GB2425459A

GB2425459A - An eating utensil for a baby

Info

Publication number: GB2425459A
Application number: GB0608286A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hannah Mensah
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-04-27
Filing date: 2006-04-26
Publication date: 2006-11-01
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-26
Also published as: GB2425459B; GB0508550D0; GB0608286D0

Abstract

An eating utensil (2) for a baby (4), which eating utensil (2) comprises a handle (6), a part (8) for use in eating, and audio means (10), the audio means (10) being such that it is positioned at a free end (12) of the handle (6), it contains an audio recording, it contains a battery for enabling operation of the audio means (10), it comprises a waterproof housing (14), it comprises an on/off switch, and the audio recording is a recording of at least one mathematics table and/or at least one nursery rhyme and/or at least one piece of music and/or at least one Bible quotation and/or the alphabet and/or spelling and/or mathematics in the form of addition and/or subtraction and/or multiplication and/or division.

Description

1 2425459

AN EATING UTENSIL FOR A BABY

This invention relates to an eating utensil for a baby.

Eating utensils for a baby are well known and they are typically a spoon and a fork. Initially the eating utensil is held by a person feeding the baby, for example a parent. As the baby gets older, the baby is allowed to hold the eating utensil as efforts are made to get the baby to eat and also to learn how to use the eating utensil. Irrespective of how the baby is fed with the eating utensil, difficulty is often incurred in gethng the baby to eat.

It is an aim of the present invention to reduce the above mentioned problem by providing the eating utensil with something to attract the attention of the baby.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided an eating utensil for a baby, which eating utensil comprises a handle, a part for use in eating, and audio means, the audio means being such that it is positioned at a free end of the handle, it contains an audio recording, it contains a battery for enabling operation of the audio means, it comprises a waterproof housing, it comprises an on/off switch, and the audio recording is a recording of at least one mathematics table and/or at least one nursery rhyme and/or at least one piece of music and/or at least one Bible quotation and/or the alphabet and/or spelling and/or mathematics in the form of addition and/or subtraction and/or multiplication and/or division.

The eating utensil of the present invention is such that the audio means is able to attract the attention of the baby. The positioning of the audio means at the free end of the handle is advantageous for ease of manufacture. The audio means can easily be separately manufactured from the remainder of the eating utensil and then secured in position. The fact that the housing is waterproof is advantageous in that the eating utensil can then be washed as normal, for example in a dishwasher or in a bowl. The presence of the on/off switch is advantageous in that the audio means does not have to be used all the time. There may be occasions when it is not desired to use the audio means, for example if the baby is being fed in the presence of other people who would prefer not to hear the audio means.

The audio recording of at least one mathematics table is advantageous in that not only is the baby's attention drawn to the noise made by the eating utensil, but the baby is able to hear the mathematics table or tables and over a period of time the mathematics table or tables will subconsciously be remembered by the baby. The mathematics tables may be one or more of the two times table up to the twelve times table. With the current availability of electronic calculators, the ability to do simple mathematical calculations in a person's head is being lost and the eating utensil of the present invention can help to prevent this. The audio recording of at least one mathematics table will normally be for children who are at an appropriate learning age, for example from five years upwards. By -1, this age, the children will normally be using the eating utensil quite competently, and so the eating utensil will normally then be made to be reusable, for example made of stainless steel, rather than to be disposable, for example made of a plastics material.

When the recording consists of or comprises at least one nursery rhyme and/or at least one Bible quotation and/or the alphabet then, in addition to the baby's attention being drawn to the sound being made by the eating utensil, the baby can be soothed by the nursery rhyme or the Bible quotation or the alphabet, or the baby can start to learn the alphabet or the use of the words in the nursery rhyme or the Bible quotation. The nursery rhyme may be any suitable one including, for example, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Jack and Jill Ran Up the Hill. The Bible quotation may be Jesus Loves You, and Thou Shalt Not Steal.

With the audio recordings consisting of or comprising the mathematics table and/or the nursery rhyme and/or the Bible quotation and/or the alphabet and/or the spelling and/or the mathematics in the form of the addition and/or subtraction and/or multiplication and/or division, the baby's memory starts to get stimulated, in addition to the baby's interest being attracted for getting the baby to eat. If the recording consists of or comprises at least one piece of music, then the piece of music may have an obvious soothing effect. Again the baby's memory may be stimulated by remembering the piece of music. The piece of music may be music only or it may include words as in the case of a song being sung, or a nursery rhyme being sung.

The eating utensil of the present invention can be used by babies of differing ages. Generally, the eating utensil can be used from the initial time when the baby starts to be fed with solids from an eating utensil such for example as a spoon. The eating utensil can continue to be used when the baby is given the eating utensil to hold, and when efforts are being made to teach the baby how to eat using the eating utensil. The eating utensil can further be used when the baby becomes competent at eating with the eating utensil. All the time the baby will be able to have its attention attracted to the eating utensil whilst at the same time having the soothing/memory stimulating/educational aspect of the eating utensil.

Preferably, the audio means is such that it is not able to be removed from the free end of the handle. The fact that the audio means is not removable from the end of the handle is advantageous in that babies often put things in their mouths. For health and safety reasons, the audio means at the end of the handle should be such that it cannot come off the end of the handle in any circumstances. This thus avoids the possibility of the audio means coming off the free end of the handle and then being swallowed by the baby. If desired, the audio means may be removable fro the free end of the handle, for example before the eating utensil is washed after use. In this case, the audio means should be connected in position by connector means which is such that the audio means firstly can repeatedly be connected to and removed from the handle easily, simply and without damage to the connector means, and secondly can be connected to the handle without fear of the audio means accidentally becoming undone during use.

Preferably, the battery is sealed for life in the waterproof housing.

With such an arrangement, there is no possibility of parts of the audio means becoming lose and therefore dangerous to the baby. In addition, with the battery being sealed for life in the waterproof housing, there is no problem with water getting into the audio means during normal washing of the eating utensil. If desired however, the audio means may be such that the battery is a replaceable battery. The battery may be a disc- shaped watch battery. Alternatively, the battery may of be a type that is used in greetings cards which provide a message and/or music when the greetings cards are opened.

The switch means is preferably a manual switch means. The switch means may thus be a rocker switch or a pressure switch.

If desired, the switch means may be a remotely controlled switch means. The remotely controlled switch means may be activated by a remote controller in the same manner of changing channels on a television using a remote controller. The use of the remotely controlled switch means may be advantageous in avoiding the use of a relatively bulky manual switch means. The remotely controlled switch means may be more easily sealed in the waterproof housing, thereby facilitating manufacture and ensuring that the eating utensil is always easily able to be washed. A further advantage of the remotely controlled switch means is that the audio recording is able to be turned on and off without actually approaching the baby and thus distracting the baby from what it is doing.

The recording will usually be a pre-recording in a memory means.

The memory means may be a micro-chip or any other suitable and appropriate memory means.

The eating utensil may include selector means for selecting which audio recording is to be played when there are multiple choices of the audio recording. For example, if there is a choice of mathematics tables or a choice of nursery rhymes or choices of pieces of music, then the selector means may be employed for selecting a desired audio recording.

The selector means may be a manual selector means, for example of the same type as the switch means. Alternatively, the selector means may be a remotely controlled selector means, for example of the same type of the switch means so that it can be controlled by the remote controller.

The audio means may be such that the audio recording, or the chosen audio recording when there are multiple choices of the audio recording, is only played once, or is played over and over again.

Preferably, the eating utensil is a spoon. The eating utensil may alternatively be a fork or a knife.

Where the eating utensil is to be sold in other countries, then the audio recording will normally be the language of the country concerned when the audio recording has speech in it. Translations into different languages can be done in various ways. If desired, the eating utensil may contain a plurality of different languages, with the appropriate language for each different country being able to be selected via a language selector switch.

The eating utensil may be made of any suitable and appropriate materials. Thus, for example, the eating utensil may be made of a plastics material or a metal such for example as stainless steel. Where plastics materials are employed, then the handle and the part for use in eating can be moulded in one operation, the audio means can be separately produced, and then the audio means can be connected to the free end of the handle by ultrasonic welding or by a strong adhesive. Mechanical connecting means may alternatively or additionally be employed if desired. The eating utensil can be made to be re-usable or to be disposable.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a first eating utensil for a baby; Figure 2 shows a second eating utensil for a baby; and Figure 3 shows a circuit for the eating utensils shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a first eating utensil 2 for a baby 4. The eating utensil 2 comprises a handle 6 and a part 8 which is for use in eating and which is a spoon part. The eating utensil 2 also comprises audio means 10.

The audio means 10 is such that it is positioned at a free end 12 of the handle 6. The audio means 10 is not able to be removed from the free end 12 of the handle 6. The audio means 10 contains an audio recording.

The audio means 10 contains a battery for enabling operation of the audio means 10. The audio means 10 comprises a waterproof housing 14. The audio means 10 also comprises an on/off switch (not shown). The audio recording is a recording of at least one mathematics table and/or at least one nursery rhyme and/or at least one piece of music and/or the alphabet and/or spelling and/or mathematics in the form of addition and/or subtraction and/or multiplication and/or division.

The switch means is a manually operated switch means which is operated by simply pressing a part of the waterproof housing 14. The recording is a pre-recording on a micro-chip (not shown).

The eating utensil 2 is moulded from a plastics material. More specifically, the handle 6 and the part 8 are moulded in one piece. The audio means 10 is separately manufactured. The audio means 10 is then permanently secured to the free end 12 of the handle 6.

The eating utensil 2 shown in Figure 1 is able conveniently to be manufactured. The free end 12 of the handle 6 is a convenient place for securing the separately manufactured audio means 10. The eating utensil 2 can easily be washed after use due to the fact that everything is contained in the waterproof housing 14. If at any time the audio recording should not be required, then the switch means can easily be operated to turn the audio recording off.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a second eating utensil 16 for the baby 4. Similar parts as in Figure 1 have been given the same reference numerals for ease of comparison and understanding. The eating utensil 16 has a part 18 for use in eating, the part 18 being a fork part as shown.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a circuit diagram for the eating utensil 2 of Figure 1 or the eating utensil 16 of Figure 2. In Figure 3, there is shown the component that will be in the audio means 10, namely a battery 20, an on/off switch 22 a micro-chip 24 containing the audio recording, and a speaker 26. The speaker 26 may include an amplifier (not shown).

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modification may be effected. Thus, for example, the switch means could be a remotely controlled switch means operated by a remote controller. Selector means may be employed for selecting a particular audio recording from a choice of audio recordings.

The part of the eating utensil used for eating may be a knife part instead of a spoon part or a fork part. The eating utensil may be sold in packet form comprising only one eating utensil, for example a spoon, or it may be sold in packet form containing two or more different types of eating utensils, for example a spoon and a fork, or a spoon, fork and a knife.

Claims

1. An eating utensil for a baby, which eating utensil comprises a handle, a part for use in eating, and audio means, the audio means being such that it is positioned at a free end of the handle, it contains an audio recording, it contains a battery for enabling operation of the audio means, it comprises a waterproof housing, it comprises an on/off switch, and the audio recording is a recording of at least one mathematics table and/or at least one nursery rhyme and/or at least one piece of music and/or at least one Bible quotation and/or the alphabet and/or spelling and/or mathematics in the form of addition and/or subtraction and/or multiplication and/or division.

2. An eating utensil according to claim 1 in which the audio means is such that it is not able to be removed from the free end of the handle.

3. An eating utensil according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the battery is sealed for life in the waterproof housing.

4. An eating utensil according to any one of the preceding claims in which the battery is a disc-shaped watch battery.

5. An eating utensil according to any one of the preceding claims in which the switch means is a manual switch means.

6. An eating utensil according to claim 5 in which the switch means is a rocker switch or a pressure switch.

7. An eating utensil according to any one of claims 1 - 4 in which the switch means is a remotely controlled switch means.

8. An eating utensil according to any one of the preceding claims in which the recording is a pre-recording on a memory means.

9. An eating utensil according to any one of the preceding claims and including selector means for selecting which audio recording is to be played when there are multiple choices of the audio recordings.

10. An eating utensil according to claim 9 in which the selector means is a manual selector means.

11. An eating utensil according to claim 9 in which the selector means is a remotely controlled selector means.

12. An eating utensil according to any one of the preceding claims in which the part for use for eating is a spoon part or a fork part.

13. An eating utensil substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.