Multifunctional tongs
The multifunctional tongs with specialized features for handling cooking trays and wire meshes address the inefficiencies of existing tongs, providing a convenient and damage-preventing solution for food handling operations.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SUSTECH CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-11
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-23
AI Technical Summary
Existing tongs lack the ability to handle cooking trays and wire meshes efficiently without requiring a dedicated handle or pot grip, leading to complications and potential damage during food handling.
A pair of tongs with a gripping portion and specialized features like hooks or notches at the tip for handling cooking trays and wire meshes, made from stainless steel with a yield strength of 200 N/mm², allowing for magnetic separation of fragments, and manufactured by press molding.
Enables convenient and efficient handling of cooking trays and wire meshes, preventing damage and simplifying food handling operations.
Smart Images
Figure 2026102398000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to tongs for handling food and the like.
Background Art
[0002] Conventionally, tongs have been used when handling food for hygiene management and safety management such as preventing burns.
[0003] When cooking food, cooking utensils are used. Except for cooking utensils with handles such as frying pans and pots, when using cooking utensils without handles such as cooking trays and wire meshes on which food is placed, dedicated handles or pot grips are used to handle the cooking utensils. The cook has to switch to the dedicated handle or pot grip each time, which makes the work complicated.
[0004] There is also a problem that when gripping and lifting a cooking tray or wire mesh with a food tong without using a dedicated handle or pot grip, the cooking tray or wire mesh may fall or the tong may be damaged.
[0005] There are tongs that have multiple functions such as spoons and forks and relax the restrictions on the ingredients to be handled and make them multifunctional, but tongs for handling cooking utensils have not been confirmed.
Patent Document
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0006] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a multifunctional and highly convenient tong that can handle cooking trays and wire meshes with a food tong, and can handle food at the same time without switching to a dedicated handle or pot grip.
Means for Solving the Problems
[0007] The present invention was made to solve the aforementioned problems, and is a pair of tongs made from a thin sheet of 0.4 mm to 2.0 mm in thickness, characterized in that, in addition to a gripping portion 3 for gripping food, it has a shape suitable for handling cooking trays and wire mesh.
[0008] The function of the tongs tip for handling cooking trays and wire mesh is characterized by the formation of a hook 7 at the tip of the tongs for hooking and pulling out the inside edge of the cooking tray or wire mesh, or an arc-shaped notch 9 for pushing in the cooking tray, or a groove 10 for gripping and lifting the edge of the cooking tray. The tray pulling hook 7, wire mesh hook 8, tray pushing notch 9, and tray lifting groove 10 may be formed individually or in combination, depending on the application.
[0009] The metal forming the tongs has a yield strength of 200 N / mm². 2 Preferably, the spring is made of stainless steel or duplex stainless steel that has corrosion resistance of 17% or more, and whose pitting corrosion resistance index = Cr + 3.3 × Mo + 30 × Ni - Mn (all chemical symbols are mass percentage values).
[0010] Furthermore, to allow for magnetic separation in the event that tong fragments accidentally become mixed into food, tongs made of magnetic duplex stainless steel or similar material are preferable.
[0011] The width 5 of the grip portion used to open and close the tongs gripping portion 3 is preferably in the range of 15 mm to 22 mm, as it is used by gripping it in the palm of the hand, and the length 2 of the main body is preferably in the range of 160 mm to 320 mm.
[0012] The shape of the gripping portion 3 at the tip of the tongs can be appropriately selected depending on what is being gripped, except that the tip is arc-shaped.
[0013] The tongs according to the present invention are manufactured by forming a metal plate by press molding or the like, and then bending the key parts, and can be produced by a simple method. [Effects of the Invention]
[0014] According to the tongs of the present invention, food tongs can be used to handle cooking trays and wire mesh, enabling convenient and efficient work. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0015] [Figure 1] This shows Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The tong body 1 is equipped with a tray pull-out hook 7 and a wire mesh hook 8 at the tip of the gripping portion 3, and a tray push-in notch 9 on the leg portion 6. [Figure 2] This shows a magnified view of the tip of the tongs in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The tongs tip is equipped with a tray pull-out hook 7 and a wire mesh hook 8, and the legs 6 are equipped with a tray push-in notch 9. [Figure 3] This shows a magnified view of the tip of the tongs in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The tongs tip is equipped with a tray pull-out hook 7 and a wire mesh hook 8, the legs 6 are equipped with a tray push-in notch 9, and the top of the tongs is equipped with a tray lifting groove 10. [Figure 4] This shows a magnified view of the tip of the tongs in Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The tip of the tongs is equipped with a tray pull-out hook 7. The shape of the tray pull-out hook 7 may be changed to a shape suitable for the tray being handled. [Figure 5] This shows a magnified view of the tip of the tongs in Embodiment 4 of the present invention. The legs 6 are provided with tray lifting grooves 10. [Figure 6] This shows a magnified view of the tip of the tongs in Embodiment 5 of the present invention. The tongs are equipped with a tray lifting groove 10 at the tip, making it easy to handle small trays. [Figure 7] This diagram schematically shows the tray pull-out hook 7, wire mesh hook 8, and tray push-in notch 9 of Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 8] The diagram shows a schematic representation of the tray lifting groove 10 in embodiments 4 and 5 of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0016] Fig. 7 shows a diagram schematically depicting the tray-drawing hook 7, the wire mesh hook 8, and the tray-pushing notch 9 of Example 1 of the present invention. The tray-drawing hook 7 has a part of the gripping portion cut out in an arc shape such that the point where a straight line drawn perpendicular to the tongs at dimension 12 between the notch circular contact points from the tong tip contacts the tong tip arc coincides with the contact point A17 of the notch circle. The arc portion on the upper part of the tongs from the contact point B18 on the opposite side of the notch circle is cut out to have a width wider than the maximum outer diameter 20 of the tray edge. At this time, it is preferable that the dimension 12 between the notch circular contact points from the tong tip is 3 mm to 15 mm, and the diameter 13 of the notch circle for tray drawing is 3 to 15 mm.
[0017] In Fig. 7, the wire mesh hook 8 has the gripping portion 3 cut out in an arc shape along a circle with diameter 14 of the wire mesh notch circle so as to contact both a tangent line perpendicular to the tangent line of the contact point A17 of the notch circle for tray drawing. At this time, it is preferable that the diameter 14 of the wire mesh notch circle is 3 mm to 8 mm. It is also possible to handle the wire mesh with the tray-drawing hook 7 without forming the wire mesh hook 8.
[0018] In Fig. 7, the tray-pushing notch 9 is formed by cutting out the tongs in an arc shape with diameter 16 of the tray-pushing notch circle on the tip side of the tong leg 6. At this time, it is preferable that the diameter 16 of the tray-pushing notch circle is 3 mm to 15 mm, and the arc angle 15 of the tray-pushing notch circle is 90 degrees to 180 degrees.
[0019] The multi-functional tongs may be provided with the tray-lifting groove 10 shown in Figs. 3, 5, and 6. The dimensions of the tray-lifting groove 10 are set to a shape suitable for the target tray, and the thickness of the tongs and the width 5 of the gripping portion are determined according to the mass of the tray to be handled.
[0020] Fig. 8 shows a diagram schematically representing the tray lifting groove 10 of Examples 4 and 5 of the present invention. The tray lifting groove 10 has a groove width 21 for inserting the tray edge portion above the groove into the cross-section of the cooking tray 19, which is 1 mm to 4 mm larger than the maximum outer diameter of the tray edge, and is formed by a portion 22 that supports the upper inner side of the tray edge and a portion 23 that supports the outer side surface or the outer bottom surface of the tray.
Example
[0021] In Example 1 shown in Fig. 1, it was confirmed that the food tray can be pulled out from the food processing oven by the tray pulling hook 7, the food can be taken out by the tong gripping portion 3, and the food tray can be pushed into the oven by the tray pushing notch 9, which is highly convenient. Also, it was confirmed that the wire mesh after cooking can be removed from the tray and transported to the washing tank using the wire mesh hook 8 at the tip.
Industrial Applicability
[0022] The tong according to the present invention can be applied to uses such as handling food, cooking trays, and wire meshes when cooking food on a tray in a cooking oven or the like.
Explanation of Reference Numerals
[0023] 1 Body 2 Body length 3 Gripping portion 4 Holding portion 5 Width of the holding portion 6 Legs 7 Tray pulling hook 8 Wire mesh hook 9 Tray pushing notch 10 Tray lifting groove 11 Dimension from the tip of the tong 12 Dimension between the center of the notch circle and the center of the tong width 13 Diameter of the notch circle for tray pulling 14 Diameter of the notch circle for wire mesh 15 Arc angle of the notch circle for tray pushing 16 Diameter of the notch circle for tray pushing 17 Contact A 18 Contact B 19 Cross-section of a cooking tray 20 Maximum outer diameter of the cooking tray rim 21 Width of the tray lifting groove 22 The part that supports the upper inner edge of the tray 23. Parts that support the outer surface or outer bottom surface of the tray
Claims
1. The yield strength is 200 N / mm². ２ The above describes tongs made from a single piece of metal plate with a thickness of 0.4 mm to 2.0 mm, with the tip of the tongs equipped with a function for handling cooking trays and wire racks.
2. The tongs according to claim 1, characterized in that the tip of the tongs has a function for handling cooking trays or wire mesh, which is provided by a hook 7 for hooking onto the inside edge of the cooking tray or wire mesh and pulling it out, or an arc-shaped notch 9 for pushing in the cooking tray, or a groove 10 for gripping the edge of the cooking tray and lifting it.
3. The tongs according to claim 1 or 2, which are made of stainless steel with a pitting corrosion resistance index of 17% or more (Cr + 3.3 × Mo + 30 × Ni - Mn, where the values of the component symbols are all mass percentage values of the contained components), and which have excellent corrosion resistance and are suitable for handling food.
4. The tongs according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the width 5 of the grip portion used for opening and closing the tongs' gripping portion is 15 mm to 22 mm, and the length 2 of the main body is in the range of 160 mm to 320 mm.