Abstract:
A hulling device for removing the stem and leaves on small fruits, such as strawberries, the device having an ergonomic handle and a tubular cutting member, is set forth herein. The cutting member is comprised of a cutting end and is securely attached to the handle at a shoulder which assists in preventing complete coring of the fruit. The tubular cutting member having a length which is less than the length of the handle also facilitates prevention of coring edible fruit flesh from the strawberry.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/799,686, filed on May 2, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]    The present device relates to a strawberry huller with ejector. Particularly, the present device relates to a handheld strawberry huller for quickly and easily hulling such fruit without removing an excess of edible fruit flesh. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]    There are an almost uncountable number of desserts and dishes which call for the use of fresh fruit, such as strawberries. Typically, strawberries are bought fresh from the market, cleaned and then individually sliced for use. Strawberries are somewhat unique as a fruit, because unlike fruit such as apples and pears, strawberries do not have a seedy core to remove. And, unlike fruit such as oranges, kiwi and bananas, strawberries do not have a skin or peel to remove. Unfortunately, much like grapes and cherries, fresh strawberries do have a stem that requires removal before eating. 
         [0004]    Strawberry stems can be removed from the strawberry in a variety of ways, including the use of fingers, or by using either a strawberry corer or a strawberry huller. The use of ones&#39; fingers can be messy, slow and unsanitary. A paring knife may also be employed to remove the stem and core from a strawberry. This is also time consuming and can waste strawberry flesh. 
         [0005]    A strawberry corer, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,459 to Noble, U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,043 to Shirkey, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,344 to Poulos et al., unnecessarily remove the entire core of the strawberry. The known hullers (also known in the art as a stem plucker) are tiny tong-like devices which, when squeezed by the user, are used to grab the strawberry stem securely and then pull it off. Similar to a pairing knife, the known hullers can be slow and may remove too much of the desired strawberry flesh. 
         [0006]    There is disclosed herein an improved strawberry huller which avoids the disadvantages of prior devices while affording additional structural and operating advantages. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]    A hulling device having an ergonomic handle and a tubular cutting member is set forth herein. The cutting member is comprised of a cutting end and is attached to the handle. A discharging mechanism positioned within the tubular cutting member, and an actuator coupled to the discharging mechanism capable of moving the discharging mechanism, with the application of a force on the actuator, from a retracted position proximate the second end of the tubular cutting member to an extended position proximate the first end of the tubular cutting member. This actuation pushes the cored fruit part from the cutting tube. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment of the device, the actuator is biased into a return position by a member, preferably a spring, such that removal of the force from the actuator returns the discharging mechanism to the retracted position. 
         [0009]    It is an aspect of one embodiment of the huller that the tubular cutting member has a length which is less than the length of the handle. The discharging mechanism and the actuator are both preferably positioned within the handle of the device. 
         [0010]    It is another aspect of an embodiment of the huller to provide a shoulder at the connection between the cutting end and handle, wherein the shoulder stops penetration of the food at the length of the cutting member. 
         [0011]    It is still a further aspect of an embodiment of the present huller wherein the length of the tubular cutting member prevents the cutting member from cutting substantially through the strawberry. Preferably, the tubular cutting member is less than one and one-half inches (1½ inches) in length. Most preferably, the tubular cutting member is less than one inch in length. 
         [0012]    Finally, it is another aspect of an embodiment of the present huller to provide an handle which sits comfortably in the user&#39;s hand. Preferably, the ergonomic handle is covered at least in part by a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) material, such as SANTOPRENE. 
         [0013]    These and other aspects of the invention may be understood more readily from the following description and the appended drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0014]    For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated. 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present strawberry huller; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a front cross-section of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is a cross-section similar to  FIG. 6 , showing the actuator in a depressed position; 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is a side cross-section of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 9 through 11  are perspective views of the device as it might be used to core a strawberry and eject the same. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]    While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to embodiments illustrated. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-11 , there is illustrated a strawberry huller, generally designated by the numeral  10 . The huller  10  has an ergonomic handle  12 , a cutting member  20 , and an ejector mechanism for displacing the cored portion of a fruit from the cutting member  20 . 
         [0026]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1-5 , the ergonomic handle  12  is preferably sized and contoured to fit comfortably within the hand of a user. 
         [0027]    Accordingly, the handle  12  has a substantially round and bulbous body  14  with a depressed area  15  on one side. The depressed area  15  provides a suitable spot for positioning of the user&#39;s thumb during operation. The body  14  of the handle  12  is preferably molded from a rigid plastic material. However, to increase the comfort of holding the huller  10 , a layer of resilient material, such as a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), can be coated onto at least a portion, if not the entire body  14 . SANTOPRENE® is a preferred material for such cushioning. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the handle  12  includes an integral taper  16  extending from the body  14  and leading into a shoulder  17 . The shoulder  17  may be integrally formed, as shown, made of the same materials as the body  14  of handle  12 , including resilient material, if desired. Alternatively, the shoulder  17  may be a cap (not shown) used to mount to the body  14  at the taper to form the shoulder  17 . Such a cap might be a metal ringed-component which secures to the handle  12 , serves to protect the resilient layer from being easily peeled from the body, and assists in securing the cutting member  20  to the handle  12 . 
         [0029]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , the cutting member  20  can be more readily understood. The cutting member  20  is preferably a cylindrical metal component secured at one end within the molded body  14  of handle  12  and extending outward (as measured from the shoulder  17 ) no more than 1½ inches (about 3.7 cm). Preferably, the cutting member  20  is stainless steel and extends no more than one-half inch (about 1.3 cm). The other end of cutting member  20  includes a crenellated cutting edge  21 . However, the cutting edge  21  may be of any configuration which is suitable for cutting into the flesh of a fruit, such as a strawberry. 
         [0030]    Referring now to  FIGS. 6-8 , the ejector mechanism can be more readily understood. The ejector mechanism is comprised of an actuator  40  having a discharging member  42  at one end. Preferably, the actuator  40  also comprises a push-button  44  and a shaft  46  which couples to the discharging member  42 . The discharging member  42  resides within the hollow of the cutting member  20  at a position back far enough to allow ample insertion of the cutting member  20  into a food. The shaft  46  and push-button  44  of the actuator  40  reside in the handle  12 . The push-button  44  is accessible from the top of the handle  12 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0031]    When depressed (force (F)), the push-button  44  advances the shaft  46 , which in turn advances the discharging member  42  to an extended position proximate the crenellated end of the cutting member  20  ( FIG. 7 ). A spring  48  or other biasing member, positioned between a shoulder  50  within the handle  12  and the push-button  44 , returns the actuator  40  and discharging member  42  to the retracted position ( FIGS. 6 and 8 ) when the depressing force (F) is removed. 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIGS. 9-11 , a possible use for the present huller  10 , the coring of a strawberry, is illustrated. The huller  10  is first positioned to penetrate a strawberry by placing the cutting member  20  about the stem of the fruit. A small amount of force on the huller  10  handle  12  toward the strawberry, with or without a twisting motion, will drive the cutting edge  21  of the cutting member  20  into the fruit. The cutting member  20  will continue to penetrate the berry until the force is stopped or until the shoulder  17  of the handle  12  abuts the fruit. Retraction of the cutting member  20 , with or without twisting, will withdraw the strawberry stem, the leaves surrounding the stem, and a small portion of the strawberry flesh where the stem is attached. 
         [0033]    The shoulder  17  and the shortness of the cutting member  20  cooperate to prevent complete penetration of the fruit by huller  10 . These features avoid a complete coring of the fruit, a process which unnecessarily removes edible flesh. 
         [0034]    Once extracted from the fruit, depressing the push-button  44  at the top of the body  14  by a force (F), as shown in  FIG. 11 , will serve to eject the cored portion of the fruit into a suitable container. 
         [0035]    In final construction, the huller is comprised of materials which are readily washable, and preferably dishwasher safe. The connections between the handle  12  and cutting member  20  should be sufficiently sealed to minimize contamination from cross-uses and prevent water penetration. 
         [0036]    The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants&#39; contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.