1. Technical Field
The present invention is a hand held utensil with an ergonomically designed grip for improving the efficiency and comfort with which a user may perform various manual tasks.
2. Background Art
Prior hand held utensils, such as ice cream scoops, consist of a broad flat or hollowed-out blade with an elongated attached handle and are operated in a manner similar to the common garden shovel. That is, a user grasps the handle to manipulate the blade and scoop packed material, and the handle then is used to lift and dispose of the material which is scooped by the blade. A shovel is particularly well emulated in the "spade"-type ice cream scoop shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,976. Although the shovel design works well in a garden, problems arise when attempting to apply similar physical principles to the scooping of ice cream.
In contrast to a shovel, wherein a user is able to place a foot comfortably on a rear edge of the blade and apply body weight forces for driving the shovel blade into hard, densely packed material, it is not practical to use one's foot for applying force to the blade of an ice cream scoop. Instead, one is required to rely solely on the strength of the hand, wrist and forearm.
The traditional ice cream scoop fails to provide the amount of leverage obtained with such long-handled tools as a garden shovel. When scooping ice cream, the fore-finger of the server's hand which grasps an ice cream scoop usually is pinched between the handle of the scoop and the surface of the ice cream to provide a fulcrum about which the ice cream scoop is moved. Force is applied by the server's hand to the handle to rotate the blade about the fulcrum and scoop ice cream from a container.
The ratio of the distance between the point at which the blade engages the ice cream and the server's fore-finger to the distance between the server's forefinger and the point at which force is applied on the handle is such that ice cream scoops do not offer as great a mechanical advantage as a long-handled implement which is rotated about a point near the blade.
The problem discussed above also can result in discomfort in the hand and fore-finger of the server scooping ice cream. Scooping forces which act on the server's fore-finger can cause fatigue or blistering of the skin. If the server allows the ice cream to remain unrefrigerated until it is soft enough to be easily scooped, the quality of the ice cream might be reduced and one who eats the ice cream may be subjected to possible health risks.