Herb scoop

Abstract

The present invention provides an herb scoop for use in scooping, transporting, and depositing herbal plant matter from a container into the bowl of a pipe or other smoking device. The user manipulates the scoop to guide the scoop blade portion under the plant matter, guiding it into a trough area of the blade portion. While keeping the trough upright, the user can transport the herb from the container to the pipe or other smoking device. Tilting the scoop to either the left or right side (depending on the user's handedness) will then allow the plant matter to flow out of the trough and into the bowl or equivalent chamber. Using the tool is an improvement over the current methods of pinching the herbs with one's fingers or using prior art tools which lead to plant matter sticking to the fingers as well as the potential spillage of material during transport and dispensing. When not in use, the herb scoop can be stored directly in the herb container for easy access.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A manually operated scoop for picking up a ground material from a container having a
 bottom wall and side wall forming a juncture (J) having a radius (R 4 ), and transferring and dispensing the ground material from the scoop into another container or device, said scoop comprising:
 a) a unitary piece of rigid material having a scoop portion and a handle portion adapted for manual operation of said scoop; 
 b) a laterally extending, linear bend (B) formed in said scoop portion; and 
 c) a blade portion defined by said bend (B), said blade portion having an edge (E) having a radius (R 1 ) selected to be substantially equal to the container juncture radius (R 4 ), said bend (B) further defining an internal angle (A) forming a trough area (T) adapted to hold the ground material while transferring and dispensing the ground material into another container or device upon rotation of said scoop about its longitudinal axis (X-X). 
   
     
     
         2 . The scoop of  claim 1  wherein said angle (A) is about 120 degrees. 
     
     
         3 . The scoop of  claim 2  wherein said bend (B) has a width (W 1 ) of about 1 inch. 
     
     
         4 . The scoop of  claim 3  wherein said radius (R 1 ) is about 1.25 inches. 
     
     
         5 . The scoop of  claim 4  wherein said edge (E) radius R 1  tapers on either side thereof to a radius R 2  of about 0.5 inches. 
     
     
         6 . The scoop of  claim 5  wherein said trough area (T) has a depth (D 1 ) of about 0.75 inches. 
     
     
         7 . The scoop of  claim 6  wherein the length (L 1 ) of said scoop is about 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         8 . The scoop of  claim 7  wherein the length (L 2 ) of said scoop portion is about 0.25 inches. 
     
     
         9 . The scoop of  claim 8  wherein the width (W 2 ) located between said scoop portion and said handle portion is about 0.5 inches. 
     
     
         10 . The scoop of  claim 9  wherein the major width (W 3 ) of said handle portion  14  is about 0.75 inches. 
     
     
         11 . The scoop of  claim 10  wherein the radius (R 3 ) extending between widths (W 2 ) and (W 3 ) is about 1 inch.