Images: Patenting sandwiches, pet toys

Are you a fan of peanut butter and jelly? The inventors of the "sealed crustless sandwich" likely had you in mind when they came up with their idea--a method for creating a round, prepackaged sandwich that contains two types of filling, such as peanut butter and jelly.

This diagram illustrates a cutting cylinder that can be used to create such a sandwich, which can then be stored for "extended periods of time for use in lunch box type of situations." The idea is protected by U.S. Patent No. 6,004,596.

Photo by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office