SHELL AND MEMBRANE STRIPPING MEANS FOR BOILED EGGS

Abstract: A handy, simple forked shell and membrane stripper capable of simultaneously stripping the shell and membrane of the boiled eggs consists of a stem portion (2) and a forked portion comprising a central fork (4) and two elongate side members (3), the central fork having a free end formed with a head (4'), the side members (3) straddling the central fork and having front ends remote from the stem portion which are bridged by a cross-piece to constitute a guide face (3') for guiding the central fork while sliding on the outer surface of the egg shell so that the central fork may creep under the membrane of the boiled egg.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a shell and membrane stripping means for boiled eggs mainly used in cooking. Stripping by hand the shell and membrane of boiled eggs usually requires careful and patient work, since the contents of the egg, or the albumen and yolk, are wrapped in the membrane which, when boiled, sticks both to the shell and the soft, solidified albumen and to make matters worse, rather persistently to the latter. This is largely inconvenient in case where a lot of eggs are to be stripped in a specified time and there is even such a danger that the contents of the eggs are damaged as a result of manual stripping. US-A-1644119 (Fowler) shows a stripping means of this type having a stem portion and a forked portion, the forked portion having a central fork and two side members straddling the fork, the central fork being curved and extending, from a junction with the stem portion, below the side members and terminating at its free end at a level above the concave suface passing through the side members. However with this arrangement a problem arises insofar as the position of the free end of the fork can make it inconvenient to use in that it may be necessary to insert the fork in a particular location on the egg to achieve satisfactory results. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention has been made in the light of the above aspect and is aimed to the provision of a simple, handy forked shell and membrane stripping means capable of simultaneously stripping the shell and membrane of the boiled eggs. According to the present invention therefore there is provided a forked shell and membrane stripper for boiled eggs capable of simultaneously stripping the shell and membrane of the boiled eggs consisting of stem portion and a forked portion comprising a central fork having a free end formed with a head and two elongate side members straddling the central fork, said central fork and said side members being curved longitudinally and front ends remote from the stem portion which are bridged by a cross-piece to constitute a guide face for guiding the central fork while sliding on the outer surface of the egg-shell so that the central fork may creep under the membrane of the boiled egg, and the head of the central fork, terminating short of the cross-piece, with a nipping gap formed between the head, the cross-piece and the side members for cutting open the shell and membrane simultaneously, said central fork being curved so as to extend downwardly from a junction to a position below the side members and subsequently to extend upwardly and terminating at a free end in a head, characterised in that said head projects above said side members, when the stripper is viewed in side profile and said side members are curved only in the longitudinal direction and are substantially flat in the transverse direction. Preferably the head has an inner face which is flat while an outer face thereof may preferably be mountain-shaped or provided with a ridge. Furthermore said head may be transversely enlarged relative to the remainder of the central fork. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a front view of a forked shell and membrane stripper according to this invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken along line A-A in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken along line B-B in Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is an explanatory view which shows how the egg-shell and membrane stripper is used for stripping the shell and membrane from the contents of the egg; Fig. 8 is an example in which a ornamental design is mamifested on the stem of the stripper; Fig. 9 is an inlarged illustration showing in detail how the tip portion of the stripper is inserted into the boiled egg, or between the egg-shell and membrane; Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line E-E in Fig. 9, all symbols are the same as in Fig. 10; Fig. 12 and Fig. 13 show how the egg-shell and membrane are cut when the egg-shell and membrane stripper of this invention is moved all the way along the surface of the egg-shell. DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND THE PREFERRED EMNBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, a forked shell and membrane stripper, indicated as a whole by reference numeral 1, consists of a stem portion 2 and a three-forked portion which has a central fork 4 and two side members 3 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Both the central fork 4 and side members 3, 3 are curved longitudinally, although the central fork 4 is more curved than the side members 3, 3 such that the central fork 4 extends from a junction under the side members 3, 3 passing through a plane containing the side members 3, 3 and protrudes at its free end to a level above the side members, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, 7 and 10. It is to be noted that, in this specification, the upper side in Fig. 1 is referred to as inner and the lower side as outer with respect to the forked portion. Both sides of the stem portion 2 and the side members 3, 3 are rounded for safety purpose as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The central fork 4, which has a free end formed with a head, extends from under the side members 3, 3 and protrudes slightly from the side members 3 passing through between them at its front portion, or the head portion 4', as shown in Figs. 1, 4, 7 and 10 to constitute a nipping gap which may vary by virtue of the elasticities, whose direction are densted by arrows in Figs. 10 and 11, of the central fork and the side members. The head portion 4' of the central fork 4 has a flat face on its inner side for creeping on the surface of the albumen 7c as shown in Figs. 2, 10, while the outer side which is to creep under the membrane 7b of the egg 7 may preferably be mountain-shaped or provided with a ridge 5 as shown in Figs. 3, 10 so that the egg-shell 7a and membrane 7b may be easily be broken. The side members 3, 3 are bridged at their front ends so as to constitute a guide face 3′ which slides on the outer surface of the egg-shell 7a for guiding the central fork 4 which is to creep under the membrane 7b of the boiled egg 7. Although the shape of the head portion 4' of the central fork 4 is illustrated as being substantially square one, it is not critical feature of this invention and there may employed any suitable shapes such as round or hexagonal one unless it gives damage to the surface of the albumen 7c. The stripper of this invention may be fabricated of a metallic, woody or hard-resinous material which possesses a proper elasticity. When using the shell and membrane stripper of this invention, the shell 7a and membrane 7b of the boiled egg is firstly broken as seen in Fig. 9 by the front end of the side members, for example, and then the head portion 4' of the central fork 4 is inserted as seen in Figs. 10 and 11 to creep under the membrane 7b of the boiled egg 7 while leaving the side members 3, 3 and their front ends, or the guide face 3', on the outer surface of the shell 7a and then the stripper 1 is moved forthward along the outer surface of the egg, or alternatively, the egg is rotated toward the stripper 1 so that the nipping gap formed between the central fork 4 and the side members 3, 3 may nip the shell 7a and membrane 7b and cut open them. By doing so, both the egg-shell 7a and membrane 7b are simultaneously cut open and finally stripped off from the contents of the egg 7. (cf. Figs 12 and 13) As described above, thanks to the advent of the stripper of this invention, there can now be stripped a large number of boiled eggs in a quite short time without giving any damage to the contents thereof. Lastly, though not essential feature of this invention, other reference numerals, viz., 6 and 8 respectively designate a hole for hanging purpose and an ornamental design.

Claims: A forked shell and membrane stripper (1) for boiled eggs capable of simultaneously stripping the shell and membrane of the boiled eggs consisting of a stem portion (2) and a forked portion comprising a central fork (4) having a free end formed with a head (4') and two elongate side members (3) straddling the central fork, said central fork (4) and said side members (3) being curved longitudinally and front ends remote from the stem portion (2) which are bridged by a cross-piece (3') to constitute a guide face for guiding the central fork (4) while sliding on the outer surface of the egg-shell so that the central fork (4) may creep under the membrane of the boiled egg, and the head (4') of the central fork (4), terminating short of the cross-piece (3'), with a nipping gap formed between the head (4'), the cross-piece (3') and the side members (3) for cutting open the shell and membrane simultaneously, said central fork (4) being curved so as to extend downwardly from a junction to a position below the side members (3) and subsequently to extend upwardly and terminating at a free end in a head (4'), characterised in that said head projects above said side members, when the stripper is viewed in side profile and said side members (3) are curved only in the longitudinal direction and are substantially flat in the transverse direction. A forked shell and membrane stripper for boiled eggs according to Claim 1, characterised in that the head (4') has a flat top surface and a longitudinally ridged undersurface. A forked shell and membrane stripper for boiled eggs according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterised in that the head (4') is transversely enlarged relative to the remainder of the central fork (4).

Inventors: USHIGOME, HIDEJI
Applicants: USHIGOME, HIDEJI
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A47G19
IPC codes: A47G19