge and adapted to slide along the ridge as the piston moves from the first position towards the second position, thus preventing rotation of the piston during rotation of the drive screw. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the catch is integral with the ridge. 
     Preferably, the or each separator defines a separator notch shaped complementarily with respect to a cross-sectional shape of the ridge and adapted to slide along the ridge as the piston moves from the first position towards the second position, wherein the catch includes a catch face which extends beyond an inner edge of the separator notch thereby to effect said releasable retaining of the separator. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the actuator includes a rotatable actuator knob attached to the drive screw, the knob being adapted, on rotation, to rotate the drive screw. 
     According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of dispensing a food product portion using a device according to the first aspect of the invention, the method including:
         actuating the actuator thereby driving the piston from the first position towards the second position thereby driving a said portion through the dispensing opening; and   spreading that portion with the device.       

     According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of dispensing a food product portion using a device according preferred embodiments of the first aspect of the invention, the method including:
         actuating the actuator thereby driving the piston from the first position towards the second position thereby driving a said portion through the dispensing opening until the separator retainer releasably retains a separator immediately behind that portion; and   spreading that portion with the device.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a food product dispensing device according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-section through the device of  FIG. 1 , when along the lines II-II; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a housing forming part of the device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-section through the housing of  FIG. 3 , along the lines II-II in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a piston forming part of the device of  FIG. 1 , viewed from an inner side of thereof; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the piston of  FIG. 5 , viewed from an outer side thereof; and 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a portion separator forming part of the device of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to the drawings, there is shown a food product dispensing device  10 . The device  10  includes a cylindrical housing  12  which is of transparent plastics material. 
     Towards a rear end  16  of the device  10 , the housing  12  includes an annular wall  18  with an aperture  20  in the centre thereof. Extending from the aperture  20 , inwardly with respect to the interior  22  of the housing  12  are a number of tabs  24 , which converge, in a direction away from the annular wall  18 , towards a central axis  26  of the housing. 
     An actuator  28  is provided, which includes a drive screw  30  which extends through the aperture  20 , and between the tabs  24 , in a direction from the annular wall  18 , towards an opposite, front end  32  of the housing  12 . The drive screw  30  has an external screw thread at  34  as indicated in  FIG. 2 . 
     The actuator  28  is also provided with an actuator knob  36  which is integrally joined to the drive screw  30 . 
     The actuator  28  further includes a frusto-conical protrusion  38  which has an outer wall  40  which is tapered so as to be complementary to the tabs  24 . The protrusion  38  includes an interlocking portion (not shown) which is configured to snap engage with the tabs  24  when the device  10  is first assembled and the drive screw  30  is inserted through the aperture  20 . Once the protrusion  38  is engaged with the tabs  24  in this manner, the actuator  28  is effectively locked in its longitudinal position with respect to the housing  12 , although it is still rotatable relative to the housing. 
     A piston  42  is provided, which is substantially circular in shape. As best seen in  FIG. 5 , the piston  42  has a base wall  44  and a boss  46  protruding from the base wall. An aperture  48  is provided, which opens through the centre of the base wall  44  and boss  46 . 
     The aperture  48  is provided with an internal screw thread  50  which is complementary to the external screw thread  34  on the drive screw  30 . The piston  42  is disposed on the drive screw  30 , such that the drive screw passes through the aperture  48  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , with the external screw thread  34  of the drive screw being engaged with the internal screw thread  50  of the aperture. Thus, the drive screw  30  is rotatable relative to the piston  42 . 
     The piston  42  is further provided with an outer rim  54 , and three notches  56  in the rim. 
     The housing  12 , on an inner surface  58  thereof, is provided with three ridges  60 , which extend parallel to the axis  26 , along the length of that inner surface. 
     The cross-sectional shape of the ridges  60 , when viewed along their lengths, is complementary to the shapes of the notches  56  in the piston  42 . Thus, each notch  56  has a respective ridge  60  extending through it, as best seen in  FIG. 2 . 
     Protruding from the end of each ridge  60  beyond the front end  32  of the housing  12 , are resiliently deformable separator retainer catches  62 , each having a catch face  64 , the catch faces converging towards the axis  26  in a direction away from the rear end  16  of the device  10 . 
     The inner surface  58  of the housing  12  its front end  32 , defines a dispensing opening  66  into the interior  22 . 
     A removable cap  68  is provided, which has an outer skirt  70  which is adapted to be engaged as a snap-fit with a recessed portion  72  in the outer surface  74  of the housing  12 . Thus, the cap  68  can be secured to the housing  12  so as to close the dispensing opening  66 , and can also be removed to open that opening. 
     The device  10  can be used to dispense a hard, spreadable food product such as butter, hard peanut butter, yeast spread, chocolate, etc. In particular, the food product is provided in portions  76 , a number of which are shown in  FIG. 2  in dotted lines. The portion  76  closest to the piston  42  is in contact with the piston, and has an outer diameter such that the portion is within the bounds of the rim  54  in the piston. The remaining portions  76  have similar diameters so that they are slightly spaced from the inner surface  58  of the housing  12 . 
     Between each pair of adjacent portions  76  of food product, there is provided a respective portion separator  78  (see  FIGS. 2 and 7 ). Each portion separator  78  is essentially in the form of a disc having a central aperture  80  and three notches  82  in the outer edge  84  of the separator. The drive screw  30  extends through the apertures  80  of the portion separators  78 . 
     The aperture  80  of each separator  78  is somewhat larger in diameter than the outer diameter of the external screw thread  34  of the drive screw  30 , while each notch  82 , as in the case of the notches  56  in the piston  42 , is shaped so as to be complementary to the cross-sectional shape of a respective ridge  60  when the ridge is viewed along its length. Thus, each notch  82  of each separator  78  has a respective ridge  60  extending through it. As the diameters of the apertures  80  are greater than the outer diameter of the external screw thread  34  of the drive screw  30 , each separator  78  is a free to slide along the drive screw. 
     The catch faces  64  of the separator retainer catches  62  converge towards the axis  26  such that the inner extremities of the catch faces relative to the axis are disposed closer to the axis than radially inner edges  86  of the notches  82  of each separator  78 . It will be recalled that the ridges  60  extend through those notches  82 . 
     In order to use the device  10 , it is preloaded with the portions  76  of the food product, separated by separators  78 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     The cap  68  is removed from the housing  12  thereby exposing the opening  66 . The knob  36  can then be rotated about the axis  26 , thereby also rotating the drive screw  30  which is integrally joined to the knob. 
     As the drive screw  30  rotates, the engagement of its external screw thread  34  with the internal screw thread  50  of the piston  42  causes the piston to be driven in a direction from the rear end  16  of the device  10  towards the front end  32  of the housing  12 . 
     As the piston  42  is driven in this manner, this forces the portions  76  of food product towards the opening  66 , such that the portion closest to the opening emerges from the opening. 
     As the knob  36  is continued to be rotated in this manner, the separator  78  immediately rearward (downstream) of that particular closest portion  76  of food product will reach the retainer catches  62 . As the catch faces  64  of the retainer catches  62  engage with the inner edges  86  of the notches  82  in the relevant separator  78 , the retainer catches serve to restrain the separator  78  and thus provide increased resistance to rotation of the knob  36 . 
     It will be appreciated that when this occurs, the front-most portion of  76  of food product will be protruding from the opening  66 . In this position, the portion  76  of food product can be spread as desired, for example on a piece of bread or toast, on corn on the cob, on a dish or other surface, and so on. 
     When that portion  76  has been used, the portion separator  78  that was immediately rearward of that portion will essentially be exposed adjacent to the opening  66 . 
     The separator retainer catches  62  are flexible, and therefore, if increased rotational force is applied to the knob  36 , this forces the piston  42 , and hence that leading separator  76 , through the opening  66 . 
     The catch faces  64  of the retainer catches  62 , because of their tapered orientation with respect to the axis of  26 , will be forced to ride over the inner edges  86  of the notches  82  in the relevant separator  78 , thereby causing the catches to be deformed radially outwardly with respect to the axis  26 , thereby allowing the separator to be ejected from the housing  12 . It will be appreciated that as soon as that separator  78  moves clear of the retainer catches  62 , the retainer catches, due to their resilience, will snap back to their normal positions. 
     Once the leading separator  78  has been ejected in this manner, the leading face of the next portion  76  of food product will be exposed. As that portion will not have come into contact with the food or other surface on which the previous portion had been spread, it will remain uncontaminated by that spreading. 
     The cap  68  can then be replaced on the housing  12  to assist in retaining the freshness of the next portion  76  of food product, and other portions within the housing  12 . 
     Apart from the convenience that the device  10  can provide, it can also be environmentally friendly in that it often does not require washing or dishwashing after use. 
     Although the invention is described above in relation to preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is not limited to those embodiments, but may be embodied in many other forms. 
     For example, instead of the separators  78  being capable of being ejected due to deformation of the retainer catches  62  as discussed above, this may be enabled by the separators themselves being resiliently deformable and deflecting as they move past the retainer catches.