AU688761B2 - A toddler tray - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: LAUREN ROSE MOSSOP 14 Crispin Court Kirwan Qld 4817 CHARLES HENRY MOSSOP 1929 Wynnum Road Wynnum West Qld 4178 CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

A TODDLER TRAY Invention Title: The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: I I THIS INVENTION relates to a tray which can confine the movement of the tray on a table or the like and where articles placed on the tray can be kept within the tray area. The invention is primarily concerned with persons who have difficulty with feeding themselves, especially toddlers, that is, children aged between 2 and years and it will therefore be described in this context. This invention, however, is by no means limited to this particular use and the broader usages should be borne mind, In developing into adults, children must progress through numerous socialisation processes. Each child must be taught and develop basic social skills such as being able to use the toilet and having adequate table etiquette. In developing table etiquette, parents must first teach their children confidence and selfsufficiency at meal times. Up until the present, this has been a stressful period for parents due to the inevitable mess created during this important learning time.

The mess created during this time is due to the child moving the plate while eating. Generally speaking, .0 the child will move in a substantially forward motion.

The child then, will not replace the plate to its original position but will continue eating, transporting the food a great distance. What usually occurs is that the area between the plate and the child's mouth, including the clothes of child, becomes covered in the food that the child is attempting to consume.

Place mats are used to try and rectify these problems. However, when food is spilt on the plaoe mat it runs off, or a balancing act is required when removing the place mat from the table to be cleaned. Training dishes have also been developed. Training dishes are plates with a suction foot attached to the underside of the plate. The difficulty with these plates is that once they have become fixed, it is an arduous process to remove the plate, especially when food scraps remain on 3 the plate. Also, the suction foot requires a clean nonporous surface.

Another apparatus which has attempted to correct this difficulty, is a tray connected to a high chair. The tray is hinged to rotate about this point.

This tray does restrain the movement of cutlery on that tray. However, it also restrains the movement of the child. Thus, when the child has concluded the meal, he or she generally does want to be restrained in the high chair. Therefore, the child usually rotates the apparatus and the unfinished food as well as the used cutlery ends up on the floor.

.It is an object of this invention to provide a tray which may overcome the abovementioned disadvantages or to provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form of the invention, these problems are overcome by a tray comprising a base member, a restraining means adapted to abut against an edge of a 20 table and a flange located adjacent to and extending upwardly from the perimeter of said base member.

The base member may provide a surface where items may be placed in for the consumption of a meal.

The base member may be substantially level and a of any geometrical shape desired, such as a square, semi-circle or rectangular. Typically, the base member is constructed from a durable, washable and stain-resistant material, suitably plastic. The underside of the base member may have a non-slip surface, limiting movement.

The top of the base member may be scratch-resistant, preventing disfiguration from the normal course of use.

The restraining means may limit forward movement of the tray. The restraining means may be integrally formed with the base member and typically is located at or along one edge of the base member. The restraining means may extend along a full side of the base member.

In one form, the restraining means may be a Vshaped trough. This trough may be able to contain spilled liquid or food. The base of the V-trough may be curbed so that a knife, fork or pencil can easily be removed from the trough. The trough may also provide an added safety net for spillage of food when being transported from the base member to the mouth of the child.

The flange may impede the movement of cutlery from the perimeter of the base member. The flange may be integrally formed with the base member. The flange and the base member should form an obtuse angle to allow for easy cleaning. The top of the flange may be beaded or rolled over for the safety of the child and this may also S" provide strength to the flange.

S 15 An embodiment of the invention will be 0oeo0 described with reference to the following figures: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tray according to the invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the tray of Figure i.

Referring to the figures, there is shown a tray 10 to minimise spillage of food, drinks from a table o0Oo surface. Tray 10 has a base member 11 which is semicircular in design, therefore, having a curved peripheral edge 12, and a substantially straight edge 13. Adjacent curved peripheral edge 12 is an upstanding rim or flange 14 which in the embodiment is integrally moulded with base portion 11. Flange 14 has a height sufficient to assist in preventing spillage of food and drink from the tray, and also functions to retain pencils, crayons, drawing paper and other activity items within the periphery of base portion 11. For ease of cleaning, rim 14 extends at a slightly obtuse angle relative to base portion 11 such that the juncture between rim 14 and base portion 11 is not exactly at right angles. The top edge of rim 14 is rolled over to provide a bead 15 which provides strength to rim 14, and also avoids a sharp edge. Along straight edge 13 is provided a restraining means 16. Restraining means 16 in the embodiment is a trough which extends downwardly relative to base portion 11 and is integrally formed with the remainder of tray The trough includes an inner wall 17 and an outer wall 18 which are Joined by a curved base wall 19, base wall being radiused such that pencils, crayons, and the like, which -all into the trough can be removed by a child. Also, the curved base wall 19 allows easy cleaning or wiping out of the trough. Outer wall 18 is an extension of rim 14 which extends about base portion 11. It can be seen that the trough prevents tray 10 from being pushed forward over a table 20, as if a child i attempts this, the trough will abut against a table edge 21. Also, if a child trys to pull tray 10 towards it, the tray will merely abut against a child's body.

Sideways movement of the tray is possible, but this is not as undesirable as a child's normal desire to push plates away in a forward direction. The bottom of the tray can be provided with an anti-scratch surface, and can also include an anti-slip surface, if desired. The tray can be made of durable washable plastic which can be between 2 3 millimetres thick, in the embodiment, straight edge 13 can be approximately 40 centimetres across and the trough may be about 3 centimetres deep and 3.5 centimetres wide at the top. The trough may also protrude out about 3.5 centimetres which provides further containment of any spills which may occur. That is, the tray effectively takes the table surface closer to the toddler. The radius of the tray in the embodiment is centimetres from the centre to rim 14 and the rim is 3 centimetres high. The top surface of the tray can feature colourful graphics of a toddler's knife, fork and spoon placement, together with the positioning for bowl/plate and cup/mug which can assist in training the toddler. The tray may also include bright and colourful numbers and e riety of geometric shapes. As well as being used t, contain food and drink spills, the tray can be used for children to draw on, to use play dough on, and other activity which would damage a table.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

gea *go

Claims (9)

1. A tray comprising a base member positionable on a table top, a restraining means positionable against an edge of the table, and a flange located adjacent to and externding upwardly from the perimeter of the base member, wherein the restraining means is a trough that extends outwardly from the base member and is located between a user and the base member when in use.

2. The tray of claim 1 wherein the trough extends downwardly relative to the base member.

3. The tray of claims 1 or 2 wherein the trough is V- or U-shaped when viewed in transverse cross-section.

4. The tray of any one of the preceding claims wherein the trough is formed from an outer wall and an inner wall joined by a curved wall.

5. The tray of claim 4 wherein the outer wall is an extension of the flange. :s 15

6. The tray of any one of the preceding claims wherein the base member is semi-circular in shape when viewed in plan.

7. The tray of claim 6 wherein the trough is located on a straight edge of the semi-circular shaped base member.

8. The tray ot any one of the preceding claims wherein a bead is located on a top edge of the flange.

9. A tray substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 24 h day of December 1997 Lauren Rose MOSSOP By her Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO. ABSTRACT A tray for toddlers comprises a semi-circular base member and a restraining means in the form of a trough. The tray cannot be pushed forward across a table and can catch any food and drink spills. The trough functions to catch food and drink spills and also provides a small extension to the table to minimise dropping of food between the toddler and the table. The tray is simple and highly effective. S*