US20110117812A1

US20110117812A1 - Pumpkin teeth

Info

Publication number: US20110117812A1
Application number: US12/699,881
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Block Conner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-11-16
Filing date: 2010-02-04
Publication date: 2011-05-19

Abstract

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a set of small, medium and large canine type of teeth and a set of small, medium and large buck teeth which can be removably attached at any spacing and in any combination to a mouth opening in a pumpkin to create a ghoulish pumpkin face. Each tooth has an anchoring member which has serrated cross member which allow the teeth to be removably attached to the pumpkin.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/281,204 filed on Nov. 16, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a set of canine and buck teeth which can be removably attached to a mouth opening in a previously carved pumpkin to create a ghoulish pumpkin face
2. Description of Related Art
Converting pumpkins into faces by scooping out the pulp of the pumpkin, cutting openings in the thick rind of the pumpkin to simulate eyes, a nose and a mouth, and then placing lights into the pumpkin to shine through the cut openings is known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,237,922 to Cayton discloses lighting units for use in Jack-O-Lanterns formed from hollowed-out pumpkin gourds. The lighting unit generally includes an elongate lighting element that is sized and shaped to permit itself and at least an adjacent part of the elongate lighting element to be pushed through the pumpkin flesh to depth of the hilt for internal illumination of the Jack-O-Lantern.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,770 to Blatherwick discloses a decorative novelty illuminated sparkling pumpkin device having a main body shell made of pelletized ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers bonded in a molding process, and a light source providing illumination within the hollow interior space of the main body shell whereby the pelletized ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers impart an enhanced sparkling/glowing effect upon illumination from the light source.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,710 to Brown, et al. discloses a children's kit for illuminative decoration of the exterior shell of a pumpkin, without requiring a carving knife. The kit consists of light pegs, a pattern sheet, a tool, and a light. The light pegs are a light transmissive material that can be colored and have a length at least equal to the pumpkin shell thickness. Each light peg has a first end that is convergent to pierce the exterior shell wall and is operative to collect light via a shaft portion which transmits light to a second end with an enlarged peg head. The enlarged peg head protrudes above the shell surface and is operative to disperse light. The pattern locates the light pegs on the pumpkin shell, with the tool being used to drive the light pegs through the pumpkin shell. The light is placed inside the open interior of the pumpkin to illuminate the light pegs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,613 to Brown discloses an illumination device adapted for internally illuminating a decorative object such as a pumpkin. The device includes a dome shaped housing that is sized and configured to mount inside the decorative object. The housing has concavities with reflective surfaces and electric lights that are disposed in the concavities. Electric current is supplied to the light for illumination of the interior of the decorative object. The illuminative object has the optional capability to flash the electric lights to mimic the flickering of a burning candle and employ the use of fiber optics for special lighting effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,833 to Paniaguas discloses a kit for creating a face on a head-like base such as a pumpkin to create a jack-o-lantern. The kit includes a plurality of illuminating units, each of which has a battery and light bulb, and a plurality of largely translucent facial elements such as an eye, mouth, ear, etc. The facial elements are screwed into the illuminating unit to envelop and surround the light bulb so that light from the bulb's light is transmitted through the facial elements and emitted from the external surfaces of those elements. The assembly is configured so that the battery is housed in a spear-like pointed base which may be pushed into the head-like base and the light-emitting facial element thereby affixed to the outer surface of the head-like base. Other non-illuminated facial elements may supplement the illuminated ones. The translucent facial elements are interchangeable on the illuminating units so that the same unit can use different elements and the user can have different choices of elements. The translucent elements and base when assembled together enclose the electrical elements in a waterproof manner. The translucent elements have their outer surfaces coated with a light-reflecting coating so that light is emitted only on desired uncoated surface areas.
US PreGrant Pub. No. 2007/0036920 to Birkmann discloses an insertable pumpkin decoration device for a pumpkin which is configured to simulate the appearance of traditionally carved Jack O'Lanterns. The pumpkin decoration device comprises facial feature simulation elements that simulate facial features including eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and which are shaped to accommodate the curved outer surface of a pumpkin. Stickers may be affixed to each of the facial feature simulation elements to depict details of the facial features. Integrated with the facial feature simulation elements are attachment members, which may be inserted into the crust of the pumpkin. The attachment elements are angled to facilitate proper orientation of the facial feature simulation elements in relation to the outer surface of the pumpkin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a set of small, medium and large canine type of teeth and a set of small, medium and large buck teeth which can be removably attached at any spacing and in any combination to a mouth opening in a pumpkin to create a ghoulish pumpkin face. Each tooth has an anchoring member which has serrated cross member which allow the teeth to be removably attached to the pumpkin.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a prior art pumpkin where the top of the pumpkin has been sliced off to provide access to the interior of the pumpkin, the pulp has then been removed to provide a hollow chamber and openings have been cut in the rind of the pumpkin to provide a ghoulish face where one of the openings is a toothless mouth;

FIG. 2 is a front view of another prior art pumpkin where the top of the pumpkin has been sliced off to provide access to the interior of the pumpkin, the pulp has then been removed to provide a hollow chamber and openings have been cut in the rind of the pumpkin to provide a ghoulish face where one of the openings is a mouth having relatively wide teeth of solid nontransparent downward projecting pumpkin rind;

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C is a front, side and bottom view of a small size canine type of tooth which can be inserted into a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B is a front and side view of a medium size canine type of tooth with a bottom which, except for size, is similar to FIG. 3C and which can be inserted into a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B is a front and side view of a large size canine type of tooth with a bottom which, except for size, is similar to FIG. 3C and which can be inserted into a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B is a front and side view of a large buck tooth with a bottom which, except for size, is similar to FIG. 3C and which can be inserted into a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B is a front and side view of a medium buck tooth with a bottom which, except for size, is similar to FIG. 3C and which can be inserted into a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 8A and 8B is a front and side view of a small buck tooth with a bottom which, except for size, is similar to FIG. 3C and which can be inserted into a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a front view of a pumpkin where the top of the pumpkin has been sliced off to provide access to its interior, the pulp has then been removed to provide a hollow chamber and openings have been cut in the rind of the pumpkin to provide a more ghoulish face by inserting at least one of the teeth here disclosed into the mouth opening.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A traditional way of celebrating Halloween is to display, during the evening hours, a lighted pumpkin face. To make a pumpkin face, the top of the pumpkin including the stem is sliced off and the inside of the pumpkin including the seeds is removed leaving an empty chamber inside the relatively thick pumpkin rind. Then, using a knife, openings which represent the eyes, nose and mouth are cut thru the rind. A light such as a candle is then placed inside the pumpkin to provide a face which glows.
Cutting the eyes, nose and mouth in the thick pumpkin rind is normally done with a pocket knife which allows only relatively large features to be cut. As a result, the openings for the eyes, nose and mouth are triangles or generally rectangular shaped openings which have substantially straight sides.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a front view of a typical prior art pumpkin 10 where the top of the pumpkin 12 along a line 14 which encircles the stem was removed to provide access to the inside of the pumpkin. Working through the opening at the top of the pumpkin, the pulp and seeds were scoped out to provide a hollow chamber, and eye openings 16, 18, nose opening 20 and mouth opening 22 were then cut in the relatively thick shell or rind of the pumpkin to provide a ghoulish face. Normally the mouth opening is toothless.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a front view of another prior art pumpkin where the top of the pumpkin had been sliced off to provide access to the interior of the pumpkin, the pulp and seeds have been removed to provide a hollow chamber and, in addition to the eyes and nose openings which have been cut in the relatively thick shell of the pumpkin, a mouth opening 22 with, for example, two relatively wide teeth 24, 26 of solid, downward projecting pumpkin rind are left as teeth to provide a ghoulish face. The fragile characteristics of the relatively thick pumpkin rind dictates that the mouth opening of the pumpkin face either be toothless or be limited to having two or three very wide thick teeth which are wildy spaced from each other.
With the invention here disclosed, various types of teeth are provided which can be removably attached to a mouth opening in a pumpkin rind to provide a more ghoulish face. The teeth here disclosed are of various sizes and have different shapes, and can be positioned at various angles and distances relative to each other. For example, some teeth can be positioned to be straight up and down while other teeth can be positioned to project outward at small and/or large angles. In addition the teeth can have a forbidding color such as black with blood red stains, or white with green mold color, etc.
Referring to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, there is disclosed a front, side and bottom view of a small size canine type of tooth 30 which can be removably attached to the mouth opening in a pumpkin to provide a ghoulish looking pumpkin face both during the day, and at night when the pumpkin is illuminated from its interior with, for example, a candle. The tooth 30 can have a generally cylindrical shape with a length 32 of 1.2 inches, more or less, from the base 34 of the tooth to its pointed tip 36. The diameter 50 of the tooth at its base is about 0.3 of an inch where the front view 38 of the tooth has a substantially triangular shape and the side view 40 of the tooth has a curved saber shape. Projecting out from the bottom 34 of the tooth 30 is a serrated anchor 42 which has teeth that project toward its apex 44 and has two cross arms 46, 48 oriented at ninety degrees to each other. The length 52 of the serrated anchor is 0.6 of an inch, more of less.
Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, there is disclosed a front and side view of a medium size canine type of tooth with a bottom serrated anchor 72 which has a cross section that is similar to the cross section of the serrated anchor shown in FIG. 3C. Except for size, the medium size canine tooth of FIGS. 4A and 4B is similar to the small size canine type of tooth of FIGS. 3A and 3B which can be placed in a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention. Continuing with FIGS. 4A and 4B, tooth 60 has a generally cylindrical shape with a length 62 of 1.8 inches, more or less, from the base 64 of the tooth to its pointed tip 66. The diameter 80 of the tooth at its base is about 0.4 of an inch, and the front view 68 of the tooth has a substantially triangular shape and the side view 70 of the tooth has a curved saber shape. Projecting out from the bottom 64 of tooth 60 is a serrated anchor 72 which has teeth that project toward its apex 74 and has two cross arms 46, 48 oriented at ninety degrees to each other as shown in FIG. 3C. The length 82 of serrated anchor is 0.8 of an inch, more of less.
Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, there is disclosed a front and side view of a large size canine type of tooth with a bottom serrated anchor 102 which has a cross section that is similar to the cross section of the serrated anchor shown in FIG. 3C. Except for size, the large size canine tooth of FIGS. 5A and 5B is similar to the small size canine type of tooth of FIGS. 3A and 3B and can be placed in a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention. Continuing with FIGS. 5A and 5B, tooth 90 has a generally cylindrical shape with a length 92 of three inches, more or less, from the base 94 of the tooth to its pointed tip 96. The diameter 110 of the tooth at its base is about 0.4 of an inch where the front view 98 of the tooth has a substantially triangular shape and the side view 100 of the tooth has a curved saber shape where the side has an outward bend 111 of about 0.1 of an inch. Projecting out from the bottom 94 of tooth 90 is a serrated anchor 102 which has teeth that project toward its apex 104 and has two cross arms 46, 48 oriented at ninety degrees to each other as shown in FIG. 3C. The length 112 of the serrated anchor is one inch, more of less.
Referring to FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, there is disclosed a front, side and top view of a large buck tooth 130. The buck tooth is adapted to be placed in a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention. Continuing with FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, tooth 130 has a generally broad flat shape which is about one inch wide and has a front surface 132 which is bowed and a rear surface 134 that is substantially flat. Looking at FIG. 6B, the side of the buck tooth has a slight bow or curved saber shape which has a thickness of about 0.25 of an inch at its base and tapers to a point 140 at its top end. The length of the buck tooth, including the serrated anchor 120, is about 2.5 inches. Located on the front surface 132 of the buck tooth is a plurality of V shaped grooves 142 which appear as dark grey lines each having a depth of about 0.50 mm. Projecting out from the bottom 144 of tooth 130 is serrated anchor 120 which has teeth that project toward its apex 146 and has two cross arms 46, 48 oriented at ninety degrees to each other as shown in FIG. 3C. The length 148 of serrated anchor is 1.1 inches, more of less.
Referring to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C, there is disclosed a front, side and top view of a medium size buck tooth 150. The buck tooth is adapted to be placed in a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention. Continuing with FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C, tooth 150 has a generally broad flat shape which is about 0.75 of an inch wide and has a front surface 152 which is bowed and a rear surface 154 that is substantially flat. Looking at FIG. 7B, the side of the buck tooth has a slight bow or curved saber shape which has a thickness of about 0.2 of an inch at its base 156 and tapers to a point at its top end 158. The length of the buck tooth, including the serrated anchor 160 is about 2.0 inches. Located on the front surface 152 of the buck tooth is a plurality of V shaped grooves 158 which appear as dark grey lines having a depth of about 0.50 mm. Projecting out from the bottom 156 of tooth 150 is serrated anchor 160 which has teeth that project toward its apex 166 and has two cross arms 46, 48 oriented at ninety degrees to each other as shown in FIG. 3C. The length of serrated anchor is one inch, more of less.
Referring to FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C, there is disclosed a front, side and top view of a small size buck tooth 170. The buck tooth is adapted to be placed in a mouth opening of a pumpkin to provide a ghoulish looking pumpkin face in accordance with the principles of the invention. Continuing with FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C, tooth 170 has a generally broad flat shape which is about 0.50 of an inch wide and has a front surface 172 which is bowed and a rear surface 174 that is substantially flat. Looking at FIG. 8B, the side of the buck tooth has a slight bow or curved saber shape which has a thickness of about 0.12 of an inch at its base 176 and tapers to a point at its top end 178. The length of the buck tooth, including the serrated anchor 180 is about 1.25 inches. Located on the front surface 172 of the buck tooth is a plurality of V shaped grooves 182 which appear as dark grey lines having a depth of about 0.50 mm. Projecting out from the bottom 176 of tooth 170 is serrated anchor 180 which has teeth that project toward its apex 182 and has two cross arms 46, 48 oriented at ninety degrees to each other as shown in FIG. 3C. The length of the serrated anchor is 0.6 of an inch, more of less.
Referring to FIG. 9, there is shown a front view of a pumpkin where the top of the pumpkin has been sliced off to provide access to its interior. The pulp was then removed to provide a hollow chamber and openings were cut in the rind of the pumpkin to provide an opening for a mouth. In accordance with the principles of the invention, various teeth here disclosed were inserted into the pumpkin rind at the mouth opening to make a more ghoulish pumpkin face.
While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.

Claims

1. A set of teeth for creating a ghoulish pumpkin face comprising:

at least one tooth having an anchoring member which can be removably attached to a mouth opening in a pumpkin.

2. The set of teeth of claim 1 wherein said anchoring member is serrated.

3. The set of teeth of claim 2 wherein said set includes at least one canine type of tooth.

4. The set of teeth of claim 2 wherein said set includes at least one buck tooth.

5. The set of teeth of claim 4 wherein said at least one buck tooth has dark gray lines on its front surface.

6. The set of teeth of claim 5 wherein the dark gray lines on the front surface of the buck tooth are generally 0.50 mm deep.

7. The set of teeth of claim 5 wherein said set further includes at least one canine type of tooth having a curved saber shape.

8. The set of teeth of claim 7 wherein said buck tooth is a small buck tooth with a length of generally 1.4 inches.

9. The set of teeth of claim 8 wherein said at least one canine type of tooth is a small tooth with a length of generally 1.2 inches.

10. The set of teeth of claim 9 wherein said set further includes at least one medium size canine type of tooth with a length of generally 1.8 inches.

11. The set of teeth of claim 10 wherein said set further includes at least one large size canine type of tooth with a length of generally 3 inches.

12. The set of teeth of claim 11 wherein said set further includes at least one medium size buck tooth with a length of generally one inch.

13. The set of teeth of claim 12 wherein said set further includes at least one small buck tooth with a length of generally 0.65 of an inch.

14. The set of teeth of claim 13 wherein each tooth has an anchoring member for removably attaching the teeth to a mouth opening in the pumpkin.

15. The set of teeth of claim 14 wherein the anchoring member is serrated.

16. The set of teeth of claim 15 wherein the anchoring member consists of two cross members.

17. The set of teeth of claim 13 wherein each buck tooth has dark gray lines on its front surface.

18. The set of teeth of claim 17 wherein each buck tooth has a front surface that is bowed and a rear surface that is flat.