Abstract:
A decorating pen particularly useful for decorating cakes, pastries and other food items provides a reservoir containing a decorating material, a nozzle attached to the reservoir, a housing which holds the reservoir and a compression member pivotally attached to the housing member. A user holds the decorating pen in a fashion similar to a standard writing pen or pencil and squeezes the housing and compression member together to extrude the decorating material from the reservoir through the nozzle to write, draw, or color with the decorating pen.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     I. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to decorating cakes and other food products. More specifically, the present invention relates to decorating pens used to precisely extrude frosting, icing, or some other viscous material onto a substrate in an artistic fashion. 
     II. Related Art 
     Methods of dispensing cake icing are well-known. One common method is to place the icing in a cone-shaped bag such as that shown in  FIG. 2 . Such bags may be made of paper, cloth, and plastic. Such bags have a large top opening through which the icing is inserted into the bag. The tip of the cone-shaped bag is typically cut off as shown in  FIG. 2  to create an opening through which the icing can be squeezed from the bag. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3-4 , a nozzle can be coupled to the bag. The nozzle shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  has external threads which reside inside and adjacent a portion of the wall of the bag. A nut having internal threads is then coupled to the nozzle such that the portion of the bag wall is sandwiched between the threads of the nozzle and the threads of the nut. This not only serves to fasten the nozzle to the bag, but also ensures the icing will only exit the bag through the nozzle and not around the nozzle. 
     Once the nozzle is attached, the icing material is dispensed from the bag as shown in  FIG. 1 . Two hands are employed. One hand is used to steer the nozzle and the other hand is used to squeeze the bag and force material in the bag through the nozzle. 
     The foregoing method and apparatus requires great effort to squeeze the bag, which can be tiring, and a great deal of skill to move the tip about the item to be decorated to produce the desired result. 
     Various attempts have been made to address these problems. By way of example, commercial bakeries sometimes employ complex, expensive icing-dispensing systems such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,838 to Miles; U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,858 to Bemm, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,450 to Alexander et al and U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,611 to Dittmar. These systems employ compressors or pumps to move the icing from a reservoir through the nozzle of an applicator. These systems are relatively complex, expensive and require substantial cleaning if the flavor or color of the icing is to be changed. 
     Others have employed modified caulking guns to dispense the icing. Examples are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,130 to Heiberger; U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,985 to Elliott, Sr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,144 to Santefort et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,866 to Bergman and U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,946 to Ginther et al. These typically are used with prepackaged, prefilled icing containers. These packages can be overly expensive. Sometimes users find it desirable to use colors or flavors when decorating not offered in such packages. Users of such devices also find it difficult to control the motion of the nozzle tip with precision while actuating the mechanism that advances the piston to push icing out of the gun. 
     Thus, there continues to exist a need for an inexpensive applicator which can be used with the full range of icing colors and textures available, which can be safely and easily used, which requires only a single hand for operation, and which provides ease of control and precision in the decorative application of icing, frosting, ice cream or other viscous foodstuffs. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The instant invention provides a decorating pen comprising a compressible reservoir having a proximal end, a distal end and a wall extending from the proximal end to the distal end, the reservoir containing a decorating material; a nozzle coupled to the distal end of the reservoir through which decorating material exits the reservoir; a housing having a proximal end having a hinge member, a distal end having a flange adjacent a distal opening, and a channel defined by a wall having a side opening; and a compression member pivotally coupled to the hinge member of the housing so that the compression member is movable with respect to the housing between a first position in which the side opening is exposed to permit the reservoir (and nozzle coupled to the reservoir) to be placed through the side opening and into the channel with a portion of the nozzle projecting through the distal opening and past the distal end of the housing and a second position in which at least a portion of the compression member resides within the channel of the housing, wherein as the compression member is moved from the first position to the second position the compression member engages the compressible reservoir so that the reservoir is squeezed between the housing wall and the compression member to force material within the reservoir out the nozzle. 
     The compression member of the decorating pen progressively engages the wall of the reservoir from the proximal end of the reservoir wall toward the distal end of the reservoir wall to move material within the reservoir toward and out the nozzle. Both the channel and the side opening of the housing are tapered. The compression member is also tapered in a manner corresponding to the taper of the housing and side opening to permit a portion of the compressible member to pass through the side opening. The compression member may also be provided with a recess to assist in positioning a finger of a user along the compression member. The hinge member which couples the housing to the compression member may be a pair of slots in the housing which engage a pair of pins projecting from the compression member. Both the housing and the compression member may be made from a plastic material. 
     The reservoir may be in the form of a collapsible bag. Such a bag may be made of a paper, cloth or a plastic material. The contents of the reservoir will, of course, depend on the nature of the item to be decorated. If the item to be decorated is a cake, pie or other pastry item, the decorating material in the reservoir should be edible, for example frosting, icing or ice cream. 
     The decorating pen&#39;s nozzle may take a variety of forms. For example, the nozzle may have exterior threads which cooperate with the internal threads of a nut to join the nozzle to the reservoir. The nozzle typically includes a nozzle orifice which defines the size and shape of the bead of decorating material extruded from the decorating pen as it is used. The nozzle orifice may be integrally formed with the remainder of the nozzle or may be a separate sleeve coupled to the main body of the nozzle. In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the nut not only fastens the nozzle to the reservoir, but also fastens the orifice to the main body of the nozzle. 
     The invention may also be employed in the form of a decorating kit. Such a kit may include (1) at least one compressible reservoir, (2) a plurality of selectable nozzle orifices providing differing nozzle openings, (3) a nozzle body used to couple a selected one of the nozzle orifices to the reservoir such that decorating material may exit the reservoir through the nozzle opening of the selected nozzle orifice, (4) a housing for holding the reservoir, nozzle and nozzle orifice; and (5) a compression member pivotally coupled to the housing so that the compression member is movable with respect to the housing between a first position which allows the reservoir, nozzle and selected nozzle orifice to be loaded into the housing and a second position such that as the compression member is moved from the first position to the second position, the compression member engages the compressible reservoir so that the reservoir is squeezed between a surface of the housing and the compression member to force material within the reservoir out of the opening of the nozzle orifice. The kit may also contain additional reservoirs and additional nozzles and nuts. 
     The construction and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a bag and nozzle arrangement typically employed in the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the bag shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the bag of  FIG. 2  with a typical nozzle and nozzle orifice attached. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view through line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a decorating pen housing and compression member made in accordance with the subject invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the decorating pen housing and compression member of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the decorating pen housing and compression member of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of the compression member of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of the housing of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of the decorating pen housing and compression member of  FIG. 5  with a bag and nozzle arrangement of the type shown in  FIG. 3  inserted into the housing. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 2-4  show one type of reservoir and nozzle arrangement which may be used to supply icing, frosting, or other suitable edible material to the decorating pen shown in  FIGS. 5-13 . More specifically,  FIG. 2  shows a reservoir consisting of a standard bag  2  which may be made of paper, cloth, plastic or other suitable material. The bag  2  comprises a frusto-conical wall  3 , a proximal opening  4  and a distal opening  6 . The distal opening is typically formed to an appropriate size by cutting away a portion of the wall  3  using a shears or the like. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a nozzle  10  may be coupled to the bag  2  at the distal opening  6 . The nozzle  10  has a main body  12  which has external threads  14  and resides at least partially within the bag  2 . The nozzle  10  also has a nozzle orifice  16  which is either integrally formed with or coupled to the main body  12  and extends from the distal opening  6  in the bag  2 . To secure the nozzle  10  to the bag  2  and prevent the contents of the bag from flowing around, rather than through, the nozzle  10  and a nut  20  having internal threads  22  is employed. As best illustrated in  FIG. 4 , a portion of the wall  3  of the bag  2  extends over at least a portion of the main body  12  of the nozzle  10  and the nozzle&#39;s threads  14  so that when the nut  20  is turned onto the threads  14  of the nozzle  10 , that portion of the wall  3  is sandwiched and trapped between the threads  14  of the nozzle  10  and the threads  22  of the nut  20 . The nut  20  may also be used in a similar manner to join a non-integrally formed nozzle orifice  16  to the main body  12  of the nozzle  10 . 
     Once the nozzle  10  has been fastened to the distal opening  6  of the bag  2 , icing or some other material to be extruded from the bag  2  through the nozzle  10 , can be placed in the bag  2  through the proximal opening  4  of bag  2 . The proximal opening  4  may then be sealed using an elastic band, a metal twist tie, or any other appropriate clip or fastener. Alternatively, the proximal end may be sealed by tying the proximal portion of wall  3  into a knot. The material is extruded through a distal opening  17  in the nozzle orifice  16 . The size and shape of the distal opening  17  will help define the shape of the bead of material extruded. One advantage of using a non-integrally formed nozzle orifice  16  is that a plurality of nozzle orifices  16  may be provided, each having a distal opening  17  of a different size or shape. These non-integrally formed nozzle orifices  16  are selectable and interchangeable to increase the artistic options available to the user. Of course, a plurality of interchangeable nozzles  10 , each having an integrally formed nozzle orifice having a distal opening  17  of a different size or shape, may be made available to provide this same advantage. A wide variety of nozzle orifices are available in the marketplace from a number of different suppliers such as Kaiser Bakeware, Sugarcraft, Inc. and Wilton Products, Inc. 
       FIGS. 5-10  show a decorating pen  30  which may be advantageously and more effectively used not only to extrude material from a reservoir such as bag  2  through the nozzle  10 , but also to more precisely apply that material in a decorative fashion to a cake or other substrate. 
     The decorating pen  30  includes a housing  32  and a compression member  34  pivotally coupled to the housing  32 . More specifically, the proximal end  36  of the housing  32  includes a pair of hinge slots or holes  38  which receive pins  40  which project from opposite sides of the compression member  34 . 
     The distal end  42  of the housing  32  has a cylindrical member  44  and a flange  46  extending inwardly from the most distal portion of the cylindrical member. The flange  46  surrounds a nozzle-receiving opening  48 . The housing  32  also includes a tapered wall  50  extending from the proximal end  36  to the distal end  42 . The tapered wall  50  defines a channel  51  extending from within the cylindrical member  44  toward the proximal end  36 . The wall  50  also defines a tapered side opening  52  as best shown in  FIG. 9 . As best shown in  FIG. 10 , a reservoir such as bag  2  coupled to a nozzle  10  can be inserted into the channel  51  such that the nozzle  10  resides in the cylindrical member  44  with the nozzle orifice  16  of the nozzle  10  projecting through the nozzle-receiving opening  48 . The flange  46  engages a portion of the nozzle  10  or the nut  20  to prevent the entirety of the nozzle  10  from passing through the opening  48 . When so inserted, the bag  2  and the contents of the bag  2  generally reside in the channel  51 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the housing  32  may also be provided with a slot  53  extending through the housing wall  50  inwardly from the proximal end  36  of the housing  32 . As shown, slot  53  is curved. The proximal end of wall  3  of the bag  2  can be inserted in this slot  53  to close the proximal opening  4  of the bag  2 , to prevent the proximal end of bag  2  from interfacing with the motion of compression member  34 , or otherwise to assist in ensuring the material within the bag  2  only exits the reservoir positioned in channel  51  through the nozzle  10 . 
     As noted above, the compression member  34  pivots about the hinge formed by slots or holes  38  and pins  40 . More specifically, the compression member  34  is movable between a first position (see  FIG. 5 ) and a second position (see  FIG. 7 ). When compression member  34  is in the first position, the side opening  52  in the wall  50  is exposed to permit the reservoir (e.g., bag  2 ) and attached nozzle  10  to be placed through the side opening  52  into the channel  51  with a portion of the nozzle  10  projecting through the distal opening  48  and past the distal end  42  of the housing  32 . After the nozzle  10 , a reservoir (such as bag  2 ) and the reservoir&#39;s contents have been positioned with respect to the housing  32  as described above, the compression member  34  is rotated until it first engages the reservoir. The decorating pen is then gripped much like an ordinary writing utensil with the housing  32  and compression member  34  between the thumb and forefinger of the user&#39;s writing hand. By squeezing the housing  32  and compression member  34  together as the user writes, material is ejected from the bag  2  through the distal opening  17  of the nozzle orifice  16  of the nozzle  10  making decorating a cake or other item using the material in the bag  2  a simple task. 
     As should be appreciated from the drawings, the compression member  34  and the wall  50  and side opening  52  in the housing  32  to the channel  51  are tapered and shaped such that the compression member  34  may be received within the channel  51 . This permits substantially all of the contents of the bag  2  to be forced from the bag  2  and out the nozzle  10 . Further, the design of the housing  32  and compression member  34  are such that compression member  34  progressively engages the wall of the bag  2  from the proximal end to the distal end of the bag  2  as the compression member  34  and housing  32  are rotated together so the material within bag  2  is forced toward the nozzle  10 . This prevents undue pressure on the means used to close the proximal opening  4  of the bag  2  which otherwise could cause material to escape from the bag  2  through the proximal opening  4 . 
     When the present invention is employed to decorate cakes, a cake decorator may fill a plurality of bags  2  with different colored icings or materials to provide a color pallet comprising a plurality of colors. Likewise, a plurality of nozzles having distal openings  17  in the nozzle orifice  16  of different sizes and shapes may be attached to the bags  2  to provide beads of extruded materials of differing sizes and shapes. These bags  2  and the attached nozzles  10  can quickly and easily be inserted into and removed from the decorating pen  30 . Also, since all of the material remains in the bag  2  until ejected through the nozzle  10 , cleaning of the decorating pen  30  is not an issue. The housing, compression member, and nozzles of decorating pen  30  are made of materials and have surfaces which are easily cleaned. The bags  2  are disposable. Also, the compression member  34  and the housing  32  may be easily separated from each other for cleaning purposes when necessary. 
     For comfort and ease of use, both the wall  50  of housing  32  and the compression member  34  are ergonomically tapered so the decorating pen  30  fits well within the hand. The taper of compression member  34  conforms to the taper of the wall  50  and slot  52  so at least a portion of the compression member  34  may pass through the slot to fully compress the reservoir in the channel  51  to more completely empty the contents of the reservoir. For control, the compression member  34  may have a recess  35  (see  FIGS. 5 and 7 ) which is intended to receive the index finger of the user. Likewise, the length of the housing  32  and compression member  34  are sufficient to ensure the proximal end  36  of the housing  32 , which curves downwardly to position the hinge slot or hole  38  advantageously, does not interfere with comfortably gripping the decorating pen  30 . Also, the length of the housing  32  permits the portion of the bag  2  extended through the slot  53  to pass between the downwardly curved portion of the proximal end  36  and the user&#39;s hand. 
       FIGS. 11 and 12  show an alternative reservoir arrangement in which a tube  60  with a nozzle  10  is used to hold the material to be applied using the decorating pen  30 . The walls  62  of the tube should be pliable so that the tube  60 , like the bag  2 , can be compressed between the housing  32  and the compression member  34  to force the contents of the tube  60  through the nozzle  10  in a controlled manner. As shown, the tube  60  has a nozzle  10  comprising a cap  64  from which the nozzle orifice  16  projects. The cap  64  has a flange  66  which engages the flange  46  of the housing  32  as the nozzle orifice  16  of the nozzle  10  projects through opening  48  of the housing  32 . This arrangement serves to retain the tube  60  in the channel  51  of housing  32  as the compression member  34  and housing  32  are squeezed together to cause the material within the tube  60  to flow through and out the nozzle  10 . 
     From the foregoing, it should be clear that one can write, print, draw, or color with the decorating pen  30  in a fashion similar to that employed when using an ordinary pen or pencil. The decorating pen is gripped in substantially the same way. The nozzle is moved in substantially the same fashion as the writing tip of a pen or pencil. The only difference is that the user squeezes the housing  32  and compression member  34  together between the forefinger and thumb of the hand to cause and control the flow of decorating material from the nozzle  10  as the user imparts a writing, printing, drawing or coloring motion to the nozzle. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate various modifications and alternative embodiments may be made without deviating from the invention. The foregoing description is not intended to be limiting, but instead is provided to meet the disclosure requirements of the Patent Laws. Only the following claims, when afforded a full range of equivalents, define the invention.