Abstract:
A hand operated garlic press includes a pair of crossed levers operated by pivoted together handles combined with the cross levers to easily create a strong crushing pressure in a pressure chamber into which garlic cloves are placed through an open front end of the chamber.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/201,450 filed on Dec. 10, 2008. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This application concerns manually operated garlic presses which are used to crush garlic cloves to obtain finely divided fresh garlic for use in cooking. 
         [0003]    Such presses have long been in use and typically are of a “nutcracker” design, wherein a pair of handles are hinged at one end and connected to a pressure plate located between the handles and forced down into a pressure chamber, also located between the handles. The pressure chamber is defined by a perforated bottom plate and surrounding side walls. The pressure plate is advanced down into the pressure chamber by squeezing the handles together which crushes the garlic inserted beneath the pressure plate and forces it through the bottom plate holes. 
         [0004]    In conventional designs, significant effort is required to squeeze the handles with sufficient force so as to push the garlic through the bottom plate holes. If the pressure applied is insufficient some of the crushed garlic may not be forced through the holes and remains on the bottom plate and is then cleaned out with the garlic clove skin and wasted. 
         [0005]    The pressure chamber being completely enclosed by the surrounding walls and located between the two operating handles is not easily accessed to load garlic cloves therein, and the recessed perforated bottom plate is also difficult to keep clean. 
         [0006]    In U.S. Ser. No. 10/592,300 published as U.S. 2007/0175342A1, a hand-operated double lever garlic press is described, intended to reduce the effort required, but further reductions in effort using that design are desirable, and it would be advantageous to provide a more easily accessed pressure chamber in such a garlic press. 
         [0007]    It is an object of the present invention to reduce the effort required to operate a hand operated garlic press so as to completely crush garlic cloves, as well as to make loading garlic cloves into the press pressure chamber easier than that of conventional garlic presses. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The above object and other objects of the present invention which will be understood upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a handle operated garlic press having a pressure chamber which is open on front side which allows easier insertion of items to be crushed, and also allows a perforated bottom plate in the pressure chamber to be pivoted out and exposed for easier cleaning. 
         [0009]    Access to the pressure chamber is also made easier by not being located between the handles, but instead by a geometry in which the handles do not extend across the pressure chamber as in many of the conventional garlic presses. 
         [0010]    Rather, the pressure chamber is located forward of the handles and the pressure plate is moved against the bottom plate by an intermediate lever system extending from the handle rather than directly by the handles located over the pressure chamber. 
         [0011]    Improved leverage is achieved by the handles being pivoted together at one end and located well behind the pressure chamber, and a pair of crossed levers which carry out the compression of the item are pivoted to each other at an intermediate point along their lengths, and each cross lever is also pivoted at one end to a respective handle at a point closer to the handle pivot ends than to the free end of the handles to create a mechanical advantage in being operated to crush an item in the pressure chamber. 
         [0012]    The other end of one of the cross levers has the pressure chamber fixed thereto while the other end of the other cross lever has a plunger bar mounted to the pressure plate and pivoted thereto allowing the attached pressure plate to be swung back from a perforated bottom plate defining in part the pressure chamber. The pressure plate is guided downwardly in the pressure chamber by guide slots in the side walls of the pressure chamber receiving projections on the pressure plate instead of being guided by a front wall of the pressure chamber. This allows the pressure chamber to be open at the front allowing easy access thereto to insert garlic cloves beneath a retracted pressure plate to be crushed upon squeezing together the handles. 
         [0013]    The bottom plate is pivoted along a front side to be able to be swung out once the pressure plate is swung up and back out of the way, for providing complete access to the bottom plate convenient cleaning thereof. 
         [0014]    The pivotally connected handles provide a first stage lever system in carrying out a compressing stroke of the pressure plate by the shorter distance from their pivoted ends to the point of connection to the cross levers than from the pivoted ends to the handle free ends. 
         [0015]    A second stage lever system having a mechanical advantage is provided by the shorter distance from the location of the pivot of the cross levers to the pivot connection of pressure plate plunger bar than the distance from the cross pivot to the pivot connection of each of cross the levers to a respective handle. 
         [0016]    This creates a greater overall mechanical advantage in advancing the pressure plate by squeezing the handles than prior presses, and thus requires only a modest effort by the user to generate a powerful crushing force which can force all of the clove meat through the bottom plate openings. 
         [0017]    The assembly of the crossed levers and pivoted together handles is compact by slots and recesses receiving the levers when the handles are closed together. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is an enlarged pictorial view from the front of a manually operated garlic press according to the present invention, with operating handles squeezed together and a pressure plate fully advanced against the bottom plate of a pressure chamber. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a pictorial view from the front of the garlic press shown in  FIG. 1  with the handles fully opened and the pressure plate retracted in preparation for a press operation. 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a pictorial view of the garlic press as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  with the pressure plate pivoted back to allow swinging out the perforated bottom plate defining a pressure chamber. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a pictorial view from the front of the garlic press shown in  FIGS. 1-3  with the perforated bottom plate flipped out for cleaning. 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the components of the garlic press shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a side view from of the garlic press shown in  FIGS. 1-4  with the handles opened and the pressure plate in its pivoted back position, with dimension lines indicating the component lengths creating the mechanical advantage obtained by the cross lever pivot locations. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]    In the following detailed description, certain specific terminology will be employed for the sake of clarity and a particular embodiment described in accordance with the requirements of 35 USC 112, but it is to be understood that the same is not intended to be limiting and should not be so construed inasmuch as the invention is capable of taking many forms and variations within the scope of the appended claims. 
         [0025]    Referring to the drawings and particularly  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a garlic press  10  according to the present invention is shown which includes a pair of generally elongate handles  12 A,  12 B, which may be constructed of cast aluminum, steel, stainless steel or plastic or other material and provided with soft elastomeric pads  14 . 
         [0026]    The handles  12 A,  12 B have interfit portions at one end which are pivotally connected to each other by a pivot pin  15 . Upper handle  12 B is formed with a clevis opening  16  and handle  12 A with a reduced thickness end  18  fit therein with sufficient clearances provided to allow the handles  12 A,  12 B to be spread apart as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0027]    The pivotally connected together handles  12 A, 12 B define a first lever system which operates a second lever system defined by a pair of crossed levers  20 ,  22  which also may be constructed of stainless steel, cast aluminum, plastic, ect., pivotally connected together at a location intermediate their ends with a pivot pin  24 . 
         [0028]    Cross lever  22  passes through a slot  23  extending through the middle of cross lever  20  which is long enough to permit pivoting movement of cross lever  22  therein. 
         [0029]    One of the cross levers  20  has a U-shaped space  26  between two separated curved end portions  27  at one end which together with a perforated bottom plate  50  define two sides and a bottom of a scoop shaped pressure chamber  28 . 
         [0030]    Cross lever  20  is formed with a narrower blade portion  21  at its other end which is received in the clevis opening  16  of the upper handle  12 B and is pivotally mounted therein to the handle  12 B with a pin  30 . 
         [0031]    The other cross lever  22  is shaped as a very shallow letter S and has one end  32  received in a recess  34  in the handle  12 A so as to be swingable therein about a pivot defined by a pin  36 . 
         [0032]    The other end  38  of the other cross lever  22  is rounded and of a reduced thickness with a hole  39  formed therein, which is received between gudgeons  41  integrally formed at an upper end of a plunger bar  40  which is integrally fixed to a pressure plate  42  at the other end. A pin  43  established a rotatable connection between cross lever end  38  and gudgeons  41 . This allows the pressure plate  42  to be swung up out of the way as seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4  or swung down to ready the garlic press  10  for operation as seen in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0033]    When swung down, projections  46  on opposite sides of the pressure plate  42  enter guide slots  48  on the inner surface of each sides  27  with a rounded entry insuring that the projections  46  will enter the slots  48  when the lever ends are moved together. The interaction between the guide projections  46  and slots  48  controls the pivoting of the pressure plate  42  so as to be constrained to descend and be pivoted to eventually assume an orientation parallel to perforated bottom plate  50  of the pressure chamber  28  as the cross lever  22  end  38  is swung down by the user squeezing together the handles  12 A and  12 B. 
         [0034]    The bottom plate  50  is preferably constructed of stainless steel and has an array of through elongated holes  51  and slots  52  formed therein. The use of slots  52  instead of all round holes maximizes the effective open area of the bottom plate  50 , and is preferred over the use of holes only to create the openings. 
         [0035]    The bottom plate  50  is rounded at one end to mate with the rounded shape of the inner end of the pressure chamber  28  and is pivotally mounted at its other end with a pin  54  received through a hole in an end bar  53  and in a hole  57  in both of the pressure chamber side walls  27 . 
         [0036]    The bottom plate  50  has a stepped perimeter edge  54  which rests on a shoulder  55  extending around the bottom of the U-shaped opening  26  to be positively secured in position closing off the bottom of the cavity  26  in an operative position shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0037]    A stop  59  (FIGS.  2 , 5 ) can be formed on each side to hold the bottom plate  50  in a flipped out horizontal position shown in  FIG. 4  for ease in cleaning. In addition, the pressure plate  42  when lowered as seen in  FIG. 1  will lock the bottom plate  50  in its flipped out position to make scrubbing easier. 
         [0038]    The bottom plate  50  can also be sized to have a slight press fit to the pressure chamber walls in the operative position so as to be releasably held in position by frictional contact. 
         [0039]    Since the pressure plate  42  is not guided by the constraint of a front wall of the pressure chamber  28  but by the interaction of guide projections  46  and slots  48 , this allows the front of the chamber  28 , to be open as shown, allowing free access thereto for placing cloves of garlic in the pressure chamber  28  from the front. The pressure plate  42  is tilted up at its front side as seen in  FIG. 2 , at the beginning of a stroke so that garlic cloves or other items to be crushed can be conveniently inserted in the space below the pressure plate  42 . 
         [0040]    As noted above, the bottom plate  50  can be swung up and out through the open front end of the chamber  28  for cleaning as seen in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0041]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , the mechanical advantage exerted by the handles  12 A,  12 B approximates the ratio of the shorter distances X 1 , from pivot  15  to pivot  36 , and the longer distances X 2  from pivot pin  15  to approximately the end of the handles  12 A,  12 B. The distances X 2  would vary somewhat depending on where the user&#39;s hand was located but would normally be longer than the distance X 1 . 
         [0042]    This leverage is then exerted on the second lever system via pins  36 , which develops a mechanical advantage equal to the shorter distance Y 1 , from the pivot pin  24  to the pivot  38  divided into the longer distance Y 2  from the pivot  24  to the pivot  36 . 
         [0043]    Thus, a compounded mechanical advantage is obtained by this combination of two lever systems. 
         [0044]    A pair of spring loaded detent balls or pins  60  can be provided on opposite sides of the end  18  of handles  12 A to limit opening of the handles  12 A,  12 B to that position shown in  FIGS. 2 and 6  to locate the handles  12 A, 12 B in the desired position to be ready for a squeeze stroke. 
         [0045]    As can also be seen in  FIG. 6 , the recess  23  angles forwardly to accommodate the pivoting movement of cross lever  22 . The underside of the cross lever  20  is scalloped at  19  to accommodate the end  18  of the lower handle  12 A as the handles  12 A, 12 B are squeezed together. 
         [0046]    Accordingly, relatively great pressure can be developed without the need for an excessive exertion by the user such that a maximum amount of the meat of the garlic clove or cloves is forced though the holes  51  and slots  52 . 
         [0047]    The open front of the chamber  28  facilitates loading, while the swing out bottom plate  50  allows convenient access for cleaning. 
         [0048]    The interfitting of the cross levers  20 ,  22  and handles  12 A,  12 B within the various slots and recesses described creates a compact assembly in the closed position.