U.S. patent application number 12/836010 was filed with the patent office on 2011-05-19 for table utensil rest.
Invention is credited to Uyen D. Le.
Application Number | 20110114533 12/836010 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44010511 |
Filed Date | 2011-05-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110114533 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Le; Uyen D. |
May 19, 2011 |
Table Utensil Rest
Abstract
One embodiment of the table utensil rest 1 has a top surface 2,
base 3, front surface 4, rear surface 5, groove 8 and slit 11 in
the middle of groove 8. Top surface 2, base 3, front surface 4 and
rear surface 5 can be one continuous surface or a combination of
surfaces that create a plane to provide support to the structure of
the table utensil rest 1. Table utensil rest 1 can have various
combinations of grooves 8 and slits 11. Other embodiments are
described and shown.
Inventors: |
Le; Uyen D.; (US) |
Family ID: |
44010511 |
Appl. No.: |
12/836010 |
Filed: |
July 14, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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61261932 |
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
206/553 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 21/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/553 |
International
Class: |
B65D 85/00 20060101
B65D085/00 |
Claims
1. A table utensil rest comprising: a) A base b) A top surface, c)
A front surface, d) A rear surface e) A minimum of one groove, and
f) A height that allows sufficient clearance of utensils from any
surface.
2. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein said groove can consist
of a slit that ranges from 1.5 millimeters to 5 millimeters in
width.
3. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein said groove can range
from 9 millimeters to 20 millimeters in width.
4. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein the maximum number of
grooves is five.
5. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein any combination of said
grooves and said slits can be achieved.
6. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein said base can be one
continuous surface or a connection of numerous surfaces on the same
directional plane so long they provide structural stability to said
table utensil rest.
7. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein said top surface can be
one continuous surface or a connection of numerous surfaces on the
same directional plane so long as they provide structural stability
to said table utensil rest.
8. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein said front surface can
be one continuous surface or a connection of numerous surfaces on
the same directional plane so long as they provide structural
stability to said table utensil rest.
9. A table utensil rest in claim 1 wherein said front surface can
be one continuous surface or a connection of numerous surfaces on
the same directional plane so long as they provide structural
stability to said table utensil rest.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The application claims the benefit of provisional patent
application Ser. No. 61/261,932, filed 2010 Nov. 17 by the present
inventor.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
[0002] Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM
[0003] Not Applicable
BACKGROUND
[0004] 1. Field
[0005] The application generally relates to a support for table
utensils, specifically to a support for eating spoons, forks,
knives, and serving utensils in an eating or dining setting.
[0006] 2. Prior Art
[0007] There is a constant concern with table hygiene in both
public and private settings such as restaurant table tops and
private settings such as the household table and counter tops due
to the ever growing resilient bacteria and the numerous infectious
diseases such as the swine flu and bird flu. Therefore, most people
attempt to prevent their utensil from getting contaminated by
placing their utensils on a napkin or another clean plate, in which
case, all those means to prevent contamination creates unnecessary
waste of resources such as paper, water, and other energy.
[0008] There are various numerous designs, means and inventions
available such as the common knife and chopstick rests or the
silverware rests made by Frieling that aim to address the hygiene
issues associated with eating and dining for eating utensils such
as eating spoons, forks, knives and chopsticks. A common knife or
chopstick rest is generally a small horizontal bar, raised slightly
above a surface. The Frieling silverware rest is a 7 cm.times.11
cm.times.2.5 cm tray with one side cut out to allow a combination
of two eating utensils to rest within the tray's horizontal
surface.
[0009] As for serving utensils such as serving spoons, forks,
spatulas, knives, ladles, cheese tools, pasta servers, pie servers
and the like, there is one common means of rest: the spoon rest. A
spoon rest generally ranges from 15 cm-22 cm in length, 8 cm-11 cm
in width, 1 cm-8 cm in height. Therefore, the spoon rest is sizable
on a table surface.
[0010] U.S. patent application publication 2008/0060206 by DeSalvo
(2008) attempts to address the hygienic usage of a spoon, knife or
fork by the use of a hook. US patent application publications
2007/0084063 (2007) and 2005/0028386 (2005) both by Hughes are also
attempts to address the hygiene issue by using a supporting member
that is an integral part of the handle to prevent contact of
kitchen utensils on counter surface.
[0011] Other prior arts that attempt to address utensil hygiene
are: U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,865 to Rodin (2007) for of a combination
napkin clip and utensil rest; U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,238 to Tai (1998)
for a combined package and rest for chopsticks; U.S. design patent
367,405 to Bridger (1996) of an ornamental design for a eating
utensil holder; U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,141 to Bounds (1995) for a
collapsible, foldable and disposable eating utensil support; U.S.
design patent 326,591 to Hall (1992); U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,199 to
Hall (1990) is for a collapsible, foldable and disposable eating
utensil support; U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,768 to Hall (1990) for a
container cap that can be used as a utensil rest; U.S. Pat. No.
4,834,328 to Hall (1989) for a collapsible, foldable and disposable
utensil rest; U.S. design patent 292,861 to Dorper (1987) of an
ornamental design for a knife rest; U.S. design patent 255,311 to
Dunne (1980) is a kitchen utensil holder; U.S. design patent
244,340 to Ashton (1977) for an ornamental design for a knife rest;
U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,927 to Mullins (1953) for a knife cradle or
rest; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,639,081 to Metzger (1953) for a
collapsible, and foldable and disposable holding insert for
articles.
[0012] U.S. design patent 446,242 to Hall (2001) is another
obtrusive utensil rest for three items; U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,714 to
Hall (2003) for the same obtrusive utensil display article; U.S.
design patent 378,564 to Hall (1997) for an ornamental design of a
utensil support. The design appears like an elongated tray that has
indentations and grooves on both opposing surfaces to place three
(3) eating utensils simultaneously. However, the half of utensil
utilized surface or head is rested across said design, which also
means that the utilized part of the utensils are contaminating the
utensil rest.
[0013] For all of the aforementioned designs, means, and inventions
for table utensil rests, there are numerous disadvantages:
[0014] (a) Using the spoon rest for aforementioned serving utensils
takes a significant space in an eating or dining setting due to its
size. Further, a spoon rest can not accommodate most larger serving
utensils in an unobtrusive manner. Most serving utensils are rested
perpendicular to a spoon rest. Thus the will take more than twice
the surface space between a spoon rest and a serving utensil.
[0015] (b) Some of the aforementioned collapsible, foldable and
disposable eating utensil rests take time and efforts in folding to
create a structure that would hold the utensils. Moreover, the
disposable nature of those rests creates unnecessary waste in the
green conscientious environment.
[0016] (c) Some of the aforementioned eating utensil rests such as
the Frieling silverware rest take as much space as another small
plate. Further, the Frieling silverware rest will require washing
because the eating utensil will have direct contact with the rest's
surface.
[0017] (d) Some of the aforementioned eating utensil rests do the
very opposite of the table utensil rest because it requires all the
utensils' utilized surface that has direct contact with food to be
place on the rest; and whereas, the table utensil rest requires
only the non-utilized areas such as the neck of handle to touch the
table utensil rest. Moreover, for the most part, the table utensil
rest can be re-used numerous times without cleansing because none
of the utilized or contaminated surface will be touching the table
utensil rest.
[0018] (e) All of the aforementioned silverware rest cannot
accommodate serving utensils in the same manner as eating utensils
like the table utensil rest.
SUMMARY
[0019] In accordance with one embodiment of a table utensil rest
comprises a base to provide support on any horizontal surface, a
top surface, a front surface, a rear surface, a minimum of one
groove that can have a slit in the middle, a height that allows
sufficient clearance of utensils from any surface, and sufficient
spacing between grooves to prevent overlapping of utensils.
DRAWINGS
[0020] Figures
[0021] FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the utensil rest.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a rear view of the utensil rest.
[0023] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the utensil rest.
[0024] FIG. 4 is a side view of utensil rest with a vertical knife
placement on a horizontal surface.
[0025] FIG. 5 is a side view of utensil rest with a flat fork or
spoon placement on a horizontal surface.
[0026] FIG. 6 is a top view of utensil rest with flat placement of
knife, fork, and spoon.
[0027] FIG. 7 is a top view of utensil rest with vertical placement
of knife and flat placement of fork and spoon.
[0028] FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of utensil rest with one
groove and slit combination.
[0029] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of utensil rest with two
(2) grooves and slit combination.
[0030] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of utensil rest with three
(3) grooves and slit combination.
[0031] FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of utensil rest with four
(4) grooves and slit combination.
[0032] FIG. 12 is a top view of utensil rest with vertical
placement of knife, fork and spoon.
[0033] FIG. 13 is a top view of utensil rest with placement of
chopsticks and flat placement of fork and spoon.
DRAWINGS
Reference Numerals
[0034] 1. table utensil rest
[0035] 2. top surface
[0036] 3. base
[0037] 4. front surface
[0038] 5. rear surface
[0039] 6. right end
[0040] 7. left end
[0041] 8. groove
[0042] 9. front groove base
[0043] 10. rear groove base
[0044] 11. slit
[0045] 12. front slit base
[0046] 13. rear slit base
[0047] 14. height
[0048] 15. top width
[0049] 16. bottom width
[0050] 17. depth
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0051] Common table utensils are forks, knifes, spoons, and
chopsticks and a range of serving utensils such as serving spoons,
forks, spatulas, knives, ladles, cheese tools, pasta servers, pie
servers and the like. Table utensil rest 1 in FIGS. 1-3 comprises
of a top surface 2, base 3, front surface 4, rear surface 5, right
end 6, left end 7, groove 8 and slit 11. Top surface 2, base 3,
front surface 4 and rear surface 5 can be one continuous surface or
a connection of numerous surfaces that create on the same
directional plane to provide support to the structure of the table
utensil rest 1.
[0052] Table utensil rest 1 can have several embodiments, as
illustrated in FIGS. 8-11, depending on the preference of the
manufacturers. Table utensil rest 1 can have one (1) to five (5)
grooves 8. Modern informal plate settings can range from having two
(2) utensils on each side of a plate to three (3) utensils together
on only the right side of the plate. Formal plate settings
generally comprises of three (3) utensils on each side of the
plate. Additionally, users may prefer more than three (3) utensils
together on the right side of the plate. Further, restaurants that
serve Asian cuisines generally offer chopsticks to the patrons.
Table utensil rest 1 accommodates the placement of any combination
of forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks, as illustrated in FIG.
13. Further, the table utensil rest can accommodate serving spoons,
forks, spatulas, knives, ladles, cheese tools, pasta servers, pie
servers and the like in a dinning setting.
[0053] Table utensil rest 1 can be made from various materials
available on the market, but not limited to, stainless steel,
bronze, glass, plastic, polyresin, ceramics, clay, wood, stone,
other metals, other man-made materials, and the like, as long as
the materials can support the utensils.
[0054] Groove 8 allows secured placement of table utensils. The
width of groove 8 can range between 9 mm to 20 mm in order to
accommodate most table utensils including serving utensils. The
neck, the space right after the head that is used for eating or
serving, of a common table fork or spoon is can range from 8 mm to
11 mm and up to 20 mm for serving utensils. The neck of a common
table knife can range from 13 mm to 16 mm in width. Therefore, it's
preferable that groove 8 for a fork or spoon ranges from 9 mm to 13
mm in width, sufficiently wide to accommodate the width of a fork
or spoon. It's preferable that groove 8 for a knife, chopsticks or
serving utensils ranges 14 mm to 20 mm in width with slit 11 in the
center, as illustrated in FIGS. 8-11. Slit 11 allows the vertical
placement a knife because depending on users' preference. The width
of slit 11 is approximately 1.5 mm-5 mm. Front slit base 12 is at
least 2 mm from front groove base 9. Rear slit base 13 is at least
2 mm from rear groove base 10 as long as it allows knife clearance
from table top in the vertical position, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
Base 9 can be one continuous surface or numerous fragmented
surfaces that look like legs so long as they provide stability to
the table utensil rest.
[0055] However, it foreseeable that table utensil rest in FIGS.
9-11 can have various combination of groove 8 and slit 11 with a
width between 1.5 mm-5 mm for vertical placement of spoons and
forks as illustrated in FIG. 12.
[0056] Front groove base 9 on the front surface 4 is 2 mm lower
from top surface 2 than rear grove base 10 on rear surface 5 in
order to create a slight angle. However, the angle may not be
necessary in all designs. The preferred embodiment is that front
groove base 9 on front surface 4 is 4 mm from top surface 2 and
rear groove base 10 on the rear surface 5 is 2 mm from top surface
2. The height difference creates a slight angle that provides
better support for utensils because the angle follows the natural
angle created by the placement even though the angle is not
necessary for all designs of the table utensil rest, as illustrated
in FIGS. 4 & 5. Further, the head of a fork, knives or spoons
is curved, which requires additional clearance height from any
horizontal surface on rear surface 5, as illustrated in FIGS. 4
& 5.
[0057] Spacing between grooves 8 depends on the preference of the
manufacturer. For flat display, spacing should be sufficiently wide
to allow flat placement of table utensils without overlapping, as
illustrated in FIG. 6. The height of rear groove base 10 and front
groove base 9 from base 3 should be sufficient to allow clearance
knives, forks, and spoons from the table top while providing
stability and support to the utensils, as illustrated in FIGS. 4
& 5.
[0058] Height 14 can be at any measurement so long as it is
sufficient to allow clearance of spoons, forks or knives from the
horizontal surface as long as it provides stability and support for
the utensils. Top width 15 can be at any measurement depending on
the number of grooves 8 that it accommodates and spacing
requirements between grooves 8, as described above. Bottom width 16
can be at any measurement as long as it provides stable support for
the utensils on the horizontal surface. Depth 17 can be at any
measurement as long as it provides sufficient stability, security
and support for the utensils. Further, height 14, top width 15,
bottom width 16 and depth 17 also depend on the esthetic preference
of the manufacturers. Further, it's preferable that depth 17 is not
greater 40 mm.
[0059] It is understood that there can be various modifications and
combinations of groove 8, slit 11, top width 15, bottom width 16,
height 14, depth 17 of the preferred embodiments. Right end 6 and
left end 7 can be at various lengths from the center of the groove
8 and can be at various height clearances from a surface, depending
on the preference of the manufacturers.
Advantages
[0060] From the description above, there are numerous advantages of
the embodiments of the table utensil rest as follow:
[0061] a. The table utensil rest will accommodate large serving
utensils without taking any additional space like a spoon rest.
[0062] b. The table utensil rest can be used without the
requirement of continuous cleaning because only the non-utilized
part of the utensils will have direct contact the table utensil
rest's surface.
[0063] c. The table utensil rest will take a very small space on a
surface compares to other silverware rest available on the market
today to accommodate more than one eating utensils.
Conclusion, Ramification, and Scope
[0064] Accordingly, in this ever growing resilient bacteria
environment coupled with green consciousness, the table utensil
rest can accommodate all eating and serving utensils to provide the
need for dining hygiene and reduction of waste of resources used in
the attempt to keep one's utensils from being contaminated. The
table utensil rest has numerous advantages:
[0065] it takes a significantly smaller space than a spoon rest for
serving utensils;
[0066] it is more versatile than a spoon rest because it can
accommodate most larger serving utensils in an unobtrusive manner,
whereas, most serving utensils are rested perpendicular to a spoon
rest that would take more than twice the surface space between a
spoon rest and a serving utensil;
[0067] it organizes eating utensils neatly without being
obtrusive;
[0068] it does not require continuous washing, and therefore, save
resources;
[0069] it prevents direct contact of the utilized part of the
utensil from touching the table utensil rest;
[0070] it is versatile because eating utensils and serving utensil
can be used by the same embodiment.
[0071] Although the description above contains many specifics,
these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the
embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of the
presently preferred embodiments. Therefore, the scope of the
embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their
legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.
* * * * *