Food Tube Attachment Device

Abstract

A food tube attachment device for locking an opened food tube onto an easy-to-use device including a structure with a nozzle that prevents leakage from and slippage of the food tube so that the contents may be enjoyed by a user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A food tube attachment device including:
 a nozzle having a top and a bottom, a channel between the top and the bottom, a coupling means, and a gasket receiving area;   a nozzle control handle having a complimentary coupling means to the nozzle's coupling means;   the gasket secured in the gasket receiving area of the nozzle;   wherein the coupling of the nozzle's coupling means and the nozzle control handle's complimentary coupling means may be manipulated from a disengaged position to an engaged position and secured in the engaged position;   wherein, with the food tube attachment device beginning in the disengaged position, a seal is created when an opening of a food tube receives the bottom of the nozzle and the gasket before the nozzle control handle is manipulated from the disengaged position to the engaged position;   wherein this manipulation deforms the gasket to create the seal with the food tube so that the contents of the food tube travel through the channel by entering from the bottom of the nozzle and egressing out the top of the nozzle; and   wherein the food tube attachment device is made of food-safe materials.   
     
     
         2 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 1 , further comprising a shell having a cavity for receiving the food tube, the cavity being formed between an interior wall and an exterior wall, and creating the seal between the exterior wall and the food tube when the gasket is deformed by the manipulating the nozzle control handle from the disengaged position to the engaged position. 
     
     
         3 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 2 , further comprising the interior wall of the shell having a keyhole receiver and the nozzle having an indexing notch, wherein the alignment of the keyhole receiver and the indexing notch prevent the rotational movement of the nozzle when the nozzle control handle is manipulated between the disengaged position and the engaged position, and vice versa. 
     
     
         4 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 3 , wherein the coupling means and complimentary coupling means includes screw threads on the nozzle and complimentary screw threads on the nozzle control handle. 
     
     
         5 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of the shell and the nozzle control handle includes a handle locking structure to lock the nozzle control handle in the engaged position. 
     
     
         6 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 5 , further comprising a nozzle cap that includes a nozzle receiver at one end of a tether and a loop at the other end of the tether for attaching the nozzle cap to the food tube attachment device, and wherein the nozzle includes a circumferential lip for retaining the nozzle receiver on the nozzle. 
     
     
         7 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 6 , wherein the shell's exterior wall has a recessed area for connecting the loop of the nozzle cap to the shell. 
     
     
         8 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 7 , further comprising the nozzle control handle being disc-shaped and having an outer circumference with knurled edges. 
     
     
         9 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 8 , further comprising the gasket having an interfacing surface that is compressed by the bottom of the interior wall of the shell when the food tube attachment device is manipulated and locked into the engaged position. 
     
     
         10 . The food tube attachment device of  claim 6 , further comprising a nozzle cap handle attached to the end of the tether nearest the nozzle receiver. 
     
     
         11 . A method for assembling and using a food tube attachment device, the steps comprising:
 securing a gasket within a gasket receiving area around a bottom of a nozzle, the nozzle having a channel between the bottom and a top;   inserting the top of the nozzle through a shell;   aligning and securing an indexing notch of the nozzle with a keyhole receiver present on an interior wall of the shell to prevent undesired rotation of the shell and the nozzle;   placing a nozzle control handle over the top of the nozzle;   coupling a complimentary coupling means of the nozzle control handle to a coupling means of the nozzle in a disengaged position;   inserting an opening of a food tube into a cavity between the interior wall and an exterior wall of the shell;   manipulating the nozzle control handle from the disengaged position to an engaged position which deforms the gasket to create a seal with the food tube by compressing the food tube's opening between the deformed gasket and the exterior wall of the shell; and   the user causing contents of the food tube to egress through the channel from the bottom of the nozzle through the top of the nozzle so that the user may consume the contents of the food tube.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising locking the nozzle control handle into the engaged position via a handle locking structure on the shell and a corresponding piece on the nozzle control handle. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising attaching a nozzle cap to the shell. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the nozzle cap may be placed on the top of the nozzle, retained by a circumferential lip on the nozzle, and removed from the top of the nozzle at the user's desire.