Disposable utensil rest

Abstract

The disposable utensil rest includes a base plate having an upper surface and a lower surface, and a raised peripheral rim formed on the upper surface of the base plate. In use, the head of a cooking utensil may be positioned against the upper surface of the base plate with a handle portion of the cooking utensil being supported on the raised peripheral rim to protect a surface upon which the disposable utensil rest is mounted. The base plate and the raised peripheral rim are formed from a disposable material, allowing the disposable utensil rest to be disposed of after use. A dispenser dispensing a utensil rest from a stack of disposable utensil rests may be provided.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/842,654, filed Sep. 7, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to utensils used for cooking and eating, and particularly to a disposable utensil rest for supporting a cooking or eating utensil on a countertop, tabletop, or other surface in order to keep the surface clean.

2. Description of the Related Art

During cooking, the user often must stir or otherwise manipulate a foodstuff, leaving food particles and other residue, often in liquid form, on the head of a spoon or other cooking utensil. While the user is preparing other ingredients, or is otherwise manipulating the foodstuffs, the spoon or other cooking utensil often must be set aside to leave the user's hands free. Laying the cooking utensil directly on a kitchen counter, for example, will result in the soiling and contamination of the kitchen counter by the food particles and/or liquids that remain on the cooking utensil. Further, as the counter may not be sanitized, such a positioning and support of the utensil may result in the unsanitary contamination of the utensil, which may be required for further manipulation of the food.

Although a user may use a plate or bowl for supporting the utensil during cooking, typical plates and bowls are generally much larger than the cooking utensil, thus wasting counter space, and causing general inefficiency in the cooking process. Further, the plate and bowl will later have to be cleaned, thus adding to the time the user must spend in the kitchen, and wasting other resources, such as water, electricity, soap, etc. In addition, plates and bowls are specifically contoured for receiving food, not for supporting utensils, which may have elongated and rounded handles or the like, thus increasing the likelihood that the utensil may slip from the plate or bowl, thus causing the aforementioned soiling and contamination problems.

Further, during food preparation, a serving utensil may be used during intermediate stages of the preparation for mixing, slicing or the like, and it may be necessary to set the utensil aside on the countertop during the final stages of food preparation. Also, some people will prepare a cup of instant coffee, a cup of tea, a cup of cocoa, or the like, using a spoon to stir the beverage, and set the spoon aside to be used again if another cup is desired. In such cases, it would be desirable to have a rest or other support on the countertop to avoid staining the countertop and the necessity for subsequent cleanup.

Thus, a disposable utensil rest solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disposable utensil rest includes a base plate having an upper surface and a lower surface, and a raised peripheral rim formed on the upper surface of the base plate. Preferably, the base plate and the raised peripheral rim are formed from plastic or any other suitable disposable material. The base plate and raised peripheral rim may have substantially rectangular contours, or any other suitable shape.

In use, the head of a cooking utensil may be positioned against the upper surface of the base plate with a handle portion of the cooking utensil being supported on the raised peripheral rim to protect a surface upon which the disposable utensil rest is mounted. The peripheral rim also prevents liquids from spilling over the edge of the base plate onto the countertop, tabletop, or other surface to be protected. The base plate and the raised peripheral rim are formed from a disposable material, allowing the disposable utensil rest to be placed in the trash for disposal following usage thereof.

A dispenser suitable for countertop use may be provided for the disposable utensil rest so that a utensil rest is conveniently at hand when needed, rather than having to fish one out of bulk packaging beforehand. The dispenser includes a housing having a plurality of sidewalls, a lower wall and an open upper end, with the housing defining an open interior region therein. The open interior region is configured to receive a plurality of the disposable utensil rests.

A plate is slidably mounted within the housing, with the plate having an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface of the plate is adapted for supporting a plurality of the disposable utensil rests. Further, the plate is spring-biased, with the spring being positioned between the lower surface of the plate and the lower wall of the housing.

Further, at least one flange is mounted to an upper edge of one of the plurality of sidewalls and extends inwardly therefrom. The spring biases an uppermost one of the plurality of disposable utensil rests against the flange, allowing the user to selectively remove the uppermost disposable utensil rest from within the housing.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a disposable utensil rest according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view in section of the disposable utensil rest according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a disposable utensil rest according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partially broken away and in section, of a dispenser for the disposable utensil rests according to the present invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the present invention is directed towards a disposable utensil rest 10 and a dispenser 24 therefor. As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the disposable utensil rest 10 protects a surface, such as exemplary kitchen countertop C, from direct contact with a cooking utensil, such as exemplary spoon 12. It should be understood that spoon 12 is shown for exemplary purposes only and that support 10 may be used with any suitable desired cooking or eating utensil. During cooking, the user often must stir or otherwise manipulate a foodstuff, leaving food particles and other residue, often in liquid form, on the head of spoon 12. Disposable utensil rest 10 provides a protective surface for receiving the head of spoon 12 (and supporting the handle portion of spoon 12, as will be described below), thus preventing the aforementioned food particles and residue from soiling the clean kitchen counter C.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the disposable utensil rest 10 includes a base plate having an upper surface 16 and a lower surface 18. A raised peripheral rim 14 is formed on the upper surface 16 of the base plate. As shown in FIG. 1, the head of spoon 12 rests on the upper surface 16, while the handle portion of spoon 12 is supported by the raised rim 14. Raised rim 14 is formed about the entire periphery of upper surface 16, thus preventing food-related particulates and liquids that fall from spoon 12 from leaving the upper surface 16 (in the form of spills and the like) and soiling the countertop C.

Preferably, the base plate and the raised peripheral rim are formed from plastic or any other suitable disposable material, such as paper or cardboard. The disposable utensil rest 10 may be formed from a plastic material similar to that commonly associated with disposable beverage container lids, for example.

The base plate and raised peripheral rim are shown as having a substantially rectangular shape in the drawings. It should be understood that this is for exemplary purposes only and that the disposable utensil rest 10 may have any suitable shape. Further, the disposable utensil rest may include any desired ornamentation and may have any desired dimensions.

As described above, in use, the lower surface 18 of the disposable utensil rest 10 is positioned on surface C, and the head of a cooking utensil, such as exemplary spoon 12, is positioned against the upper surface 16 of the base plate, with the handle portion of the cooking utensil 12 being supported on the raised peripheral rim 14. The base plate and the raised peripheral rim 14 are formed from a disposable material, allowing the disposable utensil rest 10 to be disposed of after use.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, alternatively, the surface 16 may further include a ridged or grooved portion 17. Thus, surface 16 may have a substantially planar contour, as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, or may include grooves or ridges 17, as illustrated in FIG. 3. In use, the head of the spoon or other utensil would rest within the ridged portion 17 for the collection of liquids and food particulate matter in the troughs of the ridges.

As shown in FIG. 4, a dispenser 24 for the disposable utensil rests 10 may be provided. The dispenser 24 includes a housing 26 having a plurality of sidewalls 32, a lower wall 28 and an open upper end, with the housing 26 defining an open interior region therein. The open interior region is configured to receive a plurality of the disposable utensil rests 10. In FIG. 4, the housing 26 has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional contour for receiving rests 10 similar to those shown in FIGS. 1-3. It should be understood that housing 26 may have any desired shape matching the selected shape of the disposable utensil rests 10.

A plate 20 is slidably mounted within the housing 26 parallel to the lower wall 28. The plate 20 is adapted for supporting a plurality of the disposable utensil rests 10. Further, at least one spring, such as exemplary helical springs 22, is provided, with the spring being positioned between the lower surface of the plate 20 and the lower wall 28 of the housing 26. It should be understood that any suitable resilient element may be used for biasing plate 20 upward.

At least one flange 30 (shown in FIG. 4 as a pair of flanges formed on opposed sidewalls 32) is mounted to an upper edge of one of the plurality of sidewalls 32 and extends inwardly therefrom. The spring 22 biases the uppermost disposable utensil rest 10 against the flange(s) 30, allowing the user to selectively remove the uppermost disposable utensil rest 10 from the stack.

The disposable utensil rest 10 is semi-rigid and sufficiently flexible to bend or flex for removal from the housing 26 without losing its substantially flat shape. Alternatively, flange 30 may be provided with a slidable, resilient or releasable catch for retaining the disposable utensil rests 10 in the housing 26 until needed. Housing 26 may be formed from metal, plastic or any other suitable material. It will be understood that dispenser 24 is exemplary only, and may have other configurations, e.g., an opening in one of the sidewalls 32 with a lateral bias element so that dispenser 24 may have a top wall to prevent disposable utensil rests 10 from accumulating dust before use.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A disposable utensil rest, comprising:

a base plate having a periphery; and

a raised rim extending around the periphery of the base plate, the base plate and rim being formed from a disposable material.

2. The disposable utensil rest as recited in claim 1, wherein said base plate has a substantially rectangular contour.

3. The disposable utensil rest as recited in claim 1, wherein said disposable utensil rest is formed from plastic.

4. The disposable utensil rest as recited in claim 1, wherein said base plate has opposed upper and lower surfaces, the raised rim being formed on the upper surface thereof and projecting upwardly therefrom.

5. The disposable utensil rest as recited in claim 4, wherein the upper surface defines a central region therein, the central region having a plurality of grooves formed therein.

6. The disposable utensil rest as recited in claim 1, further comprising a dispenser having a housing dimensioned and configured for containing a plurality of said base plates in a stack, an opening for dispensing a single one of said base plates at a time being formed through said housing, said dispenser further comprising means for biasing the plurality of stacked base plates against the opening.

7. The disposable utensil rest as recited in claim 6, wherein said disposable utensil rest is formed from a flexible material.

8. A dispenser for the disposable utensil rest of claim 1, comprising:

a housing having a plurality of sidewalls, a lower wall and an open upper end, the housing defining an open interior region therein, the open interior region being dimensioned and configured to receive a plurality of the disposable utensil rests;

a plate slidably mounted within the housing, the plate being adapted for supporting the plurality of disposable utensil rests;

at least one spring positioned between the plate and the lower wall of the housing; and

at least one flange extending from one of the plurality of sidewalls into the open upper end, the at least one spring biasing the plurality of disposable utensil rests against the at least one flange, whereby the user may selectively remove a single one of the plurality of disposable utensil rests at a time from the housing.

9. A disposable utensil rest assembly, comprising:

a plurality of disposable utensil rests, each of the disposable utensil rests having a base plate and an upright peripheral rim extending around the base plate, the disposable utensil rests being formed from a disposable material and being adapted for supporting a freshly-soiled food utensil above a countertop to protect the countertop from being soiled, the disposable utensil rests being adapted for disposal after use; and

a dispenser having a housing defining a chamber for storing the plurality of disposable utensil rests and defining a dispenser opening configured to dispense a single one of the disposable utensil rests at a time, the dispenser further having means for biasing the plurality of disposable utensil rests towards the dispenser opening.

10. The disposable utensil rest assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein each said base plate has a substantially rectangular contour.

11. The disposable utensil rest assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein each said disposable utensil rest is formed from plastic.

12. The disposable utensil rest assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein each said base plate has opposed upper and lower surfaces, the upright peripheral rim associated therewith being formed on the upper surface thereof and projecting upwardly therefrom.

13. The disposable utensil rest assembly as recited in claim 12, wherein the upper surface defines a central region therein, the central region having a plurality of grooves formed therein.

14. The disposable utensil rest assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein each said disposable utensil rest is formed from a flexible material.