h a l f b a k e r yA riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a rich, flaky crust
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From the real-life experience department: It is very hard to spear food with plastic forks. You stick the fork in the piece of food and lift and the food falls right off. Especially noticeable with, say, pieces of fruit or things like green beans. I assume this is because of the taper of the tines and
the very slick, smooth surface of the plastic.
Borrowing a bit from the ring-shank nail used in construction, I think the following design could remedy the slippery plastic fork.
If the tines of the fork have a cross-hatch, ridged, or ribbed texture added to their inside edges, the added grip of the texture better allows the tines to reliably hold the food as it travels from the dish to the mouth; better withstanding the acceleration as you lift the fork away from the dish and better overcoming the inertia of the dish-bound piece of food. Adding the texture only to the inside edges results in the fork feeling the same as a normal smooth-tined fork to the user's mouth and teeth.
Comparative illustration
http://bz.pair.com/fun/plastic_forks.gif
9Kb image [bristolz, May 19 2002]
[link]
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I like the micro-etching in the illustration, [bristolz]. I'm glad I had the Netscape plug-in so I could see them. |
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Maybe you could add little barbs, too. |
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While I was reading this, there was a voice from the bed behind me, where Mrs Ivan was perfecting her bikini line ( I do wish she wouldn't do this in our bed but at least it serves as due warning).
"Telford Town! whats that about Telford, how did that get out?"
"Its not Telford town, its Textured Tines my angel".
Brief explanation of the idea is relayed across the room.
Now normally any mention of the half bakery brings a small frown and a lift of the upper lip to the features of the domestic foreman. However Mrs Ivan is a great consumer of prepared salads in miniature buckets and has evidently connected with you on this one.
"Now that IS a good idea!"
"I'm ready now"
<<log off>>
So there you go [Bristolz], not just a croissant but the croissant of croissants, the Mother of pastries, the approval of Mrs I. |
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Could they not just make the tines straight and make the fork out of stronger plastic (the weakness of the fork being the reason for having tapered tines in the first place)? I've also seen wooden forks in chipshops (US: fast food establishments serving french fries), which are probably better for gripping than plastic. |
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use 2 forks like chopsticks. |
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