Culinary articles and apparatus for retrieving and/or sorting the same
OwnerWilton Richardinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are (i) items such as knives, forks, spoons and dishes having magnetically responsive end portions enabling the items to be retrieved and/or sorted by type by automatic apparatus, and (ii) apparatus which automatically performs such operations.
Claims10
A plurality of different types of culinary articles in which each type of article has a magnetically responsive protuberance of essentially circular cross section extending from an end thereof, said protuberances differing in cross-sectional sizes according to the type of article, similar type articles having protuberances of the same cross-sectional size, and the balance of each of the articles, other than the protuberance, being essentially non-magnetically responsive.
A plurality of different types of table silverware in which each type of article has a magnetically responsive protuberance extending outwardly from the outer end of the handle thereof, the balance of each of the articles other than the protuberance being essentially non-magnetically responsive, said protuberances differing in cross-sectional sizes according to the article, similar type articles having protuberances of the same cross-sectional size, said protuberances being further characterized (i) by being of generally symmetrical cross section, (ii) by having curved or rounded surfaces, and (iii) by being dome-shaped at their outer ends.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.