Patent Publication Number: US-2017360228-A1

Title: Eating utensil and a method of making the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 105119266, filed on Jun. 20, 2016. 
     FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to an eating utensil and a method of making the same, and more particularly to an eating utensil including a support structure used for preventing a food-holding portion of the eating utensil from being in contact with any undesired plane. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a conventional eating utensil such as a spoon  1  is made of plastic materials, and includes a bowl portion  12  that is formed with a food-receiving space  120 , and a handle  11  that extends from the bowl portion  12 . The conventional spoon  1  further includes a support portion  111  that extends outwardly from the handle  11  and is opposite to the food-receiving space  120  of the bowl portion  12 , such that the spoon  1  is positioned relative to a bowl  2  by abuttedly interposing a top edge  21  of the bowl  2  between the support portion  111  and the handle  11 . However, the conventional plastic spoon  1  is likely to release toxic substances when used to handle hot food. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , another conventional spoon-shaped eating utensil  3  is proposed and is made from a metal material. The conventional metal utensil  3  includes a food-holding portion  32  characterized by a bowl-like shape and a handle  31  extending from the food-holding portion  32 . The handle  31  includes a bent portion  312  connected to the food-holding portion  32 , and a gripping portion  311  connected to the bent portion  312  and distal to the food-holding portion  32 . When the gripping portion  311  and the underneath of the bent portion  312  are in contact with a top surface of a table, the food-holding portion  32  will hang slightly above and avoid contact with the top surface of the table for sanitary purposes. However, formation of the bent portion  312  requires additional metal materials, resulting in production cost increase. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide an eating utensil that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art. 
     According to one aspect of the disclosure, an eating utensil includes a food-holding portion and a handle. 
     The food-holding portion has a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to the top surface. 
     The handle extends from the food-holding portion, and includes a connection portion that is connected to the food-holding portion, a gripping portion, an upper surface, a lower surface, a slot, and a punched-out tongue portion. 
     The gripping portion is opposite to the connection portion and distal to the food-holding portion. 
     The upper surface is formed on the connection portion and the gripping portion, and faces in the same direction as the top surface of the food-holding portion. 
     The lower surface is formed on the connection portion and the gripping portion oppositely of the upper surface. 
     The slot is formed in the connection portion and extends through the upper surface and the lower surface. 
     The punched-out tongue portion is connected to the connection portion within the slot, and curvedly and downwardly extends away from the slot. The punched-out tongue portion has a free end distal to the lower surface. 
     When the gripping portion and the free end of the punched-out portion are in contact with a plane, the food-receiving portion is spaced apart from the plane. 
     According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method of making an eating utensil includes: forging an eating utensil preformed product including a food-holding portion and a handle that has a connection portion connected to the food-holding portion, and a gripping portion opposite to the connection portion and distal to the food-holding portion; and punching the connection portion to form a slot and a punched-out tongue portion. The punched-out tongue portion is connected to the connection portion within the slot and has a free end extending away from the slot. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a conventional spoon; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of another conventional spoon; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of an eating utensil according to the disclosure; 
         FIGS. 4 to 6  are schematic views illustrating different operating conditions of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view illustrating another configuration of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view illustrating the other configuration of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method of making an eating utensil according to the disclosure; 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic view illustrating consecutive steps of the method illustrated in  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method of making another eating utensil; and 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic view illustrating consecutive steps of the method illustrated in  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , an embodiment of an eating utensil according to the disclosure includes a food-holding portion  4  and a handle  5 . The eating utensil may be made of a metal material. 
     The food-holding portion  4  has a top surface  41  and a bottom surface  42  that is opposite to the top surface  41 . The handle  5  extends from the food-holding portion  4 , and includes a connection portion  53 , a gripping portion  54 , an upper surface  51 , a lower surface  52 , a slot  55 , and a punched-out tongue portion  56 . In the embodiment, the food-holding portion  4  is exemplified to have a bowl-like shape so as to serve as a spoon. 
     The connection portion  53  is connected to the food-holding portion  4 . The gripping portion  54  is opposite to the connection portion  53  and distal to the food-holding portion  4 . The upper surface  51  is formed on the connection portion  53  and the gripping portion  54  and faces in the same direction as the top surface  41  of the food-holding portion  4 . The lower surface  52  is formed on the connection portion  53  and the gripping portion  54  oppositely of the upper surface  51 . The slot  55  is formed in the connection portion  53  and extends through the upper surface  51  and the lower surface  52 . The punched-out tongue portion  56  is connected to the connection portion  53  within the slot  55 , and curvedly extends downwardly away from the slot  55 . The punched-out tongue portion  56  has a free end  561  distal to the lower surface  52 . In one form, the punched-out tongue portion  56  and the slot  55  are formed simultaneously by using punching techniques to downwardly punch out a portion of the connection portion  53  and thus, the punched-out tongue portion  56  has a size corresponding to a void portion of the slot  55 . 
     More specifically, the slot  55  has a first end  551  proximate to the food-holding portion  4 , and a second end  552  opposite to the first end  551  and distal to the food-holding portion  4 . The punched-out tongue portion  56  is connected to the connection portion  53  at the second end  552  of the slot  55 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , in the embodiment, the punched-out tongue portion  56  of the handle  5  has a rod-like shape. When the gripping portion  54  and the free end  561  of the punched-out tongue portion  56  are placed in contact with a plane  91 , such as a top surface of a table, the food-holding portion  4  becomes spaced apart from the plane  91 . Therefore, the eating utensil can be largely protected from being contaminated when placed on the table. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , another representation of the eating utensil is illustrated. When the eating utensil is not in use, the punched-out tongue portion  56  can serve as a hook so that the eating utensil can be hooked on a rope  92  to air-dry the eating utensil while keeping the food-holding portion  4  away from direct contact with other objects. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , when the eating utensil is in use, the eating utensil can be supported on a top edge  931  of a bowl  93  by receiving the top edge  931  in the groove formed between the connection portion  53  and the punched-out tongue portion  56 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , another configuration of the embodiment of the eating utensil according to the disclosure is illustrated. The food-holding portion  4  has a plurality of fork prongs  44  so as to serve as a fork. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , another configuration of the embodiment of the eating utensil according to the disclosure is illustrated. The free end  561  of the punched-out tongue portion  56  is bent backwardly to form a loop. Therefore, the punched-out tongue portion  56  has a rounded end to prevent a user from being accidently hurt. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , an embodiment of a method of making an eating utensil according to the disclosure is described. In step S 01 , an eating utensil preformed product  8  is forged to include a food-holding portion  4 , which is exemplified to be bowl-shaped and a handle  5  that has a connection portion  53  connected to the food-holding portion  4  and a gripping portion  54  opposite to the connection portion  53  and distal to the food-holding portion  4 . In step S 02 , the connection portion  53  is punched to forma slot  55  and a punched-out tongue portion  56  that is connected to the connection portion  53  within the slot  55  and that has a free end  561  extending away from the slot  55 . More specifically, the punched-out tongue portion  56  is bent such that the punched-out tongue portion  56  extends curvedly away from the slot  55 . Thus, the punched-out tongue portion  56  has a size equal to a void portion of the slot  55 . Since the punched-out tongue portion  56  and the slot  55  are both formed in the eating utensil preformed product  8  without using additional metal materials, the production cost of the eating utensil can be reduced. Alternatively, the food-holding portion  4  may be formed with the fork prongs  44  instead of the bowl shape in the forging step. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the method of making the eating utensil of the disclosure further includes backwardly bending the free end  561  of the punched-out tongue portion  56  to form the loop. 
     By virtue of the metal eating utensil, the eating utensil is nontoxic and can be safely used for hot items. In addition, the punched-out tongue portion  56  and the slot  55  are formed in the eating utensil preformed product  8  using the punching techniques without using any additional metal materials, thereby reducing the material cost of the eating utensil. 
     In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects. 
     While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.