Recyclable and dispensable cutlery utensil

Abstract

A recyclable and dispensable hygienic cutlery utensil comprises a handle portion and head portion. The handle portion provides suitable area for gripping and includes a chamfer on its proximal end that creates handle gaps between adjacent proximal handle ends in a vertical stack, thereby facilitating a predictable release from a utensil dispenser. The handle further includes nesting features that nest with adjacent cutlery articles in a stack, and planar surfaces that are in mutual contact with the adjacent cutlery articles in the stack. The head portion is formed into the shape of a common cutlery utensil such as: knife with large radius, tapered knife with large radius, spoon, set of tines (fork), and spoon-fork combination, to name a few. Typically, in use, a set of identical utensils is stacked and then inserted into an automated dispensing system.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A disposable plastic cutlery article compatible for dispensing from a vertical stack of identical cutlery articles by a no-touch utensil dispenser, the plastic cutlery article comprising:
 a handle extending from a proximal handle end to a distal handle end along a horizontal, longitudinal cutlery axis, the handle comprising a planar upper surface parallel to a planar lower surface, the upper and lower planar surfaces being separated by a handle thickness, the upper planar surface extending to the proximal end of the handle;   a head extending from the distal handle end substantially along said longitudinal axis, the head being configured for contacting and manipulating food;   overlapping upper and lower stacking regions formed respectively in the upper and lower planar surfaces of the handle, the upper stacking region extending vertically upward and outward from the upper planar surface and the lower stacking region extending vertically upward and inward from the lower planar surface, or vice versa;   a planar chamfered surface extending upward and inward from the lower planar surface to the proximal end of the handle, the chamfered surface being substantially rectangular and having a chamfer width that is perpendicular to the longitudinal cutlery axis and a chamfer length that is oblique to the longitudinal cutlery axis, said chamfer length being greater than the handle thickness;   said plastic cutlery article being configured such that when it is included in the vertical stack of identical plastic cutlery articles:
 the upper stacking region is nested with the lower stacking region of a next higher cutlery article; 
 the lower stacking region is nested with the upper stacking region of a next lower cutlery article; 
 substantially the entire lower planar surface is in direct physical contact with the upper planar surface of the next lower cutlery article; and 
 a handle gap is formed between the proximal end of the handle and the proximal end of the next lower cutlery article due to the chamfered surface. 
   
     
     
         2 . The plastic cutlery article of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic cutlery article is one of a spoon, a fork, a knife, and a spork. 
     
     
         3 . The plastic cutlery article of  claim 1 , wherein the head is wider than the handle. 
     
     
         4 . The plastic cutlery article of  claim 1 , wherein said handle is at least partially hollow.