It’s that time of year again. The weather’s turning, the clocks will soon change and then it’s the scariest night of the year – Halloween.
Everywhere you look there are pumpkin-based products, from trick or treat supplies to pumpkin spiced lattes. So, we thought we’d look at five interesting pumpkin patents – just in time for the spookiest time of the year.
Pumpkin stand
There’s no point spending hours carving the ideal pumpkin and then having it sitting sadly on the side. Luckily, there’s a patent for that, with a carefully designed pumpkin stand.
In 1999, US patent 6145795A was granted for a pumpkin stand. Designed to show off your pumpkin carving skills, without having to deal with juices oozing out onto your table cloth. The stand protects the underlying surface, and provides a pedestal support to display the pumpkin.
Kit for carving pumpkins
Before you can display your pumpkin, you have to carve it. If you’re fed up of butchering your way to a clumsy face, then you should have a look at the patented pumpkin carving kits that are on the market.
Granted back in 1987, the pumpkin carving kits include different kinds of cutting tools, along with pattern sheets with instructions of how to carve the picture. Sometimes the kits contain stencils to easily transform your pumpkin into the perfect scary Halloween fright fest.
Spiral coil candle holder for pumpkins
We’re getting more specific now. This spiral coil is designed specifically to keep a candle safely in place inside a pumpkin. It’s corkscrew shaped, which helps it to stay securely in the mound at the bottom of the carved out pumpkin.
Recipe for preparing ice cream using carrot, pumpkin, squash or sweet potato
This method is for making traditional Indian ice cream, known as Kulfi, with pumpkin. Designed by Kartar Singh Lalvani, the patent was granted in 2010. Also used in the method is probiotic yoghurt and prebiotic inulin (a starch found in certain vegetables).
The method includes peeling, chopping, boiling, pulping and smoothing the vegetables, which gives the end result a creamy effect. Using sweet, orange coloured vegetables dispenses with the need to use extra additives and colourings to liven up the dish. The vegetables are added to the yoghurt, ending up with an ice cream consistency.
Eyesight improving tea powder using pumpkin flower
This pumpkin patent hails from China, where herbal teas are frequently used for various health problems. Granted in 2016, the patented recipe lays out the specific ingredients for the ‘pumpkin flower eyesight improving soymilk tea powder’.
The tea is unique in flavour, simple to make and gives a mellow flavour. When brewed with water or honey water the tea powder has a strong milk bean flavour. As well as helping eyesight, the tea is claimed to remove heat from the liver.
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