Abstract:
A combination scooper and sifter and method for sifting material includes a solid frame; a mesh screen at the bottom of the frame; a rim at the top of the frame; a rear wall that extends down from the rim to the mesh screen at a steep, first angle; a lip at the front of the frame that extends down from the front of the frame to the mesh screen at a shallow, second angle which is substantially less than the first angle at the back of the frame; a front section at a front of the rim that slopes down to a front tip of the frame; a rear section at a rear of the rim that is generally flat; and a hump-like, middle section between the front and rear sections of the rim that smoothly rises and lowers to provide a hump.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to sifters and more specifically to a combination scooper and sifter and method for sorting plant material. 
     Existing sifters are not designed to aid in scooping, sifting and separating plant parts such as, but not limited, to flowers, buds, petiole, pistols, stems, leaves, seeds, branches, plant particles and/or plant particle dust, or “shake” (referred to herein “plant material”). Usage of existing sifters to scoop, sift and sort plant material could be inefficient. Existing sifters could cause significant damage to delicate and sensitive plant and flower parts such as but not limited to flowers, buds, trichomes, pistols or any pubescent plants that may or may not be glandular. 
     Existing sifters are not designed for use with delicate or sensitive plant parts. Existing sifters do not allow the end user to scoop up delicate or sensitive plant materials with minimal damage to plant matter. Existing sifters may not allow the end user to sift and sort delicate and/or sensitive plant materials with minimal shaking, and therefore do not maximize the integrity of the plant material resulting in damage and degradation of plant material. Existing sifters usually incorporate a single size of mesh screen apertures which would not be adaptable to the numerous species of plants. Existing sifters do not incorporate rounded off lips on the scooper/dump side to minimize damage or degradation to delicate and/or sensitive plant and flower parts and do not incorporate sloped walls strategically placed to minimize delicate and/or sensitive plant parts from falling out. Existing sifters are not designed to separate more desirable plant material from less desirable plant material. 
     It would be desirable to have a specialized sifter that may minimize damage to delicate or sensitive plant parts while allowing the end user to efficiently separate more desirable plant material from less desirable plant materials. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect of the present invention, a device includes a solid frame having a top, a bottom, a front, a rear, a left, and a right; a mesh screen at the bottom of the frame; a rim at the top of the frame that extends around the rear, left, and right of the frame; a rear wall at the back of the frame that extends down from the rim to the mesh screen at a steep, first angle; a lip at the front of the frame that extends down from the front of the frame to the mesh screen at a shallow, second angle which is substantially less than the first angle at the back of the frame; a front section at a front of the rim that slopes down to a front tip of the frame; a rear section at a rear of the rim that is generally flat; and a hump-like, middle section between the front and rear sections of the rim that smoothly rises and lowers to provide a hump. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a device includes a solid frame having a top, a bottom, a front, a rear, a left, and a right; a mesh screen removably held to the frame at the bottom of the frame; a rim at the top of the frame that extends around the rear, left, and right of the frame; a rear wall at the back of the frame that extends down from the rim to the mesh screen at a steep, first angle of at least 70 degrees; a left wall at the left of the frame that extends down from the rim to the mesh screen at the first angle; a right wall at the right of the frame that extends down from the rim to the mesh screen at the first angle; a lip at the front of the frame that extends down from the front of the frame to the mesh screen at a shallow, second angle which is substantially less than the first angle; a front section at a front of the rim that slopes down to a front tip of the frame; a rear section at a rear of the rim that is generally flat; a hump-like, middle section between the front and rear sections of the rim that either smoothly rises and lowers to provide a hump; and a plurality of apertures in the rim to provide handles. 
     In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for sorting a plant material includes providing the device described above; inserting the lip of the device into a bag containing the plant material; removing the plant material from the bag into the device, the plant material having larger plant parts and smaller plant parts; and shaking the material using the device so that the smaller plant parts fall down through the mesh screen but the larger plant parts are retained in the device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts a top view of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  depicts a front view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  depicts a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  depicts an embodiment of the prevent invention scooping material from bag; 
         FIG. 6  depicts the embodiment of  FIG. 5  shaking material; 
         FIG. 7  depicts the embodiment of  FIG. 5  replacing the material in the bag; 
         FIG. 8  depicts a system including an embodiment of a system according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  depicts a top view of another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  depicts a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  depicts a front view of the embodiment of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 12  depicts a side view of the embodiment of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 13  depicts a side view of another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 14  depicts an underneath, perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 13 ; and 
         FIG. 15  depicts a closer view of the embodiment of  FIG. 13 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The preferred embodiment and other embodiments, which can be used in industry and include the best mode now known of carrying out the invention, are hereby described in detail with reference to the drawings. Further embodiments, features and advantages will become apparent from the ensuing description, or may be learned without undue experimentation. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale, except where otherwise indicated. The following description of embodiments, even if phrased in terms of “the invention” or what the embodiment “is,” is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but describes the manner and process of making and using the invention. The coverage of this patent will be described in the claims. The order in which steps are listed in the claims does not necessarily indicate that the steps must be performed in that order. 
     An embodiment of the present invention generally provides a combined manual sifter and scooper for material in bags or in a pile. Embodiments include a hand-held sifter and scoop for most or all plant material including plants, flowers, buds, cannabis or herbal materials, such as flowers or flowering plants that seed. Embodiments may separate desirable plant material from less desirable material by sifting smaller particles out and keeping larger particles. Embodiments may separate flowers from leaf, separate seed from flowers, or separate and sort out undesirable plant materials or particles of any other plant, herb, bud, flower, seed, or cannabis particles (“shake”). The plant material to be sifted and sorted may include, e.g., a fruiting body or inflorescence of flowers and seeds such as found in cannabis. In an embodiment, the material may be provided in bags, scooped out of the bag with the invention, and then the undesirable plant parts (“shake”) may be sifted from the more desirable plant material with the invention. 
     Embodiments may include a scoop with a handle or hand holds and a steel, metal, plastic, or other mesh screen at the bottom. The front end is a scooper to scoop material out of a bag or other container, and the rear end is for holding material above a sieve. The device is not symmetrical from front to back, and it drops down at the front end. Embodiments may have a lip at the front, but not have a substantial front wall. The front end may be a solid plate for scooping, and the rearward area is a sifter with a downward-bulging mesh screen. The holes in the mesh screen may be from 1/100 inch to 1 inch for each square grid, so that smaller plant parts such as seeds, leaf, or other undesirable plant, herb, bud, flower, or cannabis particles will be sifted out. Example materials for the body include, but are not limited to, plastic (low cost) and stainless steel (high quality). Embodiments of frames, walls, and other parts of the apparatus may also be constructed of mesh screen to increase surface areas of screen and minimize shaking, damage, and degradation to the plant material. 
     Example side and rear walls may have a vertical portion or nearly vertical slopes, such as 70% to 90% relative to the bottom. The bottom surface of an embodiment of a device may be flat or slightly curved, and made of a wire, plastic, or other mesh screen. The rest of the device may be made other shaped material such as, for example, plastic, metal, or fiberglass. The mesh screen may include, but is not limited to, a circle, ellipsoid, or ovoid shape, or may be like a square, rectangle or trapezoid with rounded corners. The walls and front lip of the bowl all slope down to the screen and end at the screen. The screen may cover or substantially cover the bottom-most portion of the device. 
     The walls steeply extend down in that, when the scooper is held horizontally, the material to be sifted adjacent to or in contact with the walls will immediately fall or tumble down onto the mesh screen at the bottom. The lip gently slopes down in that the gentle slope provides a smooth, rounded lip that both scoops material out of a bag while keeping damage to material to a minimum, and also helps retain material while shaking. Embodiments of a lip may strike a balance between a gently-sloped shovel for collecting and dumping a maximum amount of plant material and a vertical wall that retains the material during shaking. The edges of the lip may be rounded and smooth, to help minimize damage to the plant material. 
     An alternate embodiment may include a separate stand for the sifter so that the sifted material will fall into a collection bin or container. The user uses the device to scoop up plant material out of a bag, then the user sets the device on the stand, which also acts as a container, collection bin or reservoir. Embodiments may include a collection bin having an upper rim that conforms to all or some of the contours of the sifter. The collection bin may be large enough to enclose the wire mesh portion of the scooper, so that the scooper fits into the collection bin. The container may be slightly larger than the scooper, to give the user room to shake the scooper back and forth yet still keep the mesh screen over the bucket so that the bucket collects all the sifted out material (“shake”). The container may be made of any rigid, sealed materials, such as plastic, wood, metal, or mesh, and may include one or more mesh screens of its own. The additional ascreens may help with additional sifting or sorting needs, such as a second screen with a different, perhaps smaller mesh hole size which provides a second separation of plant material. The upper lip of the container may match either some of or all of the rim of the scooper. The sides of the container may snugly fit the sides of the scooper or have a gap, the back of the container may match the back of the scooper, and the front of the container may have a gap. 
     Another alternate embodiment may have a single handle that extends out from the rear wall of a sifter, rather than multiple apertures in a flat rim. The walls on the left, right, and rear may be generally straight, with or without a horizontal rim at the top. The front lip may have a more gentle slope than the straight walls. A trough portion or bulge may extend down from the bottom of the frame, located at or near the front edge of the mesh screen. If the device is tilted back while shaking, the plant material will be retained within the scooper by the trough. The mesh screen may be angled or bent so that a lower portion covers the bottom and an upper portion extends up onto the real wall, effectively increasing the amount of screen area to which the plant material is exposed. In an embodiment, the entire apparatus or any parts of the apparatus may be made out of mesh screen to maximize screen area. An embodiment may be tilted at different angles to increase efficiency of the device. This may allow the device to be tilted back in use so that the screen sifts the plant material on both the bottom and rear wall of the device. Embodiments may have a removable mesh screen. 
     An embodiment of a mesh screen matches the shape and corresponds to the large aperture in the bottom of the frame. The screen may have its own rim, which has one or more connecting elements and a rear connecting element. The connecting elements may be tabs in the rim, male to female connectors, or fasteners such as screws and bolts. The screen rim may be threaded and may screw onto corresponding threads in the frame to engage a tight connection. The connecting elements may be located around the rim, and will connect or disconnect the rimmed screen from the rest of the scooper. The frame may also have one or more corresponding connecting elements such as flanges to engage with the connecting elements in the screen, and a connecting receptacle that attaches to the rear connecting element on the screen. A user may connect or disconnect the mesh screen onto the frame so that the connecting elements in the frame releasably retain the mesh screen and the rear connecting element of the screen fastens onto the receptacle of the frame. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , embodiments may include a combined scooper and sifter  10  with a solid frame  12  and a mesh screen bottom  14 . Embodiments may be symmetrical from left side  20  to right side  22 , but not from front  24  to rear  26 . The frame  12  has a generally flat rim  30  that extends around the side and rear portions  20 ,  22 , and  26 . The frame  12  has walls  16  on three sides that steeply extend down from the rim  30  to the mesh screen bottom  14 , and a front lip  18  on the front side that gently slopes down to the mesh screen bottom  14  to form a front scoop area  40 . The walls  16  are steeply sloped near the rear  26 , and the front lip  18  is slightly or shallowly-sloped near the front  24 . The rim  30  may have a left handle aperture  32  on the left side  20 , a right handle aperture  34  on the right side  22 , and a rear handle aperture  36  at the rear  26 . 
     As depicted in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the left side  20 , right side  22 , and rear  26  walls  16  may have a rounded bottom or top or both, to form an elongated “S” or integral sign. The front  24  wall  16  slopes up more gently than the side  20 ,  22  or rear  26  walls  16 , to provide a front scoop area. The rear  26  portion of an embodiment may appear like a bowl, with sharply-sloping walls. 
     As depicted in the side view of  FIG. 4 , the profile from the side of an embodiment of a scooper  10  may have slightly downward sloping flat rear portion  42  at the top of the rear  26  and side  20  portions, with a rise or hump-like portion  44  starting at about the middle of the scooper  10 , and then a downward sloping front scoop area  40  that ends in the front  24  at a level slightly below the flat rear portion  42 . The top surface may of the scooper be generally level from the center to the back  42 , with a gentle rising and lowering shape  44  ending in a scoop area  40 . The hump-like portion  44  in the top surface may peak above the point where screen  14  at the bottom ends. 
     As depicted in the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , a combined scooper and sifter  10  may be inserted into a bag  50  or other container, and material  52  may be removed from the bag  50  using the scooper  10 . The material  52  may include, but is not limited to plant, herb, bud, flower, or cannabis material or plant parts, from plants such as sage, cannabis, lavender or basil. An appropriate wire, metal, or plastic mesh size for the screen  14  may be selected prior to use. The material  52  may be gently shaken so that less-desirable plant parts such as leaf particles, pistols, seeds, stems, dust, or shake sinks to the bottom and then out through the screen. The bag  50  may be a convenient size for packing flowers and leaves, such as a “turkey bag” (19″×23½″) or similar sized bag or pouch. The front scoop area  40  at the front of the device will smoothly fit into the bag  50  and scoop up the material  52 . If the user does not wish to scoop plant matter from a bag, the user may fill the sifter with plant matter by hand or from a pile of plant material. The scoop  10  has a contour or hump-like portion  44  to direct it into the bag  50 , and handle apertures  32 ,  34 ,  36  or other handles for a user to grasp. Embodiments (not shown) may include a detachable or fixed stick or pole at the back or a socket for such a stick, which may serve as a handle. 
     As depicted in  FIG. 6 , an embodiment of a scooper  10  may be filled with plant material  52  including leaves and flowers, and the device can shaken so that undesirable plant parts are separated from desirable plant parts and sifted out the mesh screen bottom  14 . While shaking the device, some plant matter may tend to migrate toward the front  24 , but will be retained within the scooper  10  by the hump-like portion  44  in the rim. Less plant material will pop out, compared to a round bowl or a device with a level top rim. The plant material may include, but is not limited to, flowers, pistols, leaves, seed, petiole, stems, buds, plant particles and/or plant dust or shake from any plant such as but not limited to any herbs, bushes, trees, or flowering plants such as cannabis and sage. 
     As depicted in the embodiment of  FIG. 7 , after shaking and sifting undesirable plant matter, or cannabis particles such as “shake” out, the scooper  10  may be inserted into another bag  50  and the sifted material  52  may be dumped into the bag  50 . The front scoop area  40  at the front of the device can be fit into the bag  50  and the material  52  can be dumped into the bag  50  by tilting the scooper  10  forward. 
     As depicted in the embodiment of  FIG. 8 , a sifting system  60  may include a combination scooper and sifter  10  and a collection container  62 . Embodiments of a collection container  62  may be a can or basket, and may have an upper rim  66  that corresponds to all or a portion of the rim  30  of the scooper  10 . The walls  16  and front lip  18  of the scooper  10  extend into collection container  62  to prevent spillage of material that drops out the bottom. A gap  64  between the rim  30  of the scooper  10  and the upper rim  66  of the collection container  62  allow the user to shake the scooper  10  yet keep the scooper  10  in place. The shape of all or some of upper rim  66  may match the rim  30  of the scooper  10 . Embodiments may include one or more additional sifting screens or mesh screens, along the length of the container or at the bottom of the container, to increase sifting possibilities. 
     As depicted in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , embodiments of a combined scooper and sifter  70  may have a solid frame  72 , a bottom  76 , a left wall  80 , a right wall  82 , a rear wall  86 , a front lip  78 , and a mesh screen  74  that covers part of the bottom  76  and also part of a the rear wall  86 . Mesh screen  74  may be angled or bent so that a lower portion covers the bottom  76  and an upper portion extends up onto the real wall  74 . The walls steeply extend down to the mesh screen  74 , and the front lip  78  extends down at a lesser angle and gently slopes down to the mesh screen  74  at the bottom  76 . Embodiments of a frame may include further mesh screen elements, or may be composed of mesh screen. 
     As depicted in the embodiment of  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the left wall  80 , right wall  82 , and rear wall  86  may be generally straight up and down with have a curved lower portion that terminates in the flat bottom  76 . The front lip  78  slopes up more gently than the left, right, or rear walls to provide a front scoop area. 
     As depicted in the side view of  FIG. 12 , the profile from the side of an embodiment of a scooper  70  may have a flat bottom  76  at the rear and center of the frame  72 , with a trough or hump-like portion  90  that may align with the front of the mesh screen  74 . The top of the frame  72  may generally curve downward from the back to the front. 
     The embodiment of  FIGS. 13, 14, and 15  depict an embodiment of a sifter system  100  having a sifter/scooper  102  similar to the embodiment as described in  FIG. 1 . The sifter system  100  may include a removable mesh screen  104 , having a rim  106  with 3 tabs  108  (front, left, and right) and a rear connecting tab  110  with an aperture  112 . The frame  102  includes a receptacle flange  114 , similar to a hook, which slips into the aperture  112  in the rear connecting tag  110  of the mesh screen  104 . The frame  102  of the system  100  includes 3 connecting flanges  116  that engage with each of the tabs  108  of the screen  104 . The connecting flanges  116  may be smaller than or the same as the receptacle flange  114 .