JP2010094234A - Food clamping utensil - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food clamping utensil with which anybody like a young child, aged person, or hand/finger-disabled person can easily grip any food without necessary of subtly controlling the gripping power according to food when hood is clamped. <P>SOLUTION: The food clamping utensil designed to clamp food with the clamping part by closing a pair of chopsticks against the bias power is formed of a curved thin part of one clamping part and is formed of a long platy receiving part that receives the curved part on the other clamping part so that food is held by the curved part and the receiving part according to the elastic force of elastic deformation of the curved part when the food is clamped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a food clamp used at meals in general households, hospitals, nursing homes, and facilities for the handicapped, and is particularly used by young children, the elderly, and handicapped persons including the general public. The present invention relates to an easy food clamping tool.

In general, chopsticks are used to sandwich food during meals, but it may be difficult for young children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities who have difficulty with their fingers to use chopsticks.
For this reason, it is possible to easily grasp foods even by young children, elderly people, and handicapped persons. For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-21477 (Patent Document 1), Utility Model Registration No. 3110363. (Patent Document 2), Utility Model Registration No. 3142617 (Patent Document 3), JP-A-8-131312, JP-A-2000-83788 (Patent Document 5), JP-A-2002-306304. No. (Patent Document 6), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-137876 (Patent Document 7), Japanese Translation of PCT International Publication No. 2008-520334 (Patent Document 8), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-55351 (Patent Document 9), etc. Proposed.

  These are connected to the rear ends of a pair of rod-shaped or plate-shaped chopstick members and are urged by a biasing means such as a spring, and the chopstick tip end side is normally loosely opened (or closed) When sandwiching food, the tip of the chopsticks is closed (or opened) to grip the food by gripping the handle portion of the intermediate portion with a hand or finger against the biasing force of the biasing means. In other words, it is similar to a so-called food sandwiching tool called tongs.

Further, in order to prevent the food sandwiched from being dropped, in the conventional food sandwiching tool, for example, as shown in Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 9, the tip of the chopsticks has a broad spatula shape, or the chopsticks tip is uneven. There is something that is made to bite into food that is formed and sandwiched.
In addition, although it is a common stick-shaped chopstick, it is possible to securely hold small foods and slippery foods. For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-233 (Patent Document 10), Utility Model Registration No. 3142259 (Patent) Document 11) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-80075 (Patent Document 12) have been proposed.

This is because a non-slip groove is formed on the clamping surface at the tip of the chopsticks, and the non-slip groove makes it difficult for the food to slip so that the food can be held without dropping (Patent Document 4). A U-shaped groove is formed at the tip, while the other tip is a round shape that fits into the U-shaped groove so that small food can be sandwiched (Patent Document 10). A narrow groove is formed along the corner, and the corners on both sides of the narrow groove are bitten into the noodles so that the noodles can be prevented from falling (Patent Document 11). A coating material such as silicon rubber having a coating is provided, and a large friction coefficient of the coating material is used so that the food can be easily sandwiched without slipping (Patent Document 12).
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-21477 Utility Model Registration No. 3110363 Utility Model Registration No. 3142617 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-131312 JP 2000-83788 A JP 2002-306304 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-137876 Special table 2008-520334 gazette JP 2006-55351 A 6-233 Utility Model Registration No. 3142259 JP 2008-80075 A

However, with the conventional food sandwiching tool described above, it is easy to grasp food with respect to ordinary chopsticks, and it is convenient for young children, the elderly, and handicapped persons who have difficulty with fingers. When gripping the grip part against the urging force of the urging means, the food cannot be gripped properly unless it is delicately controlled according to the food. If you squeeze it strongly, the food you pinched will be crushed.
That is, if a person who cannot control the fine force of the fingertip, such as a young child, an elderly person, or a handicapped handicapped person, grasps the handle part strongly to grab tofu, beans or noodles, It can not be grabbed as expected, such as crushing, beans slipping and falling noodles, and anyone can easily grasp any food and it can be said that it is a food holding tool It was not.
Assuming that the food is not pinched at the pinching part of the tip of the chopsticks as described above, a wide spatula shape, irregularities, a U-shaped groove and a round structure that fits into it, a longitudinal narrow groove, a covering material, etc. However, the above problems could not be solved.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and when holding food, there is no need to delicately control the gripping force according to the food, and young children, the elderly, and the disabled It is intended to provide a food holding tool that can be easily grasped by any food by anyone.

The present invention includes a pair of left and right members having a connecting portion at a rear end portion, a holding portion for holding food at a tip portion at the other end, a grip portion at an intermediate portion thereof, and connecting the connecting portions with a biasing force. In the food sandwiching tool configured to sandwich the food by the sandwiching portion by closing the pair of chopstick members against the biasing force,
While forming the thin and curved curved portion in the one sandwiching portion, the other sandwiching portion is formed by forming a long plate-shaped receiving portion that receives the curved portion, and when sandwiching food, The main feature is that the food is sandwiched between the curved portion and the receiving portion from the front and rear and the top and bottom by the elastic force due to the elastic deformation of the curved portion.

  Second, the curved portion is formed in a substantially fork shape by forming a plurality of elastically deforming pieces by forming a groove extending in the longitudinal direction in the curved portion.

  3rdly, the recessed part which a curved part fits in was formed in the clamping surface of the said receiving part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Fourth, the curved portion is shortened with respect to the receiving portion so that the distal end of the curved portion is located slightly inside the distal end of the receiving portion.

  According to the food sandwiching tool of the present invention, the food is sandwiched from the front and rear and the top and bottom by the curved portion and the receiving portion by the elastic force due to the elastic deformation of the curved portion, so that the food can be easily sandwiched. In addition, even when the pair of chopstick members are fully closed, a pinching force above a certain level is not applied to the pinching site, and the pinched food can be stably held in a properly pinched state, and the gripping force can be maintained. There is an advantage that anyone can easily and stably hold any food without the need for delicate control depending on the food. In addition, it can be provided at a low cost with a simple configuration.

  Secondly, since the curved portion has a substantially fork shape, it can be elastically deformed according to the size of the food sandwiched between the individual elastic deformation pieces, and the food can be sandwiched more stably. Have

  Thirdly, since the concave portion in which the curved portion is fitted is formed on the holding surface of the receiving portion, the food can be more stably held by the concave and convex portions of the receiving portion simultaneously with the elastic deformation force of the curved portion. It has the advantage of being able to.

  Fourth, since the curved portion is slightly shorter than the receiving portion, the tip of the curved portion is always located inside the receiving portion when the food is sandwiched, and the food can be stably sandwiched. In particular, in the case where the tip of the curved portion reaches the tip of the concave portion when the food is sandwiched, the tip of the curved portion is prevented from being lifted by the convex portion on the tip side of the receiving portion. Can be held more stably and reliably.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
1 is a perspective view of a food sandwiching tool showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the food sandwiching tool showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a food sandwiching tool showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view of the food holding device according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4A is a plan view showing the initial holding state, and FIG. 4B is a plan view of the curved portion in contact with the receiving portion. The principal part sectional view which shows the state which carried out, (c) is principal part sectional drawing which shows the state which the base end part of the curved part contacted the receiving part, (2) is principal part sectional drawing which shows the clamping completion state.

  In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a food sandwiching tool body, which is composed of a pair of left and right chopstick members 2 that are slightly wider. The pair of chopstick members 2 includes a connecting portion 3 at the rear end portion, a holding portion 4 for holding food at the tip portion of the other end, and a holding portion 5 for holding the intermediate portion with a hand wider than the adjacent portion. Are provided. A projecting piece 6 is formed on the gripping portion 5 and is placed so that the rear end and the projecting piece 6 are in contact with the table surface when the food sandwiching tool body 1 is placed on the table, as shown in FIG. The sandwiching portion 4 of the part is lifted from the upper surface of the table so that the sandwiching portion 4 can be held in a sanitary manner without contacting the upper surface of the table. Reference numeral 7 denotes an urging member for connecting the two chopstick members 2 provided over the connecting portion 3 and for applying a required urging force at the same time, and is composed of, for example, a U-shaped leaf spring. As shown in FIG. 2, the holding portions 4 of the chopstick members 2 are held in a loosely open state. The urging member 7 is not limited to a U-shaped leaf spring. For example, a thin semicircular urging member is integrally formed across the connecting portion 3 of the pair of chopstick members 2. What is necessary is just to connect both the chopstick members 2 with a required urging force, such as comprising.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a thin and curved curved portion 8 is formed in the clamping portion 4 of the one chopstick member 2a, and a groove 9 extending in the longitudinal direction is provided at the central portion of the curved portion 8. Thus, a plurality of elastic deformation pieces 10 are formed to have a substantially fork shape. Thereby, the curved portion 8 can have a required elastic deformation force by a synergistic effect of the thin shape and the curved shape, and can be elastically deformed for each elastic deformation piece 10.

  On the other hand, a long plate-shaped receiving portion 11 for receiving the fork-shaped curved portion 8 is formed on the holding portion 4 of the other chopstick member 2b as shown in FIG. A concave portion 12 into which each elastic deformation piece 10 of the curved portion 8 is fitted is formed. Reference numeral 13 denotes a convex portion that forms the periphery of the concave portion 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the normal state in which the sandwiching portion 4 of both chopstick members 2 is loosely opened, the distal end portion 8a of the curved portion 8 is positioned slightly inside the distal end portion 11a of the receiving portion 11. The curved portion 8 is shorter than the receiving portion 11.

Next, the use state will be described.
First, the food holding tool main body 1 with the holding portion 4 shown in FIG. 4 (a) loosely opened is held by hand, and the left and right holding portions 5 are clamped with fingers or the like against the urging force of the urging member 7 (inward direction). When the pair of left and right chopstick members 2 are closed inward as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the tip 8a of the curved portion 8 is moved as shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 5. It contacts each recessed part 12 of the receiving part 11. Thereby, since each elastic deformation piece 10 is controlled to move in the vertical direction in FIG. 5 by each concave portion 12, the fitting of both is ensured and the clamping performance can be stabilized. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 5, the distal end portion 8 a of the curved portion 8, that is, the distal end of the elastic deformation piece 10 comes into contact with a position slightly inside the distal end portion 12 a of each recess 12.

  When the left and right grips 5 are further squeezed (pressed inwardly) and the pair of chopstick members 2 are further closed, the curved part 8 becomes an elastic deformation piece of the curved part 8 as shown in FIG. 10 is elastically deformed from the shape of the two-dot chain line to the collapsed shape shown by the solid line, and the base end portion 8b of the curved portion 8 contacts the rear end portion 12b of the concave portion 12 of the receiving portion 11. To do. At this time, the food is sandwiched in the gap S formed between the curved portion 8 and the receiving portion 11, and the sandwiched food is bent together with the clamping force by clamping the pair of chopstick members 2. The sandwiching portion 8 is sandwiched from above and below by the sandwiching portion 8 and the receiving portion 11 and is sandwiched from the front and rear of the bending portion 8 by the clamping force due to the elastic force caused by the elastic deformation of the curved portion 8. In this way, the food can be firmly held by the clamping portion 4. Further, by elastically deforming the curved shape of the elastic deformation piece 10 of the curved portion 8, the distal end portion 8 a reaches the distal end side convex portion 13 of the concave portion 12 and engages with the distal end side convex portion 13. This prevents the tip of the elastic deformable piece 10 from opening, so that it is possible to prevent as much as possible that the food sandwiched from the tip portion of the elastic deformation piece 10 falls easily.

  Here, when the left and right grips 5 are further gripped (pressed inwardly), the pair of chopstick members 2 try to close further, but as shown in FIG. Since the base end portion 8 b is already in contact with the rear end portion 12 b of the recess 12 of the receiving portion 11, the chopstick member 2 is only closed on the gripping portion side from the base end portion 8 b of the curved portion 8, and the curved portion 8 Has little effect. Therefore, since the clamping force by the curved part 8 and the receiving part 11 hardly changes, the required clamping force by the elastic deformation of the curved part 8 is maintained, and the food sandwiched between the curved part 8 and the receiving part 11 is removed. It can be maintained in a properly clamped state.

  That is, even if a person who cannot finely control the gripping force such as a young child, an elderly person, or a handicapped handicapped person or the like, And the receiving part 11 can always be clamped with a required clamping force, so that the food is not tofu or crushed, is not to be slid and dropped, and even noodles There is no problem of tearing and dropping. Therefore, it is not necessary to delicately control the gripping force according to the food when sandwiching the food, and anyone can easily and stably hold any food.

  Moreover, in the case where the recess portion 12 is formed in the receiving portion 11, for example, when noodles are sandwiched as shown in FIG. 6, the sandwiched noodles M are disposed in the recess portion 12 of the receiving portion 11 and its surroundings as shown in FIG. 7. The noodles M can be prevented from slipping and falling, and the sandwiched food can be more reliably and stably held because the noodles M slip and fall.

  Further, in the case where a plurality of elastic deformation pieces 10 are formed by providing a groove 9 extending in the longitudinal direction in the central portion of the curved portion 8, and each of the elastic deformation pieces 10 of the curved portion 8 is sandwiched. Since the food can be individually elastically deformed according to the size of the food to be processed, it can be applied to food having a large or small size or unevenness. For example, when large and small beans B are sandwiched, each elastic deformation piece 10 is elastically deformed according to the size of the sandwiched beans B as shown in FIG. Similarly, each can be held so as to be wrapped from the front and back and the top and bottom, and can be stably held.

  If the amount of food sandwiched is large or the food is thick, the food is sandwiched with the proximal end portion 8b of the curved portion 8 floating as shown in FIG. Become. When the chopstick member 2 is further clamped from this state, the base end portion 8b of the curved portion 8 closes in a direction in contact with the receiving portion 11, but the curved portion 8 on the distal end side from the base end portion 8b opens. Since it is elastically deformed in the direction, an excessive load is prevented from being applied to the sandwiched food as much as possible, and the food is wrapped stably by the curved shape of the curved portion 8.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the some elastic deformation piece 10 was formed in the curved-shaped part 8 and it was made into the substantially fork shape, what formed the recessed part 12 in the receiving part 11 was demonstrated, However, It is limited to this Instead, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the curved portion 8 may have a single thin and curved shape, and the concave portion 12 of the receiving portion 11 may be made into a single concave portion 12 in accordance with this, and for example, in FIG. As shown, the receiving part 11 may be a flat surface. In this case, depending on the size of the food to be sandwiched at the same time, or the food can not be sandwiched by the recess 12 and the projection 13 of the receiving portion 11, but the elasticity of the curved portion 8 is the same as in the above embodiment. The force can be positively utilized to stably hold the food by the curved portion 8 and the receiving portion 11, and even when the forceful gripping portion 5 is squeezed, the pinching portion 4 has more than a certain amount of waste. Thus, the food can be stably held without being provided with the holding force.

  In the above embodiment, one groove 9 is formed in the curved portion 8 and two elastic deformation pieces 10 are formed. However, a plurality of grooves are formed in the curved portion 8 to form three or more grooves. An elastic deformation piece may be formed.

  Although not shown, the curved portion 8 is provided with a single curved portion without a groove and a substantially fork-shaped curved portion with a grooved elastic deformation piece 10, while the receiving portion 11 has no recess. Each of the receiving part and the receiving part with a recess may be provided so that they can be removed and replaced as necessary. In this case, it can respond according to a user's request, and can respond appropriately according to the food to be sandwiched.

  Further, the food sandwiching tool 1 can be provided at a low cost with a very simple configuration.

  The present invention can be applied as a food holding tool that is used when eating meals in general homes, hospitals, nursing homes, facilities for the disabled, etc., particularly food holding tools that are easy to use even for young children, the elderly, and handicapped persons.

It is a perspective view of the food clamping tool which shows one Example of this invention. It is a top view of the food clamping tool which shows one Example of this invention. It is a side view of the food clamping tool which shows one Example of this invention. 1 shows a sandwiching state of a food sandwiching tool according to an embodiment of the present invention, (A) is a plan view showing an initial state, and (B) is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state in which a tip of a curved portion is in contact with a receiving part FIGS. 3A and 3B are main part cross-sectional views showing a state in which the base end portion of the curved part is in contact with the receiving part, and FIG. It is a principal part perspective view of the food clamping tool which shows the state of FIG. It is a principal part perspective view which shows the state which nipped noodles using the food clamping tool which shows one Example of this invention. It is principal part sectional drawing of the food clamping tool of the state of FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the state which clamped large and small beans using the food clamping tool which shows one Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the food clamping tool which shows the other Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the food clamping tool which shows the other Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Food sandwiching tool main body 2 Chopstick member 3 Connection part 4 Clamping part 5 Gripping part 6 Protrusion piece 7 Energizing member 8 Curved part 8a Tip part of curved part 8b Base end part of curved part 9 Groove 10 Elastic deformation piece 11 Receiving part 11a Front end part of receiving part 12 Recessed part 12a Front end part of recessed part 12b Rear end part of recessed part 13 Convex part

Claims (4)

A pair of left and right chopstick members having a connecting portion at the rear end portion, a holding portion for holding food at the tip end portion of the other end, and a grip portion at the intermediate portion, and the connecting portion being connected with a biasing force. In the food sandwiching tool configured to sandwich the food by the sandwiching part by closing the same pair of chopstick members against the urging force,
While forming the thin and curved curved portion in the one sandwiching portion, the other sandwiching portion is formed by forming a long plate-shaped receiving portion that receives the curved portion, and when sandwiching food, A food sandwiching tool characterized in that food is sandwiched from above and below and above and below by the curved portion and the receiving portion by the elastic force caused by the elastic deformation of the curved portion.   The food sandwiching tool according to claim 1, wherein the curved portion has a substantially fork shape by forming a plurality of elastic deformation pieces by forming a groove extending in the longitudinal direction in the curved portion.   The food holding tool according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a concave portion into which the curved portion is fitted is formed on a holding surface of the receiving portion.   4. The curved portion is shortened with respect to the receiving portion so that the distal end of the curved portion is located slightly inside the distal end of the receiving portion. Food clamp.