Utensils

Abstract

A utensil 1 with a handle 2 with a central axis 7 that a plurality of blades 5 extend from with the cutting edge 6 of each blade portion curving around and moving away from the axis as the blades exte

Description

This invention relates to utensils, such as may be used to remove materials such as foodstuffs from cans. Canned foods are familiar, and can be used to preserve, transport or even serve foodstuffs or other materials. Canned foodstuffs include vegetables, meats, fruits, jellies and so on. In particular, the use of canned meat products for use as food for companion animals such as cats and dogs is ubiquitous. However, when using cans, a user must be careful to avoid sharp edges that can form when opening cans, be it with ring-pull openings or cans that have been opened with a can opener. Commonly, users at present will scrape the insides of a can with a spoon or other similar implement. If, as often happens, there is foodstuff stuck at the bottom of the can, furthest from the opening, a user may be tempted to insert their hand partly into the can to carry out the scraping. Particularly with vulnerable users such as children or the elderly, this carries a risk of laceration. There have previous been proposed various utensils, such as that disclosed in US2012 / 0151704 and CA 2 688 051 Al, but none of which have been particularly satisfactory in ease of use, and have tended to be for very specific applications, such as in the case of the latter document quoted above, removing specifically frozen juice from cans. There is a need for a more widely applicable and efficient utensil. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a utensil, comprising a handle portion and a blade portion supported on the handle portion at an attachment point of the blade portion, the blade portion comprising a plurality of blades each extending along the axis from the attachment point to a distal end of the blade portion and having a cutting edge, wherein the cutting edge of each blade curves around the axis and moves away from the axis as the blade extends along the axis from the attachment point to the distal end. As such, this utensil allows for the easy removal of foodstuffs or the like from cylindrical cans. The cutting edges extending from where the blades attach to the handle to the distal end, and the “spiralling out” cutting edges (due to their moving around but away from the axis as they extend along the axis) allows for efficient penetration of the foodstuff, and its safe and efficient removal by pulling the handle once the blades have penetrated it. As such, a user no longer has to scrape the foodstuff out of the can, lessening the chance of injuring themselves. The cutting edges may therefore form helical spirals or conic spirals. The blades may be laminar in form, and may meet at the axis. This is helpfully sturdy. The blades may be provided with apertures therein, which may allow for easier passage through the foodstuff. The apertures of each of the blades may meet on the axis, such that the apertures of each blade are in communication with the apertures of the other blades. The blades may have rotational symmetry about the axis, typically of the same order as there are blades. The cutting edges may rotate less than one full revolution about the axis; this makes for more efficient insertion of the utensil into the foodstuff than if there were many revolutions and the use had to spend time screwing the utensil into the foodstuff in the manner of a corkscrew being screwed into a cork in a bottle of wine. Typically, the maximum rotation about the axis will be half a turn, or a third of a turn, or a quarter of a turn, possibly plus 10%, 5% or 1%. The maximum rotation may be the reciprocal of the number of blades (so two blades implies a maximum of half a turn, three blades a third of a turn, and so on), possibly plus 10%. Each blade may be provided with a distal cutting surface on the distal end; it is this cutting surface that will typically be offered up to the foodstuff when the utensil is initially introduced to a can. The attachment point may comprise a threaded part of the blade portion, with the handle portion further comprising a threaded bore to receive the threaded part. The blades, and the cutting edges, may come to within 1cm or 2cm of the handle portion. The distance of the cutting edges from the axis may be between 32mm and 37mm; this will fit a standard 73mm United Kingdom can. It is helpful if the maximum radius of the blades measured from the axis is close to that of the can, as this will maximise the amount of foodstuff retrieved from the can. The blade portion may be unitary, and may be formed of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, (ABS), Polyactic Acid (PLA) or Nylon, typically Nylon PA12, or any other suitable polymer material, or even metallic materials. The handle portion may be shaped so as to be graspable by a user. As such, the handle portion may define a handle for the utensil. The handle portion may also be shaped so that, when the utensil is inserted into a can, the handle portion acts to prevent a hand of a user grasping the handle portion coming into contact with the can. This can reduce the likelihood of a user cutting themselves on sharp edges of the can. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of removing material from a can, comprising: proffering up the utensil of the first aspect of the invention to the material; pushing and rotating the utensil into the material in the can, so that the utensil penetrates the material; and pulling the utensil out of the can with the material. Thus, material can be easily removed from cans. Typically, the material could be a foodstuff. In one embodiment, the material is foodstuff for a companion animal, such as cat or dog food. Alternatively, the foodstuff could be for human consumption, such as canned meat, vegetables, beans, jellies or so on. There now follows, by way of example only, description of an embodiment of the invention, described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a utensil in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a utensil 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The utensil 1 comprises a handle portion 2 and a blade portion 3. The blade portion 4 comprises three blades 5. The handle portion 2 can be grasped by a user and as such forms a handle of the utensil. The blade portion 3 attaches to the handle portion 2 at an attachment point 8 (which may be, for example, a threaded stud on the blade portion 3 engaging an internally threaded bore in the handle portion 2, none of which is shown in Figure 1). Each blade 5 is of the form of a sheet of material, which has a cutting edge 6, which runs from an attachment point 8 where the blade portion 3 attaches to the handle portion 2. The cutting edges 6 spiral outwards from a central axis 7 as the blades 5 extend along the axis 7 from the attachment point 8 to a distal end 9 of the utensil, to form an approximate helical spiral. As such, the width of each blade 5 perpendicular to the axis 7 increases travelling along the cutting edge 6, and those cutting edges rotate around the axis travelling along the axis, in the current embodiment by approximately a third or a rotation (120 degrees). The maximum radius of the blades 5, at the distal end 9, is approximately 35mm Each blade 5 has a distal cutting surface 10 at the distal end 9, formed of an end face of the sheet of material from which the blade 5 is formed. The blades each have part-circular apertures 11 formed therein, which meet at the axis 7. In order to use the utensil to empty a cylindrical can, the end of the can is opened in the usual manner, be that by ring pull or by using a can opener, exposing a surface of the material in the can. The user holds the handle portion 2, and the distal cutting surfaces 10 are placed against that surface. The user then pushes the utensil 1 into the material, rotating as they do so. The distal cutting surfaces 10 and the cutting edges 6 cut into the material, and the curved shape of the blades (defined by the curve of the cutting edges 6) eats into the material. The utensil can then be pulled out, with the material entrained. The material can then be dispensed into wherever the user may wish to place it. For softer materials, it will be possible to insert the utensil in one motion with only 120 5 degrees rotation. For firmer materials, repeated insertion may be necessary. The utensil can be made of food-grade plastic materials such as Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, (ABS), Polyactic Acid (PLA) or Nylon, typically Nylon PA12, or even be made from metal materials. 10

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