The present invention relates to an integrally-moulded knife and fork, and to a method of manufacturing an integrally-moulded knife and fork.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Conventional cutlery is typically made of metal to allow repeated use. Disposable cutlery is usually made from different, less expensive materials for one-off use. These materials include plastic and wood, each of which has drawbacks in environmental terms. Disposable cutlery is often not fit for purpose, breaking in use, due to its unrefined shape and weight.

Millions of pieces of disposable cutlery are used each year, for example in coffee shops and fast food restaurants, and for meals served during flights. Disposable cutlery is chosen by such businesses as it is more cost-effective and less labour-intensive than collecting and washing metal alternatives.

While consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of disposable cutlery, they are reluctant to pay for such items and instead expect large businesses to find environmentally responsible solutions they can provide for free. The businesses therefore seek low cost, high volume solutions with minimal environmental impact.

This creates a challenge for disposable cutlery manufacturers to innovative and invest in finding more efficient, compelling and environmentally sound products without being able to increase unit prices.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or substantially obviate the aforementioned problems.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided an integrally-moulded knife and fork, the fork including a fork handle and a fork head, and the knife including a knife handle and a knife blade, the fork head and the knife blade being wider than their respective handles,

the knife and fork being separated by a substantially continuous spacing of substantially 5 mm or less, and being connected together by a frangible tooth disposed partway along the knife blade, and

the knife and fork being oriented in opposing directions, with the knife handle being contoured to substantially follow the fork head, and the knife blade being contoured to substantially follow the fork handle, each of the knife handle and the fork handle including a concave surface on one side.

Optional features are presented in the dependent claims.

Integrally forming the knife and fork together so that they are connected via the frangible tooth on the knife avoids the need to correctly sort and pair the knives and forks together once formed. The knife blade remains sharp and the edge is not exposed until use by virtue of facing the fork handle. Otherwise it could catch or rub against other items before use and lose sharpness. Nesting the knife into the negative space around the fork minimises the overall footprint of the pair. In other words, providing a condensed and nested form enables more parts to fit on a tool, and thus more products are formed in a given production cycle. In addition, if during production a shared sprue and runners are used, this can reduce the amount of waste material, improving material efficiency. The fork head and knife blade are wider than the corresponding handles to broadly correspond to the proportions of conventional (non-disposable) knives and forks, which gives a more natural feel when using the knife and fork of the present invention to eat a meal. The knife and fork are preferably detached from each other by the consumer at the point of use, rather than being provided as disconnected items. This can serve as confirmation that the utensils have not been used before. However, they can also be provided to the consumer as detached items too, which presents the option for a manufacturer to fulfill orders which require a separate knife or fork. Some institutions have disproportionate use of one type of cutlery over another, and prefer the flexibility of non-connected cutlery so that they can order different numbers of knives, forks and spoons according to consumer use. However, the benefit of providing pairs of connected knives and forks is clear in terms of manufacturing, and also for use during scenarios such as aeroplane meals, where the consumer does not select the utensils they need, but is instead provided with a predetermined set of cutlery.

In this specification, all references to a 'fork' should be interpreted as including the variant of a 'spork' . References to 'disposable' and 'disposable use' should be interpreted as meaning that the knife and fork are used once, and subsequently recycled or thrown away (rather than washed and re-used).

The knife handle and head are contoured to substantially follow the fork head and handle respectively. However, this does not require the contours of each part to be parallel at all points. The majority of the contours are parallel or near parallel on average. For example, the knife handle may follow a path which leads slightly towards or away from the fork head. In another example, the knife head may follow a path which leads slightly towards or away from the fork handle. The end of the knife blade may curve or angle away from the fork handle towards one end, for example in the second half of the blade.

The frangible tooth may be connected sub-flush to the fork handle. In other words, the frangible tooth may connect to the fork handle at a point inward of the surrounding surface of the fork handle. The connection point may be sub-flush by around 0.5mm from the surface of the fork handle, for example.

This means that, after the knife and its frangible tooth have together been detached from the fork, the fork handle remains smooth to the touch when held during use. There is no sharp or rough section on the fork handle where the frangible tooth was previously connected. However, the frangible tooth itself may have a rough or sharp point or edge following detachment, which aids cutting during use of the knife.

The frangible tooth may be connected along a length of the side of the fork handle. For example, the length along which the frangible tooth connects may be from about 5% to about 10% of the length of the fork. This is to ensure that the connection is not too difficult to break, but that the connection is also robust enough not to break apart of its own accord from bumps or knocks during transit. One side of the knife handle includes one or more concave surfaces. One side of the fork handle includes one or more concave surfaces. Concave surfaces in the knife and fork handles may face in opposing directions, so that they are on opposite sides of the pair. This is generally preferred for manufacturing, to enable the tool split line to flow simply. Alternatively, concave surfaces in the handles may be on the same side of the pair, facing in the same direction. At least part of the knife blade may comprise a concave surface or curved body section.

The concave surfaces provide material efficient structural rigidity to the pieces in use. These concave surfaces also enable witness marks or defects from ejection points to be set back and disguised from the user's hand and eye.

The concave surfaces in the handles may be substantially U-shaped or C-shaped. This is most apparent when the utensils are viewed end-on. This imparts rigidity to the handles which makes it easier to grip the utensils. The handles may have corresponding U-shaped profiles or C-shaped profiles or cross-sections. By providing highly engineered curved sections, it reduces the amount of material required for the manufacturing process.

The knife handle may include an outer surface around the concave surface. At least part of the outer surface may be substantially orthogonal to the knife blade. Preferably, the outer surface is convex. In other words, the shape of the knife handle may provide a holding or gripping area which is disposed substantially orthogonally with respect to the knife blade. The profiles of the U-shaped or C-shaped parts may be substantially symmetric or may be asymmetric (or truncated on one side). The C-shape may have an open form, like a bracket or parenthesis, for example. In some cases, the curved section of the knife handle may be larger on one side than the other. The larger side preferably lies adjacent to the fork. This means that, when holding the utensil, the fingers that pass under the knife handle have a larger surface to grip. This saves on material costs. In the case of a fork handle, a symmetrical profile is preferred.

The concave surface may extend along the length of the knife or fork. The knife blade and/or fork head may include a curved region or profile. Providing curved sections imparts rigidity to the utensils. It is particularly preferred for the knife blade to have a curved profile. This requires significantly less material to provide the desired rigidity.

The knife and/or fork may have a curved section towards one end. That curved section may lead into a more highly curved section, and optionally then into a less curved section (than the more highly curved section) towards the other end. In some cases, the highly curved section is provided in a region close to both the handle and head/blade section. The concave surface of the fork handle may be on the same side as the concave section of the fork head.

The knife handle may widen towards the end of the handle. This gives a larger volume for improved grip.

The spacing between the knife and fork may be 4 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 3 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 2 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 1.5 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 1 mm or less.

Reducing the spacing between the knife and fork is preferable to minimise packaging requirements, and makes a slight saving on the amount of material required to mould the knife and fork pair. This corresponds to a significant saving for large scale production, where thousands or millions of units are produced. The frangible tooth is reduced in depth (i.e. the amount it extends out from the knife blade) in accordance with the reduced spacing. It is also preferable to minimise the spacing to confer greater stability during shipping, so that the cutlery are less likely to inadvertently self-detach.

One or both of the knife handle and the fork handle may have a textured surface. The texture may be knurled or cross-hatched. Preferably the knife blade and the fork head have a smooth surface. Providing a texture on the handle(s) can improve the amount of grip afforded during use. This is useful when cutting meat, for example, because it reduces the need to hold the cutlery tightly when applying a cutting force. Leaving the knife blade texture-free avoids impeding the cutting action. Leaving the fork head texture free avoids impairing the mouthfeel of the fork during use.

It is possible to detach the knife from the fork in various ways, but the effort required varies. The knife and fork may be adapted for separation from each other by rotation of the knife relative to the fork. The rotation may be about an axis of the frangible tooth which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the knife or fork. The axis may be perpendicular to the frangible tooth. The axis may pass through the knife and the fork. The frangible tooth may be connected to the fork handle along an edge, preferably a weakened edge. The knife and fork may be separated, or snapped apart, at the point of use.

Rotating the knife and fork in opposite directions about that axis requires minimal force. This is taken relative to the moment needed for 'folding' them towards each other about a longitudinal axis, or relative to the force needed for 'pulling' them apart about another axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the knife or fork. During rotation or other separation, the frangible tooth connection to the fork handle breaks.

The knife blade may include serrations or cutting teeth along the length of the blade. The frangible tooth may form one of the cutting teeth following separation of the knife from the fork. This supplements the shallower cutting teeth with a deeper cutting tooth that makes it easier to cut more resilient pieces of food. The frangible tooth may be in a separate region of the blade to the other cutting teeth. For example, the cutting teeth may be provided along one region of the blade, and the frangible tooth may be provided at an opposing end of the blade. The frangible tooth may not be shaped like the cutting teeth. The frangible tooth may be formed as a secondary blade, in addition to the main knife blade.

The frangible tooth may be provided adjacent to the region where the knife blade transitions into the knife handle. This makes it possible to increase the grip area on the knife handle, because the side area of the frangible tooth acts as an extension of the grip area.

At least part of the fork handle may lie below (or to one side of) a plane through the knife blade. At least part of the fork head may lie above (or to the other side of) a plane through the knife blade. Preferably, the fork handle curves from one end to the other below the plane through the knife, and the fork head curves from one end to the other above the plane through the knife. This provides the fork in a conventional shape, which feels more natural in use.

In other cases, parts of the knife may lie to either side of a plane through the fork handle. For example, the curved blade may lie below that plane, whilst some of the handle profile extends above that plane. At least one of the knife and fork may include releasable connection means for reconnecting the knife and fork together after they have been separated or disconnected from each other. The releasable connection means may include a projection on one of the knife or fork. There may be a corresponding aperture on the other of the knife or fork. Where provided, the projection and aperture may be on the handles.

The projection may fit substantially flush with an end of the aperture, once inserted. The projection may be on a convex or concave side of the knife handle or fork handle. The projection may be adapted (e.g. positioned, shaped and/or sized) not to interfere with stacking of the cutlery. The projections may fit together when the cutlery are stacked together. The pairs of cutlery can thus still stack or tesselate efficiently.

Raised indicia may be provided on the handle(s). If so, the projection may provided by part of the indicia. For example, if the indicia includes the letter Ό' or number 'Ο', this has a suitable profile for a projection corresponding with a round aperture. It will be appreciated that any indicia character or set of characters may be suitable as a projection (or projections) if the aperture is (or apertures are) correspondingly shaped.

The releasable connection means may include the concave surface of the knife handle or fork handle being shaped to fit over a convex surface of the fork handle or knife handle. This provides a friction-fit connection between the handles when the utensils are engaged over one another.

A pack may be provided comprising at least one integrally-moulded knife and/or fork according to the first aspect of the invention. The pack may be sealed. The pack may include a single knife and fork pair, optionally disconnected from each other. The pack may include a knife and not a fork. The pack may include a fork and not a knife. The pack may optionally include a serviette and/or one or more condiment sachets. The pack may include a plurality of pairs of cutlery in one or more stacks. The knife and fork pair is ideally shaped to allow tessellation with neighbouring pairs on either side in a stack.

An injection mould may be provided for manufacturing at least one integrally- moulded knife and fork according to the first aspect of the invention.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing pairs of cutlery, each pair comprising an integrally-moulded knife and fork,

the fork including a fork handle and a fork head, and the knife including a knife handle and a knife blade, the fork head and the knife blade being wider than their respective handles,

the knife and fork being separated by a substantially continuous spacing of substantially 5 mm or less, and being connected together by a frangible tooth disposed partway along the knife blade, and

the knife and fork being oriented in opposing directions, with the knife handle being contoured to substantially follow the fork head, and the knife blade being contoured to substantially follow the fork handle, each of the knife handle and the fork handle including a concave surface on one side,

and the method comprising the steps of

a) providing material feedstock and one or more moulds for forming the pairs of cutlery, and

b) using the material feedstock and the mould(s) to form the pairs of cutlery by injection moulding. Optional features are provided in dependent claims 19 to 26.

Manufacturing a knife and fork with the above features is advantageous over existing processes. Connecting the knife and fork with a frangible tooth on the knife allows both pieces to be moulded without the need to later pair them together during or after production. The footprint of a single knife and fork pair is minimised by nesting the knife into the negative space around the fork. In other words, providing a condensed and nested form enables more parts to fit on a tool, and thus more products are formed in a given production cycle. In addition, if during production a shared sprue and runners are used, this can reduce the amount of waste material, improving material efficiency. Furthermore, since two utensils (as opposed to one) are manufactured for each mould section, this doubles production rates per injection mould cycle whilst using the amount of clamping force as needed for conventional individually-moulded pieces, thus reducing production costs and energy usage.

An injection point for the material feedstock in step (b) may correspond to the position of the frangible tooth following injection of the feedstock. There may be one injection point near or at the frangible tooth location for filling two cavities in a mould (a cavity for the knife and another cavity for the fork). There may of course be multiple pairs of cavities, and so multiple injection points. The ratio of cavities to injection points is preferably 2: 1. A drop gate (also known as a pin gate) may be used during injection moulding.

By injecting the material feedstock at the frangible tooth point, which is approximately central in the mould, the knife and fork sections are filled at around the same speed. This helps to ensure that the mould is filled at optimal speed, and allows material to fill the mould before solidifying.

Each handle in a given pair of cutlery has a concave surface. The concave sides may face in opposing directions. The method may include the further step of:

c) ejecting each pair of cutlery from its mould via one or more ejection points located on the or each concave surface. On ejection, a mark and/or indentation may be left on the surface of the knife or fork. By placing the ejection point(s) on the concave surface(s), any residual defects are located on parts of the knife and/or fork which are not placed in the user's mouth, and are not touched if holding the knife and fork normally when eating. This avoids compromising the feel of the cutlery during use.

The spacing between the knife and fork may be 4 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 3 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 2 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 1.5 mm or less. The spacing between the knife and fork may be 1 mm or less.

The method may include the further step of separating the knife and fork from each other. They can then be packaged individually. The method may include the further step of:

d) i) packaging each pair or piece of cutlery individually, or

ii) packaging a plurality of pairs of cutlery in one or more stacks in a container. Stacking the pairs of knives and forks is the most efficient use of space for subsequent distribution of the cutlery. This may be preferred for display on supermarket shelves or fast food restaurants, for example. However, for hygiene reasons, it can be preferable to wrap individual pairs separately first, for use by airlines where pre-prepared meal trays are provided, for example.

The method may include the step of detaching the knife and fork from each other during production.

An injection mould may be provided for use in in a method of manufacturing pairs of integrally- moulded cutlery according to the second aspect of the invention.

It will be appreciated that one or more of the pairs of cutlery manufactured using the above method may include features described with respect to the first aspect of the invention. For example, the frangible tooth on the knife blade may be connected sub- flush to the fork handle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example only to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front view of a first embodiment of a knife and fork pair according to the first aspect of the invention;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the knife and fork pair of Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows a front view of a second embodiment of a knife and fork pair according to a second aspect of the invention;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a first pack of knife and fork pairs, stacked together; and a second pack of knife and fork pairs which are individually wrapped;

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of the process for separating the knife and the fork of the pair in Figure 2 into a useable form;

Figure 6A shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of a knife and fork pair;

Figure 6B shows a front view of the knife and fork pair of Figure 6 A;

Figure 6C shows an end view of the knife and fork pair of Figure 6 A; Figure 7A shows a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of a knife and fork pair; Figure 7B shows an annotated front view of the knife and fork pair of Figure 7 A; Figure 7C shows an end view of the knife and fork pair of Figure 7 A; Figure 7D shows a side view of the knife and fork pair of Figure 7 A; and Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a knife and fork which can be connected together over one another.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2, a first embodiment of a paired knife and fork is indicated generally at 10. In the pair, a fork 12 is physically connected to a knife 14. The knife 14 is positioned adjacent to the fork 12, nested into the negative space on one side of the fork 12. The knife 14 and fork 12 face (or point) in opposite directions. In this embodiment, the pair 10 is formed by injection moulding. Furthermore, the pair 10 is made of bioplastic (or bio-based polymer) in this embodiment. Whilst this can be more expensive than using fossil fuel derived plastics, the offset in cost by improvements relating to material and production efficiency makes it commercially viable to use this more environmentally friendly option. It will be appreciated that fossil fuel derived plastics could be used instead. However, using a biodegradable polymer is preferred.

The fork 12 includes a fork handle 12a and a fork head 12b. The fork head 12b includes four tines in this embodiment, although it will be appreciated that other numbers of tines may be used. The tines are curved. The fork handle 12a is integrally formed with the fork head 12b. The fork handle 12a narrows at the section where it leads into the fork head 12b. The width of the fork head 12b is greater than the width of the fork handle 12a. The knife 14 includes a knife handle 14a and a knife blade 14b. The knife blade 14b includes a serrated edge 14c, which faces towards the fork handle 12a. The knife handle 14a is integrally formed with the knife blade 14b. The knife handle 14a widens at the section where it leads into the knife blade 14b. The width of the knife blade 14b is greater than the width of the knife handle 14a. The width of the knife blade 14b is greatest at the narrowest part of the fork 12.

The fork handle 12a has a concave rear surface 12c. The side of the fork handle 12a opposite the concave rear surface 12c is convex (not visible). The knife handle 14a has a concave rear surface 14c (not visible). The side of the knife handle 14a opposite the concave rear surface 14c is convex.

Figure 2 shows that the fork handle 12a does not dip or curve below a plane of the knife blade 14b when viewed from the side. This enables the pair 10 to lie flat for stability on a surface, which is useful on a production line. The fork head 12b curves above the plane of the knife blade 14b when viewed from the side. The shape of the fork 12 is therefore similar to conventional forks, rather than being substantially planar. Figure 2 also shows that the knife blade 14b in this embodiment is offset to one side of the knife handle 14a. Here, the knife handle 14a curves above the plane of the knife blade 14b.

In another embodiment, the fork handle 12a curves above the plane of the knife blade 14b. In that embodiment, the concave surfaces are on the same side of the knife and fork pair.

The knife 14 is shaped to fit a side edge of the fork 12. In other words, a side of the fork 12 has a contour, and the knife 14 is correspondingly contoured to follow or fit next to that side of the fork 12. The knife 14 and fork 12 are separated by a gap or spacing 16 therebetween. The spacing 16 extends substantially continuously along the length of the knife 14 and fork 12. The spacing is substantially the same width along that length, except where the knife 14 is connected to the fork 12.

In this embodiment, the spacing is substantially 1mm wide, although it will be appreciated that another size of spacing may be used. In other embodiments, the spacing is up to 5mm wide, for example being 2mm wide, 3mm wide, or 4mm wide. However, the spacing cannot be zero, because this would adversely impact integral formation of the pair 10 by injection moulding.

The knife 14 and fork 12 are substantially the same length. The pair 10 has a footprint which fits within a rectangle having a length equivalent to the knife 14 or fork 12, and a width equivalent to the sum of the widths of the fork head 12b, the knife handle 12a, and the spacing 16. The width of that notional rectangle is less than the combined widths of the fork head 12b and knife blade 14b. By contouring the knife 14 to match the fork 12, the footprint is reduced, leading to greater space and material efficiency (relative to conventional paired cutlery). In this embodiment, the footprint is less than 100 cm ² . The knife and fork are each 185 mm long. The footprint created by the knife and fork is 44 mm wide. This width includes the spacing between the knife and fork. The serrated edge 14c of the knife 14 includes a plurality of cutting teeth 18. In this embodiment, the cutting teeth are approximately the same size and shape. The cutting teeth 18 are provided along an edge of the knife 14, leading from the end of the knife blade 14b towards the knife handle 14a. The knife blade 14b also includes a frangible tooth 20, which has a greater depth than the cutting teeth 18. The frangible tooth 20 connects the knife 14 to the fork 12, for ensuring that they remain paired.

The frangible tooth 20 is provided as part of the serrated edge 14c. The cutting teeth 18 are located on either side of the frangible tooth 20 in this embodiment. That is to say, some of the cutting teeth 18 are nearer the end of the knife blade 14b than the frangible tooth 20, and some are further away from that end than the frangible tooth 20.

The frangible tooth 20 extends across the spacing 16 between the knife blade 14b and the fork handle 12a. In other words, the frangible tooth 20 acts as a bridging member. The frangible tooth 20 is the only component of the pair 10 that interrupts the spacing 16. The frangible tooth 20 is the only point of connection between the knife 14 and fork 12.

The depth of the frangible tooth 20 is greater than the spacing 20. This enables the tooth 20 to connect sub-flush to the fork handle 12a. The fork handle 12a has a corresponding side recess 12d where the frangible tooth 20 connects. The width of the connection zone in the recess is less than the width of the frangible tooth 20 at the knife blade 20, so that the weak point is located at the fork handle 12a rather than the knife blade 14b. The recess 12d ensures that, when the knife 14 is detached from the fork 12, any residual sharp or rough surface from the disconnection of the frangible tooth at the side of the fork handle 12a is below the upper and lower surfaces. In other words, the fork handle 12a remains smooth. In this embodiment, the frangible tooth 20 is connected to the fork handle 12a along an edge of the tooth 20. In this embodiment, the edge is around 12mm long. It will be appreciated that the frangible tooth may be connected along a greater or lesser length in other embodiments. Referring also to Figures 3 A and 3B, to form pairs of knives and forks, conventional injection moulding techniques are used. Instead of using conventional injection moulding to produce individual knives via mould sections Y and individual forks via mould sections X (as in Figure 3 A), a mould which is adapted to produce a plurality of knife and fork pairs via mould sections Z is used (as in Figure 3B). This enables up to twice as many pairs to be produced, relative to existing techniques, due to the reduced footprint of a given pair 10. For example, rather than producing 16 forks (4x4) with one mould and 16 knives (4x4) with another mould, 12 knives and forks (four lots of 3x2 pairs) could be produced in a single mould during one stack injection moulding cycle. As shown in Figures 3 A and 3B, the gaps between the individual knives/forks are the same size as the gaps between the knife and fork pairs. Relative to the formation of individual pieces of cutlery, the present invention enables a significantly higher production rate (when using an equivalent number of moulds).

In another embodiment, all 16 knives and forks (four lots of 4x2 pairs) can be produced in a single mould during one injection moulding cycle. This is equivalent to double the number of cutlery per cycle. Producing more cutlery in a single cycle reduces the overall cost. A moulding machine which can generate a higher pressure can produce more pairs of cutlery per cycle. A correspondingly larger injection mould can be used in that case. The percentage increase in the numbers of cutlery produced per cycle is the same or similar.

The material feedstock comprises thermoplastic pellets in this embodiment. These are melted, collected as a shot, and then forced into the mould. In one embodiment, the material is fed into the mould at the point where the frangible tooth 20 is to be formed. This involves using a drop gate or pin gate during injection moulding. Since the frangible tooth is the part which is most equidistant from the far corners of the mould, this ensures that the material is completely fills the mould before setting. In another embodiment, an edge gate may be used for injection moulding. Other gate types are also contemplated for use in producing the pairs 10. For example, a valve gate may reduce surface imperfections in the material at the gate when setting. Once the pairs have cooled to be sufficiently structurally stable, they are ejected from the mould. This can be done using pins, sleeves and/or strippers, for example. Normally, the material is still warm enough to be pliable, so permanent marks can be formed on the surface during ejection of the pairs. In this embodiment, the ejection points are on the concave undersides of the knife and fork handles, which essentially hides the imperfections from the user.

Referring also to Figure 4, two packs 200, 300 of knife and fork pairs are indicated. In this case, a plurality of knife and forks pairs 100 like that of Figure 3 are shown, but the same description is applicable to the knife and fork pair 10 of Figure 1. The first pack 200 includes a box 210 with a plurality of individually wrapped knife and fork pairs stacked together. Each pair is held within a sealed container. The second pack 300 includes a box 310 with a plurality of non- wrapped knife and fork pairs stacked against one another. This is possible because the front and rear profiles of each knife and fork pair are complementary, reducing wasted space when stacked together. In other words, the rear face of pair I can fit substantially against the front face of pair II because they have matching contours. Lids (not shown) are provided for each box 210, 310. Referring now to Figure 5, a knife and fork pair 100 is shown in use. Many of the features are the same as the knife and fork pair 10 of Figure 1. The knife and fork 14, 12 need to be separated for use. The knife 14 is detachable from the fork 12 by rotation of the knife about the frangible tooth 20. The axis of rotation is orthogonal to the length of the knife blade 14b. This occurs relative to the fork 12. Rotation through around 60 degrees or so is typically enough to break the connection. This is shown by arrow A, where the knife handle 14a is pushed/pulled away from the fork head 12b, and by arrow B, where the knife blade 14b correspondingly pivots. Alternatively, the knife and fork can be folded towards each other, as indicated by arrow C, to snap them apart. Once detached, the frangible tooth 20 is a cutting tooth 18a.

It may also be possible to snap the knife 14 and fork 12 apart by bending them towards each other along an axis extending roughly along the spacing 16, parallel to axes of the knife and fork. However, this may require more effort than rotating them as above. Referring now to Figures 6A to 6C, another embodiment of a knife and fork pair is indicated generally at 400. The features of this pair 400 are similar to those of the first embodiment, except where otherwise noted. The knife and fork pair 400 includes a fork 412 and a knife 414. The fork 412 has a handle 412a and a head 412b. The knife 414 includes a handle 414a and a blade 414b. As seen in Figure 6C, the knife handle 414a has a substantially U-shaped cross-section 414c in this embodiment, which provides improved rigidity. The interior of the U-shape is concave. The sides of the U-shape provide upper and lower holding areas 415a, 415b for a user to hold the knife 414. The knife blade 414b is planar in this embodiment. There are serrations 416 on the blade 414b. The blade also includes a frangible tooth 418.

The fork handle 412a has a concave surface (not shown) on the opposite side to that of the knife 414. The fork head 412b is curved in the same sense as the fork handle. In other words, both the head 412b and handle 412a have concave areas on the same side of the fork.

As seen in Figure 6B, the knife 414 is contoured to substantially follow the contour of the fork. The gap between the knife 414 and fork 412 is continuous except where the knife is connected to the fork.

Referring now to Figures 7A to 7D, another embodiment of a knife and fork pair is indicated generally at 500. In Figure 7D, the fork is at the front. The features of this pair 500 are similar to those of the previous pair 400, except where otherwise noted.

The knife and fork pair 500 includes a fork 512 and a knife 514. The fork 512 has a handle 512a and a head 512b. The fork head 512b includes a dome-like convex surface. The knife 514 includes a handle 514a and a blade 514b. As seen in Figure 7C, the knife handle 514a has a substantially asymmetric U-shaped section 514c. This may also be considered as a truncated U-shape. The interior of the U-shape is again concave. The longer side of the U-shape provides a main holding area 515. The knife blade 514b is has a curved profile in this embodiment. Examples of the curvature of the knife and fork at different cross-sections are illustrated in Figure 7B. The knife handle 514a begins as a relatively symmetric U-shape (A), and becomes more curved and asymmetric (B) towards the middle of the knife 514. Then, as the handle 514a transitions into the blade 514b, the curvature becomes gradually less pronounced (C, D) towards the end of the blade. The blade 514b has a curved profile more like a bracket: ( . Upper and lower edges of the blade 514b still run in straight lines, but the body of the blade 514b between them is curved or bowed. The fork 512 is curved in the opposite sense to the knife 514. The fork handle 512a has a curved profile like a bracket (E), which becomes more C-shaped (F) towards the middle of the fork 512. Then, as the handle 512a transitions into the head 512b, the curvature remains roughly the same (G) before becoming slightly less pronounced (H) at the tines. The fork head 512b is disposed to one side of the fork handle 512a, and the curved section of the knife blade 514b is in a region to the other side of the fork handle 512a.

Referring also Figure 8, a further embodiment of a knife and fork pair, which have been separated or disconnected for use, is indicated generally at 600. This pair 600 has similar features to the foregoing embodiments. However, in this case the fork handle and knife handle include complementary parts of a utensil connection mechanism. A projection 602 is provided on the knife handle. A correspondingly shaped aperture 604 is provided through the fork handle. The projection 602 and aperture 604 are provided inset from the end of each handle by about the same distance.

Once the cutlery have been used, then they can be connected or clicked together by passing the projection 602 through the aperture 604 (illustrated by arrow M). This provides a friction fit connection which keeps them together. Once done (arrow N), the cutlery are linked together on top of one another, indicated by 600' . The top of the projection 602 is then substantially flush with the surface of the receiving utensil, which in this case is the convex surface of the fork.

The cutlery from any of the embodiments can be recycled after one use or multiple uses. The cutlery are first manufactured and used as described above. The cutlery are optionally connected together via a releasable connection mechanism. Cutlery can be collected in a dedicated bin at the point of disposal, and then sent to be washed and processing. Alternatively, the cutlery can be disposed of via a composting bin for food waste, or by industrial composting (typically over 90 days or so).

If the cutlery are collected for processing, this involves converting the cutlery into the basic material. This base material can then be using to manufacture new products (which need not be cutlery). To process the cutlery, they are ground up, melted and then formed into the new products. This is particularly applicable where plastic cutlery are used. Doing this lowers the material cost for those subsequent or second generation products. This mitigates the carbon footprint associated with the initial manufacture of the cutlery.

It will be appreciated that other variations are possible within the scope of the claims. For example, the knife may be provided with deeper and/or sharper cutting teeth for use as a steak knife. A knife and fork pair for a child may be provided at a reduced size (relative to the adult equivalent). The relative proportions of the handle/head of each utensil may be different to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings. The knife and/or fork may be provided in various colours, for indicating child or adult sized utensils at a glance. Alternatively, different colours could be used for indicating the difference between a knife and fork pair including a normal knife or a steak knife, for example.

Multi-shot moulding may be used to provide different colours in the knife and fork. Surface indicia such as a logo or other branding may be provided on the knife and/or fork. A perforated connection may be provided for the point or region where the frangible tooth connects to the fork handle. Concave surfaces may be provided on both sides of the knife and/or fork.

The embodiments described above are provided by way of example only, and various changes and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.