Abstract:
A device to inject solid materials into foods comprising a piston, a sleeve, and a penetrating tip. Embodiments are described with both segmented and unitary sleeves. Deformation of the tip during storage is minimized by biasing members which withdraw the piston from the tip when an embodiment is not in use. A method is described for flavoring foods with solid objects.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/375,220, filed Feb. 27, 2003, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/891,915, filed Jun. 26, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,470, issued Jun. 17, 2003). 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is directed towards a device which injects foods with solid materials.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    There are several devices in prior U.S. patent art which inject foods with solid materials. Among these are: U.S. Pat. No. 1,155,139 which teaches a device for curing, spicing and seasoning meats. This device has a segmented pointed tip which penetrates the meat in a closed configuration and then opens to allow solid materials to be injected within the meat.  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,160 teaches a device for injecting solid spices and liquids into meats prior to cooking. The device comprises a pointed slug which caps a cylindrical tube which is filled through a reservoir with the ingredients to be injected. The slug penetrates the meat followed by the cylindrical tube. The slug then precedes the tube allowing the ingredients to enter the meat. The slug and the tube are then removed from the meat under spring pressure.  
           [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,688 discloses yet another device to inject fillings within sandwiches. This device works on a similar principle to the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,155,139.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,467 shows a device which injects stuffings into meats. A pointed square tube containing a sliding cylindrical piston is described. The piston forces the stuffings through the tube and into the interior of the meat.  
           [0007]    Each of these devices has shortcomings which may include, but are not limited to: difficulty in cleaning, inconvenient apparatus filling, complexity in use, and difficult fabrication.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    Embodiments utilizing the present inventions may have an elongated sleeve containing a piston which tracks the inner wall of the sleeve and moves longitudinally within it. Capping one end of the sleeve is an opening segmented point. The piston may move within the sleeve to a point where one end of the piston is within the segmented point and is exposed through the point which is opened by piston pressure.  
           [0009]    The sleeve may be unitary or may be divided into two or more parts, each connected by a screw type thread or by other means. Loading materials to be injected into foods may be accomplished by disassembling the sleeve and placing materials to be injected within one of the sleeve constituents, or by removing the piston and loading materials through one end of the sleeve, or by loading materials through a window in the side of the sleeve. In any case, materials are injected by the piston forcing materials within the sleeve out through the segmented point while the point is within the food being injected.  
           [0010]    One or more resilient members bias the piston to withdraw from within the opened segmented point, which results in the segmented point being relaxed in a closed, not straining, position when the device is not in use. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a rear perspective of a first embodiment of the present inventions.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a rear perspective exploded view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a cross-section, as indicated in FIG. 1, taken through the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the piston inserted into the sleeve but not depressed.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 a  is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 4 as indicated in FIG. 4.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is also a cross-section taken through the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the piston depressed.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 a  is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 5 as indicated in FIG. 5.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a rear perspective exploded view of a second embodiment.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is a rear perspective exploded view of a third embodiment.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is a forward perspective view of a design variant of the piston.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 a  is an enlargement of a section of FIG. 8 as indicated in FIG. 8.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0022]    Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5 a,  a first embodiment of the present inventions comprises piston  20 , upper sleeve  22 , lower sleeve  24  which includes integral segmented tip  26 , and finger grip nut  28 .  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the assembly of these parts. FIGS. 1 and 2 show exterior views of the first embodiment, and FIGS. 4 through 5 a  show sections taken through the first embodiment.  
         [0024]    Each of the constituent parts of the first embodiment may be made by any suitable manufacturing means. As an example, and not by way of any limitation, each of the parts could be injection molded out of polypropylene, polycarbonate, or other suitable material.  
         [0025]    Piston  20  is essentially a pair of orthogonally crossed ribs with several orthogonal disks spaced along its length and capping both its ends. Capping disk  30  acts as a finger pressure applicator to piston  20 . Intermediate disks  40  may also be used to apply finger pressure to piston  20 . Capping disk  32  presses against materials to be injected.  
         [0026]    Upper sleeve  22  is essentially cylindrical tube  38  with attachment threads  34  at one end and finger holds  36  at its opposite end.  
         [0027]    Lower sleeve  24  is essentially a cylindrical tube with conical entry  42  at one end and integral segmented tip  26  at its opposite end.  
         [0028]    Finger grip nut  28  contains internal threads  46  which cooperate with attachment threads  34  to attach nut  28  to upper sleeve  22 . Finger grip nut  28  may be knurled or contoured around its outer periphery to provide a better hand grip.  
         [0029]    Lower sleeve  24  is attached to upper sleeve  22  by being trapped between finger grip nut  28  and upper sleeve  22  (see FIGS. 4 through 5 a ).  
         [0030]    When capping disk  32  forces open segmented tip  26 , resilient members  54  and  56  act in cooperation with conical entry  42  to withdraw capping disk  32  from forcing open segmented tip  26  once finger pressure is relaxed from capping disk  30  (see FIGS. 4 through 5 a ). This withdraw is also aided by segmented tip  26  pressing sloping surfaces against capping disk  32 . This in turn results in less stress on the embodiment due to segmented tip  26  being closed when the embodiment is not in use.  
         [0031]    This internal biasing to remove capping disk  32  from segmented tip  26  is facilitated by lower sleeve  24  being a smaller diameter than upper sleeve  22  which allows for conical entry  42  to exist.  
         [0032]    Piston tapers  58  by contacting conical entry  42  prevent the end of piston  20  from traveling too far downward.  
         [0033]    Piston  20  may be inserted into upper sleeve  22  through upper sleeve entry opening  48 . Enlarged disc  50  has a greater diameter than other intermediate disks and cooperates with annular protrusion  52  to snap fit piston  20  within upper sleeve  22  and lower sleeve  24 .  
         [0034]    When disposed within sleeves  22  and  24 , piston  20  may traverse freely up and down with a loose fit, which may be friction free enough to allow piston  20  to move under force of gravity alone up and down the sleeves.  
         [0035]    At one end of such a movement, capping disk  32  may contact segmented tip  26  and under pressure from plunger  20  may force segmented tip  26  to open. If materials to be injected are in front of capping disk  32 , they may also force segmented tip  26  to open.  
         [0036]    Annular protrusion  52  acting in cooperation with enlarged disc  50  prevent piston  20  from accidentally being removed from upper sleeve  22  while still allowing piston  20  to be snapped free from upper sleeve  22  when force is added.  
         [0037]    In use, finger grip nut  28  is removed from upper sleeve  22  by unscrewing internal threads  46  from engagement with attachment threads  34 , and lower sleeve  24  is then detached from upper sleeve  22 . Materials to be injected are then placed within lower sleeve  24  and lower sleeve  24  is then reattached to upper sleeve  22  by reversing the above described process.  
         [0038]    Plunger  20  is then inserted into upper sleeve  22  through upper sleeve entry opening  48 . Segmented tip  26  is then inserted into the food to be injected and finger pressure is applied to capping disk  30  resulting in the materials to be injected moving through lower sleeve  24  and into the food. Segmented tip  26  is then withdrawn from the food. This process may be repeated as often as is necessary to fully flavor the food as desired. Cleanup of the embodiment is facilitated by lower sleeve  24  being detachable from upper sleeve  22  resulting in greater accessibility to the interior of the embodiment.  
         [0039]    Alternatively to load the embodiment, lower sleeve  24  may remain attached to upper sleeve  22  and piston  20  may be removed from upper sleeve  22  and materials to be injected inserted through upper sleeve entry opening  48  followed by plunger  20  being reinserted into upper sleeve  22 . The injection procedures remain the same as described above.  
         [0040]    Foods may be flavored by injecting flavor adding solid objects into them such as (only by way of example and not by any way of limitation): sun-dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, chopped onions, spices including parsley, rosemary, peppermint, and sage, hickory smoke; sugar, rock sugar, brown sugar, frosting, salt, rock salt, MSG, carrots, radishes, capers, ham, cheese, and many others.  
         [0041]    To have foods flavored by solid objects a procedure may be used where an embodiment is loaded as described above, and then inserted into the food. The solid objects are then injected into the food and the embodiment is removed from the food and the food is then cooked and later eaten.  
         [0042]    An additional step may be added by creating an insertion point for the embodiment by first penetrating the food with the tip of a knife.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 6 shows a second alternative embodiment which is identical to the first preferred embodiment except that finger nut  28  is integrated with lower sleeve  24  and segmented tip  26  to form integrated tip  60 .  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 7 shows a third alternative embodiment which joins integrated tip  60  with upper sleeve  22  to form unitized sleeve  62 . This embodiment does not allow the lower sleeve (formerly referred to as  24 ) to be removed from the upper sleeve (formerly referred to as  22 ), and thus must be filled using only the second procedure described above, that of removing the piston and loading the embodiment through upper sleeve entry opening  48 .  
         [0045]    [0045]FIGS. 8 and 8 a  show a modification to piston  20  where resilient members  54  and  56  are replaced with resilient members  64  and  66  which had been strengthened by expanding them vertically up and down and attaching the forward ends of resilient members  64  and  66  to disk  68  by means of springing members  70  and  72 . This both strengthens the resilient members and provides more pressure for withdrawing capping disk  32  from segmented tip  26 .  
         [0046]    Besides being used for injecting flavors into foods, the embodiments may be used for other purposes. As examples, and not by way of any limitation, gravel might be injected into Styrofoam to enhance sound blocking, or fertilizer might be injected into the soil of houseplants. Embodiments also might be used for other reasons in cooking such as injecting sloppy Joe materials into unsliced bread, or injecting cheese inside of hamburgers to make cheese filled cheeseburgers.