Kitchen utensil

• US 20050034310A1
• Filed: 08/15/2003
• Published: 02/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Terry J. Conforti
• Original Assignee: Terry J. Conforti
• Inventors: Conforti, Terry J.
• Granted Patent: US 6,895,672 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 30/169
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 43/288 Spatulas; Scrapers; Multi-purpose hand implements

Abstract

A utensil for scooping, scraping, measuring, pouring and serving includes a main body having a generally flat bottom and side walls extending up from the bottom to a top edge in surrounding relation to an interior reservoir. The top edge is preferably tapered in thickness to provide a scraping blade which generally conforms to and seals against the surface of a bowl, dish, pan or the like to thoroughly scrape and remove a substance therefrom. A pour spout formed with a non-drip lip extends from one of the side walls, along the top edge, and allows the scooped substance to be easily poured into a storage container without spilling the substance. A handle extends from the main body and, in a preferred embodiment, is offset towards the pour spout side to reduce the likelihood of contact of the user'"'"'s fingers with the substance when the top edge opposite of the spout is used to scrape and scoop the substance. The device may be made to include a range of sizes, according to units of measure, with smaller utensils nesting within larger ones in a stacked array for storage purposes.

Claims

1-16. -16. (cancelled).

17. A utensil set comprising:

a plurality of utensils each comprising;

a main body formed of a flexible, resilient material, said main body defining a scoop and including a bottom and a plurality of walls extending upwardly from said bottom to a top edge surrounding an open top of said scoop, said plurality of walls including a proximal end wall, a distal end wall opposite from said proximal end wall, a first side wall and a second side wall opposite from said first side wall, said plurality of walls and said bottom being formed and configured to surround a reservoir for holding a pourable substance therein;

a scraping blade formed along at least a portion of said top edge;

a spout extending from said second side wall, along said top edge, and communicating with said reservoir, said spout being structured and disposed for directing the pourable substance into a narrow stream of flow when pouring the pourable substance from said reservoir;

an elongate handle extending from said wall structure of said main body;

said scraping blade and said walls of said main body being flexible to allow said scraping blade to conform to surfaces being scraped by said scraping blade using manually applied pressure while grasping said elongate handle;

said plurality of utensils each having a different size reservoir according to a specific unit of volume measurement; and

said plurality of utensils being structured and disposed to be stacked in nested, ordered arrangement from a smallest size reservoir to a largest size reservoir.

18. The utensil set as recited in claim 17 wherein said spout is formed to include a non-drip lip.

19. The utensil set as recited in claim 18 wherein said spout is formed along said second sidewall.

20. The utensil set as recited in claim 19 wherein said elongate handle is offset towards said second sidewall.

21. The utensil set as recited in claim 17 wherein said bottom is flat.

22. The utensil set as recited in claim 17 wherein said main body and said elongate handle are integrally formed of said flexible, resilient material.