TODDLER NATURAL GRIP FLATWARE

Abstract

A toddler flatware using the natural finger grip for consuming food is disclosed. The flatware has an eating utensil, such as a spoon bowl, fork, or knife and a handle attached perpendicular to the eating utensil. The handle is flat with rounded edges and corners for a comfortable grip. The handle is secured between the thumb and the tips of the fingers, mimicking the natural act of eating with one's hands. The natural motion afforded by the flatware design facilitates the act of self-feeding, either by toddlers or by adults with impaired motor-function. It also facilitates the transition to traditional adult flatware.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/595,364 entitled, “Toddler Natural Grip Flatware,” which was filed on Feb. 6, 2012 and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This patent application also claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/600,872 entitled, “Toddler Natural Grip Flatware,” which was filed on Feb. 20, 2012 and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are generally related to eating utensils. Embodiments also relate to a toddler flatware. Embodiments additionally relate to a flatware that allows a toddler to self feed his/her food by utilizing natural finger grip. Embodiments also relate to flatware that allows persons with debilitating disabilities or reduced motor function to feed themselves by utilizing a natural finger grip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a multitude of flatware on the market claiming to be specifically designed for toddlers. Such products are generally scaled down to fit a child's smaller mouth and hands, and typically have some sort of modification to the handle intended to facilitate gripping. These modifications can be anything from a coating of a rubberized material, a longer handle, a fatter handle, a handle with ridges or other gripping features, etc. However, all of these solutions end up encouraging the child to grip the spoon in the typical “toddler grip”, which has several disadvantages. Although it is a natural way of grabbing something, it is not a natural way of eating. This, coupled with a toddler's developing motor skills, often proves to be frustrating and messy. Then, the “toddler grip” is completely different from an “adult grip”. This means that, once the child has mastered eating with the “toddler grip”, he/she must then be completely retrained to make the transition. Again, this adds frustration during a very important stage in human development.

The following examples are just some of the many products on the market. There are several lines of toddler silverware, such as “Gripables”, which have longer handles with over-molded grip rings, “Soft Tip n' Grip” which have contoured handles with “finger holds”, or “Sassy Less Mess Toddler Self-feeding Spoon” which have chunky handles at an angle from the spoon bowl.

Consider the case of a toddler observed trying to feed herself with a typical toddler spoon. She tried several times to scoop dry cereal onto the spoon bowl using the “toddler grip” as shown in FIG. 1A. The toddler kept failing because she was grabbing the handle at an axial rotation such that the bowl was not perfectly horizontal as shown in FIG. 1B. Even when the grip was corrected, the toddler had a hard time with the scooping action. Eventually she gave up and started eating the dry cereal with her fingers, using a “natural finger grip”.

In a “natural finger grip”, the fingertips come together against the tip of the thumb to pinch and scoop food into the mouth. This grip, has been used for millennia by the many cultures which, even to this day, eat their foods using their hands. This worked fine enough for the toddler, but when she was again encouraged to use her spoon, she grabbed it from the spoon bowl using the “natural finger grip”.she had just been using (pinching the flat spoon bowl between her fingertips and the tip of her thumb) and proceeded to poke at the food with the tip of the handle. Although this was completely unsuccessful as far as scooping up the food, her motions were completely natural and she seemed better able to explore and manipulate her food around the bowl.

Therefore, a need exists for an improved flatware that allows a toddler to grab the spoon using the “natural finger grip”. Such a design would also be helpful to people who, through disease, injury, or old age, may have diminished strength, dexterity, or motor control.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the disclosed embodiment and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.

It is, therefore, one aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for eating utensils.

It is another aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for a toddler flatware.

It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide for a flatware that allows a toddler, or an adult with impaired motor function, to feed him/her self by utilizing natural finger grip.

The aforementioned aspects and other objectives and advantages can now be achieved as described herein. A toddler flatware using the natural finger grip for consuming a food is disclosed. The flatware has an eating utensil for holding a food to be consumed and a handle attached perpendicular to the eating utensil. The eating utensil can be utilized for picking up the food with the fingers and putting it in the toddler mouth. The handle is secured between the thumb and the tips of fingers of the toddler. The eating utensil can be a spoon bowl or fork. The handle is flat with rounded edges and corners to comfort the toddler while consuming the food.

The present invention encourages and facilitates the use of the natural finger grip. The natural finger grip closely mimics the body mechanics of eating with one's hands, and can facilitate the use of flatware, especially to those with developing or diminished motor skills.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally-similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate the disclosed embodiments and, together with the detailed description of the invention, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a prior art toddler spoon held by a toddler using toddler grip;

FIG. 1B illustrates the perspective view of the prior art toddler spoon depicted in FIG. 1A, misaligned axially with bowl;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a natural finger grip of a toddler, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate perspective views of a toddler flatware, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the toddler flatware depicted in FIGS. 3A-3C held using the natural finger grip, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; and

FIGS. 5A-5B, 6A-6B and 7A-7C illustrate conceptual views of the toddler flatware, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate at least one embodiment and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.

The present invention uses the natural finger grip for consuming the food. As shown in FIG. 2, in a natural finger grip 200, the fingertips come together against the tip of the thumb to pinch and scoop food into the mouth. This grip is the same used for millennia by the many cultures which, even to this day, eat their foods using their hands. Thus this is a very natural motion since it mimics the motion of picking up food with the fingers and putting it in the mouth.

The present invention discloses a spoon or any other flatware whose handle is designed to be gripped using a “natural finger grip”. FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate perspective views of a toddler flatware for example a spoon 250, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The spoon 250 has a small shallow bowl 204 and a handle 202. The handle 202 is designed to be gripped using the natural finger grip 200.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the toddler flatware 250 depicted in FIGS. 3A-3C held using natural finger grip 200, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments for consuming food. This mimics the motion of picking up food with the fingers and putting it in the mouth using natural finger grip 200.

Several conceptual models 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350 and 360 of natural grip flatware are shown in FIGS. 5A-5B, 6A-6B and 7A-7C respectively, but it should be understood that the particulars of the design can vary. The embodiments can be in different combinations of stainless steel with over-molded plastic handles or all-plastic constructions. They were designed with a relatively large flat handle 202 which is oriented perpendicularly to the spoon bowl 204. All edges and corners on the flat handle 202 have been rounded for comfort. The intent is for the flat shape to be secured between the thumb and the tips of the fingers; for this purpose any number of features may be designed into the handle 204 to improve grip. The handle 204 may also be designed to be large enough so that its back edge rests against the crease of the palm of the folded hand for a more secure grip.

In addition to the toddler market, other applications are anticipated for flatware with these design characteristics. For example, adults suffering from debilitating diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis may find it easier to use natural grip flatware (adult-sized versions would be designed). Likewise, senior citizens or any person with decreased dexterity would benefit from this ergonomic design.

The main aspect of this innovation is the design of flatware which encourages and facilitates the use of a natural finger grip. A natural finger grip closely mimics the body mechanics of eating with one's hands, and can facilitate the use of flatware, especially to those with developing or diminished motor skills. Note that the FIGS. 5A-5B and 7A-7C depict the toddler spoon bowl 204 and FIGS. 6A-6B depict the toddler fork 206 for the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that a natural finger grip may also be achieved through a multitude of handle shapes and sizes, e.g. ring-shaped handles, ball-shaped handles, half-moon-shaped handles, etc. It should be understood that any and all such alternative embodiments still fall within the spirit of this claim.

It will be appreciated that variations of the above disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

Claims

1. A flatware apparatus, comprising

a utensil for maintaining a food to be consumed; and

a handle attached perpendicular to said utensils for picking up said food with and putting said food into a mouth of a user using a natural finger grip, said handle secured between a thumb and tips of fingers of said user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said utensil comprises a spoon bowl.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said utensil comprises a fork.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said handle comprises a flat handle with rounded edges and corners.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said handle comprises a back edge that is large enough so that said back edge rests against a crease of a palm of a folded hand for a secure grip thereof.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said handle comprises a flat handle with rounded edges and corner and wherein said handle comprises a back edge that is large enough so that said back edge rests against a crease of a palm of a folded hand for a secure grip thereof.

7. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said handle comprises a flat handle with rounded edges and corners.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said handle comprises a back edge that is large enough so that said back edge rests against a crease of a palm of a folded hand for a secure grip thereof.

9. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said handle comprises a flat handle with rounded edges and corners.

10. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said handle comprises a back edge that is large enough so that said back edge rests against a crease of a palm of a folded hand for a secure grip thereof.