JP3240658U - toothpick container - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a toothpick container from which toothpicks can be easily taken out with a simple structure even when toothpicks are tightly packed in a container body. A plurality of toothpicks (5) are tightly packed in a cylindrical container body (7). A push-up mechanism 9 for pushing up at least one toothpick 5 out of a plurality of toothpicks when the container body 7 is placed on the flat surface 1 is provided on the bottom surface 7a side of the container body 7. - 特許庁The push-up mechanism 9 includes a pressing member 13 on which the tip 5a of the toothpick 5 rests, a movable shaft 11 that slides through the through hole 7b of the bottom surface 7a, and a base member 15 that supports the movable shaft 11. As shown in FIG. When the container body 7 is lifted after the protruded toothpick 5 is taken out, the push-up mechanism 9 returns to the state before pushing up the toothpick 5 by its own weight. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothpick container, and more particularly, to a toothpick container in which a large number of toothpicks are accommodated in a cup-shaped container with the tips facing downward.

This type of toothpick container is regularly arranged, for example, on a table or a counter in a restaurant, and has a storage form in which the rear end side of the toothpick is exposed from the upper end of the container. In consideration of hygiene, there is also known a configuration in which the exposed rear end side is covered with a detachable lid member.
When the number of toothpicks stored decreases, the staff replenishes at an appropriate timing. Toothpicks are replenished relatively frequently because a small number of toothpicks scattered around looks bad. For this reason, customers often come into contact with toothpick containers that are full or nearly full, in which toothpicks are tightly packed in the container.

When the container is full of toothpicks, even if you try to pull it out by hooking your finger on the side of the exposed portion, the friction between the outer toothpick and the container and between the inner toothpicks is large. It is not easy to take out a toothpick from a book. For this reason, customers tend to touch various parts in order to find a part that is easy to take out, which is not hygienic.

On the other hand, in order to reliably take out the toothpicks one by one, the structure is unavoidably complicated.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a toothpick container configured to rotate an inner cylinder containing a plurality of toothpicks sideways and discharge one toothpick to the outside at a predetermined position.
Toothpick outlets each having a size for one toothpick are formed at several locations in the circumferential direction of the inner cylinder, and the outer side of the inner cylinder is covered with a container body. A toothpick outlet larger than the toothpick outlet is formed at a predetermined position of the container body, and the rotating lid fixed to one end of the inner cylinder is picked up and rotated to connect the toothpick outlet of the inner cylinder to the toothpick outlet of the container body. When they are aligned, one toothpick is ejected to the outside of the container body.

JP 2013-39972 A

The toothpick container described in Patent Document 1 is hygienic because the toothpicks can be taken out one by one. It is difficult to be known that it is a toothpick holder. In addition, since the staff cannot see how the toothpicks are used up, the replenishment is delayed, which may cause a problem that the toothpicks do not come out at the time of use.

The present invention was made by paying attention to the above-mentioned conventional problems, and in the "type that accommodates a plurality of toothpicks vertically in a cup-shaped container" that allows easy visual confirmation of the presence of toothpicks and how they are reduced. To provide a toothpick container capable of easily taking out one toothpick even in a state of being full or nearly full, improving usability with a simple structure, and being hygienically preferable. for that purpose.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and includes a container body in which a plurality of toothpicks are accommodated with the tip side facing downward, and a push-up mechanism, wherein the push-up mechanism is positioned on the bottom surface of the container body. a through hole formed in the through hole, a movable shaft that is inserted into the through hole and is slidable in the vertical direction; A pressing member having an area on which the tip of at least one toothpick rests and having a diameter larger than that of the through hole, and a pressing member provided integrally on the lower end side of the movable shaft outside the container body, the movable shaft and a supporting base member.

Preferably, the area of the surface of the pressing member on which the tip of the toothpick rests is set to be equal to or less than the maximum cross-sectional area of the toothpick and larger than the area of the tip of the toothpick.
Preferably, when the push-up mechanism returns to the state before pushing up the toothpick by its own weight, the pushing member is sized so as not to protrude above the bottom surface of the container body.
Preferably, the surface of the pressing member on which the tip of the toothpick rests is formed in a concave shape.
Preferably, the container main body has a recess for housing the base member on its bottom side, and the height of the recess for housing is equal to or greater than the thickness of the base member.

According to the present invention, in a cup-shaped container in which a plurality of toothpicks are stored vertically, one toothpick can be easily taken out even when the amount is full or nearly full, and the structure is simple and usable. can be improved, and the toothpick container can be hygienically preferable.

1 is a partially broken perspective view of a toothpick container according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view when one toothpick is taken out from the state shown in FIG. 2 and the toothpick container is lifted. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a push-up mechanism of the toothpick container shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing the positional relationship of a pressing member of a push-up mechanism with respect to the bottom surface of the container body when the toothpick container shown in FIG. 1 is lifted. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a support state of a pressing member for a toothpick in the pushing-up mechanism of the toothpick container shown in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 2 is a front view of a toothpick housed in the toothpick container shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 10 is a bottom view showing the influence of the pressing member on the toothpick in the lifting mechanism of the toothpick container shown in FIG. , (b) is a diagram in the case of less than the maximum cross-sectional area of one toothpick. 2 equivalent view showing a state in which a plurality of toothpicks are pushed up in use of the toothpick container shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the number of toothpicks contained in the toothpick container shown in FIG. 1 is reduced. It is a schematic sectional view showing a modification of the push-up mechanism. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a modification of the pressing member; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a modification of the container body; It is a figure which shows the modification of a push-up mechanism, (a) is FIG. 2 equivalent view, (b) is a top view. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing a modification of the container body, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view of the essential parts of an example having a lid member that exposes the rear end of the toothpick, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of the essential parts of an example of having a detachable type lid member. is.

A toothpick container according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a partially broken toothpick container 3 made of synthetic resin placed on a table surface 1 of a restaurant.
The toothpick container 3 includes a container body 7 having an upper opening in which a plurality of toothpicks 5 are accommodated with the tips 5a facing downward, and a bottom face 7a of the container body 7 penetrating the bottom face 7a so as to be movable up and down. It is provided in a state of being prevented from coming off from the container body 7, and when the container body 7 is placed on a flat surface, at least one toothpick 5 among a plurality of toothpicks 5 is pushed up, and the rear end 5b side of the pushed-up toothpick 5 is provided. is projected upward from the rear end 5b side of the other toothpick 5, and when the container body 7 is lifted, the toothpick 5 is returned to the state before being pushed up by its own weight.

A plurality of toothpicks 5 are tightly packed in the container body 7 without gaps and stored in a full state. FIG. 1 shows a state in which one toothpick 5 in the center is pushed up by the pushing-up mechanism 9 so that the rear end 5b side of the other toothpicks 5 projects upward.
This makes it extremely easy to take out the toothpick 5 from the full state.

The push-up mechanism 9 includes a through hole 7 b formed in the bottom surface 7 a of the container body 7 , a movable shaft 11 inserted into the through hole 7 b and slidable in the vertical direction, and an upper end of the movable shaft 11 inside the container body 7 . A disk-shaped pressing member 13 integrally provided on the side of the container body 13, having an area on which the tip of at least one toothpick 5 among the plurality of toothpicks 5 can be placed, and having a diameter larger than the through hole 7b; A disk-shaped base member 15 is provided integrally with the lower end side of the movable shaft 11 on the outside and supports the movable shaft 11 .
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7c denotes the upper surface of the container body 7. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. In order to make it easier to understand, cross-sectional representation is omitted except for the container main body 7 .
The container body 7 has a housing recess 17 for housing the base member 15 on the outside of its bottom surface 7a, and the height h1 of the housing recess 17 is equal to or greater than the thickness t of the base member 15. As shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, h1=t, but when the toothpick container 3 is placed on the table surface 1, a gap is formed between the upper surface of the base member 15 and the lower end of the bottom surface 7a (h1>t ).
The protruding amount h2 of the rear end 5b side of the toothpick 5 pushed up by the pushing mechanism 9 is desirably 15 to 20 mm from the viewpoint of easiness of picking it up with fingers.

In this embodiment, the rear end 5b side of the toothpick 5 protrudes from the upper surface 7c of the container body 7 by the dimension h3 as in the conventional product, but the toothpick 5 pushed up by the pushing mechanism 9 is taken out. Therefore, the amount of protrusion of dimension h3 is basically unnecessary.
In the conventional product, a protruding amount of dimension h3 is required because the protruding side must be pulled out with a finger, and this tends to be attempted many times, which may cause unsanitary problems.
In the toothpick container 3 according to the present embodiment, the protruding amount of the dimension h3 can be eliminated, so the above unsanitary problem does not occur. It can be said that the amount of protrusion of dimension h3 is significant from the viewpoint that the presence of toothpick 5 can be easily visually recognized regardless of whether container body 7 is transparent or opaque.

After picking up the toothpick 5 pushed up by the push-up mechanism 9, when the container body 7 is lifted upward from the table surface 1 as shown in FIG. return.
Since the pressing member 13 has a diameter larger than the diameter of the through hole 7b, it is prevented from descending any further, and is supported by the bottom surface 7a of the container body 7 in a retained state.
When one toothpick 5 that has been pushed up is removed, the tightly packed state is slightly loosened. is not limited. For this reason, when the container main body 7 is lifted and shaken lightly sideways to shift the position of the toothpick 5 in the container main body 7 and place it on the table surface 1, the tip 5a of the toothpick 5 rests on the pressing member 13, as shown in FIG. At least one toothpick 5 is pushed up in the same way as shown in .

When the toothpick 5 of the toothpick storage container 3 contacts with the toothpick 5 in a non-protruding state, the container body 7 is lifted, lightly shaken sideways as described above, and placed, and then the toothpick 5 is pushed up by the push-up mechanism 9 to protrude.

As shown in FIG. 4, the movable shaft 11 and the pressing member 13 of the push-up mechanism 9 are integrally formed of synthetic resin. It is configured to be fixed by
The diameter and height of the through hole 7b are set to a size that allows the movable shaft 11 to slide freely without being caught and tilted. A housing recess 7e for housing the pressing member 13 is formed on the bottom surface 7a of the container body 7 on the side of the upper end 7d so as to be continuous with the through hole 7b.

The depth of the housing recess 7e is configured so that the pressing member 13 does not protrude above the bottom surface 7a of the container body 7 when the lifting mechanism 9 returns to the state before pushing up the toothpick 5 by its own weight.
That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the depth of the accommodation recess 7e is set so that the pressing member 13 is flush with the upper end 7d of the bottom surface 7a when the push-up mechanism 9 is lowered by its own weight. As a result, when the toothpick container 3 is shaken sideways to put the next toothpick 5 on the pressing member 13, the toothpick 5 moves right and left without being caught on the pressing member 13 and can be easily placed on the pressing member 13.例文帳に追加

As shown in FIG. 6, a surface 13a of the pressing member 13 on which the tip 5a of the toothpick 5 rests is formed in a concave shape. In this embodiment, the surface 13a is formed into a curved concave surface. As a result, the pressing member 13 can stably support the tip 5a side of the toothpick 5. As shown in FIG. That is, even if there is some vibration, the tip 5a of the toothpick 5, which has been placed on the toothpick 5, is less likely to come off from the pressing member 13. FIG.
The area of the surface 13a of the pressing member 13 on which the tip 5a of the toothpick 5 rests is set to be less than the maximum cross-sectional area of the toothpick 5 and larger than the area of the tip 5a of the toothpick 5.
The toothpick 5 targeted in this embodiment is a general wooden toothpick, and as shown in FIG. 2.2 mm.

The reason why the area of the surface 13a of the pressing member 13 on which the tip 5a of the toothpick 5 rests is set as described above will be described below.

FIG. 8 is a view of the assembly of toothpicks 5 in the container body 7 viewed from below, that is, from the tip 5a side. A small circle indicates the tip 5a and a large circle indicates the maximum diameter d of the toothpick 5. As shown in FIG. For easy understanding, the tip 5a of each toothpick 5 is replaced with a symbol A to G for distinction.
As shown in FIG. 8(a), when the area of the surface 13a of the pressing member 13 is a circle C1 corresponding to one tip A and larger than the maximum cross-sectional area of one toothpick 5, it is indicated by hatching. In addition, it is sized to contact the toothpicks 5 at the tips B, C, D, E, F, and G, and when pushed up in this state, not only the toothpick 5 at the tip A, The surrounding six toothpicks 5 are also forcibly pushed up, resulting in seven toothpicks 5 being pushed up.

The number of toothpicks 5 in the full state is a small number, and it is relatively easy to pick and take out one toothpick 5 selectively from among the protruding seven toothpicks.
The object of the present invention is to make it easier to take out the toothpicks 5 even when the toothpicks are full, and it can be said that the object is achieved to some extent even when such a plurality of toothpicks are pushed up at the same time.

From the results of FIG. 8(a), in order to increase the probability of pushing up only one toothpick 5, the area of the surface 13a should be the maximum cross section of one toothpick 5, as shown by hatching in FIG. 8(b). It is necessary to set the area to be less than the area and larger than the area of the tip 5a of the toothpick 5.
If the area of the surface 13a is less than or equal to the area of the tip 5a, the probability that the tip 5a of the toothpick 5 will rest on the surface 13a is extremely low. Therefore, it is desirable that the area of the surface 13a is equal to or less than the maximum cross-sectional area of the toothpick 5 and larger than the area of the tip 5a of the toothpick 5, and it is more desirable that the surface 13a be closer to the maximum cross-sectional area of the toothpick 5.
Therefore, the diameter of the surface 13a of the pressing member 13 in this embodiment is set to 2.2 mm, which is the same as the maximum diameter of the toothpick 5. As shown in FIG.

Using the toothpick container 3 according to the present embodiment, an experiment was conducted on the actual picking accuracy of the toothpick 5. As a result, the ideal case where one toothpick 5 is pushed up as shown in FIG. 1 and the case shown in FIG. As shown, it has been confirmed that a plurality of toothpicks 5 around the toothpick 5 whose tip 5a is placed on the pressing member 13 are sometimes pushed up at the same time.
This is because the toothpick 5 whose tip 5a is not placed on the pressing member 13 is dragged and lifted by the friction between the toothpicks 5 . In this case, since the friction between the toothpicks 5 is not constant, the amount of projection varies randomly, and the amount of projection never becomes the same as that of the toothpick 5 that is forcibly pushed up by the pressing member 13 by a predetermined amount.

Ideally, only one toothpick 5 is pushed up, but as mentioned above, the purpose of the present invention is to make it easier to take out the toothpick 5 even when it is full, as shown in FIG. Even in such a state, one toothpick 5 having the largest protrusion can be picked up and taken out.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the container body 7 is lifted after taking out the protruding toothpick 5, the push-up mechanism 9 is lowered by its own weight. receive.
For this reason, it is desirable that the material of the base member 15 is a metal having a large specific gravity so that the base member 15 can be reliably lowered even when the container is almost full.

When the number of toothpicks 5 in the container body 7 is reduced, the probability that the tips 5a of the toothpicks 5 are placed on the pressing member 13 when the container body 7 is lifted and shaken sideways is reduced.
For example, when the number of toothpicks 5 is as shown in FIG. One toothpick 5 can be selectively taken out.
That is, the toothpick container 3 according to the present embodiment can function from the full state in which the toothpicks 5 are tightly packed in the container body 7 to the number of toothpicks 5 that can be selectively and easily taken out. It is intended to demonstrate

Modifications of the toothpick container 3 are shown below.
As described above, the pressing member 13 has a small area and is difficult to handle. A configuration in which a pressing member 19 having a fitting recess 19 a is press-fitted into the upper end portion of the movable shaft 11 may be employed.
Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the shape of the pressing member 13 may be conical, and the surface 13a on which the tip 5a rests may also be conical with a V-shaped cross section. Corresponding to the shape of the pressing member 13, the shape of the housing recess 7e is also conical.

As shown in FIG. 13, the bottom surface 7a of the container body 7 may be inclined downward toward the pressing member 13 and symmetrical with respect to the axis of the through hole 7b. In this way, the toothpick 5 can be moved closer to the pressing member 13 by its own weight, and the probability that the tip 5a will rest on the pressing member 13 can be increased.

In the above-described embodiment, the push-up mechanism 9 pushes up one toothpick 5, but as shown in FIG.
Here, the movable shafts 11 are supported at four points on the center and outer peripheral side of a base member 21 having a diameter larger than that of the base member 15 , and each movable shaft 11 is integrally provided with a pressing member 13 .
In this way, when a plurality of people have a dinner together, a plurality of people can individually take out the toothpicks 5 from one toothpick container 3 at the same time.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the upper surface side of the container body 7 is always open, but as shown in FIG. It is good also as a structure covered with a cover member.
In FIG. 15(a), a lid member 23 having a hole 23a for exposing the rear end of the toothpick 5 pushed up by the push-up mechanism 9 is fitted to the upper end of the container body 7 with screws (not shown). .
Even when the number of toothpicks 5 in the container body 7 is reduced and the toothpicks 5 to be pushed up are inclined, they are guided to the holes 23a by the inclined inner surface of the cover member 23.例文帳に追加
In FIG. 15(b), a lid member 25 is provided that is simply fitted to the upper end of the container body 7. In FIG. In this case, the toothpick 5 pushed up is taken out after removing the cover member 25 .

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment. included.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the toothpick 5 located at the center of the bottom surface 7a of the container body 7 is pushed up, but it may be pushed out from the center. Moreover, the material of each member is not limited to the above.
Furthermore, the shape of the container body 7 is not limited to a cylindrical shape, but may be a rectangular tube shape, and the material of the toothpick 5 is not limited to wood, and may be made of other materials such as bamboo.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Table surface (plane) 3... Toothpick container 5... Toothpick 5a... Tip 7... Container main body 7a... Bottom surface 7b... Through hole 7e... Accommodating recess 9... Push-up mechanism 11... Movable shaft 13, 19... Pressing member 13a... Tip 15, 21 ... Base member

Claims (5)

Equipped with a container body in which a plurality of toothpicks are accommodated with the tip side facing downward, and a push-up mechanism,
The push-up mechanism is
a through hole formed in the bottom surface of the container body;
a movable shaft that is inserted into the through hole and slidable in the vertical direction;
A pressing member integrally provided on the upper end side of the movable shaft inside the container body, having an area on which the tip of at least one of the plurality of toothpicks can be placed, and having a larger diameter than the through hole. When,
A toothpick container, comprising: a base member integrally provided on the lower end side of the movable shaft outside the container body and supporting the movable shaft. In the toothpick container according to claim 1,
A toothpick container, wherein an area of a surface of the pressing member on which the tip of the toothpick rests is set to be equal to or less than the maximum cross-sectional area of the toothpick and larger than the area of the tip of the toothpick. In the toothpick container according to claim 1,
The toothpick container is characterized in that the pressing member is sized so as not to protrude above the bottom surface of the container body when the pushing mechanism returns to the state before pushing up the toothpick by its own weight. In the toothpick container according to claim 1,
A toothpick container, wherein a surface of the pressing member on which the tip of the toothpick rests is formed in a concave shape. In the toothpick container according to claim 1,
A toothpick container according to claim 1, wherein said container body has an accommodating recess for accommodating said base member on its bottom side, and the height of said accommodating recess is equal to or greater than the thickness of said base member.

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