Patent Publication Number: US-11647853-B1

Title: Ring for holding knife inside jar

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT 
     The present inventions are related to the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 10,376,080 granted on Aug. 13, 2019 and first filed on Apr. 28, 2017 by Ryan P Newland and entitled JAR WITH KNIFE SHEATH UNDER LID. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present inventions relate to container accessories and, more particularly, relate to adaptations for holding utensils inside jars. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Typically food jars are stored in a kitchen refrigerator and knifes are stored in a kitchen drawer. Assembling food such as sandwiches require taking a knife from a drawer to spread the food from the jar on bread. Then the knife needs to be washed and returned to the drawer. A next food assembly at another time repeats this process. 
     What is needed is an apparatus for a more streamlined way of assembling food such as making a sandwich. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present inventions are illustrated by way of example and are not limited by the accompanying figures, in which like references indicate similar elements. Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. 
       The details of the preferred embodiments will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a perspective view of ring with sleeve capable of holding a knife in a jar according to a first embodiment of the present inventions; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a perspective view of a knife and the ring with sleeve capable of holding the knife in a jar according to the first embodiment of the present inventions; 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a perspective view of a lid and a jar holding the ring with the knife in the sleeve according to the first embodiment of the present inventions; 
         FIG.  4    illustrates a bottom perspective view of the lid and the jar holding the ring with the knife in the sleeve according to the first embodiment of the present inventions; 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a perspective view of a user&#39;s fingers grasping a curved handle end of the knife in the sleeve held by the jar according to the first embodiment of the present inventions; 
         FIG.  6    illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the ring with the knife in the sleeve tightly held in the mouth of a jar according to the first embodiment of the present inventions; and 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a perspective view of a lid and a jar holding a ring with a knife in an extended sleeve according to a second embodiment of the present inventions. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG.  1    illustrates a perspective view of ring  135  with sleeve or sheath  130  capable of holding a handheld spreader knife in a jar according to a first embodiment of the present inventions. The sheath  130  has a top sheath opening  131  at a sheath top  132  of the sheath  130  sized to receive the handheld spreader knife. The sheath top  132  is recessed below a ring top  136  as illustrated by a recess distance  138 . 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a perspective view of a knife  140  and the ring  135  with sleeve  130  capable of holding the knife  140  in a jar according to the first embodiment of the present inventions. The knife  140  has a handle at an upper portion of the length of the knife. The handle preferably contains a 90 degree bent portion  145 , as illustrated. The bent portion  145  of the handle on the upper end of the knife  140  aids the fingers of the hand of a user to grasp the knife  140 . Additionally, the bent portion  145  acts as a stop to limit the depth the knife  140  travels down when instated into the jar  110 . The sheath  130  has a top sheath opening at a top of the sheath  130  sized to receive the handheld spreader knife  140 . A top sheath opening of the sheath  130  is configured with a same size and shape as a cross-section of the handheld spreader knife  140  to scrape and clean the handheld spreader knife  140  when the handheld spreader knife  140  is slid in the sheath  130 . 
       FIG.  3    illustrates a perspective view of a lid  120  and a container such as a jar  110  holding the ring  135  with the knife  140  in the sleeve  130  according to the first embodiment of the present inventions. The jar  110  has one or more container sides and a bottom attached to the sides defining an inside surface with the top mouth opening. In this first embodiment, the sleeve  130  press fits into the inner annular surface of the mouth  115  of the jar  110 . The knife  140  has a handle at an upper portion of the length of the knife. The handle preferably contains a 90 degree bent portion  145 , as illustrated. The bent portion  145  of the handle on the upper end of the knife  140  aids the fingers of the hand of a user to grasp the knife  140 . Additionally, the bent portion  145  acts as a stop to limit the depth the knife  140  travels down when instated into the jar  110 . The bottom tip of the knife  140  can be prevented from touching the bottom of the jar  110  by the stop function of the bent portion of the knife  140 . Of course this depends on the length of the knife  140  too. The sleeve  130  and ring  135  holds a handheld spreader such as the knife  140  or other utensil inside the jar  110 . The jar  110  holds spreadable food up to the top food level  112 . The top food level  112  of the foodstuff or other contents of the jar  110  does not extend above the top of the sleeve  130  and preferable the bottom of the sleeve  130 . This permits the fingers of the user&#39;s hand grasping of the bent handle end portion  145  of the knife  140 . The knife  140  has the bent handle  145  stowed inside the jar container  110 . The handle  145  is loose for grasping by fingers of a hand of the user and is not attached. The spreadable food contents can be a foodstuff such as mayonnaise, jelly, or peanut butter. The inside annular surface of the mouth  115  of the jar  110  also press fit holds the sleeve  130  and ring  135  to keep the knife  140  inside the jar when not in use. The lid  120  can seal the knife  140  and the spreadable food inside the jar for storage in shipping container, store shelf, pantry, or refrigerator. One or more sides of the jar  110  and a bottom attached to the sides define an inside surface with a top opening. The sheath  130  has a top sheath opening at a top of the sheath  130  sized to receive the handheld spreader knife  140 . A top sheath opening of the sheath  130  is configured with a same size and shape as a cross-section of the handheld spreader knife  140  to scrape and clean the handheld spreader knife  140  when the handheld spreader knife  140  is slid in the sheath  130 . The jar  110  has a lid  120  configured to meet with the top opening of the container  110 . While the illustrated lid  120  screws on, the lid  120  can in alternate embodiments attach other ways such as snapping onto the jar  110 . 
       FIG.  4    illustrates a bottom perspective view of a lid  120  and a container such as a jar  110  holding the ring  135  with the knife  140  in the sleeve  130  of  FIG.  3    according to the first embodiment of the present inventions. Like elements have like reference numerals as described in  FIG.  3   . 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a perspective view of a user&#39;s fingers grasping a curved handle end  145  of the knife  140  in the sleeve  130  held by the inside annular surface of the mouth  115  of the jar  110  according to the first embodiment of the present inventions. Like elements have like reference numerals as described in  FIG.  3   . 
       FIG.  6    illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the ring  135  with the knife  140  in the sleeve  130  of  FIG.  3    tightly held in the inside annular surface of the mouth  115  of a jar  110  according to the first embodiment of the present inventions. Like elements have like reference numerals as described in  FIG.  3   . The cross-sectional side view of  FIG.  6    illustrates a tight fit of the ring  135  in the mouth  115  of the jar  110 . When the ring  135  is formed of a similar color and type of material as the jar  110 , the ring  135  becomes indistinguishable from the jar  110  after such tight fit insertion in the mouth  115 . 
       FIG.  7    illustrates a perspective view of a lid  220  and a container such as a jar  210  holding a ring  235  with a knife  240  in an extended sleeve or sheath  230  according to a second embodiment of the present inventions. The jar  210  has one or more container sides and a bottom attached to the sides defining an inside surface with the top mouth opening. In the second embodiment the sleeve is a sheath  230  extended to cover an entirety of a length of the knife blade as illustrated. The sheath  230  can have one or more secondary sheath openings  270  near a bottom of the sheath  230  configured to permit flow of liquid therethrough when the handheld spreader knife  240  is slid in the sheath  230 , wherein the liquid comprises at least one or both of the spreadable food and air. In the second embodiment, the ring  235  press fits into the inner annular surface of the mouth  215  of the jar  210 . The knife  240  has a handle at an upper portion of the length of the knife. The handle preferably contains a 90 degree bent portion  245 , as illustrated. The bent portion  245  of the handle on the upper end of the knife  240  aids the fingers of the hand of a user to grasp the knife  240 . Additionally, the bent portion  245  acts as a stop to limit the depth the knife  240  travels down when instated into the jar  210 . The bottom tip of the knife  240  can be prevented from touching the bottom of the jar  210  by the stop function of the bent portion of the knife  240 . Of course this depends on the length of the knife  240  too. The sheath  230  and ring  235  holds a handheld spreader such as the knife  240  or other utensil inside the jar  210 . The jar  210  holds spreadable food up to the top food level  212 . The top food level  212  of the foodstuff or other contents of the jar  210  does not extend above the top of the sheath  230 . This permits the fingers of the user&#39;s hand grasping of the bent handle end portion  245  of the knife  240 . The knife  240  has the bent handle  245  stowed inside the jar container  210 . The handle  245  is loose for grasping by fingers of a hand of the user and is not attached. The spreadable food contents can be a foodstuff such as mayonnaise, jelly, or peanut butter. The inside annular surface of the mouth  215  of the jar  210  also press fit holds the sleeve  230  and ring  235  to keep the knife  240  inside the jar when not in use. The lid  220  can seal the knife  240  and the spreadable food inside the jar for storage in shipping container, store shelf, pantry, or refrigerator. One or more sides of the jar  210  and a bottom attached to the sides define an inside surface with a top opening. The sheath  230  has a top sheath opening at a top of the sheath  230  sized to receive the handheld spreader knife  240 . A top sheath opening of the sheath  230  is configured with a same size and shape as a cross-section of the handheld spreader knife  240  to scrape and clean the handheld spreader knife  240  when the handheld spreader knife  240  is slid in the sheath  230 . The jar  210  has a lid  220  configured to meet with the top opening of the container  210 . While the illustrated lid  220  screws on, the lid  220  can in alternate embodiments attach other ways such as snapping onto the jar  210 . 
     The ring is particularly adapted to conventional plastic jars. The ring and sleeve are preferably made of plastic. When the ring is formed of the same type of plastic material as the jar container and of the same color as the jar container, they are nearly indistinguishable after the ring is instated, particularly when the ring is sized for a tight fit. These noteworthy advantages allow the ring to be used in conventional jars without modification of the jar. 
     Unless stated otherwise, terms such as “first” and “second” are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements. 
     Although the inventions have been described and illustrated in the above description and drawings, it is understood that this description is by example only, and that numerous changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the inventions. Although the examples in the drawings depict only example constructions and embodiments, alternate embodiments are available given the teachings of the present patent disclosure.