Abstract:
A clamshell style utensil carrying case includes a pair of housing members coupled together by a double hinge and latch. Each housing member has a support arranged to hold an associated utensil in place with the utensil heads facing in opposite directions. A support stand that projects from the double hinge spine holds a third utensil. In a closed position, the housing members encase the utensils. In an open position the utensils are displayed side by side with the third utensil optionally being elevated relative to the others. To help minimize the visual thickness of the case, the interior surface of each housing member may include a depression in the region adjacent the head end of its held utensil. The depressions form corresponding bulges in the exterior surfaces of their associated housing members. The bulges—which are located on opposite ends and opposite sides of the case—provide additional room for the utensil heads without unduly impacting the visual height of the case.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is related to Design Application No. 29/484,453, filed on Mar. 10, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    There are a number of circumstances where it may be desirable to carry a small set of utensils such as a knife, fork and spoon. The present invention relates generally to a utensil carrying case suitable for use in such circumstances and to specific utensils or a utensil set suitable for storage in such a case. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    In one aspect, a clamshell style utensil carrying case is described. The carrying case includes a pair of complementary housing members (e.g. upper and lower housing members) that are coupled together by a double hinge on one side and a latch that releasably secures free sides of the housing members. Each housing member has a utensil support arranged to hold an associated utensil (e.g., a spoon or fork) in place. Additionally, a support stand projects from a spine (web) portion of the double hinge and is arranged to hold a third utensil (e.g., a knife) When the casing is in a closed position the housing members encase the utensils, while in an open position the utensils may be displayed substantially side by side. In some preferred embodiments, the support stand holds the third utensil (e.g., knife) in an elevated position relative to the first and second utensils when the case is in the open position. 
         [0004]    The utensil supports are preferably arranged such that the heads of their associated utensils face in opposite direction. To help minimize the visual thickness of the case the interior surface of each housing member may include a depression in the region adjacent the head end of its held utensil. The depressions form corresponding bulges in the exterior surfaces of the housing members. Since the head end of many utensils (e.g., spoons and forks) have an effective height that can be significantly greater than the thickness of the handle, the bulges—which are located on opposite ends and opposite sides of the case—provide additional room for the utensil heads without unduly impacting the visual height of the case. 
         [0005]    In some embodiments, the hinges in the double hinge may take the form of living hinges and the case may be formed from a material conductive to the formation of living hinges such as polypropylene. 
         [0006]    In some embodiments the support stand carried by the hinge spine includes a pair of projecting side walls arranged to hold the third utensil in place. The stand may optionally include a registration nub located between the projecting side walls that is arranged to position the third utensil relative to the stand. In one particular implementation, the registration nub is arranged to mate with a bottle opener feature in a knife held by the stand. 
         [0007]    A separate described invention relates to a plastic knife with a bottle opener feature. Plastic that integrally forms the knife bland and handle is molded around a metal bottle opener feature to hold the bottle opener in place. The plastic knife may be formed from a variety of different materials. By way of example, glass filled nylon works well. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The invention and the advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a utensil carrying case in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the utensil carrying case of  FIG. 1  without the utensils stored therein and before the support stand is attached. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3(   a ) is a front side elevational view of the utensil carrying case of  FIG. 1  in the closed position. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3(   b ) is an end elevational view of the utensil carrying case of  FIG. 1  in the closed position. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3(   c ) is a top perspective view of the utensil carrying case of  FIG. 1  in the closed position. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3(   d ) is a bottom perspective view of the utensil carrying case of  FIG. 1  in the closed position. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a front side elevational view of the utensil carrying case of  FIG. 1  in the open position. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a knife 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the utensil support stand. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of the utensil support stand of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a cut-away perspective view of the utensil support stand of  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
       [0020]    In the drawings, like reference numerals are sometimes used to designate like structural elements. It should also be appreciated that the depictions in the figures are diagrammatic and not to scale. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    The present invention relates generally to utensil carrying cases and utensil sets included with such carrying cases. In another aspect a novel knife is described. 
         [0022]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an open carrying case  100  that contains a knife  150 , a fork  153  and a spoon  156 . The knife  150  is supported on a utensil support stand  160 .  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the open carrying case  100  without the utensils  150 ,  153  and  156  and with the utensil support stand  160  removed.  FIGS. 3(   a )- 3 ( d ) are side, end, top perspective and bottom perspective views respectively of the carrying case in a closed position illustrating its relatively thin visual appearance.  FIG. 4  is a side view of the carrying case in an open position. 
         [0023]    The carrying case  100  includes a pair of housing members  103 ,  104  that are pivotally coupled by a double hinge  108 . The double hinge  108  carries a stand pedestal  162  onto which the support stand  160  may be placed. The housing members each include a base or floor  130 , a sidewall  132 , and a depression  134  in the floor  130  in the region where the head of a utensil such as spoon  156  or fork  153  is expected to rest. The depressions  134  on the interior surface of the housing floor provide corresponding bulges  135  on the exterior surface of the housing members  102 ,  104  as seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . Each housing member  103 ,  104  also includes a number of utensil support features including handle guide  120 , snap catches  123  and positioning features  126 ,  127  which in the illustrated embodiment take the form of small ridges or nubs. 
         [0024]    During use, a utensil such a fork  153  or spoon  156  is set in each housing member  103 ,  104 . The head of utensil is placed in the region of depression  134  and the handle extends towards handle guide  132 . The longitudinal position of the spoon and fork is constrained by handle guide  120  on one end, and a utensil head stop  136  on the other. The utensil head stop  136  is formed as an integral extension of the sidewall  132  at one end of each housing member  103 ,  104 . The spacing and positioning of the snap catches  123  is such that when the spoon or fork is properly placed in the housing member, the handle will snap into the snap catches  123  to thereby hold the utensil in place. 
         [0025]    It should be appreciated that the height of the head end of the spoon  156  and fork  153  relative to the longitudinal axes of the utensils is substantially greater than the thicknesses of their handles. The geometry of the spoon and fork is such that their head ends dip below the centerline of the handle near the junction of the handle and head, and then extend significantly above the centerline towards the distal tip, with the distal tips  154 ,  157  having the greatest deviation from the centerline. 
         [0026]    The carrying case  100  is designed to have a visually thin appearance and there are several features that contribute to the relatively thin appearance. Initially, it can be seen that the utensils  153 ,  156  are oriented with their heads located at opposite ends of the case  100 . The spoon and fork are positioned such that their distal tips  154 ,  157  extend beyond the ends of the knife  150 . Since the tips  154 ,  157  don&#39;t overlap with either the knife  150  or each other, the case  100  can be made thinner than would be needed if there was such overlap. Furthermore, the depressions/bulges  134 ,  135  are gently rounded in two dimensions to present pleasant visual lines with the apex of the depressions being located in the region where the lowest part of the utensil head is expected to rest. This allows a still thinner case over the vast majority of the case&#39;s surface area since the depressions/bulges are positioned only where the extra thickness is needed. The depressions /bulges are also positioned inwards from the periphery of the case so that from many angles (e.g. looking downwards on the case) the viewer only sees the primary sides of the housing members and not the bulges, which can further add to the perceived visual thinness. Minimizing the edge thickness of the case also helps the case easily slide into a container such as a backpack or pocket purse. 
         [0027]    The shape of the budges may vary in accordance with the needs of a particular design. Preferably, the bulges are localized and do not extend to any of the edges of the case and do not extend significantly past the lengthwise centerline of the case so they only minimally overlap vertically. In other embodiments, the bulges may be arranged such that they do not extend past the lengthwise centerline such that there is no vertical overlap. These aspects help reduce the edge thickness, the overall thickness and the visual thicknesses of the case. For visual enhancement, the bulges may taper more slowly from the apex towards the casing centerline than they do towards the end and side edges as can be seen in  FIGS. 3(   a )- 3 ( c ) and  4 . 
         [0028]    The housing members  103  and  104  may also include various positioning features  126  and  127  to help position the utensils  153 ,  156  relative to the housing members. In the illustrated embodiment, positioning ridge  126  is located adjacent the handle guide  120  to lift the proximal end of spoon/fork handle off of the floor  130 . Slightly raising the handle in this manner helps lower the distal tips  157 ,  154  of the spoon and fork. The nubs also elevate the handles of the utensils slightly off the floors of the housing members so that a user is more easily able to grab the handles when removing the utensils. Positioning nubs  127  are arranged to serve as supports that cooperate with snap catches  123  to tightly hold the utensils in place. It should be appreciated that the geometry of the positioning features can be widely varied without diminishing their effectiveness. 
         [0029]    In the illustrated embodiment, each utensil is held in place by two sets of opposing snaps. This was done so that if one snap were to be broken off, there would still be a second set to hold the utensil in place. Two sets of snaps also permits the use of snaps having a reduced holding force per individual snap. This means snap deflection is minimized and snap life maximized Although two sets of snaps are illustrated, it should be appreciated that in other embodiments, there could simply be one set of snap per utensil, or more than two. 
         [0030]    The housing members  103  are coupled by a double hinge  108 . The double hinge includes a “spine” or “web”  109  between a pair of hinges  110 ,  111  that are coupled to the housing members  103 ,  104  respectively. The hinges  110 ,  111  may take any suitable form. In the illustrated example, the hinges are living hinges that are integrally formed from plastic with the housing members and the hinge spine  109 . 
         [0031]    In the illustrated embodiment, a stand pedestal  162  is integrally formed on the hinge spine  162 . The stand pedestal  162  takes the form of a T-shaped rail and includes a stand locking feature  163 . Knife support stand  160  is mounted on stand pedestal  162  by sliding onto the T-shaped rail and has a complementary locking feature so that when positioned, the support stand  160  is securely (and preferably permanently) attached to stand pedestal  162 . Thus, the knife support stand is secured to and carried by the web of the double hinge  108 . Knife  150  can be attached to the support stand  160  in an orientation in which its height is substantially perpendicular to the major plane of the web as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . Thus, when the case  100  is opened substantially flat as shown in those figures, the knife  150  is elevated relative to the spoon and fork and extends substantially perpendicularly relative to the spoon and fork. When the case is closed, the knife is interleaved between the spoon and fork in a generally parallel manner. 
         [0032]    The actual geometries of the knife, spoon and fork may be widely varied and in other embodiments, other utensils may be stored in place of, or in addition to, one or more of the illustrated knife, spoon and fork. By way of example, particular spoon and fork geometries are described in concurrently filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/204,497, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0033]    A particular knife design  150  that is well suited for use with the carrying case  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 5 , although again, a wide variety of other knife geometries may be used. Knife  150  includes a handle  205 , a blade  207  and a bottle opener  214  positioned at or near the junction of the handle and blade. The illustrated blade  207  has a spine  209  and a serrated cutting edge  210 , although that is not a requirement. The handle and blade portions of the knife may be integrally formed from a strong plastic material—as for example, a glass reinforced thermoplastic such glass filled nylon etc . . . . The bottle opener  214  is formed from a metal insert  215  (shown in dotted lines) that is molded into the knife handle/blade during molding of the knife The insert  215  includes bottle opener feature  214  that is exposed and forms a recess  217  at a middle portion of the knife The insert  215  may also include a plurality of through-holes  218  that allow plastic to flow therethrough to better secure the insert to the plastic knife The bottle opener  214  serves dual purposes. In addition to the bottle opener functionality, the recess  217  provided by the bottle opener serves as a registration feature that can be used to align the knife on knife stand  160 . 
         [0034]    Referring next to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , one particular knife support stand geometry will be described. The illustrated knife support stand  160  includes a pair of side walls  164 ,  165  that extend upward from a base  166  forming a slot  167  therebetween. The walls longitudinally taper towards the top and have opposing projections  168  that extend inward to form a catch that cooperates with the base  166  and the side walls  164 ,  165  to hold the knife in place. The elasticity of side walls  164 ,  165  allows a knife shaft to be pushed downward into the stand past the projections  168  with the projections  168  springing back to catch the knife thereby holding it in place on the stand. The projections  168  are preferably rounded to facilitate easy insertion and removal of the knife onto/from the stand  160 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 8  is a side facing cut-away view of the stand. As seen therein, the slot  167  within base  166  has a floor surface  169  that may be contoured to roughly match the contours of the knife A registration hump  171  is provided on the floor surface  169 . The registration hump  171  is configured to mate with the recess  217  formed by bottle opener  214  to properly position the knife on the stand. This helps prevent the knife from being placed on the stand at a location that extends too far toward one end or the other such that it could interfere with the tips of the spoon or fork. In the orientation of  FIG. 8 , the floor  169  is lower towards the left side of the base to accommodate the proximal part of blade  207 . The height of the floor  169  to the right side of the registration hump  171  is configured to support the handle  205 . When the knife is properly positioned, the recess  217  slides over registration hump  217  to position the knife on the stand. Thus, the registration hump  171  and floor topology of the stand  160  cooperate to properly position knife in the case  100  relative to the fork and spoon. 
         [0036]    In the illustrated embodiment, the knife support stand  160  is formed independently of the rest of the housing member for ease of manufacturing reasons. In other embodiments, the stand can be integrally formed with the housing members  103 ,  104  or formed from multiple independent parts that are later assembled. In the illustrated embodiment, the base stand  166  includes a cross shaped channel  173  that is arranged to mate with T-shaped pedestal  162 . The channel and pedestal have complementary snap locking features  175 ,  176  that are arranged to permanently secure the stand  160  to the pedestal  162  when assembled. The somewhat circular portion  178  at the top of the cross shaped channel  173  forms a substantially circular channel when the stand is assembled. This channel may be used as a toothpick holder to secure a toothpick (not shown) to the stand  160 . 
         [0037]    The side walls  132  of the housing members  103 ,  104  have several noteworthy features as well. A best seen in  FIG. 2 , the sidewall  132  is cut away adjacent the double hinge and is arranged so that the hinge web/spine  109  forms an edge of the case  100  when the case is closed. The ends  112  of the spine may be thinned to a half thickness and match with complementary thinned recesses  138  in the side walls so that the web registers against the sidewall in a manner that forms a continuous flush side edge of the case when the case is closed. The sidewall  132  of each housing member has a utensil head stop  136  on one end and a head stop recess  137  on the inner surface of the other end. Both the head stops  136  and the head stop recesses  137  are substantially half thickness. The head stops and head stops recesses are complementary so that the head stop of each housing member will nest into the head stop recess of the other in a hidden manner when the case is closed. The head stops are sized to be higher than the tips of the spoon or the fork to thereby prevent the utensil from sliding “forwards”. 
         [0038]    Housing member  103  has a tab  141  that extends downward into a corresponding cut-out  142  in the sidewall  132  in opposing housing member  104 . The tab  141  includes a latch bar  143  on its inner surface. Housing member  104  has a finger recess  144  behind the cut-out  142 . The latch bar  143  snaps over the top wall  145  of finger recess  144  when the case is closed to snap the case shut. The case can readily be opened by pulling the tab  141  outward and upward so that the latch bar moves free of the top wall  145  of finger recess  144 . This structure provides a latch mechanism for securing the case in the closed position. The tab  141  and cutout  142  cooperate with the sidewalls  132  of the housing member  103 ,  104  to present a smooth and flush side edge for the case in the closed position. 
         [0039]    The case  100  may be formed from a wide variety of materials. By way of example, a variety of thermoplastic materials such as polypropylene work well and permit the use of low cost, injection or transfer molding manufacturing processes that can produce durable and attractive looking cases. Of course a wide variety of other materials can be used as well. When living hinges are used, it is particularly desirable to utilize a material that is durable and otherwise well suited for use as the hinge material. Again, polypropylene works well although other materials can readily be used as well. 
         [0040]    Although only a few embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it should be appreciated that the invention may be implemented in many other forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1  includes a knife, a spoon and a fork. Although this combination is expected to be most common, it should be appreciated that the described case can be used to hold a variety of different utensils and combinations of utensils. 
         [0041]    Specific structures have been shown for various components such as the double hinge, the utensil supports, the support stand, the latch, the utensil head stops, etc. Although these structures work well, it should be appreciated that a wide variety of alternative or equivalent structures can readily be used in their place. Therefore, the present embodiments should be considered illustrative and not restrictive and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.