JP7472955B2 - Tongs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to tongs that are used in ordinary households to hold and remove baby bottles that have been immersed in disinfectant.

One of the conventional methods for sterilizing baby bottles is to immerse them in a disinfectant solution contained in a special container. To do this, tongs are used to lift the baby bottle immersed in the disinfectant solution without using hands. The tongs can be used, for example, by first using the tongs to stand up a baby bottle that has fallen over in a special container, then passing one arm of the tongs over the mouth of the bottle, and then pinching the bottle wall with the tips of the pair of arms of the tongs from inside and outside the bottle to lift it out of the special container.

Since the tongs are inserted into the disinfectant, they are not made of metal but are made of chemical-resistant synthetic resin. As shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the tongs are formed integrally with a connecting part that is bent into a U shape at one end of the length of the tongs, a pair of arms that are connected to the pair of ends of the connecting part and extend in the length direction of the tongs, and a clamping part at the tip of the arms that clamps the wall of a baby bottle, etc.

Furthermore, each of the gripping parts of the tongs, which are made from synthetic resin material, is provided with an anti-slip part made of elastomer resin material using a two-color molding technique or as a post-installation.

JP 2003-117843 A JP 2010-119496 A

The tongs are made of synthetic resin and are lightweight, but the connecting part is simply bent into a U-shape and linearly connected to the pair of arms, so the connecting part itself is not very rigid, and when the tongs are gripped so that the arms are brought closer to each other, the connecting part is prone to deformation in directions other than the bent direction.

As described above, when holding the tongs with the connecting parts of the arms close together and gripping the wall of the baby bottle with the clamping parts of the tongs, each arm, which is long, is prone to twisting, but the connecting parts cannot suppress this twisting at all, and the force applied to grip the bottle wall cannot be transmitted to the clamping parts. When removing the baby bottle from the disinfectant, the arms are further twisted and deformed by the weight of the bottle, which is a problem.

Furthermore, when the tongs are held with the connecting parts of the arms approaching each other, if the connecting parts are deformed independently, it becomes difficult for the pair of arms to align in the length direction of the arms, and there is a possibility that the clamping parts will not overlap each other.

In addition, in order to avoid touching the disinfectant when inserting the tongs into the solution, the arm is gripped at the connecting part as described above, but because the arm in the gripping range is thin, just like the tip of the arm, it is difficult to apply force to bring the arms closer together. This lack of rigidity at the connecting part and the thinness of the arm at the connecting part, making it difficult to apply force to the hand gripping the tongs, make it difficult to remove the baby bottle from the dedicated container.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to prevent the arms of the tongs from bending or flexing when the connecting sides of the arms are held close to each other, and to make it easier to remove the baby bottle using the tongs.

(The invention of claim 1)
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and provides a tong molded from a synthetic resin material,
A pair of arms is formed by forming a belt-like curved plate around the circumference, and the pair of arms is arranged at two positions spaced apart from each other in the circumference direction of the curved plate, the pair of arms being made up of a long plate continuous with one of the two positions and a long plate continuous with the other of the two positions;
A clamping portion provided at the tip side of each of the arms;
and a non-slip portion provided on each of the clamping portions,
The anti-slip portion has a plurality of fins arranged in the length direction of the tongue, the fins having protruding tips,
A rib is integrally provided on each of the opposing surfaces of the long plates along the longitudinal direction of the long plates, and the rib is discontinuous with the curved plate;
At least one of the anti-slip portions has a protrusion integrally formed thereon.
The present invention provides tongs characterized by the above-mentioned, thereby solving the above problems.

(Invention of Claim 2)
In the present invention, it is preferable that the rib has a discontinuous portion in which the amount by which the rib protrudes from the long plate on which the rib is provided toward the opposing long plate decreases as the rib moves from the long plate side toward the curved plate.

(The invention of claim 3)
In the present invention, it is also preferable that an outer rib is provided on the outer surface side of each of the long plates at a position opposite to the rib along the longitudinal direction of the long plate .

(Invention of Claim 4)
In addition, in the present invention, it is preferable that the outer surface of the long plate is provided with a protruding portion that protrudes in a direction opposite to the long plate opposite to which the long plate faces , and that the protruding portion is connected to the outer rib.

(Invention of Claim 5)
In the present invention, it is preferable that the anti-slip portion is made of an elastomer resin material.

According to the present invention, the connecting portion has a generally cylindrical shape with a closed cross section, and the strength of the connecting portion itself is high and it is difficult to deform. Therefore, the connecting portion supports the arms without deforming, and each arm does not twist independently, and the arms do not shift in the longitudinal direction. When the connecting portions of the arms are held by the connecting portions and the connecting portions of the arms are brought close to each other, the clamping portions overlap properly.

In this way, when the pair of arms are grasped to hold the baby bottle, the arms do not twist or shift from one another, so the tongs can be used to securely and easily remove the baby bottle.

In addition, each clamping part has an anti-slip part, so the baby bottle can be securely clamped between the clamping parts.

In addition, the base ends of the long plates are spaced apart with the connecting part between them, so by gripping the connecting part of the pair of arms and squeezing the space between the arms, the clamping parts can be quickly and easily aligned, making it extremely easy to clamp items such as baby bottles.

According to the present invention, it is possible to widen the opposing distance between the pair of arms on the connection side of each arm, and to position the portion that makes it easier to grip the tongs closer to the connection side.

According to the present invention, the arm connection fulcrum portion at the connecting part extends in the width direction of the curved plate that makes up the connecting part, so that while the base end portion of the long plate is allowed to bend in the direction in which the arms approach each other, the connecting part side portion of the arm can more reliably suppress twisting deformation around the center line along the longitudinal direction of the long plate, so that even if the arms are held by the connecting part side and gripped in such a way that the arms approach each other, twisting does not occur in the arms.

In addition, misalignment of the arms along their length is more reliably prevented, improving the effect of allowing the clamping parts to be properly overlapped.

According to the present invention, since the stiffness of the wide parts is high, by gripping the two wide parts on the connecting part side of the arms together, the gripping force is properly transmitted to the clamping parts of each arm, and even a baby bottle containing disinfectant can be lifted reliably. This has the effect of making it easier to handle the baby bottle with the tongs more reliably.

According to the present invention, each arm can better resist bending in the direction opposite to the direction in which the arms face each other, which makes it difficult for each arm to bend when the bottle wall is pinched, and the force exerted when the arms are held so that the connecting parts of the arms approach each other can be reliably transmitted to the pinching part.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of tongs according to the present invention as viewed from the front; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the embodiment as viewed from the side. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross section of a wide width portion taken along line XX in FIG. The figures show the anti-slip portion, where (a) is an explanatory diagram showing the fin as viewed from the front, (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the fin as viewed from the side, and (c) is an explanatory diagram showing the fin as viewed from the lower end of the tongs. 1A is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a conventional tongue and an embodiment for comparison, and FIG. 1B is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the embodiment. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the connecting portion 3. FIG. 1A is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a fin, in which (a) is an explanatory diagram showing a fin having a cross-sectional shape in which the lower end of the inclined surface reaches a midway position in the fin height direction, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing a fin having a cross-sectional shape in which the lower end of the inclined surface reaches the fin base position.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a tong made of a synthetic resin material, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the tong 1 comprises a connecting portion 2 which is one end side in the tongue length direction, a pair of arms 3 which are continuous with the connecting portion 2 and extend in the tongue length direction, and a clamping portion 4 which is provided at the other end side in the tongue length direction, at the tip side of each arm 3 opposite the connecting portion 2, and the connecting portion 2, pair of arms 3, and clamping portion 4 are molded integrally. Note that S1 in Figure 1 is the center line of the pair of arms 3 in the opposing direction, and indicates the position of the center line of the tong 1.

The tongs 1 also have an anti-slip section 5 made of an elastomer resin material that is fitted in the shape of a cap to the clamping section 4 so that the pair of arms 3 can be brought close to each other to hold an object (such as the wall of a baby bottle) between the clamping sections 4 without slipping. See Figure 4.

(Connection part)
The connecting portion 2 of the tongs 1 is formed by wrapping a band-shaped curved plate 6 around itself to form an approximately cylindrical shape with a closed cross section, and at the extreme end side in the length direction of the tongs at this connecting portion 2 (opposite the arm portion) is located a concave curved plate portion 7 that is concave toward the other end in the length direction of the tongs, and is configured so that the shape when viewed from the front is heart-shaped.

Furthermore, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the edge of the concave curved plate portion 7 is connected to a hook 8 that can be hooked onto the edge of a special container (not shown) that contains a disinfectant.

In this way, in the tongs 1, the curved plate 6 wraps around the connecting part 2 to give it a generally cylindrical shape with a closed cross section, increasing its rigidity and preventing the connecting part 2 itself from deforming. In this connecting part 2, which has high rigidity and is less likely to deform, the arm connecting fulcrum 9, where the pair of arms 3 are connected, is provided at two positions spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the curved plate 6.

(Arm)
The pair of arms 3 are composed of a long plate 10 extending in the tongue length direction from one of the two arm connection fulcrums 9 provided on the curved plate 6, and a long plate 10 extending in the tongue length direction from the other of the arm connection fulcrums 9. Since the two arm connection fulcrums 9 are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the curved plate 6, the base end portions 11 of the two long plates 10 are not directly continuous with each other but are spaced apart.

Each of the long plates 10 has a curved area 12 that is gently curved so as to be convex outward in the arm facing direction from the arm connection fulcrum 9 to a position slightly closer to the arm connection fulcrum 9 than the middle of the length of the long plate 10, and the part of this curved area 12 opposite the connection part 2 has a constricted part 13 that is convex inward in the arm facing direction, and further has a linear area 14 that is approximately linear and continues from the constricted part 13, sloping outward so that the distance in the arm facing direction slightly increases as it reaches the clamping part 4. See Figure 1.

(Clasping section)
The tip end side of the long plate 10 (the side opposite to the connecting portion 2) is bent into a crank shape, and the plate-shaped clamping portion 4 is continuous with the crank portion.

(Anti-slip part)
The anti-slip parts 5, which are fitted over the respective clamping parts 4, have multiple flexible fins 15 arranged on the opposing surfaces. A protrusion 16 is integrally provided on the same side of each of the anti-slip parts 5, and is used to hook the protrusion 16 onto the mouth of a baby bottle placed horizontally in a disinfectant solution to raise it up.

The shape of the fins 15 of the anti-slip portion 5 is not limited. For example, the fins 15 can be arranged in a line along the length of the tongs, and the shape of the protruding tip edge of each fin 15 can be a gentle curve with the center part of the protruding tip edge protruding inward in the direction facing the arm.

(Arm connection fulcrum)
An arm connection fulcrum 9, where a base end portion 11 of the long plate 10 of the arm 3 and the curved plate 6 of the connecting portion 2 are continuous, is provided across the width direction of the curved plate 6. Since the arm connection fulcrum 9 is provided across the width direction of the curved plate 6 constituting the connecting portion 2 having a generally cylindrical closed cross section, the base end portion 11 of the long plate 10 suppresses twisting deformation around the center line along the longitudinal direction of the long plate 10, thereby preventing twisting of the entire long plate 10, i.e., around the center line of the arm 3. Note that S2 in Fig. 2 indicates the center line of the arm 3 and the extension of this center line.

The side edge portion 17 of the curved plate 6 is rounded to avoid sharp edges, and if the arm connection fulcrum portion 9 reached the side edge portion 17 of the curved plate 6, it would impair the rotation of the long plate 10 around the base end portion 11 of the long plate 10, so the arm connection fulcrum portion 9 does not reach the side edge portion 17.

(Spaced arrangement of the base end portion of the long plate)
As described above, the arm connection fulcrums 9 are provided at two positions spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the curved plate 6, so that the base end portions 11 of the long plates 10 are spaced apart from each other across the connection portion 2. Therefore, by gripping the connection portion 2 side of the pair of arms 3 and narrowing the gap between the arms 3, the clamping portions 4 can be quickly and easily aligned.

In contrast, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 5(a), in conventional tongs A, the connecting part C connecting the pair of arms B serves as a single fulcrum, or the fulcrum distance between each of the arms B is narrow, so that the pair of arms B must be spread apart and the part to be held must be lowered to near the middle of the length of the tongs like tweezers, resulting in the inconvenience that the hand can easily come into contact with the disinfectant.

In addition, with conventional tongs A, the arms are held in a way that pushes against the outwardly inclined surface that widens the gap between them, so the direction of the force F pushing against each arm B is inclined toward the tip of the tongs (the clamping portion), which can make the operation of holding the pair of arms B closer to each other unreliable. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5(b), with tongs 1 of this embodiment, the arm connection fulcrum 6 is spaced apart on the connecting portion 2 side, so the direction of the pushing force F when bringing the pair of arms 3 closer to each other is in the opposite direction, making the operation of holding the pair of arms 3 closer to each other extremely simple and stable.

Furthermore, the base end portion 11 of the long plate 10 of the arm 3 projects outward from the arm connection fulcrum portion 9 in a direction intersecting the circumferential direction of the curved plate 6, and the locations at which bending occurs at the base end portion 11 are arranged to be spaced apart in opposing directions. In other words, the distance between the fulcrums G of each arm 3 is widened, and the clamping portions 4 can be aligned simply by bringing the arms 3 slightly closer to each other near the connection portion 2, making it easier to operate the arms 3.

(thick part)
As described above, each of the curved areas 12 of the arm portion 3 is formed in a gently curved shape that convexly extends outward in the opposing direction, as shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, however, further measures are taken in the curved areas 12 to suppress twisting around the center line of the long plate 10.

In the curved area 12, a wide, thick portion 18 is provided so that the side along the longitudinal direction of the long plate 10 forms a gently curved line that protrudes outward in the width direction of the long plate 10.

By making the curved area 12 on the connecting part 2 side into a wide width part 18, the rigidity of the long plate 10 on the connecting part 2 side is further improved, allowing the entire long plate 10 to resist twisting.

(rib)
Furthermore, ribs 19 are integrally provided on the opposing surfaces of the long plates 10 along the longitudinal direction of the long plates 10. The ribs 19 are not continuous with the curved plate 6 of the connecting portion 2 so as not to impair the bending at the base end portion 11.

In this way, ribs 19 running in the longitudinal direction of the long plates 10 are integrally provided on the opposing sides of each of the long plates 10, so that they can adequately resist bending in the direction opposite to the direction in which the arms face each other. When the clamping portion 4 clamps the wall of the baby bottle, it does not warp the arms 3, and can reliably clamp the item.

As shown in FIG. 2, an external rib 20 is provided on the outer surface of the long plate 10 in the longitudinal direction of the long plate 10 at a position opposite the rib 19. This external rib 20, like the rib 19, prevents the arm 3 from warping or bending.

Furthermore, the outer surface of the wide portion 18 is provided with a non-slip protrusion 21 that protrudes outward, so that the wide portion 18 can be gripped from the outside in a secure pinch grip.

(Another example of a connecting part)
The connecting part 2 is formed in a shape in which the curved plate 6 is wound around the circumference to form a generally cylindrical shape with a closed cross section, with the inside being a hollow space, but there are some measures to further increase the rigidity of the connecting part 2 in order to prevent twisting of the arm parts 3 and to make it easier for the pair of arm parts 3 to be aligned in the longitudinal direction of the arm parts 3. An example of this is shown in Figure 6.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, a pair of curved reinforcing plates (22) are provided inside the connecting portion 2 and are integrated with the connecting portion 2. Each curved reinforcing plate 22 is formed so as to be continuous with the long plate 10 of the arm portion 3 via the curved plate 6, and the curved reinforcing plate 22 is provided at a position where the extension line of each of the long plates 10 of the pair of arms 3 passes through the arm connection fulcrum portion 9 where the base end portion 11 of the long plate 10 and the curved plate 6 of the connecting portion 2 are continuous and enter the inside of the connecting portion 2, and curves convexly toward the center line S1 of the tongue 1, reaching both sides of the concave curved plate portion 7 (both sides in the circumferential direction of the curved plate).

The width of the curved reinforcing plate 22 is approximately equal to the width of the long plate 10 at the arm connection fulcrum 9. Each of the pair of curved reinforcing plates 22 is located inside the connecting portion 2 so as to be continuous with the long plate 10 of the arm 3 via the curved plate 6, and is continuous with two positions in the length direction of the arm 3 (the arm connection fulcrum side and the side portion side of the concave curved plate portion 7) as shown inside the connecting portion 2. This increases the rigidity of the connecting portion 2 itself, which is highly effective in preventing twisting of each arm 3 when the wide portion 18 is pressed in to bring the arms 3 closer together, and in preventing misalignment of the pair of arms 3 in the length direction of the arms 3.

(Another example of a fin)
As described above, the multiple fins 15 of the non-slip portion 5 are arranged in the length direction of the tongs 1, and Fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment in which the heights of the fins 15 except for the lowest fin are the same in the fin length direction, the shape of the protruding tip edge is straight, and the shape of the protruding tip edge of the lowest fin 15 is curved. The shape of the protruding tip edge of the fins 15 other than the lowest one is not limited to a straight line.

As shown in Fig. 4(b), the side of each fin 15 facing the arm 3 is inclined from the tip edge to one side, making the inclined portion a curved surface. Specifically, the cross-sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to the length of the fin is made pointed, and the side of the fin 15 facing the arm 3 is inclined from the tip edge to one side so that the cross-sectional shape on the tip edge side is asymmetric with respect to the center line of this fin cross section.

Therefore, when the tongs 1 are held upright and the wall of the baby bottle is pinched from inside and outside by the clamping parts 4, the pointed parts at the leading edge of each of the fins 15 come into contact with the bottle wall and deform, and when the baby bottle is lifted up, each of the fins 15 deforms by collapsing downward from the leading edge side, so that each side on the connecting part 3 side comes into close contact with the bottle wall. Because the side on the connecting part 3 side is an inclined surface, the non-slip part 5 comes into close contact with the bottle wall over a wide contact surface, allowing the baby bottle to be held securely. And because the non-slip part 5 ensures a wide contact surface and comes into close contact with the bottle wall from inside and outside, the baby bottle does not slip out of the tongs 1 even if the baby bottle is pushed in the opposite direction to the direction it is picked up, as occurs when a baby bottle is immersed in a disinfectant and moved up and down in the disinfectant.

The leading edge side of the fin 15 has been described as a curved surface of the one-way slope, but as shown in Figures 7(a) and (b), it is also possible to make the inclined surface on the connecting portion 3 side flat, with the lower end of the inclined surface reaching a midway point in the height direction of the fin (Figure 7(a)), or to make the lower end of the inclined surface reach the base position of the fin (Figure 7(b)), so that the cross section of the fin has an asymmetric wedge shape with respect to the center line S3.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Tong 2: Connection portion 3: Arm portion 4: Clamping portion 5: Anti-slip portion 6: Curved plate 7: Concave curved plate portion 8: Hook 9: Arm portion connection fulcrum portion 10: Long plate 11: Base end portion 12: Curved range 14: Straight range 15: Fin 16: Protrusion 17: Side portion of curved plate 18: Wide portion 19: Rib 22: Reinforced curved plate

Claims (5)

A tong molded from a synthetic resin material,
A pair of arms is formed by forming a belt-like curved plate around the circumference, the pair of arms being arranged at two positions spaced apart from each other in the circumference direction of the curved plate, the pair of arms being made up of a long plate continuous with one of the two positions and a long plate continuous with the other of the two positions;
A clamping portion provided at the tip side of each of the arms;
and a non-slip portion provided on each of the clamping portions,
The anti-slip portion has a plurality of fins arranged in the length direction of the tongue, the fins having protruding tips,
A rib is integrally provided on each of the opposing surfaces of the long plates along the longitudinal direction of the long plates, and the rib is discontinuous with the curved plate;
At least one of the anti-slip portions has a protrusion integrally formed thereon.
Tongs characterized by: The tongs according to claim 1, wherein the rib has a discontinuous portion in which the amount by which the rib protrudes from the long plate on which the rib is provided toward the opposing long plate decreases as the rib moves from the long plate side toward the curved plate. Tongs according to claim 1 or 2, in which an outer rib is provided on the outer surface side of each of the long plates at a position facing the rib along the longitudinal direction of the long plates. The tongs according to claim 3, wherein the outer surface of the long plate is provided with a protruding portion that rises in a direction opposite to the long plate facing the long plate , and the protruding portion is connected to the outer rib. The tongue according to claim 1 , wherein the anti-slip portion is made of an elastomer resin material.

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