JP2013240569A - Toothpick container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothpick container in which toothpicks housed inside the container can be safely and sanitarily taken out one by one by one push operation and the whole of the container can be made compact in size.SOLUTION: A toothpick container includes: a bottomed-cylindrical housing chamber 13 capable of housing at least one toothpick 10; an upper cover 2 removably attached above the chamber and having an outlet 15 at an upper end, the outlet allowing the toothpick 10 to pass through one by one; a vertical motion member 12 installed to enable vertical movement while holding the toothpick 10; a pressing member 4 for moving the vertical motion member 12 upward against biasing force of a biasing member 6; and an association mechanism for raising the vertical motion member 12 when the pressing member 4 is pressed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a toothpick container that can accommodate a plurality of toothpicks and can be taken out one by one with a simple operation. Here, the toothpick is generally an elongated stick having a pointed tip that is used to remove an object sandwiched between teeth. However, the container to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a normal toothpick, and is a yakitori. Therefore, the “wedge” in the description of the present invention includes these elongated rod-like bodies.

  As described in Patent Document 1 below, a commonly used container for putting a toothpick is almost composed of a ceramic or plastic cylindrical can body and a lid, and the toothpick is put in the can body. When used, the lid is removed and the toothpick is taken out. In such a toothpick container, since the finger comes into contact with another toothpick when taking out the toothpick, there is also a type in which a round hole is made in the lid and the toothpick container is turned upside down when taking out the toothpick.

  However, the thickness of the toothpick is not constant, and depending on how to open the round hole, multiple toothpicks come out at the same time, or conversely, multiple pieces get caught in the round hole and do not come out smoothly. Easy removal is not guaranteed.

  Therefore, according to the idea described in Patent Document 1, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by a simple structure, and only one toothpick can be taken out by one simple push operation without arranging the position of the stored toothpick. A one-touch toothpick container is provided.

  The toothpick container includes a bottomed cylindrical inner case that accommodates a plurality of toothpicks, an outer case that is disposed so as to surround the toothpick and that forms an outlet at the top, and a toothpick while holding the toothpick at the tip. A swinging arm swinging arm that can be lifted and removed from the outlet, a biasing member that is connected to the swinging arm and biases upward, and pushes the swinging arm downward against the biasing force. And a push button attached to the upper end of the push bar.

  According to this configuration, when the push button is pushed, the toothpick gripping swinging arm pivots downward to be able to hold the toothpick at its tip holding portion, and when the pushbutton is released thereafter, the biasing member is attached. While the toothpick grasping and swinging arm is rotated upward by the force, the toothpick is carried out from the upper outlet while the toothpick is stabbed and held by the needle of the tip holding portion.

Utility Model Registration No. 3114480

  However, in the above-described one-touch type toothpick container, one toothpick is taken out by a two-step operation of pressing and releasing the push button, so it is difficult to say that the toothpick is taken out by one touch, that is, one operation.

  In addition, this toothpick container is configured to allow the toothpick to be taken out from the outlet by rotating the toothpick swinging arm downward and upward in accordance with the two-step operation of the pushbutton. And the toothpick take-out port must be spaced apart by at least the length of the toothpick gripping swing arm, and it is difficult to make the entire container compact by bringing the push button close to the toothpick take-out port. is there.

  Usually, a toothpick container is stored with the tip of the toothpick pointed downward, but when the toothpick is stored in the opposite direction (that is, with the pointed tip up). Is not preferable in terms of safety and hygiene because the sharp tip is picked up by a finger and taken out. However, in the toothpick container of Patent Document 1, even when the toothpick is stored in the reverse direction as described above, the tip holding portion of the toothpick gripping swing arm holds the base end that forms the lower end of such a toothpick. Therefore, the pointed tip of the toothpick may protrude from the container outlet.

  The present invention solves the problems of the one-touch type toothpick container as described above, and can be safely and hygienically taken out one by one by pressing the toothpick stored in the inside, and the whole is compactly formed. An object of the present invention is to provide a toothpick container.

  The present invention is a toothpick container in which one or a plurality of toothpicks stored therein can be taken out one by one, and has a bottomed cylindrical storage chamber that can store at least one toothpick, An upper lid that is detachably attached to the upper side and has an outlet for passing one toothpick at the top, a vertically moving member that is installed to be movable in the vertical direction while holding the toothpick, and a biasing member for the vertically moving member A push-down member for moving upward against the urging force and an interlocking mechanism for raising the vertical movement member when the push-down member is pushed down, and the bottom of the storage chamber has the lowest center portion Formed in the shape of a mortar and having a bottom member having a through-hole through which the vertical movement member penetrates in the vertical direction, the vertical movement member has a small hole for receiving a sharp tip of a toothpick on its upper end surface, The upper lid is below the outlet. And having an opening forming member receiving and retaining the proximal end of the toothpick.

  In the toothpick container of the present invention, the bottom of the storage chamber is formed in the shape of a bowl with the lowest center part by the bottom member, so that the lower end of the toothpick stored in the storage chamber is at the lowest point of the bottom member Gather to be located. At this time, if the lower end of the toothpick is a sharp tip, the pointed lower end of any one tooth enters the small hole in the inclined upper end surface of the vertical movement member, and the toothpick is held above the vertical movement member. The

  On the other hand, when the toothpick is stored with the pointed tip up, the lower end of the toothpick does not enter the small hole in the upper end surface of the vertical movement member. The toothpick is not lifted, and the sharp tip does not protrude from the outlet, which is suitable for safety and hygiene.

  When taking out the toothpick in this state, if the pressing member is pushed down against the urging force of the urging member, the vertically moving member rises, so that the toothpick held by the pushing member is lifted. At this time, the base end part which becomes an upper end of a toothpick protrudes upwards from an extraction opening through the opening formation member provided in the lower side of the extraction opening of an upper cover. Here, when the pressing member is stopped and released, the pressing member is returned to the upper position by the urging force of the urging member, so that the vertical movement member is lowered and returned to the standby position. At this time, since the toothpick protruding upward from the outlet is held by the opening forming member, the toothpick can be taken out at any time.

  According to the present invention, as described above, the vertically moving member rises in response to the pressing of the pressing member to lift the toothpick, i.e., both the pressing member and the vertically moving member move up and down. It is possible to arrange the outlet close to each other, and the entire container can be made compact and compact. Further, when the toothpick is protruded upward from the outlet, the toothpick container of the present invention reminds the viewer of the building with the antenna protruding, and has an effect as a visually excellent design.

  Moreover, in addition to being able to take out the toothpicks stored inside one at a time with a single push-down operation, the toothpicks stored with their sharp tips pointed upwards are not taken out, so a safe and sanitary container Is provided.

  In the toothpick container of the present invention, the interlocking mechanism includes a small gear that meshes with a rack portion that extends in the movement direction of the pressing member, and a large gear that meshes with a rack portion that extends in the movement direction of the vertical movement member. Is preferably formed of a stepped gear formed coaxially and integrally.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said opening formation member is comprised by a pair of clamping piece which pinches | interposes the base end part of a toothpick, and forms the opening which penetrates a toothpick between both clamping pieces.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the toothpick container of the present invention includes a stopper for stopping the upward movement of the vertical movement member at a predetermined position outside the storage chamber.

The external view which shows the toothpick container which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the multiple toothpick used with the toothpick container of FIG. The perspective view which removes the one side of the main body case of the near side of the toothpick container of FIG. 1, and shows a structure inside a main body. The disassembled perspective view which shows the structural member inside a main body shown by FIG. The perspective view which shows the operation start state when taking out the toothpick accommodated in the inside of the main body shown in FIG. 3 one by one. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the lower configuration along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5.

  FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a toothpick container according to an embodiment of the present invention. This toothpick container can accommodate a plurality of toothpicks 10 having a general shape as shown in FIG. 2 in a toothpick storage chamber 13 (FIG. 3), which will be described later, and according to a push-down operation of the push button 8, which will be described later. It is comprised by the case main body 1 which accommodates the mechanism which protrudes one toothpick 10 upwards, and the upper cover 2 attached to the upper end so that attachment or detachment is possible.

  The case body 1 is divided into a case R on the front side and a case L on the depth side in the drawing, and the case R on the front side includes a storage room side case R1, a push button side case R2, and a base portion R3. The case L also includes a storage chamber side case L1, a push button side case L2, and a base portion L3 formed symmetrically with the front side.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper lid 2 has an outlet 15 for taking out the toothpick 10 one by one on the upper end surface, and the upper lid 2 is detachably attached above the storage chamber 13. A pair of fitting pieces 2a and 2b protruding downward from the edge is provided.

  Inside the upper lid 2, an opening forming member 3 that receives and holds the base end portion serving as the upper end of the toothpick 10 is attached in a recess 2 c formed around the outlet 15. The opening forming member 3 is composed of a pair of sandwiching pieces 3a and 3b that sandwich the proximal end portion of the toothpick 10, and an opening 3c that penetrates the toothpick 10 is formed between both the sandwiching pieces 3a and 3b.

  A toothpick guide 5 formed in a dome shape that guides the upper end of the toothpick 10 that is lifted as described later to the outlet 15 is mounted inside the upper lid 2. The toothpick guide 5 includes a pair of parallel locking pieces 5 a that are locked to the base end portions of the pair of sandwiching pieces 3 a and 3 b of the opening forming member 3, and a top portion that protrudes concentrically with the outlet 15 of the upper lid 2. 5b.

  As described above, a rectangular cylindrical frame body 7 is provided on the lower side of the toothpick guide 5 mounted inside the upper lid 2, and is mounted on the upper inner side of the case body 1.

  The inside of the case body 1 has a bottom that can accommodate at least one toothpick 10 by both side plates 13a and 13b extending in parallel in the vertical direction between the case R on the near side and the case L on the depth side. A cylindrical toothpick storage chamber 13 is formed. Below the storage chamber 13, a vertically moving member 12 that is disposed so as to be movable in the vertical direction while holding the toothpick 10 is disposed. In order to support the vertically moving member 12 so as to be movable up and down, a support piece 11 is provided in parallel with the side plate 13a.

  In the push button side cases L2 and R2, a biasing member 6 that biases the vertical movement member 12 upward, and a vertical movement member 12 to move upward against the biasing force of the biasing member 6 are provided. A pressing member 4 and an interlocking mechanism that raises the vertical movement member 12 when the pressing member 4 is pressed down are provided. A push button 8 is attached to the upper end of the push member 4. The urging member 6 is constituted by a coil spring. The push button 8 is formed of a cylindrical body having a disc-shaped flange 8a at the lower end, the rod-like upper end portion of the pressing member 4 is inserted into the center hole 8b of the lower end surface, and the upper surface wall of the push button side case L2 is inserted. The push button side case L2 is disposed above the push button case L2 while protruding upward through the circular opening 9 provided.

  In this embodiment, the interlocking mechanism meshes with a small gear (pinion) 21 that meshes with a rack portion 4 a that extends in the movement direction of the pressing member 4 and a rack portion 12 a that extends in the movement direction of the vertical movement member 12. The large gear 22 is composed of a stepped gear formed integrally with a coaxial 23.

  The bottom of the storage chamber 13 is formed of a bottom member 14 that is formed in a mortar shape so that the center is the lowest and has a through-hole 16 that penetrates the vertical movement member 12 in the vertical direction. The bottom surface member 14 is fitted with grooves 13c and 13d (FIG. 4) provided in the side plates 13a and 13b of the storage chamber 13 at the upper edge thereof, thereby forming the side plates 13a and 13b as shown in FIGS. It is attached between.

  The vertically moving member 12 includes a rack portion 12a which is vertically long and is formed of a plate member having a triangular shape, and is divided by a cut groove 12b extending downward from the upper end thereof. Further, a small hole 17 for receiving the sharp tip of the toothpick 10 is provided at the lowest point of the inclined upper end surface of the vertical movement member 12. Further, a stopper 20 that stops the upward movement of the vertical movement member 12 at a predetermined position is provided outside the storage chamber 13.

  In the toothpick container of the present embodiment, the main body case and each component can be made of synthetic resin, except for the coil spring as the urging member 6.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

  When the toothpick is stored in the illustrated toothpick container, the upper lid 2 is removed from the upper end of the main body case, and an appropriate number of toothpicks 10 as shown in FIG. 2 are placed in the storage chamber 13 in the main body. Thereafter, the upper lid 2 is fitted to the upper end of the main body to close the opening. Here, since the bottom of the storage chamber 13 is formed in the shape of a bowl having the lowest central portion by the bottom member 14, the lower end of the toothpick 10 in the storage chamber 13 is positioned at the lowest point of the bottom member 14. Gather together. At this time, in the case of the toothpick 10a having a sharp lower end among the plurality of toothpicks 10 shown in FIG. 2, the pointed lower end of the toothpick 10a enters the small hole 17 on the inclined upper end surface of the vertical movement member 12, and the toothpick 10a. Is held above the vertical movement member 12 as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when stored with the sharp tip up like the toothpick 10b shown in FIG. 2, the lower end of the toothpick 10b does not enter the small hole 17 on the upper end surface of the vertical movement member 12, Thus, even when the vertically moving member 12 is raised, the toothpick is not lifted, and the sharp tip does not protrude from the outlet 15, which is safe and hygienic.

  Next, when the toothpick is taken out, when the push button 8 is pushed against the urging force of the urging member 6 in the state shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the vertical movement member 12 rises and is held thereby. The toothpick 10a is lifted. The raising of the vertical movement member 12 stops when the upper end of the rack portion 12a hits the stopper 20. By then, the base end part which becomes the upper end of the toothpick 10 protrudes upward from the outlet 15 through the opening forming member 3 provided on the lower side of the outlet 15 of the upper lid 2 (FIGS. 1 and 3). .

  When the pressing member 4 is stopped and released, the pressing member 4 is returned to the upper position by the urging force of the urging member 6, while the vertical movement member 12 is lowered and returned to the standby position. At this time, since the toothpick 10 protruding upward from the outlet 15 is held by the opening forming member 3, the toothpick can be taken out by grasping the protruding portion of the toothpick 10 with a finger.

  While the illustrated embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this and can be modified as appropriate. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a toothpick that is normally used is described as an example, but the target toothpick is not limited to this, and a stick-like body such as a pencil with a sharpened end of a skewer or one end of a yakitori. It is good also as a container which accommodates.

  Further, the urging member is not limited to the coil spring, and may be any member that can urge the pressing member upward.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Case main body, 2 ... Top cover, 3 ... Opening formation member, 4 ... Pushing member, 5 ... Tooth guide, 6 ... Energizing member, 7 ... Frame member, 8 ... Push button, 11 ... Supporting piece, 12 ... Vertical movement Member, 14 ... bottom member, 15 ... take-out port, 20 ... stopper.

Claims (4)

A toothpick container capable of taking out one or more toothpicks contained therein one by one,
A bottomed cylindrical storage chamber capable of storing at least one toothpick;
An upper lid that is detachably attached to the upper part of the storage chamber and has an outlet for passing one toothpick at the upper end;
An up-and-down moving member installed to hold the toothpick and move up and down;
A pressing member for moving the vertical movement member upward against the biasing force of the biasing member;
An interlocking mechanism that raises the vertically moving member when the pressing member is pressed down,
The bottom of the storage chamber is formed of a bottom member that is formed in a mortar shape so that the center is the lowest and has a through-hole that vertically penetrates the vertical movement member,
The vertical movement member has a small hole for receiving a pointed tip of a toothpick on an upper end surface thereof,
The upper lid has an opening forming member that receives and holds the proximal end portion of the toothpick on the lower side of the outlet.   2. The toothpick container according to claim 1, wherein the interlocking mechanism meshes with a small gear that meshes with a rack portion that extends in the moving direction of the pressing member and a rack portion that extends in the moving direction of the vertical movement member. A toothpick container comprising a stepped gear that is coaxially and integrally formed with a large gear.   The toothpick container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the opening forming member includes a pair of sandwiching pieces sandwiching a proximal end portion of the toothpick, and an opening for penetrating the toothpick is formed between both sandwiching pieces. A toothpick container characterized by having   The toothpick container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a stopper for stopping upward movement of the vertical movement member at a predetermined position outside the storage chamber.