Scouring device for utensils

Abstract

The present invention relates to a scouring device for utensils comprising multiple arms 1, 2 arranged in telescopic manner interlinked together via ball and socket joint 3 are associated with said device, a clamp 2 mounted at proximal end of first arm 1 for attaching utensil 11 with first arm 1 in a secured manner, image capturing module 6 attached at distal end of first arm 1 that detect sticky residue inside utensil 11 and sends obtained data to microcontroller, a motor 5 paired with ball and socket joint 3 that actuates via microcontroller for providing multidirectional movement of second arm 2, an odor unit 7 coupled with first arm 1 that sense smell of burnt food and send data to microcontroller that actuates first 1 and second 2 arm in order to retract and extend as means of removing residue stuck due to burning of food inside utensil 11.

Description

The present invention relates to a scouring device for utensils that iscapable of scouring utensils of multiple shapes and removing the residue that gets5 stuck on inner surface of the utensil while cooking.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] People used to clean the utensils manually due to which there is some10 residue stuck on the inner surfaces of the utensil which is not cleaned up. Forcleaning this stuck residue soft scrubbers are used which are not capable ofcleaning the stuck residue from the inner surface of a utensil. Thereafter, hardscrubbers made of steel that are used to clean the surface of utensil. Thesescrubbers are capable of cleaning the residue but after cleaning the surface some15 residue remains stuck which attracts bacteria that cause different types of diseaseupon using that utensil.

[0003] The main cause due to which residue stuck on the surface of utensil is theburning of food inside the utensil that generally occurs due to lack of20 concentration of the user. The base of the inner surface is filled of sticky residuecaused due to burnt food. The scrubbing gloves are used to clean the utensils thatare capable of dispensing cleaning agent but the disadvantage is that these glovesare not able to clean the sticky material from the inner surface of the utensil.25

[0004] KR200422215Y1 discloses about a fabric scrubber having incisionsparallel to the remaining portions except the central portion and the periphery ofthe fabric, the homogeneous hard particles on the upper surface of the fabricscrubber It is to provide a fabric scrubber prepared by coating the surfacetreatment. In addition, it provides a fabric scrubber suitable for small fold30 packaging that is soft, hygienic and durable in the user's hand or laundry, andfreely washable to every corner of the laundry.3

[0005] US7210171B2 discloses about a waterproof glove having at least onefinger stall and a thumb stall, a mounting plate attached to the thumb stall, anartificial thumbnail connected to the mounting plate, a first scouring surfacepositioned on a thumb-ward side and an outer end of a first finger stall, a second5 scouring surface positioned on an exterior side of an outermost finger stall, acleaning material, and an arm portion. The thumbnail has a generally crescentshaped configuration protruding from the thumb stall for scraping objects when awearer's thumb moves in a back and forth motion. The configuration and thepositioning of the thumbnail provide the user with leverage when cleaning and10 take advantage of the hand's natural movements. The mounting plate distributesthe thumbnail's forces on the waterproof glove, keeping the waterproof glove fromtearing. The first and second scouring surfaces may be used cooperatively forcleaning.15

[0006] Conventionally, there are various devices or gloves available in the marketfor cleaning and scrubbing the utensils but these devices or gloves do not provideeffective removing of stuck residue in inner surface of the utensils.

[0007] In order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, there exists a need to20 develop a device that not only removes the residue that gets stuck on inner surfaceof the utensil but also notifies the user upon detection of burnt food inside theutensil.OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION25

[0008] The principal object of the present invention is to overcome thedisadvantages of the prior art.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to scrub the sticky residue upon30 detection of it in inner surface of a utensil.4

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to reduce the manual effort thatis put in by a person to scour out the hard stuck particles of food.

[0011] Yet another object of the present invention is to notify a user upon5 detection of burnt food.

[0012] The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become readily apparent upon further review of the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the10 accompanying drawings.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention relates to a utensil’s scouring device that notifies a15 user upon detection of burnt food inside the utensil and scrubs the inner surface ofthe utensil in order to remove the food that gets stuck while cooking food attemperatures higher than required.

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a scouring device20 for utensils comprising, multiple arms (i.e. first and second arms) interlinked via aball and socket joint, wherein the arms are equipped with telescopic arrangementin order to enable extension and retraction, a clamp connected at proximal end offirst arm as an end effector in order to attach the first arm with a utensil in asecured manner, an image capturing module mounted on distal end of the first arm25 that detects sticky residue on inner surface of the utensil as well as size of theutensil and sends the obtained data to a microcontroller, a pointed end effectorattached with second arm for scrubbing the inner surface of the utensil, a motorattached with the ball and socket joint that is actuated by the microcontroller upondetection of sticky residue for providing multidimensional movement to the30 second arm in order to scrub inner surface of the utensil.5

[0015] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the scouringdevice for utensils further comprises, pneumatic arrangement (i.e. pneumaticcylinder, pneumatic valve and rod) coupled with first and second arm respectivelyand actuated via a microcontroller in order to provide retraction and extension5 accordingly, an odor unit attached with first arm that senses the smell of burntfood and sends acquired data to the microcontroller that actuates second arm inorder to scrub base of inner surface of the utensil, an alarm unit connected withthe device that actuates via microcontroller upon detection of burnt food smell bythe odor unit, a nozzle attached with first arm that sprays a fluid on second arm in10 order to clean the food stuck on second arm while cleaning the utensil, nozzle isconnected to a fluid storage unit via a pipe that is attached with clamp in order tosupply fluid to the nozzle, a pump that actuates manually in order to supply fluidfrom storage unit to the nozzle.15

[0016] While the invention has been described and shown with particularreference to the preferred embodiment, it will be apparent that variations might bepossible that would fall within the scope of the present invention.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS20

[0017] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present inventionwill become better understood with regard to the following description, appendedDETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The following description includes the preferred best mode of one30 embodiment of the present invention. It will be clear from this description of theinvention that the invention is not limited to these illustrated embodiments but that 6the invention also includes a variety of modifications and embodiments thereto.Therefore, the present description should be seen as illustrative and not limiting.While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternativeconstructions, it should be understood, that there is no intention to limit the5 invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is tocover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

[0019] In any embodiment described herein, the open-ended terms "comprising,"10 "comprises,” and the like (which are synonymous with "including," "having” and"characterized by") may be replaced by the respective partially closed phrases"consisting essentially of," consists essentially of," and the like or the respectiveclosed phrases "consisting of," "consists of, the like.15

[0020] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” designate both thesingular and the plural, unless expressly stated to designate the singular only.

[0021] As used herein the term “Telescopic arrangement” refers to anarrangement that has a series of cylindrical portions in an overlapping mechanism.20 The arrangement is able to retract or extend via pneumatic or hydraulic poweredcylinders.

[0022] As used herein the term “Ball and socket joint” refers to the axial jointswhich are used to combine two components with each other. One component has25 a round head attached at an end and another component that has round cup shapeattached at an end. Both components are joined together via ball and socket jointin order to provide a multidirectional movement.

[0023] The present invention relates to a scouring device that detects the smell of30 burnt food and notifies a user accordingly. The device is capable of scrubbinginner surface of the utensil upon detection of sticky residue.7

[0024] Referring to Figure 1, a front view of scouring device for utensils isillustrated, wherein a first 1 and second 2 arms are interlinked together via, a balland socket joint 3, a motor 5paired with ball and socket joint 3,, a utensil 11 isassociated with the device, a clamp 4 is connected at proximal end of first arm 1, a5 pointed end effector 8 is attached with second arm 2, an image capturing module6 is mounted on distal end of the first arm 1, an odor unit 7 attached with the firstarm 1, a nozzle 9 mounted on the first arm 1, a fluid storage unit 10 attached withthe clamp 4.10

[0025] Multiple arms 1, 2 are associated with the device that are interlinked via aball and socket joint 3 which is also called as axial joint in which a ball type roundhead surface of a component is connected with a rounded pocket surface ofanother component. Due to this arrangement both components are capable ofdoing multidirectional movement. The first 1 and second 2 arms are equipped15 with pneumatic telescopic arrangements as means of retraction and extension.Two pneumatic cylinders are coupled with first 1 and second 2 telescopic armsrespectively.

[0026] The pneumatic cylinder consist a piston that moves in a back and forth20 motion in order to retract or extend by a compressor that uses the power ofcompressed gas to generate a reciprocating motion of the piston. The compressortransfers the compressed gas via a valve in the cylinder. The piston rod moves inlinear motion by the virtue of force exerted by compressed air. The force of thecompressed air is controlled via a valve.25

[0027] A clamp 4 is connected at proximal end of the first arm 1 as an endeffector that attach first arm 1 with the utensil 11 in a secure manner. The endeffector is the tool that is connected with an end of the arm in order to perform thefunctions as per the requirement of the user. The clamp 4 is a tool that is used to30 hold two components tightly with each other in a secure manner. Herein, a cclamp 2 is connected as an end effector of first arm 1. The first arm 1 is coupled 8with an image capturing module 6 that is mounted on distal end of the first arm 1and detects sticky residue on inner surface of the utensil 11.

[0028] Image capturing module 6 captures the images of a scene of interest5 continuously and compares the live captured image with the previous one. First,the image capturing module 6 extracts the features from live captured image andcompares them with the features of the previously captured image in order todetect the difference between the features of both images. After detection of thedifference the image capturing module highlights the objects and identifies them10 which are newly detected in live image by the help of artificial intelligence.

[0029] Herein, the image capturing module 6 captures the images of the utensil 11continuously and compares them with the previously captured image in order todetect sticky residue. The image capturing module 6 also detects the dimensions15 of the utensil 11 by performing a set of operations including preprocessing,feature extraction and segmentation of images by a way of comparison of theextracted features with the features of the images stored in a predefined database.The image capturing module 6 sends all the detected data to a microcontroller thatactuates a motor 5 which is attached with ball and socket joint 3 in order to20 provide a multidirectional movement of second arm 2 according to the detectedsticky residue in order to clean it.

[0030] The motor 5 rotates the round head shape of the second arm 2 that isconnected with round cup shape of first arm 1 in order to provide a25 multidirectional movement to the second arm 2. The microcontroller also actuatesthe valves of the pneumatic cylinders attached with the first 1 and second 2 armsrespectively in order to retract and extend the arms according to the detected sizeof the utensil 5 by image capturing module 6. A pointed end effector 8 is attachedwith the second arm 2 that helps in scrubbing the inner surface of the utensil 11.30

[0031] An odor unit 7 is associated with the first arm 1 that senses the smell of 9food cooking inside the utensil 11. Odor unit 7 is an odor sensor that identifiesdifferent odors and compares them with the odors stored in a predefined databaseby using pattern recognition techniques. These techniques such as principalcomponent analysis, feature weightage are applied to odors and detect the5 different parameters such as electronic noise etc. and compare them to thepredefined values stored in database in order to differentiate the live sensed odor.Herein, odor unit 7 detects the smell of burnt food inside the utensil 11 and sendssignal to the microcontroller that governs the movement of first 1 and second 2arms respectively by actuating the motor 5 and both pneumatic cylinders in order10 to scrub the inner surface of the utensil 11.

[0032] The microcontroller also actuates an alarm unit that is associated with thefirst arm 1 upon detection of burnt food in order to notify the user. A nozzle 9 ismounted at first arm that sprays a fluid on second arm 2 for cleaning the residue15 that stuck on second arm 2 while scrubbing the utensil’s 11 surfaces. The nozzle 9is connected to a fluid reservoir via a pipe that is attached with the clamp 4 of thefirst arm 1. The fluid reservoir is paired with a pump that actuates manually by aswitch in order to fulfill the pressurized supply of fluid to the nozzle.20

[0033] According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, atemperature sensor with a controlling unit can be attached to the cleaning andscouring device that can sense the temperature and maintain it according to thesensed odor of the food.25

[0034] Although the field of the invention has been described herein with limitedreference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed ina limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well asalternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled inthe art upon reference to the description of the invention.

Claims

claims, and accompanying drawings where:25 Figure 1 illustrates a front view of scouring device for utensils.We Claim:1) A scouring device for utensils, comprising:5 i) a first 1 and second 2 arms interlinked together via a ball and socketjoint 3, wherein each of said arms 1, 2 are equipped with apneumatic telescopic arrangement which works as a means ofextension and retraction;ii) a clamp 4 mounted at a proximal end of said first arm 1 for attaching10 said first arm 1 with said utensil 11 in a secured manner;iii) an image capturing module 6 mounted on distal end of said first arm1 that detects sticky residue on inner surface of said utensil 11 byexecuting image processing and sends the obtained data to amicrocontroller;15 iv) a motor 5 paired with said ball and socket joint 3 that actuates viasaid microcontroller upon detection of sticky residue on saidutensil’s 11 inner curved surface, wherein said motor 5 providesmultidimensional movement to said second arm 2 as means ofscouring inner curved surface of said utensil 11 in order to clean20 sticky residue;v) an odor unit 7 is mounted on said first arm 1 that sense smell of foodinside said utensil 11 in a continuous manner and sends acquireddata to said microcontroller that actuates second arm 2 in order toclean residue of burnt food; and25 vi) a nozzle 9 associated with said first arm 1 in order to sprays fluid onsaid second arm 2 as means of cleaning a residue stuck on saidsecond arm 2 while cleaning said utensil 11.2) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pneumatic telescopic30 arrangements actuates via said microcontroller as means of extending andretracting said arms 1, 2 accordingly.3) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said image capturing module 6detects dimension of said utensil 11 and sends obtained data to saidmicrocontroller that actuates said pneumatic cylinders in order to retract / extendsaid first and second arms accordingly.4) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a pointed end effector 8 is attachedat end of said second arm 2 in order to scour inner surface of said utensil 11.5) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said microcontroller actuates said10 motor 5 and pneumatic arrangement upon detection of burnt food smell via saidodor unit 7 for scouring inner base of said utensil 11.6) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a fluid storage unit 10 along with apump that actuates manually via user is associated with said clamp 2 and15 connected to said nozzle 9 via a pipe as means of supplying pressurized fluid inorder to clean said second arm 2.7) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein an alarm unit associated with saiddevice that actuates via said microcontroller upon sensing smell of burnt food via20 said odor unit 7.8) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a button installed over said first arm1 in order to switch ON / OFF said device.