KR970004120U | 1997-02-19 | |||
US4998644A | 1991-03-12 | |||
US4592486A | 1986-06-03 | |||
US4718573A | 1988-01-12 | |||
JPH09276112A | 1997-10-28 |
1. | l. |
2. | An apparatus for supplying a apoon and a chopstick, the apparatus comprising; a caging formed with a @poon/ohopstiek dispensing hole ; a apoon/chopetick holder rotatably accommodated in the casing and holding plural aeta of spoons/chopaticks ; and a rotation adjuster including a cover coupled to the casing, and a rotation adjusting lever passing through the cover and rotatably coupled to the spoon/chopstick holder, and adjusting rotation of the apoon/chopatick holder so as to in n turn dispense the spoons/chopsticks contained in the spoon/chopstick holder. |
3. | The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the casing comprises : a casing body accommodating the spoon/chopstick holder therein ; and an open cover detachably coupled to the casing body <BR> <BR> <BR> and allowing the apoons/chopsticks to be inaerted in the spoon/chopstick holder. |
4. | The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein one of the casing body and the open cover is formed with a projection, and the other one thereof is formed with a coupling hole corresponding to the projection. |
5. | The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spoon/chopstick holder comprises : a shaft rotatably coupled with the rotation adjusting lever; a rotary body integrally rotated with the shaft ; and a plurality of spoon/chopstick holding grooves to form a plurality of spoon/chopstick accommodating spaces, being disposed in a longitudinal direction of the rotary body on the circumference surface thereof. |
6. | An apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick, the apparatus comprising : a casing formed with a spoon/ohopstick dispensing hole ; a apoon/ohopetick holder rotatably accommodated in the casing and holding plural sets of spoons/chopsticks; and a rotation adjuster adjusting rotation of the spoon/chopstick holder so as to in turn dispense the apoona/chopaticka contained in the spoon/chopstick holder, and comprising a cover coupled. to the casing ; a rotation wheel provided inside the cover, coupled with the shaft of the apoon/chopstick holder, and. formed with a <BR> <BR> plurality of ratchets along an circumference thereof ; and <BR> <BR> a pusher provided in the cover and pushing each ratchet to rotate the rotation wheel step by step. |
7. | The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the casing comprises ; a casing body accommodating the spoon/chopstick holder therein ; and an open cover detachably coupled to the casing body and allowing the spoons/chopsticks to be inserted in the spoon/chopsick holder. |
8. | The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein one of the casing body and the open cover is formed with a projection, and the other one thereof ig formed with a coupling hole corresponding to the projection. |
9. | The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the poon/chopBtlck holder comprises ; a shaft rotatably coupled with the rotation wheel ; a. rotary body integrally rotated with the shaft ; and a plurality of apoon1choptick holding grooves to form a plurality of spoon/chopstick accommodating spaces, being disposed in a longitudinal direction of the rotary body on the circumference surface thereof. |
10. | The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the pusher comprises; a button exposed to the outside of the cover ; an 1 extended rod extended from one end of the button; a astic member elastically supporting the button ; and a push bar interlocked with a pushing operation of the button and puahing the ratchet of the rotation wheel. |
11. | The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein on a surface of the rotation, wheel is radially protruded a plurality of . i. b , the apparatus further comprises a stopper which comprises a first wing contacting and coming off the extended rod ; and a second wing contacting and coming off the rib of the rotation wheel, iß hinged : Ly aoupled to the cover, and restricts the rotation of the rotation wheel. |
12. | The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein when the button is pushed, the extended rod of the pusher contacts the first wing of the stopper and, at the same time, the rib of the rotation wheel contacts the second wing of the stopper. |
13. | The apparatus according to claim $, wherein the first elastic member includes a coil spring. |
14. | The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein one of the cover and a first surface of the rotation wheel is formed with a plurality of supporting projections, and the other one thereof is formed with a plurality of supporting grooves corresponding to the supporting projections, and the apparatus further comprises a second elastic member which is interposed between a second surface of the rotation wheel and the cover and allows the supporting projection and the supporting groove to be elastically locked to each other so as to keep a position of the rotation wheel relative to the first cover when the button is pushed. |
15. | The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the second elastic member includes a coil spring. |
16. | The apparatus according to claim 1 or zu further comprising an aligner provided in at least one of the casing and the rotation adjuster and allowing the spoon/chopstick interted in the ppoon/chopatick holder to be aligned. |
17. | The apparatus according to claim IS, wherein the <BR> <BR> <BR> aligner ia shaped like a cone having a. diameter diminished along a longitudinal direction, of the casing body and protruded from one of surfaces of the open cover and the rotation adjuster. |
18. | The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein an outer diameter of the aligner adjacent to at least one surface of the open cover and the rotation adjuster is preferably smaller than a diameter form. ed by bottoms of the spoon/chopstick holding grooves of the spoon/chopstick holder. IS. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 5, further comprising a guide guide the spoon/chopetick dispensed through the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole of the casing. |
BACKGROUND ART As a daily commodity, a spoon/chopstick container has a space to accommodate and store plural sets of spoons and chopsticks, and allows a user to take out the spoons and the chopsticks as necessary.
There are various kinds of such spoon/chopstick container, and the spoon/chopstick container is widely divided into a cylinder type to be stood on a table without a cover, and a box type with the cover to be laid on the table. Generally, in the case of the cylinder type spoon/chopstick container, the spoons and the chopsticks are put into an accommodating space thereof; and in the case of the box type spoon/chopstick container, the spoons and the chopsticks are laid on a support plate provided inside the accommodating space thereof.
However, most of conventional spoon/chopstick containers has a structure that the plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are being contained in the accommodating
space and thus a user opens the cover to take out one set among them when necessary. Accordingly, in the case where the conventional spoon/chopstick container is used in a public restaurant, all spoons and all chopsticks contained therein are likely to be touched by unspecified customers, so that a problem arises in sanitation.
Further, there is a problem that it is difficult to take out only one set of spoon and chopsticks.
To solve the above problems, there has been proposed a spoon/chopstick container dispensing the spoons and the chopsticks automatically when pushed, which is tilted "sanitary spoon/chopstick container"and disclosed in Korean Utility Model Application No. 1998-0001940.
However, this spoon/chopstick container has a complicated structure that the spoons and the chopsticks are individually accommodated and dispensed, thereby decreasing functionality and practicality.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick, which has an improved structure of accommodating and discharging the spoons/chopsticks, so that plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are simply and conveniently accommodated therein and the accommodated plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are discharged one
set by one set.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing an apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick, the apparatus comprising: a casing formed with a spoon/chopstick dispensing hole; a spoon/chopstick holder rotatably accommodated in the casing and holding plural sets of spoons/chopsticks; and a rotation adjuster connected to the spoon/chopstick holder and adjusting rotation of the spoon/chopstick holder so as to in turn dispense the spoons/chopsticks contained in the spoon/chopstick holder.
According to an aspect of the invention, the casing comprises a casing body accommodating the spoon/chopstick holder therein; and an open cover detachably coupled to the casing body and allowing the spoons/chopsticks to be inserted in the spoon/chopstick holder.
According to an aspect of the invention, one of the casing body and the open cover is formed with a projection, and the other one thereof is formed with a coupling hole corresponding to the projection.
According to an aspect of the invention, the spoon/chopstick holder comprises a shaft rotatably coupled with the rotation adjuster; a rotary body integrally rotated with the shaft ; and a plurality of spoon/chopstick holding grooves to form a plurality of spoon/chopstick accommodating spaces, being disposed in a longitudinal direction of the rotary body on the circumference surface thereof.
According to an aspect of the invention, the rotation adjuster comprises a cover coupled to the casing; and a rotation adjusting lever passing through the cover and coupled to the shaft of the spoon/chopstick holder.
According to an aspect of the invention, the rotation adjuster comprises a cover coupled to the casing; a rotation wheel provided inside the cover, coupled with the shaft of the spoon/chopstick holder, and formed with a plurality of ratchets along an circumference thereof; and a pusher provided in the cover and pushing each ratchet to rotate the rotation wheel step by step.
According to an aspect of the invention, the pusher comprises a button exposed to the outside of the cover; an extended rod extended from one end of the button; a first elastic member elastically supporting the button;
and a push bar interlocked with a pushing operation of the button and pushing the ratchet of the rotation wheel.
According to an aspect of the invention, on a surface of the rotation wheel is radially protruded a plurality of ribs, and the apparatus further comprises a stopper which comprises a first wing contacting and coming off the extended rod ; and a second wing contacting and coming off the rib of the rotation wheel, is hingedly coupled to the cover, and restricts the rotation of the rotation wheel.
According to an aspect of the invention, when the button is pushed, the extended rod of the pusher contacts the first wing of the stopper and, at the same time, the rib of the rotation wheel contacts the second wing of the stopper.
According to an aspect of the invention, the first elastic member includes a coil spring.
According to an aspect of the invention, one of the cover and a first surface of the rotation wheel is formed with a plurality of supporting projections, and the other one thereof is formed with a plurality of supporting grooves corresponding to the supporting projections, and the apparatus further comprises a second elastic member which is interposed between a second surface of the rotation wheel and the cover and allows the supporting
projection and the supporting groove to be elastically locked to each other so as to keep a position of the rotation wheel relative to the first cover when the button is pushed.
According to an aspect of the invention, the second elastic member includes a coil spring.
According to an aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises an aligner provided in at least one of the casing and the rotation adjuster and allowing the spoon/chopstick inserted in the spoon/chopstick holder to be aligned.
According to an aspect of the invention, the aligner is shaped like a cone having a diameter diminished along a longitudinal direction of the casing body and protruded from one of surfaces of the open cover and the rotation adjuster.
According to an aspect of the invention, an outer diameter of the aligner adjacent to at least one surface of the open cover and the rotation adjuster is preferably smaller than a diameter formed by bottoms of the spoon/chopstick holding grooves of the spoon/chopstick holder.
According to an aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises a guide to guide the spoon/chopstick dispensed through the spoon/chopstick
dispensing hole of the casing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings of which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view the apparatus of FIG. 1 ; FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the apparatus, taken along line III-III in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of an aligner of FIG. 2, illustrating an aligned state of a spoon and a chopstick; FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a rotation adjuster of FIG. 1 ; FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate operations of the rotation adjuster of FIG. 5 ; FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate connection states of a rotation wheel due to the operation of the rotation adjuster of FIG. 5; and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a rotation adjuster
according to another embodiment of the present invention.
MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view the apparatus of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the apparatus, taken along line III-III in FIG. 1.
As shown therein, an apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick comprises a casing 20 formed with a spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24; a spoon/chopstick holder 30 rotatably accommodated in the casing 20 and holding plural sets of spoons/chopsticks 10 ; and a rotation adjuster 40 connected to the spoon/chopstick holder 30 and adjusting rotation of the spoon/chopstick holder 30 so as to in turn dispense the spoons/chopsticks 10 contained in the spoon/chopstick holder 30.
The casing 20 is made of synthetic resin, prevents the spoon/chopsticks 10 from being covered with dust, and
comprises a casing body 22 accommodating the spoon/chopstick holder 30 therein, and an open cover 25 detachably coupled to the casing body 22 and allowing the spoons/chopsticks 10 to be inserted in the spoon/chopstick holder 30.
The casing body 22 compactly accommodates the spoon/chopstick holder 30 to prevent the spoons/chopsticks 10 held by the spoon/chopstick holder 30 from being loosen due to the rotation. Further, opposite sides of the casing body 22 have an enlarged diameter to accommodate a bowl of the spoon between the spoons/chopsticks 10 placed in a circumference of the spoon/chopstick holder 30. Also, the casing body 22 comprises the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24 through which the spoons/chopsticks 10 are dispensed from the spoon/chopstick holder 30.
Additionally, to support the open cover 25 to be opened/closed, the casing body 22 comprises a pair of projections 27 and the open cover 25 comprises a plurality of coupling holes 28 corresponding to the projections 27 of the open cover 25. Similarly, the casing 20 and the rotation adjuster 40 are coupled by projections 27'and coupling holes 28'. Here, the coupling structure between the cover and the casing body may selectively employ well-known technologies as
necessary.
On a surface of the open cover 25 facing toward the casing body 22 is formed an aligner 29 to align the spoons/chopsticks 10 inserted in a spoon/chopstick holding groove 36. The aligner 29 is shaped like a cone having a diameter diminished from the surface of the open cover 25 along a longitudinal direction of the casing body 22. In a vertex region of the aligner 29 is formed a shaft supporting groove 26 to rotatably support a first end of a shaft 32 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30 (to be described later). Here, an outer diameter Od of the aligner 29 is preferably smaller than a diameter"D" formed by bottoms of the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30. Hence, in the case where an end of the spoon/chopstick 10 is in contact with a slope 29a of the aligner 29 while the spoons/chopsticks 10 are inserted in the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, the end of the spoon/chopstick 10 slides along the slope 29a of the aligner 29 and, as shown in FIG. 4, moves to the surface of the open cover 25. Thus, each spoon/chopstick 10 is aligned along the circumference of the aligner 29 adjacent to the surface of the open cover 25, and at the same time, is aligned in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the casing body 22. Particularly, a pair of
chopsticks is inserted in one spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 without being crossed each other as an"X"- shape. Further, when the spoon/chopstick 10 is dispensed, the aligner 29 makes the spoon/chopstick 10 be straightly dispensed through the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24.
The spoon/chopstick holder 30 comprises the shaft 32 rotatably coupled with the rotation adjuster 40, and the rotary body 34 integrally rotated with the shaft 32. The rotary body 34 comprises the plurality of spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 to form a plurality of spoon/chopstick accommodating spaces, wherein the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 are in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, forming predetermined pitches on the circumference surface of the rotary body 34. Alternately, the plurality of spoon/chopstick accommodating spaces may be formed by a plurality of partition walls radially disposed at regular intervals on the circumference surface of the rotary body 34.
The shaft 32 can have various structures, for example, which the shaft passes through the rotary body 34, or two parts of the shaft can be coupled opposite sides of the rotary body 34, respectively.
The first end of the shaft 32 is inserted and supported in the shaft supporting groove 26 provided in
the open cover 25. The rotary body 34 has a cylindrical shape, but not limited to, and may have various sizes and shapes. Meanwhile, the depth of the spoon/chopstick holding groove 36 can be adjusted to accommodate the spoon without enlarging the diameters of the opposite sides of the casing body 22.
The number of spoon/chopstick accommodating space formed by the spoon/chopstick holding groove 36 may selectively vary in consideration of the size of the rotary body 34, the kind of the spoon/chopstick 10, etc.
The spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24 of the casing 20 is formed with a guide 70 having a hook shape to guide the spoon/chopstick 10 dispensed through the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24, wherein the size and the shaped of the guide 70 may vary as necessary.
In this embodiment, the spoon/chopstick 10 includes the spoon, the chopsticks, and the set of the spoon and the chopsticks. Thus, the spoon/chopstick holder 30 can selectively accommodate the spoons, the chopsticks, and the plural set of spoons and chopsticks.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a rotation adjuster of FIG. 1 ; FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate operations of the rotation adjuster of FIG. 5; and FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate connection states of a rotation wheel due to the operation of the rotation adjuster of FIG. 5.
As shown therein, the rotation adjuster 40 comprises a first cover 42 coupled to the casing 20 (refer to FIG.
1); a second cover 42' ; a rotation wheel 44 formed with a plurality of ratchets 43 along an circumference thereof and coupled with the shaft 32 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30; a pusher 46 to rotate the rotation wheel 44; and a stopper 55 restricting the rotation of the rotation wheel 44.
The first and second covers 42 and 42'are coupled forming an inner space to accommodate the rotation wheel 44 therebetween.
The number of ratchets 43 formed in the rotation wheel 44 is equal to the number of spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 formed in the spoon/chopstick holder 30 so as to rotate the spoon/chopstick holder 30 in correspondence to with one step rotation of the rotation wheel 44, thereby dispense the spoon/chopstick 10 in turn.
Further, on a second surface of the rotation wheel 44 facing toward the second cover 42'are radially protruded a plurality of ribs 45 each having a predetermined length.
The interval between the ribs 45 corresponds to the pitch between the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, and the number of the ribs 45 of the rotation wheel 44 is equal to the number of spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36.
The pusher 46 comprises a button 47 exposed to the outside of the respective first and second covers 42 and 42' ; an extended rod 47a extended from one end of the button 47; a first elastic member 48 elastically supporting the button 47 ; and a push bar 49 interlocked with a pushing operation of the button 47 and pushing the ratchet 43 of the rotation wheel 44. Here, the push bar 49 is hingedly provided to be returned to an original position by elasticity of a bar spring 49a without interfering with the ratchet 43 of the rotation wheel 44 when the button 47 is pushed and released.
The stopper 55 comprises a first wing 56 contacting and coming off the extended rod 47a of the pusher 46; and a second wing 57 contacting and coming off the rib 45 of the rotation wheel 44, and hingedly coupled to the second cover 42'. The stopper 55 rotates about a hinge 58 and moves between a contacting position at which the first wing 56 contacts the extended rod 47a and a releasing position at which the first wing 56 comes off the extended rod 47a. Further, the hinge 58 is provided with a torsion spring (not shown) elastically moving the stopper 55 from the contacting position toward the releasing position. Therefore, when the button 47 is pushed, the extended rod 47a moves down and contacts the first wing 56 of the stopper 55, and at the same time,
the second wing 57 of the stopper 55 rotates and contacts the rib 45 of the rotation wheel 44. Hence, the rotation wheel 44 is rotated by correct one step in one direction without being excessively rotated by inertial rotation of the spoon/chopstick 10 inserted in the spoon/chopstick holding groove 36, thereby dispensing one set of the spoon/chopstick 10 inserted in the corresponding spoon/chopstick holding groove 36 through the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24. Then, when the button 47 is released, the extended rod 47a together with the button 47 is moved up by the elasticity of the first elastic member 48, and the stopper 55 reversely rotates by the torsion spring to the releasing position at which the first wing 56 comes off the extended rod 47a.
On a first surface of the rotation wheel 44 is formed a plurality of supporting projections 62, and on an inner surface of the first cover 42 facing toward the rotation wheel 44 is formed a plurality of supporting grooves 64 corresponding to the supporting projections 62.
Additionally, a second elastic member 66 is preferably interposed between the second surface of the rotation wheel 44 and the second cover 42'and allowing the supporting projection 62 and the supporting groove 64 to be elastically locked to each other when the button 47 is pushed, thereby keeping position of the rotation wheel 44
relative to the first cover 42. Here, the number of supporting grooves 64 formed in the first cover 42 is equal to the number of ratchets 43 formed in the rotation wheel 44. Further, the number of supporting projections 62 formed in the rotation wheel 44 is determined adequately to keep a balance. Alternately, the positions of the supporting projections 62 and the supporting grooves 64 and the position of the second elastic member 66 may vary selectively.
Instead of the supporting projections 62, the supporting grooves 64, and the second elastic member 66, the correct one step rotation of the rotation wheel 44 can be achieved by various methods such as a method of correspondingly providing a flat spring elastically contacting the ratchet 43 of the rotation wheel 44.
The first elastic member 48 and the second elastic member 66 can employ various materials as long as they make the button 47 and the rotation wheel 44 be elastically operated, for example, each preferably employ a coil spring having a simple structure and good resilience.
The foregoing structure of the rotation adjuster 40 is illustrated by way of example of the present invention, but not limited to, and may have various structures. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the rotation adjuster 40
comprises a cover 42" ; and a rotation adjusting lever 51 rotatably provided passing through the cover 42"and coupled to the shaft 32 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, which is lowered in functionality and practicality, but has an advantage that a manual operation is possible.
Additionally, a reference numeral 48a indicates a supporting plate to support the first elastic member 48, and the supporting plate 48a is formed with a through hole 48b through which the extended rod 47a of the pusher 46 passes. Also, a reference numeral 67 indicates an elastic member holding projection to prevent the second elastic member 66 from a breakaway.
The foregoing apparatus for supplying the spoon and the chopsticks is operated as follows.
First, the open cover 25 of the casing 20 is opened, the spoons/chopsticks 10 are inserted in the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, respectively, and then the open cover 25 is closed.
At this time, in the case where the end of the spoon/chopstick 10 is in contact with the slope 29a of the aligner 29 while the spoons/chopsticks 10 are inserted in the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, the end of the spoon/chopstick 10 slides along the slope 29a of the aligner 29 and moves
to the surface of the open cover 25. Thus, each spoon/chopstick 10 is aligned along the circumference of the aligner 29 adjacent to the surface of the open cover 25, and at the same time, is aligned in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the casing body 22.
Particularly, the pair of chopsticks is inserted in one spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 without being crossed each other as an"X"-shape. Consequently, the plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are conveniently accommodated in the spoon/chopstick holding grooves 36 of the spoon/chopstick holder 30, being neatly aligned.
Further, when the button 47 exposed to the outside of the casing 20 is pushed, the supporting projection 62 formed in the rotation wheel 44, as shown in FIG. 7B, comes off and is released from the supporting groove 64 formed in the first cover 42, so that the rotation wheel 44 of the rotation adjuster 40 is rotated by one step and therefore the spoon/chopstick holder 30 correspondingly rotates. Then, while the spoon/chopstick holding groove 36 is aligned with the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24, the spoon/chopstick 10 is straightly dispensed to the guide 70 through the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24.
Particularly, the pair of chopsticks is arranged and dispensed without being crossed as an"X"-shape. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the button 47 is pushed,
the extended rod 47a moves down and contacts the first wing 56 of the stopper 55 to rotate the stopper 55 in one direction, and the second wing 57 of the stopper 55 rotates about the hinge 58 in the same direction and contacts the rib 45 of the rotation wheel 44. Hence, the rotation wheel 44 is rotated by correct one step in one direction without being excessively rotated by inertial rotation of the spoon/chopstick 10 inserted in the spoon/chopstick holding groove 36, thereby straightly dispensing one set of the spoon/chopstick 10 inserted in the corresponding spoon/chopstick holding groove 36 through the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole 24.
Then, when the button 47 is released, the extended rod 47a is, as shown in FIG. 6A, moved up by the elasticity of the first elastic member 48, and the stopper 55 reversely rotates by the torsion spring to make the first wing 56 come off the extended rod 47a. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 7A, the supporting projection 62 formed in the rotation wheel 44 is locked to the supporting groove 64 formed in the first cover 42, so that the rotation wheel 44 of the rotation adjuster 40 is prevented from being rotated, thereby preventing the spoon/chopstick holder 30 from being rotated.
As described above, there are provided the casing formed with the spoon/chopstick dispensing hole and
rotatably accommodating the spoon/chopstick holder holding the plural sets of spoons and chopsticks, and the rotation adjuster coupled to the spoon/chopstick holder and adjusting the rotation of the spoon/chopstick holder so as to dispense the spoon/chopstick held by the spoon/chopstick holder in turn, so that the plural sets of spoons and chopsticks can be simply and conveniently accommodated therein and the accommodated plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are discharged one set by one set.
In the foregoing embodiment, the aligner aligning the spoon/chopstick is provided on the surface of the open cover facing toward the spoon/chopstick holder.
However, the aligner may be provided on the surface of the first cover of the rotation adjuster facing toward the spoon/chopstick holder. Also, the aligners may be provided on the open cover of the casing and the rotation adjuster, respectively.
As described above, the present invention provides an apparatus for supplying a spoon and a chopstick, in which plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are simply and conveniently accommodated therein and the accommodated plural sets of spoons and chopsticks are discharged one set by one set.
Further, the spoon/chopstick can be in turn dispensed by pushing the button, so that it is easy to
operate the apparatus.
Further, the spoon/chopstick holder has a rotatable dispensing structure, thereby decreasing the volume of the apparatus and allowing the apparatus to accommodate relatively many spoon/chopsticks.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.