US20200128983A1

US20200128983A1 - Spork structure

Info

Publication number: US20200128983A1
Application number: US16/188,424
Authority: US
Inventors: Chap-Chung Yiu; Ting-Yue HU
Original assignee: Eco-Material Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Eco-Material Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-26
Filing date: 2018-11-13
Publication date: 2020-04-30
Also published as: TWM572699U

Abstract

A spork structure includes a spoon body, a handle, and two outer serrated plates and at least an inner serrated plate arranged apart from one another at the front end of the spoon body. The inner serrated plate has a height difference portion, and the spork structure is integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry, and the height difference portion is provided for enhancing the structural strength of the inner serrated plate, so that the spork structure has a better structural strength to pierce through food such as steaks, pork chops, vegetables, and fruits, and the spork structure is 100% decomposable naturally after being discarded, and thus having an environmental protection effect.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a spork structure, in particular to the spork structure integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry and comprised of a handle, a spoon body, an outer serrated plate, an inner serrated plate, and a height difference portion, and the spork structure enhances the structural strength and stability of an inner serrated plate at the front end of the spork structure, and the spork structure can be 100% naturally decomposed after being discarded.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Description of the Related Art

Traditional disposable plastic tableware is easy to cause environmental pollutions, so that decomposable tableware made of wheat, rice straw or corn is commercially available in recent years. However, the main ingredient of this kind of tableware is polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA), and researches indicate that most disposable tableware are made by mixing PLA and traditional plastic to improve the heat resistance and durability of the tableware. After PLA is added to plastic, the PLA cannot be decomposed completely and it is difficult to classify such material by the recycle system, and it becomes a waste that cannot be recycled or creates another type of plastic pollution.
Further, a disposable paper spork is used as an example for illustrating the present invention. In general, the paper spork is formed integrally by pressing a pulp. The structure of the sporks of this kind generally has an outer serrated plate disposed separately on both sides of the front end of the spork and an inner serrated plate disposed between both outer serrated plates at the front end of the spork. However, the inner serrated plate is substantially in form a paper sheet with a flat shape, so that the structural strength is poor and the inner serrated plate may be bent or deformed easily when used for flipping and digging food, and the structural strength is insufficient to pierce the spork into food like steak, pork chop, vegetables, fruits, etc. and thus the inner serrated plate loses its function completely.
In view of the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive research and experiment, and finally provided an innovative spork structure to overcome the drawbacks of the traditional paper spork having insufficient structural strength of the inner serrated plate.

2. Summary of the Invention

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to overcome the drawback of the prior art by providing a spork structure comprising a spoon body, and a handle disposed at a rear end of the spoon body, characterized in that: the spoon body has two outer serrated plates, at least an inner serrated plate arranged apart from one another at the front end of the spoon body and disposed between the two outer serrated plates, and a fin disposed on both side edges of the spoon body and extended to the outer serrated plates separately to reinforce the outer serrated plate, and the inner serrated plate has a height difference portion to reinforce the inner serrated plate, and the spoon body, the outer serrated plate, the fin, the inner serrated plate, the height difference portion and the handle are integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry.
The present invention uses the height difference portion to improve the structural strength and stability of the inner serrated plate to guarantee a normal use and operation of the spork. In addition, the spork structure is 100% naturally decomposable and thus complying with the environmental protection requirements and overcoming the drawbacks of the inner serrated plate of the conventional spork with an insufficient structural strength.
In an exemplary embodiment, the spoon body has both side edges disposed between both front end and rear end of the spoon body, so that the front end, rear end, and both side edges define a concave surface at the top of the spoon body, and a convex surface at the bottom of the spoon body, and both sides of the inner serrated plate has a top coupled to the concave surface of the spoon body and a bottom coupled to the convex surface of the spoon body, and the plant fiber slurry is made of pulp, corncob, bagasse or gramineous plant (such as a rice straw and a wheat straw).
In an exemplary embodiment, the height difference portion includes a protrusion formed at the top of the inner serrated plate and a recession formed at the bottom of the inner serrated plate, so that the recession is disposed at a position of the inner serrated plate and configured to be opposite to the protrusion.
In an exemplary embodiment, the height difference portion is extended from the front end of the spoon body to the inner serrated plate, and the height difference portion includes a protrusion formed at the top of the concave surface, the top of the concave surface, and the top of an inner serrated plate, and a recession formed at the bottom of the convex surface of the spoon body and the bottom of the inner serrated plate, so that the recession disposed on the inner serrated plate and configured to be opposite to the protrusion.
In an exemplary embodiment, the inner serrated plate has both sides which are tilted edges, and the height difference portion is extended along one of the tilted edges of the inner serrated plate.
In an exemplary embodiment, the handle has a rib formed thereon and protruded towards the top or bottom of the handle.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective, technical characteristics, structure, innovative features, and performance of the invention, we use preferred embodiments together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention. It is noteworthy that the embodiments are provided for the purpose of illustrating the invention but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spork structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an inverted perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a modified embodiment of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 for a spork structure in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the spork structure comprises a spoon body 1 and a handle 2. The spoon body 1 has a front end 101, a rear end 102, and two side edges 103, and both side edges 103 of the spoon body 1 are disposed between the front end 101 and rear end 102 of the spoon body 1 respectively, and the handle 2 is disposed at the rear end 102 of the spoon body 1. The front end 101, rear end 102 and two side edges 103 of the spoon body 1 define a curved concave surface 11 at the top of the spoon body 1 for containing food. In addition, the front end 101, rear end 102 and two side edges 103 of the spoon body 1 define a curved convex surface 12 at the bottom of the spoon body 1.
In a preferred embodiment, two outer serrated plates 13 and at least an inner serrated plate 14 are arranged apart from one another at the front end 101 of the spoon body 1, and the inner serrated plate 14 is disposed between the outer serrated plates 13. Both sides of the inner serrated plate 14 are a top 141 and a bottom 142, and the top 141 of the inner serrated plate 14 is coupled to the concave surface 11 of the spoon body 1, and the bottom 142 of the inner serrated plate 14 is coupled to the convex surface 12 of the spoon body 1. Both side edges 103 of the spoon body 1 have a fin 15, and an end of the fin 15 is extended to the outer serrated plate 13 or out of the outer serrated plate 13 for enhancing the structural strength of the outer serrated plate 13. In a preferred embodiment, the inner serrated plate 14 has a height difference portion 16 for reinforcing the structural strength of the inner serrated plate 14. The spoon body 1, outer serrated plate 13, fin 15, inner serrated plate 14, height difference portion 16 and handle 2 are integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry, wherein the plant fiber is made of pulp (long-fiber pulp), corncob, bagasse, or gramineous plant (such as rice straw and wheat straw).
With reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 for a spork structure in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the height difference portion 16 is extended from the front end 101 of the spoon body 1 to the inner serrated plate 14, and the height difference portion 16 includes a protrusion 161 and a recession 162, and the protrusion 161 is formed on the concave surface 11 at the front end 101 of the spoon body 1 and the top 141 of the inner serrated plate 14, and the recession 162 is formed on the convex surface 12 at the front end 101 of the spoon body 1 and the bottom 142 of the inner serrated plate 14, so that the recession 162 is configured to be opposite to the protrusion 161 of the inner serrated plate 14. Both sides of the inner serrated plate 14 have a tilted edge 143, and the height difference portion 16, the protrusion 161 and the recession 162 are extended along one of the tilted edges 143 of the inner serrated plate 14.
Alternatively, the protrusion 161 of the height difference portion 16 may be formed at the top 141 of the inner serrated plate 14 separately, and the recession 162 of the height difference portion 16 at the bottom 142 of the inner serrated plate 14 separately.
In the present invention, the spork structure is integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry, and the protrusion 161 and recession 162 of the height difference portion 16 are provided for enhancing the structural strength of the inner serrated plate 14 to improve the stability of the inner serrated plate 14. Meanwhile, the fin 15 is provided for enhancing the structural strength of both side edges 103 of the spoon body 1 and the outer serrated plate 13 to guarantee a normal use and operation of the inner serrated plate 14 and the outer serrated plate 13 of the spoon body 1 of the spork structure, and the spork structure is 100% naturally decomposable and thus complies with the environmental protection requirements. The present invention overcomes the insufficient structural strength of the inner serrated plate of the traditional paper spork structure.
In a feasible embodiment, the handle 2 has a rib 21 for enhancing the structure, and the rib 21 is protruded towards the top of the handle 2 to prevent the source or juice from overflowing backward while digging into the food.
With reference to FIG. 7 for a modified embodiment, the rib 22 is protruded towards the bottom of the handle 2.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A spork structure, comprising a spoon body, and a handle disposed at a rear end of the spoon body, characterized in that:

the spoon body has two outer serrated plates, at least an inner serrated plate arranged apart from one another at the front end of the spoon body and disposed between the two outer serrated plates, and a fin disposed on both side edges of the spoon body and extended to the outer serrated plates separately to reinforce the outer serrated plate, and the inner serrated plate has a height difference portion to reinforce the inner serrated plate, and the spoon body, the outer serrated plate, the fin, the inner serrated plate, the height difference portion and the handle are integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry.

2. The spork structure of claim 1, wherein the spoon body has both side edges disposed between both front end and rear end of the spoon body, so that the front end, rear end, and both side edges define a concave surface at the top of the spoon body, and a convex surface at the bottom of the spoon body, and both sides of the inner serrated plate has a top coupled to the concave surface of the spoon body and a bottom coupled to the convex surface of the spoon body, and the plant fiber slurry is made of pulp, corncob, bagasse or gramineous plant.

3. The spork structure of claim 2, wherein the height difference portion includes a protrusion formed at the top of the inner serrated plate and a recession formed at the bottom of the inner serrated plate, so that the recession is disposed at a position of the inner serrated plate and configured to be opposite to the protrusion.

4. The spork structure of claim 1, wherein the inner serrated plate has both sides which are tilted edges, and the height difference portion is extended along one of the tilted edges of the inner serrated plate.

5. The spork structure of claim 1, wherein the handle has a rib formed thereon and protruded towards the top or bottom of the handle.