WO2000056193A1

WO2000056193A1 - A chopstick

Info

Publication number: WO2000056193A1
Application number: PCT/ZA2000/000046
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Alexander Ross
Original assignee: John Alexander Ross
Priority date: 1999-03-22
Filing date: 2000-03-20
Publication date: 2000-09-28
Also published as: AU3934400A

Abstract

The invention provides a chopstick (1) which is characterised in that it is made from a sheet of flexible material which is folded or rolled. The chopstick (1) is preferably made from a sheet of paper or a degradable plastics material and can be coated to provide it with resistance to liquids.

Description

A CHOPSTICK

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a chopstick and a method of manufacturing a chopstick.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Chops sticks are the most widely used eating utensil in the world. At present, 5 chopsticks are made from wood, plastics or other materials including ivory. Because of low manufacturing costs, wood is especially popular.

A problem with chopsticks however is that a large proportion of chops sticks are discarded. It is estimated that 30 million chops sticks are disposed of daily in Japan alone. This creates a drain on already dwindling wood supplies and poses l o an ecological threat where non-degradable materials, such as plastics, are used.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of this invention to provide a chopstick which can be made from a readily available material which is preferably also easily degradable. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a chopstick characterised in that it is made from at least one sheet of a flexible material.

Further features of the invention provides for the chopstick to be formed by folding or rolling the sheet of material; and for the chopstick to be substantially solid or hollow.

Further features of the invention provide for the material to be wood based, preferably paper; and for the paper to be food grade paper; alternatively for the material to be a plastics material, preferably a degradable plastic material.

Still further features of the invention provide for the chopstick or the paper to be coated to be resistant to liquids; and for a settable liquid to be applied to the chopstick to assist in retaining the configuration thereof.

A yet further feature of the invention provides for the chopstick to form part of a pair of chopsticks joined end to end along a line of weakness.

The invention also provides a process for manufacturing a chopstick substantially as defined above which includes folding or rolling a sheet of a flexible material to form a chopstick and applying a fixing composition thereto to assist in maintaining the configuration thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an oblique view of a first embodiment of a chopstick;

Figure 2 is a sketch illustrating the formation of the chopstick in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a sketch illustrating a further method for manufacturing a chopstick; Figure 4 is an oblique view of a chopstick manufactured through the process illustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sketch of a third method of forming a chopstick;

Figure 6 shows oblique views of five different chopstick configurations;

Rgure 7 is a sketch illustrating a fourth method of forming a chopstick; and

Rgure 8 is an oblique view of a further embodiment of chop sticks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

A chopstick (1) is shown in Rgure 1 and is formed, as shown with reference to Rgure 2, by tightly rolling a sheet of paper (2). The sheet (2) is generally triangular in shape having three corners (3,4,5) with the side (6) joining the corners (3) and (5) being curved. By folding the corner (3) inwardly, a chopstick (1) is obtained with a pointed end (7) and a blunt end (8) and the corner (5) positioned adjacent the middle of the chopstick (1). The paper (2) is of food grade and is impregnated with an edible wax which provides the paper (2) with resistance to liquids such as saliva and food juices. Furthermore, a resin (not shown) is applied to the chopstick (1) once folded to assist in retaining the shape of the chopstick (1).

A cheap, easily manufactured and easily degradable chopstick is thus provided with the added benefit that re-cycled paper can be used in the manufacture thereof. Once discarded, the chopstick is also easily re-cycled.

It will be appreciated however that many other embodiments of a chopstick and a method of making such chopsticks exist which fall within the scope of the invention. For example, a continuous sheet of paper (10) can be rolled up along its length to form a chopstick (11) as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. Lines of weakness (12) can be evenly spaced along the length of the paper (10) to indicate the amount of paper necessary for an individual chopstick.

Chop sticks need not be formed by rolling, and could be formed by simply folding a sheet of paper or, more preferably, cardboard. As shown in Figure 5, an elongate trapezoidal sheet of cardboard (15) can be folded along sulcations (16) in the length thereof to form a hollow four sided chopstick (17). A fixing compound such as a lacquer, resin or adhesive is applied to the chopstick (17) to hold the free edges together and to prevent unfolding thereof.

Folding can be used to form chopsticks of many different cross-sectional shapes. As shown in Figure 6, a chopstick (20) can have a triangular cross-section, parallelepipedical cross-section (21), hexagonal cross-section (22) or rectangular cross-section (23). The chopstick (23) is formed by folding the sheet of material over itself a number of times to form a substantially solid body.

As shown in Figure 7, a chopstick (25) can be folded by spirally winding two or more sheets of paper (26) about a core (not shown) instead of using only one sheet of paper.

Also, it is envisaged that a pair of chopsticks (30) can be formed integral with each other and joined end to end along a line of weakness (31). This will assist in retaining a pair of chopsticks together as well as providing ease of manufacture.

It will also be appreciated that any suitable sheet material can be used. For example, the material could be paper laminated with a thin layer of a plastics material. Alternatively, the material could be a plastics material such as the synthetic paper sold under the trade name "DynaArt". Also, any suitable method can by used for retaining the shape of the chopstick and it is envisaged that a crimp could be applied to the chopstick to maintain the shape thereof. Where a plastic material is used welding, such as ultrasonic welding, can be used to retain the shape of the chopstick.

Claims

1. A chopstick characterised in that it is made from one or more sheets of a flexible material.

2. A chopstick as claimed in claim 1 in which the chopstick is formed by folding the sheet of material.

3. A chopstick as claimed in claim 1 in which the chopstick is formed by rolling the sheet of material.

4. A chopstick as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the chopstick is solid.

5. A chopstick as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the chopstick is hollow.

6. A chopstick as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the material is wood based.

7. A chopstick as claimed in claim 6 in which the material is paper.

8. A chopstick as claimed in claim 7 in which the paper is food grade paper.

9. A chopstick as claimed in claim 6 in which the material is coated to be resistant to liquids.

10. A chopstick as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the material is a plastics material.

11. A chopstick as claimed in claim 10 in which the plastics material is degradable.

12. A chopstick as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the chopstick is coated to be liquid resistant.

13. A chopstick as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which a suitable liquid is applied to the chopstick to assist in retaining the configuration thereof.

14. A chopstick as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which the chopstick forms part of a pair of chopsticks joined end to end along a line of weakness.

15. A process for manufacturing a chopstick as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which includes folding or rolling a sheet of flexible material to form a chopstick.

16. A process for manufacturing a chopstick as claimed in claim 15 in which a fixing composition is applied to be folded or rolled sheet of flexible material to assist in maintaining the configuration thereof.

17. Process for manufacturing a chopstick as claimed in claim 15 in which welding is used to maintain the configuration of the folded or rolled sheet a flexible material.