D E S C R I P T I O N

Field of Invention

The present invention is generally applicable to the food field and relates, in particular, to the realization of a food product starting from a plurality of ingredients according to a predetermined recipe.

More in detail, the present invention relates to an assembly for food use for the preparation of one or more food products according to specific recipes.

Background of the invention

They are known food products, such as sweets, bread, pizza, or the like, made starting from a plurality of ingredients that are mixed together by a user in predetermined quantities according to a specific recipe.

Generally the mixing of the ingredients for the realization of the dough is carried out manually by the user or by means of suitable known type tools. For this reason, the user must find the recipe that indicates the necessary ingredients and mix them in such quantities.

However, since for the same food product typically more recipes are available, the user will have to choose the one they think most appropriate. Therefore, there is uncertainty on the results obtained.

Furthermore, since the ingredients to be mixed are different from each other as physical state and as density (and therefore as the total volume required), it is necessary that the user provide itself of one or more sized gauges to accurately determine the quantity of each ingredient to use.

For example, in the case of pizza or pastries doughs the amount of yeast, salt, and flour are quite different and, as it is well known, even a small error in the measurement of one of them may jeopardize the success of the dough. As a result, there is a strong risk of human error in the execution of the recipe.

For complex recipes, moreover, it would requires the use of a number of gauges that require a lot of storage space and there is a risk of creating disorder in an environment, such as the kitchen, where the order and cleanliness are essential.

In order to reduce this risk, they are known gauges with more graduated scales so that the same measuring device can be used for dosing of more ingredients although the volumetric space of the quantity provided by the recipe is particularly different from each other. However, as this will decrease both the space of storage necessary that the problem of the order management in the kitchen, this solution increases the risk of human error because the user not only has to pay attention to the correct measurement of each ingredient, but also to the use of the correct scale.

Summary of the invention

Object of the present invention is to overcome the above drawbacks of the known art by providing an assembly for the preparation of a food product that allows to performs a recipe in an easy and safe way.

In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide an assembly for the preparation of a food product that allow to performs a recipe with a reduced error margin. More specifically, the assembly of the invention will allow to limit, if not cancel, the human error in measuring the quantities of ingredients to be mixed according to the recipe.

Another object is that the assembly for the preparation of food can be stored in an orderly manner and such as to occupy the low possible space.

In this sense, a further object is to provide an assembly for the preparation of food which is constituted by the lower number of pieces so as to facilitate the management and storage.

Such objects, and others which will appear more clearly hereinafter, are fulfilled by an assembly for the preparation of food according with the following claims that are an integral part of the present patent.

In particular, the assembly, which is particularly suitable for the preparation of a food product according to at least one predetermined recipe, comprises, for each of the ingredients of the recipe, at least one container having volumetric dimensions corresponding to the exact quantity of the ingredient requested by the same recipe.

In this way, advantageously, it is guaranteed the exact measurement of each ingredient of the recipe. The user, in fact, does not have to verify the achievement of specific notches in any scale or control the weight of the ingredient with balance having intrinsic precision errors. It simply has to fill each container with the respective ingredient. In other words, advantageously, the user operates "eyes closed", limiting, if not eliminating, the human error. Consequently, still advantageously, the assembly of the invention allows to perform a recipe in an easy manner, ensuring not to jeopardize the success of the food product.

In other words, advantageously, the user realizes the food product without the need to know the quantities of the ingredients since they are automatically determined by the volumetric size of the respective containers. In this sense, the user, advantageously, should only know the ingredients list and the corresponding containers.

According to an aspect of the invention, in the assembly there is a first container which has dimensions that allow to contain in its interior all the other containers except at most one second container which may be coupled to the first to achieve a closed containment body for the other containers.

In this way, advantageously, the assembly of the invention can be stored in an orderly manner and occupy a tiny space.

Moreover, thanks to this feature the containers, when not in use, are stored in a closed body that avoids, advantageously, the soiling or contaminating risks.

Brief description of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will appear more evident by reading the detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of an assembly for preparation of food products according to the invention, shown as non-limitative example with the help of the annexed drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an assembly according to the invention in an assonometric view;

FIG. 2 shows a detail of the assembly of FIG. 1 in an operative step;

FIGs. 3 and 4 show another embodiment of the assembly according to the invention;

FIGs. from 5 to 7 show details of the assembly of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment of the assembly according to the invention.

Detailed description of some preferred embodiments With reference to the above figures, and particularly to FIG. 1 , it is described an assembly 1 for the preparation of a food product. The latter is constituted, for example, by a dough for the production of cakes, pizzas, bread, or the like. Such mixtures need the mixing of a plurality of ingredients according to predetermined recipes, that the user must perform.

In the describing embodiment, the assembly 1 allows to perform a predetermined recipe. On the other hand, as better specified hereinafter, the same can be configured to allow the user to perform a plurality of predetermined different recipes.

According to an aspect of the invention, the assembly 1 comprises a plurality of containers 2 conformed to measure, as can be observed in the detail of fig. 2, the ingredients of the recipe. In particular, for each ingredient I there is a special container 2 for its selection or measurement.

Such containers 2 are made by any material suitable for food use. For example, they may be manufactured by metal or plastic.

Conveniently, each container 2 is dimensioned so as to contain a predetermined amount of the respective ingredient I to achieve the food product according to the recipe. In this way, the containers 2 are also quantity measuring devices. In particular, the containers 2 have volumetric dimensions such that, if they are filled, contain the exact amount of the corresponding ingredient I so that the user can seamlessly perform the recipe without having to know the different amounts of the different ingredients.

In the describing embodiment, as said, for each ingredient I of the recipe, there is a corresponding container 2 uniquely corresponding to it. However, this should not be considered limiting for the invention since, according to different embodiments of the invention and within the scope of protection of the present patent, in the assembly there are containers which have volumetric dimensions suitable for the exact selection of more then one ingredient. According to further embodiments, however, the exact quantity of an ingredient is achieved by filling a predetermined number of times the same container.

According to the describing embodiment which is shown in the drawings, the containers 2 have a substantially cylindrical shape with different diameters between them. However, this shaping should not be considered limitative of different embodiments where, for example, the containers may have the form of a ampoule, cone or other.

As already mentioned previously, therefore, it is advantageously ensured the exact measurement of each ingredient I of the recipe. The user, in fact, must not control graduated scales and must not weigh ingredients thus limiting, if not eliminating, the possibility of human errors on reading on the choice of the right graduated scale to use. They are also avoided measuring intrinsic errors of the scale.

Still advantageously, therefore, the assembly 1 of the invention allows to perform a recipe in an easy way, "eyes closed", guaranteeing not to jeopardize the success of the food product.

In other words, as mentioned earlier, the user can advantageously realize the food product without to know the quantities of the ingredients since they are automatically determined by the volumetric size of the respective containers 2.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the containers 2 are all contained within a first 3 of them. In other words, the first container 3 has dimensions such as to contain all the other containers 2.

In the figures it is observed that the containers 2 have dimensions, in terms of the diameter of the section and height of the cylinder, such as to allow insertion one inside the others to realize a sort of Russian doll. Obviously, this embodiment is only a not limiting example for the invention. The basic concept, in fact, is the ability to insert all containers inside one of them in order to optimize the storage space.

In so doing, however, they are advantageously stored in an orderly manner and protected from dirt.

In this sense, according to another aspect of the invention, the assembly 1 comprises a cap 4 designed to couple with the first container 3 so as to define a closed container 5.

It is clear that the cap 4 and the first container 3 are coupled in known ways, for example by means of a thread-coupling sirloin, a "bayonet coupling" or similar.

According to a different embodiment, showed in FIG. 3, the assembly 101 comprises a second container 104 designed to couple with the first container 103 to define the closed container 105. Due to this feature, advantageously, the number of parts that composes the assembly is reduced because the cap is not necessary.

To do this, the first and the second container 103, 104 respectively include, as shown in Fig. 4, a first and a second end portion 107, 108 to be reciprocally coupled. However, such details should not be considered restrictive for the invention. For example, according to further embodiments the first end portion comprises a pin and the second end portion comprises a corresponding seat for the pin. According to other embodiments, the containers can be coupled by means of an interlocking system, bayonet, screw or the like.

According to a particular embodiment not shown in the figures, there is provided a coupler element designed to couple the first and the second container. Some examples of coupler element are a rubber band or a strap with which to tighten together the two containers, or a plastic element interposed between the same containers.

Because the user might be confused in choosing which container 2 to use for each ingredient I, according to another aspect of the invention the containers 2 comprise an identification mark, not represented in the figures, which allows a correspondence between the container 2 and the corresponding ingredient I and which is arranged, for example, on the outer surface 6 of the same containers 2 so as to be easily visible.

According to some examples of execution, the identifying mark is constituted by the most various designs or symbols such as, for example, an image representative of the ingredient, a number or a message indicating the name of the ingredient. It can be placed on a label or the like placed on the outer surface of each of the containers 2, or may be engraved or screen printed. In the case of engraving, however, it avoids the risk not only of losing their identifying mark as it can happen in the case of stamping on a label, but also its partial or total cancellation due to repeated washing as can occur for some screen prints.

According to a particular embodiment, not represented in the figures, the identifying mark is printed on the recipe and consists of the reproduction of the particular shaping of the container to be used for the specific ingredient.

In any case, advantageously, it avoids the risk that the user is not able to associate the ingredient I to the corresponding container 2.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the assembly 1 comprises an extension element 7, which is observed in Fig. 5, designed to be coupled, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 with two different containers 2 so as to vary the size of the latters and make them suitable for the selection of different ingredients.

In particular in the figures it is observed that the two containers 2, while having dimensions and / or different shapes, have a terminal portion coincident and suitable to be coupled with the same extension 7. In this way it is possible to use the same extension 7 with more containers 2 of the assembly 1 even though they are at least partially differently shaped so that, as just mentioned, each of them is used to select, by pairing or less with the extension 7, at least two different ingredients. This allows, advantageously, to minimize the number of components of the assembly 1 of the invention.

Such details of the describing embodiment, however, should not be considered limitative for the invention. In particular, as the number of extensions as the number of containers to which they may be coupled can be any one. According to particular embodiments not represented, moreover, for the selection of certain ingredients it shall coupling a same container with different extensions. According to other embodiments, more extensions may be coupled to each other and with a container to vary the volumetric size and make it suitable for the selection of a multiplicity of ingredients in accordance with the type and number of extensions that are coupled with it.

In any case, it is observed that the extensions 7 allow, advantageously, to expand the number of recipes executable with the same assembly 1 since it appears evidently overcome the problem resulting from the need to have containers 2 having volumetric dimensions suitable for all the ingredients of all the recipes executables.

It also observes that, conveniently, the extensions 7 are smaller than the first container 3 so as to be contained in the same in order to protect them, to preserve the order in storage assembly 1 and maintain optimized the overall dimensions.

According to another aspect of the invention, the first container 3 has a shape designed for the mechanical processing of the recipe for the execution of the dough. In particular, it has a substantially cylindrical shape so that, advantageously, can be used to spread or flatten the dough according to the predetermined recipe.

Conveniently, therefore, the first container 3 has a smooth external surface 8, but also such detail should not be considered limiting for the invention. According with what just said, in the case of the embodiment showed in Fig. 3, both the outer surface 109 of the first container 103 that the outer surface 110 of the second container 104 are smooth and suitable for the working of the dough to produce the product.

According to further embodiments not shown in the figures, also other containers of the assembly of the invention have appropriate shapes to allow further to working on the dought. For example, one or more containers may be designed as a pestle.

According to another embodiment, showed in FIG. 8, in the assembly 201 the containers 202 have, with the exception of the first container 203 and second container 204, handles for handling them more easily.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the assembly 1 comprises the execution instructions T of the predetermined recipe to make it available to the users.

In particular, the instructions T are engraved on the outer surface 8 of the first container 3 in such a way that the user can always have available instructions and he does not risk to lose the recipe. However, also this particular should not be considered limitative for different embodiments of the invention according to which, for example, the predetermined recipe is screen-printed or printed on a label. The same recipe can also be reproduced on other containers or divided between the various containers.

In any case, thanks to these characteristics, the instructions are also easily accessible to the user during the use of the assembly of the invention.

Operatively, following the instructions on the assembly 1 the user procures the ingredients I and identifies for each ingredient I the proper container 2 to select the exact amount.

In this sense, for each ingredient I he proceeds performing this selection and pour the exact amount of each ingredient I thus obtained into another receptacle where performing the amalgam mixture.

To the obtained the mixture, the user proceeds with its mechanical processing using such containers 2 that are specially shaped for this operation.

As said, the assembly according to the invention reaches all the proposed purposes.

In particular, the assembly allows to perform a recipe in an easy and safe way. More in detail, thanks to the characteristics described above, the assembly allows to perform a recipe limiting, if not totally eliminating, the risk of error in the measurement of the quantities of the ingredients to be mixed. The user, however, may be unaware of the exact extent of these quantities because it is guaranteed by the volumetric size of the respective containers.

Moreover, thanks to the possibility of storing the various containers in a closed container themselves realized, the assembly of the invention, when not used, is advantageously stored in an orderly manner and such as to avoid the risk of contamination of the containers.

The assembly of the invention also has particularly compact dimensions.

The assembly of the invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all falling within the inventive concept expressed in the appended claims. All the details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements, and the materials may be different according to requirements, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Although the assembly of the invention has been described with particular reference to the annexed drawings, the numbers of reference used in the description and in the claims are used to improve the intelligence of the invention and do not constitute any limitation to the claimed scope.