JP2000060711A - Grip of spoon and fork - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spoon or a fork provided with a grip which can be easily used even by a person having a weak grasping power or disabled hands. SOLUTION: The grip 1a of a spoon 1 has a spherical shape or a callapsed spherical shape. Such grip 1a can be grasped by receiving its end surface by the palm so as to cover it with the thumb and fingers. The spoon 1 can be firmly held by a small power and moreover the spoon can be held so that the hand and the axis of the spoon are located on a straight line or the hand is perpendicular to the axis of the spoon, and hence even a person having a weak grasping power or having disabled hands can easily carry a food to his mouth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meal utensil such as a spoon or a fork, and more particularly to a structure of a grip portion thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Eating utensils such as spoons and forks have become indispensable tools in the modern western diet, but on the other hand, compared to Japanese chopsticks,
It has the advantage of being easy to grasp and is also for infants, elderly people with poor grip, or people with limited dexterity.

For this reason, conventional grips such as spoons and forks have been put into practical use so that they can be easily gripped. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, for the spoon 10, the grip 11 is formed to be thicker and larger than the handle portion of a general spoon, and elderly people who have poor grip strength,
Or even the handicapped person can handle it easily. Alternatively, although not shown, a ring-shaped portion through which a finger is inserted is provided in the grip portion so that the finger can be held without gripping force, and further, the grip is made of a soft material to facilitate gripping.

[0004] Such a conventional elderly person with weak grip or a handicapped person has a shape like an ordinary person holding chopsticks, that is, holding the spoon with his fingertips and the direction of the wrist and the spoon. Since it is difficult to support it in a direction substantially coincident with the direction, it is usually held by the entire hand 20 as shown in FIG. 6, and the grip 11 is wrapped with the thumb 21 and the other four fingers 22. Hold Therefore, the arrow A, which is the opening / closing direction of the four fingers 22, and the arrow B, which is the axial direction of the spoon 10, are orthogonal to each other, and considering the movement of the hands and arms, the food placed in the recess 12 at the tip of the spoon 10 It is quite unreasonable to carry it to the mouth.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improvement of the conventional spoons and forks that are forced to take such an unreasonable posture, so that the elderly who have poor grip or the inconvenience of the hands are inconvenient. It is an object of the present invention to provide an eating tool that is easy for people to use.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a grip such as a spoon or a fork is sized so that it can be grasped by wrapping it around a human palm and a plurality of fingers. Or a shape close to it.

Further, the grip can be easily gripped even as a true spherical body. Alternatively, the spherical body is a flat spherical body having a shape crushed in the axial direction such as a spoon and a fork, and one of the planes is shaped to be easily received by the palm, and the plane from the one plane to the other plane is a curved surface. The curved surface is formed so that it can be grasped by wrapping it with a plurality of fingers including a thumb, and the axis of a spoon, fork or the like is vertically fixed to the center of the other flat surface, which is easy to grasp. Is obtained.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention has a size such that a grip of a spoon, a fork or the like can be gripped by receiving the end face of the tip with the palm of a person and wrapping the rest with a plurality of fingers. It is a spherical body.

The grip may be a true spherical body, or may be a flat spherical body in which the spherical body is appropriately crushed in the axial direction such as a spoon or a fork. Which shape is better may be selected depending on the size of the hand and the inconvenience of the fingers.

Further, in the case where the spherical body is crushed in the axial direction such as a spoon or a fork, the one flat surface and the other flat surface do not necessarily have to have the same curved surface. The point is that one of the flat surfaces should be shaped so that it can be easily received by the palm, and the other should be shaped so that it can be easily grasped by being wrapped with the thumb and other fingers. However, the surface from one flat surface to the other flat surface needs to be a curved surface so that it can be easily gripped by a finger.

A grip having such a shape is a spoon,
It can be applied to a fork or a fork that also serves as a spoon, and it can be easily and lightly handled by a person with weak grip strength or a person with limited dexterity, and can be handled by either the left or right hand. Further, depending on the case, it is possible to use it by grasping it while tilting it in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the wrist.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of a spoon equipped with a grip according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the same. Reference numeral 1 denotes a spoon, and its grip 1a has a flat spherical shape as if a sphere was crushed in the axial direction of the spoon.
Is the food tray at the tip of the spoon. As shown in FIG. 1B, one end face 1c of the grip 1a has a relatively wide flat portion, the end portion of which is continuous with the curved surface, and the other end portion on the opposite side is also continuous. The end face 1d is the end face 1
The area is smaller than that of c, and the end portion is loose and continuous to the curved surface.

That is, the end face 1c is set so as to be easily received by the palm, and the end face 1d and the curved surface subsequent thereto are set in a shape suitable for wrapping with the thumb and other fingers, and between both end faces. It has a curved surface that is easy to hold with your fingers.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a fork having the grip of the present invention. Reference numeral 2 is a fork, 2a is a grip, which is a sphere in this example, and 2b is a piercing portion at the tip of the fork. Thus, even if the grip is a sphere, it is easy to grip.

The above-mentioned spoon 1 and fork 2 are provided with different types of grips, but this is merely an example, and attaching the same type of grips to the spoon 1 and fork 2 causes no problem.

FIG. 3 shows a spoon 1 and a fork 2 of the present invention.
Is an explanatory view of the use state, and by making the grip a spherical body or a flat spherical shape in this way, it is easy to grasp even with a weak gripping force, and further, the arrow C direction of the wrist 20 of the right hand and the arrow D direction of the axial direction of the spoon 1 And are almost in a straight line, and the arrangement is suitable for carrying food or the like to the mouth. Similarly, for the fork 2 of the wrist 30 of the left hand,
The arrow C in the direction of the wrist 30 of the left hand and the direction of the arrow D, which is the axial direction of the fork 2, are substantially in a straight line, and the arrangement suitable for carrying food or the like to the mouth can be achieved.

Although FIG. 4 shows another example of use, depending on the condition of the body of the user, the arrow C direction of the wrist 30 and the arrow D direction which is the axial direction of the fork 2 are orthogonal to each other. It may be easier to use the grip, but the grip of the present invention makes it easy to obtain either usage state.

Although the spoon and fork using the grip of the present invention have been described in the above embodiments, the present invention can be applied to a well-known spoon-fork having a split portion at the tip of the spoon. Of course, you can

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the grip of a spoon, a fork or the like can be gripped by receiving the end face of the tip with the palm of a person and wrapping the rest with a plurality of fingers. Since it has a spherical shape of such a size, it is possible to provide an eating device that is easy to use, even for elderly people who have poor grip or who have limited dexterity.

Further, the grip may be a true spherical body or a flat spherical body in which the spherical body is appropriately crushed in the axial direction of a spoon, a fork or the like. It is selectable depending on the size of the hand and the inconvenience of the fingers.

Further, the spoon, fork or the like having the grip of the present invention can be handled by either the left or right hand. Also, depending on the case, it is possible to hold a spoon etc. in the same direction as the wrist direction, or to hold it so that it tilts in a direction orthogonal to the wrist direction, and use it with a lot of freedom. We can provide law-enabled spoons and forks.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of a spoon according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the same.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a fork according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a usage state of a spoon and a fork according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a usage state of the spoon according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a conventional spoon.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a usage state of a conventional spoon.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 spoon 1a grip 1c End surface (flat surface) 1d End surface (flat surface) Two forks 2a grip

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A grip of a spoon, a fork, or the like having a spherical shape or a shape close to a spherical shape having a size that can be gripped by enclosing it with a palm and a plurality of fingers. 2. The grip of a spoon, a fork, etc. according to claim 1, wherein the grip is a true spherical body. 3. The grip has a flat shape in which a spherical body is crushed in the axial direction such as a spoon or a fork, and one of the flat surfaces can be received by the palm, and the other flat surface is provided from the flat surface. The surface leading to is formed as a curved surface, and the curved surface is formed so that it can be grasped by wrapping it with a plurality of fingers including a thumb, and a shaft such as a spoon or a fork is hung vertically at the center of the other flat surface. The grip of a spoon, a fork or the like according to claim 1.