This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 110141018, filed Nov. 3, 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an eating utensil, and more particularly, to a portable eating utensil.
In recent years, the environmental consciousness of people has increased, many people no longer use disposable eating utensils while eating out and carry reusable and washable eating utensils for own use instead. For convenience of carrying, the industry further developed an eating utensil which can be folded to reduce the volume, in order to place it into a carrying bag or pocket. For instance, the portable tableware disclosed in the utility model patent publication No. M601059 is used as tableware by fixing a spoon or a fork to an outer shell. The spoon and the fork can be removed from the outer shell after using, and be placed in the outer shell for storage.
In the aforementioned conventional structure, the outer shell is composed of two half shells docked to each other, and each of the half shells is provided with a fastener. Accordingly, the two half shells are combined and fixed to each other through the fasteners after they closed to prevent unexpected opening. However, there are four fasteners in the aforementioned conventional structure disposed on a left side and a right side of each half shell respectively, and they need to be fastened to each other while using, so the operation is more complicated. Furthermore, the fasteners are revealed on the outer side of the outer shell, so they are easy to be unfastened accidentally or even fractured due to collision with external objects, resulting in the inconvenience of using and easy damage.
Accordingly, the primary objective of the present invention is how to improve the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a portable eating utensil, which utilizes a movable buckle to instantly lock or unlock a shell, and a structure used to lock the buckle is hided inside to prevent accidental unfastening resulted from collision, thereby improving the convenience of using.
Another objective of the present invention is to combine two kinds of eating utensils together and carry them, thereby improving the convenience of storage, and significantly reducing the easy loss of the eating utensils resulted from carrying them separately.
To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present invention provides a portable eating utensil including a first shell and a second shell, wherein they can be docked to enclose an accommodating room, the accommodating room accommodates an eating utensil, wherein the portable eating utensil is characterized in that:
the first shell is provided with a first slot and a first protrusion on a side facing the second shell, and the second shell is provided with a buckle which can move between a locked position and an unlocked position, the buckle is provided with a second slot and a second protrusion on a side facing the first shell, and when the first shell and the second shell are docked to each other, and the buckle is moved to the unlocked position, the first protrusion leaves the second slot, the second protrusion leaves the first slot, and the first protrusion leaves the second protrusion at the same time to unlock the first shell and the second shell; and when the buckle is moved to the locked position, the first protrusion is embedded into the second slot, the second protrusion is embedded into the first slot, and the first protrusion and the second protrusion prop against each other at the same time to fix the first shell and the second shell.
Preferably, the second shell is provided with a convex chuck on a side facing the first shell, the buckle is provided with a slotted hole put around the convex chuck, the buckle can move relative to the convex chuck, and positions of the buckle when the convex chuck is located at two ends of the slotted hole are defined as the locked position and the unlocked position respectively.
Preferably, a stop portion is disposed on a top of the convex chuck and extends above an edge of the slotted hole.
Preferably, a pivotal shaft is disposed on a top of the convex chuck, the eating utensil includes a functional end portion for taking food and a connection end portion, and there is a pivoting portion between the functional end portion and the connection end portion and pivotally disposed on the pivotal shaft, and the functional end portion or the connection end portion can be selectively moved out of the accommodating room by pivotally rotating the eating utensil.
Preferably, the functional end portion of the eating utensil is a spoon or a fork.
Preferably, the portable eating utensil further includes a sheath having a body provided with two combining portions, the eating utensil being detachably combined with one of the combining portions by the connection end portion, a skirt cover which is capable of moving back and forth along the body being disposed on the body, an accommodating room being formed between the skirt cover and the body, and the skirt cover can selectively move to a first position to enable the connection end portion and the combining portions to be stored in the accommodating room, and can selectively move to a second position to enable the connection end portion and the combining portions to leave the accommodating room.
Further, each of the combining portions is a pillar standing on the body, a through hole which can be put around the pillar is disposed on the connection end portion of the eating utensil, and a flange used for prohibit the connection end portion from detaching is disposed on an end of the pillar.
Further, a locating portion having a flexibility is disposed on the skirt cover, a first locating hole and a second locating hole are disposed on the body, when the skirt cover moves to the first position, the locating portion props against the first locating hole and locates the skirt cover; and when the skirt cover moves to the second position, the locating portion props against the second locating hole and locates the skirt cover.
It is easy to deeply realize the aforementioned objectives and the advantages of the present invention from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings of the following selected embodiments.
Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
A movable buckle 4 is connected to the second shell 2. The buckle 4 has a slotted hole 41 put around the convex chuck 21 so as to make the buckle 4 be able to move forward and backward in a range of the slotted hole 41, in which the buckle 4 is defined to be at a locked position or an unlocked position as the convex chuck 21 is located at two ends of the slotted hole 41. In the present embodiment, a stop portion 211 is disposed on a top of the convex chuck 21 and extends above an edge of the slotted hole 41, thereby preventing the buckle 4 from being separated from the convex chuck 21 to ensure that the buckle 4 works normally.
A cover plate 42 is disposed on an end of the buckle 4 away from the slotted hole 41. A left side and a right side of the cover plate 42 stretch inward respectively, in which the relative concave is defined as a second slot 421, and the relative convex is defined as a second protrusion 422.
When the first shell 1 and the second shell 2 are relatively pivoted to be close to and to be engaged with each other, the buckle 4 is moved to the locked position as shown in
On the other hand, when the first shell 1 and second shell 2 are to be opened, the buckle 4 is moved to the locked position as shown in
By using the aforementioned structure, the present invention implements locking and unlocking between the first shell 1 and the second shell 2 by simply pushing the buckle 4, which is very convenient in operation. Furthermore, in the present invention, the structures used for locking the shells are all hidden inside the buckle 4 and is not exposed, hence the structures are not struck by external objects and unlock accidentally, and the appearance is kept simple and complete simultaneously.
The sheath 6 includes a body 61 and a skirt cover 62. The body 61 is formed as a long plate, where a pillar 63 protrudes from each of two sides of one end of the body 61, and an end of the pillar 63 has a flange 631. The other end of the body 61 is provided with a hang hole for hanging, and the body 61 is provided with a first locating hole 65 and a second locating hole 66 between the hang hole 64 and the pillar 63. The skirt cover 62 is formed in a ring shape and is sleeved outside the body 61, and an accommodating space 67 is formed between the skirt cover 62 and the body 61. A flexible locating portion 68 protrudes from a side of the skirt cover 62 facing the body 61 toward the body 61 (referring to
With the aforementioned structure, the present embodiment can assemble the two portable eating utensil sets 5 together, and can achieve the effects of easy taking and loss reducing by centralized storage. Specifically, as shown in
When using the present invention to have food, as shown in
Comparing with the conventional structure, the feature of the present invention is that the two portable eating utensil sets 5 are assembled together to achieve the objective of centralized storage and generate the effect that is not easy to loss. When in use, it can be taken out and used according to the desired type of the eating utensil 3, and it is very easy and convenient in operation.
Nevertheless, the disclosure of the aforementioned embodiments is only used to illustrate the present invention, is not used to limit the present invention, and s the replacement of equivalent components should still within the scope of the present invention.
Based on the description above, it is apparent to those who skilled in the art that the present invention can clearly achieve the aforementioned objectives, and the present invention has already complied with the regulations of the patent law, therefore an application is filed in accordance with the law.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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110141018 | Nov 2021 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230140816 A1 | May 2023 | US |