Espresso coffee spoon with reduced thermal capacity

DESCRIPTION

A coffee spoon with reduced thermal capacity forms the object of the present finding, such coffee spoon particularly used for dissolving the sugar present in espresso coffee cups, and characterised by a bowl equipped with a plurality of closed-form voids over the entire surface of the bowl. The finding permits a lesser cooling of the coffee before consumption, at the same time retaining the espresso coffee cream on the spoon bowl.

Several particular spoon shapes for specific applications are known at the state of the art. For example, the patent application WO 05096900 has as object a teaspoon constituted by two overlapping teaspoons, the first of which is a concave, oval, and non-perforated upper bowl, while the second is a lower perforated bowl. This teaspoon can be used for gripping and tightening the tea bag and to remove it from the cup, during the tea preparation. Another example is outlined in the international patent application WO 0130214, having as object a spoon characterised by a plurality of thin, grooved slits to form the oval, concave bowl, used both for drinking and eating. Finally, the Japanese patent JP 2004008730 outlines a tool for eating and drinking Chinese and Japanese soups, composed of a spoon made

of porcelain or another material whose oval, concave bowl is characterised by different, superimposed materials. Each layer has holes of different shape (round, rectangular or square) and the upper layer is movable and permits opening or closing the underlying holes during use.

Therefore, spoons cannot be found in the prior art with reduced thermal capacity, but with different functional characteristics, such as the capacity to collect liquids of different density or to allow liquids to penetrate. The known applications are therefore not capable of resolving the technical problem set forth by the undersigned, or rather the need to reduce as much as possible the cooling of a small quantity of liquid, espresso coffee, when the same is in contact with a metal body with high thermal conductivity. The object of the finding, object of the present invention, is to provide a coffee spoon with reduced thermal capacity, constituted by a bowl with suitable outer perimeter, for example oval and concave, equipped with a plurality of oblong voids, circular or oval, said plurality of voids being such to reduce the heat absorption by the spoon during the sugar dissolving step (in order to consume the coffee at a temperature close to the preparation temperature) and at the same time suitable for retaining the coffee cream on the spoon before coffee consumption.

According to the laws of physics, two different-temperature bodies will exchange heat if placed in thermal contact with each other, until they are brought to a common equilibrium temperature. Said equilibrium temperature is determined by the reciprocal thermal capacities of the bodies in contact and by the heat transfer laws (usually called Newton's Law of Cooling) where the quantity of heat exchanged in a time interval δ t is given as: Q/δ t =- h S (T (t) _r T (t) ₂ ). In the formula, t indicates the time, S the contact surface, and T ₁ the temperature of the body which transfers heat in time t, T ₂ is the temperature of the body that absorbs heat, h is a conductivity coefficient that depends on the nature of the bodies, on the state of the contact surfaces, and on the environmental conditions, while the thermal capacity is given by the product of the specific heat (intrinsic size of a specific material) and the mass. With the proposed solution, the mass and thus the thermal capacity of the spoon are reduced. Other conditions being equal, this means that the temperature increase of the spoon will be greater and, consequently, the final equilibrium temperature of the two bodies will be closer to the initial coffee temperature. In other words, the useful effect will be a lesser cooling of the coffee.

Moreover, the particular shape of the voids, which must have a limited cross section, permits retaining the delicious cream of an espresso coffee inside the bowl, due to the phenomena of hydraulic resistance to slit passage and surface adhesion. These and other advantages will be evident from the detailed description of the invention, which will make specific reference to the tables 1/2 and 2/2 in which an absolutely non-limiting preferential embodiment is represented of the present finding. In particular: • Fig. 1 shows, in views "a" and "b", respectively, plan and perspective views of a spoon with four void portions, having handle with rounded end and double curvature;

• Fig. 2 represents, in views "a" and "b", respectively, plan and perspective views of a spoon with four void portions having handle with square edge and simple curvature;

• Fig. 3 shows, in views "a" and "b", respectively, plan and perspective views of a second embodiment of the spoon with seven voids and handle with rounded end and double curvature; • Fig. 4 represents, in views "a" and "b", respectively, plan and perspective views of a spoon with seven voids and handle with square edge end and simple curvature;

• Figs. 5-9 are views of further embodiments of the spoon.

With reference to Fig. 1, 1 indicates the oval and concave bowl according to a preferred embodiment and 2 indicates the handle. The oval, concave bowl is characterised by oblong voids 3 and oval voids 4. The handle 2 is characterised by a rounded end 5, or as indicated in Fig. 2, by a square edge end 6. The curvature of the spoon handle can be simple 7 or double 8. Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 respectively show an embodiment of the spoon with four-void bowl and rounded handle (Fig. 1) or square edge handle (Fig. 2). In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, another embodiment is shown of the spoon with seven voids and respectively with rounded handle end (Fig. 3) or square edge handle end (Fig. 4).

Further embodiments are shown in Figs. 5-9. In detail, the embodiment of Fig. 5 has thirteen voids, nine of them are oblong 4and four are oval 3; in Fig. 6 the spoon has a plurality of concentric voids, the central of them is oval 4 and the others oblong 3; in Fig. 7 the voids are nine, three of them are oval 4 and the others are oblong 3; in Fig.8 the spoon has a plurality of voids, almost of circular shape 4; finally, in Fig. 9 there are three oblong voids 3. As evident, the last embodiment is different and is characterised by a very thin layer 9 of inox steel (18/10). A plastic frame 10, carrying the handle, surrounds said steel layer and a logo is realised into said plastic frame. This spoon has further advantages consisting in that it cannot damage plastic

cups and has a very low thermal inertia (due to the very low steel mass).

The advantages of the coffee spoon, object of the present invention, are evident: the presence of voids on the oval and concave bowl reduces the mass and thus the thermal capacity of the spoon, and thus the useful effect will be a lesser cooling of the coffee. The plurality of voids present on the bowl are of closed form and their overall extension falls within a range comprised between 30% and 70% of the entire bowl surface. In fact, if the void level was greater than 70%, the spoon bowl would not be able to retain the espresso coffee cream inside thereof; if, on the other hand, the void level was less than 30%, the useful effect of the spoon, i.e. the reduced cooling of the coffee, would be much less effective.