DISPOSABLE HYGIENIC SUPPORT FOR CUTLERY

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a disposable hygienic support for cutlery, and more particularly to a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons, which is chiefly used on tables for restaurants.

Background Art

In general, supports for cutlery are used in restaurants. However, cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons, is put on napkins.

Otherwise, cutlery is put on dishes or plates. This is the reason why cleanliness of tables is not unconsciously trusted. Besides, cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons is not gathered and arranged on tables. The cutlery is gathered and arranged on napkins or empty dishes or plates.

Although there are supports for cutlery, there is no space of gathering and arranging cutlery on the supports for cutlery. The existing supports for cutlery have a structure that a portion contacting food in cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons does not come simply in contact with a table, respectively.

Meanwhile, a sheet of hygienic paper is put on a table, and then cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons is put on the paper. That is, cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons can be gathered

and arranged on sheets of paper put on a table.

A portion contacting food in cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons may contact user's mouth. If cutlery having contacted food is put on a sheet of paper put on a table, the paper may be easily dirty by the food stick to the cutlery. Accordingly, the dirty paper should be replaced by a new sheet of paper.

Thus, it is necessary to provide a support which can play a role of the existing support for supporting cutlery and can simultaneously play a role of a sheet of paper of gathering and arranging cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons.

The existing support can also make a portion having contacted food in cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons not directly contacting a dining table. Accordingly, the existing support is hygienic. In addition, since the existing support does not contact a sheet of paper put on the dining table, the sheet of paper is not dirty. Meanwhile, a sheet of paper of gathering and arranging cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons has an advantage of providing a space of hygienically gathering and arranging cutlery.

Disclosure of the Invention

To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons in which a sheet of thin paper is folded to thereby form a trapezoidal support portion for supporting cutlery and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion which is positioned at the lower portion of the trapezoidal

support portion, for gathering and arranging the cutlery, to thus provide the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons including a trapezoidal support portion for supporting cutlery and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion which is positioned at the lower portion of the trapezoidal support portion, for gathering and arranging the cutlery, in which two or three sheets of hygienic paper or thin patterned pulp can be inserted into and multi-layered over a cutlery gathering and arranging portion to thus make it easy to replace the paper or pulp by new paper or pulp.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons in which a sheet of thin paper is folded to thereby form a trapezoidal support portion for supporting cutlery and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion which is positioned at the lower portion of the trapezoidal support portion, for gathering and arranging the cutlery, and in which sheets of unfolded paper or pulp can be multi-layered in a case, to thus make it convenient to distribute the disposable hygienic support for cutlery, and prevent the disposable hygienic support for cutlery from being damaged.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons in which a sheet of thin paper is folded to thereby form a trapezoidal support portion for supporting cutlery and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion

which is positioned at the lower portion of the trapezoidal support portion, for gathering and arranging the cutlery, and in which the structure is simple to make it easy and convenient to treat the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons in which a sheet of thin paper is folded to thereby form a trapezoidal support portion for supporting cutlery and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion which is positioned at the lower portion of the trapezoidal support portion, for gathering and arranging the cutlery, and in which the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is made of natural materials such as paper or pulp, to thus enable the disposable hygienic support for cutlery to be recycled.

To accomplish the above objects of the present invention, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disposable hygienic support for cutlery comprising: a ground portion (10) and a support portion (20) which are formed by folding a sheet of rectangular paper, when considering the folded disposable hygienic support for cutlery, wherein the ground portion (10) is positioned at the lower portion of the support portion (20), to thus form a cutlery gathering and arranging portion (30), wherein the support portion (20) is formed of a trapezoidal support stand (210), a front load bearing portion (220), and an assembly portion (230),

wherein the front load bearing portion (220) is formed of two folds, and wherein a corresponding assembly portion support insertion groove (310) into which the assembly portion (230) is inserted is formed at the upper portion of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion (30).

Preferably but not necessarily, the length of the front load bearing portion (220) is not less than the width of the bottom portion (216) of the trapezoidal support portion (210).

Preferably but not necessarily, the height of one lateral surface portion (214) in the trapezoidal support portion (210) on which cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons are put is formed a little higher than that of the other lateral surface portion (214') in the trapezoidal support portion (210) on which the cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons are not put.

Preferably but not necessarily, two or three sheets of hygienic paper or natural patterned pulp are inserted into upper and lower hygienic paper or natural patterned pulp insertion grooves (320 and 340) which are formed at the upper and lower portions of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion (30).

Preferably but not necessarily, the width of the trapezoidal assembly portion (230) in the trapezoidal support portion (210) is 1/3 to 1/2 of that of the bottom portion (216) of the trapezoidal support portion (210).

Preferably but not necessarily, an upper hygienic paper insertion groove (320) is formed at a portion which is connected by an upper support fold portion (330) of the upper portion of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion (30), and a lower hygienic paper insertion groove (340) is formed at the lower portion

of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion (30) in correspondence to the upper hygienic paper insertion groove (320).

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention, showing an enlarged perspective view of a portion "A" in the disposable hygienic support for cutlery;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention, in which a sheet of hygienic paper is inserted;

FIG. 2C is a perspective view of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention, in which a sheet of natural patterned pulp is inserted; FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view cut along a line A-A ¹ of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view cut along a line A-A' of FIG. 2B; FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view cut along a line A-A' of FIG. 2C; FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing folding lines of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention; FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing a state of being folded along the

folding lines of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4C is a perspective view showing an assembled state of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery after having been folded along the folding lines of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing a state where sheets of hygienic paper are inserted into the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing a state where sheets of natural patterned pulp are inserted into the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing disposable hygienic supports for cutlery are multi-layered in a form where a trapezoidal support portion and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion have been unfolded in order to smoothly distribute the disposable hygienic supports for cutlery.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

The above and/or other objects and/or advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by the following description. Hereinbelow, a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A disposable hygienic support 100 for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons according to the present invention is formed by folding a

sheet of rectangular thin paper for example in A4 size, referring to FIG. 4A.

First of all, the disposable hygienic support 100 for cutlery will be described on the basis of the folded shape of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

Referring to FIGS. 2A to 2C, a ground portion 10 and a support portion 20 (of FIG. 4B) are formed by folding a sheet of rectangular paper, when considering the folded disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

The ground portion 10 is positioned at the lower portion of the support portion 20, to thus form a cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30.

The cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30 is integrally connected with the ground portion 10.

The support portion 20 is integrally connected with the ground portion 10, and formed of a trapezoidal support stand 210, a front load bearing portion 220, and an assembly portion 230.

An assembly portion support insertion groove 310 and an upper hygienic paper insertion groove 320 are formed at the upper portion of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30, and a lower hygienic paper insertion groove

340 is formed at the lower portion of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30 in correspondence to the upper hygienic paper insertion groove 320.

The assembly portion support insertion groove 310 and the upper hygienic paper insertion groove 320 are connected with each other by an upper support fold portion 330.

The upper support fold portion 330 plays a role of bearing a horizontal

load coming from the trapezoidal support portion 210, and simultaneously plays a role of forming the upper hygienic paper insertion groove 320 into which the assembly portion 230 and the hygienic paper 40 or the natural patterned pulp 410 is inserted by the upper support fold portion 330.

On the following, the trapezoidal support portion 210 in the disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons according to the present invention will be described on the basis of folding lines.

The support portion 20 is positioned at the upper portion of the ground portion 10, and the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30 is formed at the lower portion of the support portion 20.

When a sheet of paper forming a disposable hygienic support for cutlery is unfolded, the support portion 20 is positioned at the upper portion of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery, the ground portion 10 is positioned in the middle thereof, and the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30 is positioned at the lower portion thereof.

The folding lines on the paper or pulp include a folding line with which the trapezoidal bottom portion 216 of the support portion 20 is folded, two folding lines with which a trapezoidal upper portion 212 is folded, two folding lines with which the trapezoidal bottom portion 216 is folded, a folding line with which a front load bearing portion 220 is folded, a folding line with which an assembly support insertion groove 310 of the ground portion 10 is folded, two folding lines with which the upper support fold portion 330 is folded, a folding line with which the upper hygienic paper or pulp insertion groove 320 is

folded, and a folding line with which the lower hygienic paper or pulp insertion groove 340 is folded.

On the following, since the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention has a structure of bearing cutlery such as a spoon 510 and chopsticks 520 by folding a sheet of thin paper or pulp without using an adhesive, the trapezoidal support portion 210 and the structure of supporting the trapezoidal support portion 210 will be described.

Weight of cutlery such as the spoon 510 and chopsticks 520 is supported by the support portion 210. As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the support portion 210 is of a trapezoidal form. The weight of the cutlery such as the spoon 510 and chopsticks 520 which are put on the trapezoidal support portion 210 acts on the lateral surfaces of the trapezoidal support portion 210. Accordingly, the weight of the cutlery such as the spoon 510 and chopsticks 520 is supported by a paper elastic force, a front load bearing portion 220, and the assembly portion 230, unless the lateral surfaces of the trapezoidal support portion 210 are unfolded by an external lateral force.

A horizontal force working on the side of the trapezoidal support portion 210 is supported by the front load bearing portion 220, and the assembly portion 230 which has been inserted into the assembly portion support insertion groove 310.

The front load bearing portion 220 is formed of two folds, in which two-fold paper closely contact each fold. As a degree of adherence is large, a support of horizontal force is efficient. It is desirable to heat and pressurize

folding lines with a compressor in order to enlarge a degree of adherence.

The larger width "dl" of the front load bearing portion 220, the better.

However, the width "dl" of the front load bearing portion 220 is not less than the width "d" of the bottom portion 216 of the trapezoidal support portion 210.

When the width of the front load bearing portion 220 is less than that of the bottom portion 216 of the trapezoidal support portion 210, the trapezoidal support portion 210 is transformed by the horizontally working force, to thus fail to keep the original shape. When considering the external shape of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery, it is preferable that the width "dl" of the front load bearing portion 220 is not less than the width "d" of the bottom portion

216 of the trapezoidal support portion 210.

The assembly portion 230 formed in the trapezoidal bottom portion 216 of the trapezoidal support portion 210 which opposes the front load bearing portion 220 is inserted into and fixed to an assembly portion support insertion groove 310, in which the assembly portion 230 is formed at the upper portion of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30.

A horizontally working force is relatively supported by the front load bearing portion 220 when compared with the assembly portion 230. Accordingly, the width "d2" of the assembly portion 230 may be smaller than the width "d" of the bottom portion 216 of the trapezoidal support portion 210.

Although the larger width "d2" of the assembly portion 230 is the better, the width "d2" of the trapezoidal assembly portion 230 in the trapezoidal support portion 210 is about 1/2 of that of the bottom portion 216 of the trapezoidal

support portion 210, when considering the external shape of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

As the length of the upper support fold portion 330 which forms the assembly portion support insertion groove 310 and the upper hygienic paper or pulp insertion groove 320 becomes long, it is efficient to support the horizontally working force. When considering the external shape of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery, the length of the upper support fold portion 330 is 1/3 to 1/2 of that of the bottom portion 216 of the trapezoidal support portion 210. If an upper portion 332 of the upper support fold portion 330 is made closely contact one lateral surface 214 of the trapezoidal support portion 210, it is more efficient to support a horizontally working force.

The shape of the trapezoidal support portion 210 may be symmetrically formed. However, referring to FIGS. 3A to 3C, the height of one lateral surface portion 214 in the trapezoidal support portion 210 on which cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons are put is formed a little higher than that of the other lateral surface portion 214' in the trapezoidal support portion 210 on which the cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons are not put. The non-symmetrical shape of the trapezoidal support portion 210 becomes symmetrical due to the weight of the cutlery such as the spoon 510 and the chopsticks 520. Accordingly, the external shape of the trapezoidal support portion 210 looks good and the trapezoidal support portion 210 can support the more weight since the non-symmetrical shape of the trapezoidal

support portion 210 is transformed into a symmetrical shape of the trapezoidal support portion 210.

The ground portion 10 can be used as the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30. Two or three sheets of hygienic paper or thin natural patterned pulp 410 having an absorbing power 40 can be inserted into the upper and lower hygienic paper or pulp insertion grooves 320 and 340. Accordingly, if the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30 becomes dirty during having dinner, the old hygienic paper or thin natural patterned pulp 410 can be replaced by new one, to accordingly keep cleanliness of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30 in the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

Two or three sheets of hygienic paper or thin natural patterned pulp 410 having an absorbing power 40 can be multi-layered on an upper portion 212 of the trapezoidal support portion 210. In this case, it is helpful to keep the disposable hygienic support for cutlery to be clean. It is possible to choose a multi-layering method among a use of an adhesive, a formation of insertion grooves, etc., within the range where a role of a trapezoid is not broken.

Public relation information or pictures may be drawn in the lower blanks of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion 30. As described above, a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons according to the present invention has a trapezoidal support structure having both a merit of the existing cutlery support and a merit of the existing cutlery gathering and arranging paper. Since the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is formed by folding a sheet of

paper or pulp, it is possible to accommodate sheets of unfolded disposable hygienic supports for cutlery in a case during distribution, to thereby avoid the disposable hygienic support for cutlery from being damaged. In addition, since a trapezoidal support portion is folded and inserted into an insertion groove when the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is put on a table, it is very simple and convenient to assemble the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

A sheet of paper is folded to form a support portion on which cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons is put. However, there is no problem to bear the weight of the cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons. The thickness of the sheet of paper may be good if it is not less than that of for example, A4-size paper. However, it is not use an adhesive to bear weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons. There are no places of being bonded by an adhesive in a disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention. The disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention has a structure that an adhesive is not needed. Although an adhesive is not used, the disposable hygienic support for cutlery has a structure of bearing weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons.

Since only a trapezoidal support portion is folded, the number of times of folding the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is nothing but two or three. Accordingly, it is easy to handle the disposable hygienic support for cutlery. Once an assembly portion in a disposable hygienic support for cutlery which has

been folded is inserted into a previously formed insertion groove, the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention is formed.

A sheet of paper or pulp which is used for making the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention is not thick. The elasticity and thickness of the sheet of paper may be good if they are not less than those of for example, A4-size paper.

The support for cutlery which is made of the paper or pulp having the elasticity and thickness of A4-size paper may be broken or collapsed by the weight of the cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons, or transformed into a different shape which is not proper to bear the weight of the cutlery. One of the reasons is because the support for cutlery is not made by using an adhesive but is made by folding paper or pulp.

However, a disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention has a structure that a support portion is not transformed by weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons.

However, the support portion in the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention is not made by folding two-fold or more paper. That is, the support portion which is employed in the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention is made of a sheet of paper or pulp.

The shape of the support portion in the disposable hygienic support for cutlery according to the present invention enables the disposable hygienic support for cutlery to bear weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks

and spoons which is put on the disposable hygienic support for cutlery. For example, the shape of the support portion is trapezoidal.

The weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons which is put on the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is transferred to the left and right lateral surfaces of the trapezoidal support portion (see FIG. 1).

The force acted onto the left and right lateral surfaces of the trapezoidal support portion is transferred to the bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion by the elasticity of the paper or pulp. The bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion supports or bears the weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons. The inside of the trapezoidal support portion is hollow.

In other words, the vertically working weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons is horizontally transferred to the left and right lateral surfaces of the trapezoidal support portion, and then transferred again to the bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion.

The force transferred to the bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion is supported by a front load bearing portion which is positioned on the front surface of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery and a rear load bearing portion which is positioned on the rear surface of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

The front load bearing portion is made of two-fold paper which closely contacts each fold. The equals or is a little larger than that of the bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion. If the width of the front load

bearing portion is smaller than that of the bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion, the trapezoidal support portion may be slightly transformed by the horizontal force which has been transferred to the bottom portion of the trapezoidal support portion.

The rear load bearing portion is formed of an assembly portion and a support insertion groove corresponding to the assembly portion, in order to form a trapezoidal shape. That is, the assembly portion is inserted into and fixed to the support insertion groove in a closely contact form. Since the front load bearing portion and the rear load bearing portion play a role of supporting a horizontal load, the two-fold paper should closely contact each fold. This is because the two-fold paper is efficient in supporting the horizontal load.

Since weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons is acted onto the trapezoidal support portion, heights of the left and right lateral surfaces of the trapezoidal support portion differ each other. That is, the trapezoidal support portion is formed of a trapezoid of a non-symmetrical shape. Accordingly, the non-symmetrical trapezoidal support portion is transformed into a symmetrical trapezoidal support portion by weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons. As a result, it is efficient in supporting weight of the cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons. Meanwhile, the cutlery gathering and arranging portion for gathering and arranging cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons thereon is positioned at the lower portion of the support portion.

The cutlery gathering and arranging portion may be easily dirty. Accordingly, additional sheets of hygienic paper or pulp may be inserted into the cutlery gathering and arranging portion. If two or three hygienic paper or pulp are inserted into the cutlery gathering and arranging portion, the old, that is, the dirty paper or pulp can be easily replaced by new one during having food.

It is preferable to use a material of paper or pulp having a good absorption power, as the hygienic paper or pulp.

As an example, embossed paper or natural thin patterned pulp may be used as the hygienic paper or pulp.

As described above, the present invention provides a disposable hygienic support for cutlery in which a sheet of thin paper is folded to thereby form a trapezoidal support portion for supporting cutlery and a cutlery gathering and arranging portion which is positioned at the lower portion of the trapezoidal support portion, for gathering and arranging the cutlery, to thus provide the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

Since the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is formed by folding a sheet of paper or pulp, it is possible to accommodate sheets of unfolded disposable hygienic supports for cutlery during distribution, to thereby avoid the disposable hygienic support for cutlery from being damaged, and make it easy to distribute and handle the disposable hygienic supports for cutlery conveniently.

In addition, since a trapezoidal support portion is folded and inserted into an insertion groove when the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is put on a table, it is very simple and convenient to assemble the disposable hygienic

support for cutlery.

Since only a trapezoidal support portion is folded, the number of times of folding the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is nothing but two or three. Accordingly, it is easy to handle the disposable hygienic support for cutlery.

Further, the disposable hygienic support for cutlery does not need an adhesive, and thus is not harmful but hygienic.

Since a sheet of thin paper or pulp in A4 size is folded so as to bear weight of cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons, the structure of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is simple and balanced.

Further, since two or three sheets of hygienic paper or thin natural patterned pulp having an absorbing power can be inserted into and multi-layered in the cutlery gathering and arranging portion of the disposable hygienic support for cutlery, it is easy to replace hygienic paper or pulp by new one, to thus keep cleanliness of the cutlery gathering and arranging portion.

In addition, the disposable hygienic support for cutlery is made of paper or pulp, to thus enable the consumed disposable hygienic support for cutlery to be recycled and provide the disposable hygienic support for cutlery which is environmentally friendly useful.

However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is possible for one who has an ordinary skill in the art to make various modifications and variations, without departing off the spirit of the present invention.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention provides a disposable hygienic support for cutlery such as knives, forks, chopsticks and spoons, which is chiefly used on tables for restaurants.