JP3243244U - assistance spoon - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To provide an assistance spoon used when assisting a person requiring care who has difficulty in eating by himself/herself. SOLUTION: An assistance spoon K having a recess 2 wider than the handle at the tip of a handle 3 made of an elastic body and formed into an elongated shape. A cross-sectional area reducing means 4 is provided to reduce the cross-sectional area of the concave portion in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal center line of the handle portion by folding the assistance spoon at the portion. As for the cross-sectional area reduction means, all of the handle portion and the hollow portion that constitute the spoon are pre-bent around the center. A semicircular protrusion 1 is provided at the tip of the spoon, and the size of the protrusion is about 1/3 of the diameter of the recess of the spoon. [Selection drawing] Fig. 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an assistance spoon that is used when helping a person requiring care who has difficulty eating by himself/herself to eat.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, many proposals have been made for spoon-shaped eating utensils used by persons requiring nursing care to eat. However, most of the inventions are ingenuity to carry the food on the spoon into the mouth of the person requiring nursing care without spilling, or are assistance spoons intended for those who can take food on their own, and refuse food assistance itself. Until now, there have been no products that focus on the perspective of those who have a lot of bruises or who have difficulty opening their mouths due to illness.

JP 2018-068990 A

The spoon-shaped eating utensil of Patent Document 1 corresponds to meal forms such as granular or paste-like and low-viscosity liquid foods in order to prevent aspiration when the swallowing function of elderly people and sick people declines. is. This is said to be able to put food in the mouth when feeding the elderly, sick, infants, etc., but there are cases where it is difficult to put a spoon in the mouth because there is a strong refusal to the meal assistance itself. However, there was a problem that it was difficult for people who could not open their mouths due to illness to carry out the procedure.
It is a fact that there are many nursing care recipient families and facility staff who have the above problems in the current nursing care field. Also, looking at the form of the meal, it starts with a normal meal, and as the swallowing function declines, there is a chopped meal → an extremely chopped meal → a minced meal → a soft meal, a mixer meal, a pudding meal, etc., and the above foods are in the form of paste. There is also a problem that it can only be applied to mixer-like meals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is an assistance spoon having a recess wider than the handle at the tip of an elongated handle made of an elastic material. and cross-sectional area reduction means for reducing the cross-sectional area of the recess in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal center line of the handle by folding the assistance spoon at a folding portion passing through the longitudinal center line of the handle. It is characterized by
As for the cross-sectional area reduction means, it is desirable that all of the handle and the recess, which constitute the spoon, are preliminarily bent about the center.
It is desirable that a semi-circular projection be provided at the tip of the recess of the spoon.

The assistance spoon of the product of the present invention is an assistance spoon provided with a concave portion wider than the handle at the tip of the elongated handle made of an elastic material as in claim 1, wherein the handle is A cross-sectional area reduction means is provided for reducing the cross-sectional area of the concave portion in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal center line of the handle by folding the assistance spoon at a folding portion passing through the longitudinal center line. It has the effect of being able to insert a spoon into the gap between the lips and teeth of a person requiring nursing care who has difficulty in eating due to the progress of dementia. In addition, as in claim 2, the cross-sectional area reducing means is preliminarily bent around the center of all of the handle and the recess that constitute the spoon. Since the spoon can be put in the person's mouth, the inside of the mouth is not damaged, and by opening the spoon that has been folded in the mouth, the food can be reliably placed on the tongue.
In addition, by providing a semi-circular projection at the tip of the hollow portion of the spoon as in claim 3, the projection on the tip of the spoon touches the lips of the person requiring nursing care to make them aware of the start of eating. The care recipient can check the remaining teeth and dentures by flipping the lips of the care recipient with a protrusion, and provide safe eating assistance while confirming each time where the spoon should be inserted through the gap in the mouth. can do things Furthermore, by stimulating the K point in the mouth of the person requiring care, there is an effect that the person who has difficulty opening the mouth can easily open the mouth.

Fig. 2 is a view of the assistance spoon of the present invention when held in an open state; It is a side view of the state which half-folded the assistance spoon same as the above. It is the side view which completely folded the assistance spoon same as the above. It is a usage diagram of the assistance spoon same as the above.

The product of the present invention has been made to solve the above problems. Re-opening the spoon with the spoon in place ensures that food is placed on the tongue.

The assistance spoon K is made of a relatively soft material (silicon, etc.) including a semicircular protrusion 1, a depression 2, and a handle 3 at the tip of a depression 2 on which food is placed. It can be folded at , and it has a structure that overlaps exactly on the left and right.
The assistance spoon K is held by pinching it between the thumb and index finger or between the thumb and middle finger. and the middle finger to reduce the cross-sectional area of the recess 2 in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal center line of the handle 3, and the cross-sectional area reducing means 4 is the handle 3 and a recess 2 integrally formed. A concave groove 5 is formed at a position corresponding to the longitudinal center line of the handle 3 and at a position corresponding to the longitudinal center line of the recess 2, so that the handle 3 receives the force of the thumb and index finger or the thumb and middle finger. The cross-sectional area of the recess 2 is smoothly reduced when the force is applied.
The groove 5 is V-shaped, 2 mm wide and 1 mm deep.

The assistance spoon K reduces the cross-sectional area of the recess 2 by applying force to the thumb and index finger or thumb and middle finger to reduce the cross-sectional area in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal center line of the handle 3. However, if force is applied to the thumb and index finger or the thumb and middle finger, only the position of the handle 3 is deformed and the cross-sectional area of the recess 2 is not reduced, resulting in poor usability. In order to solve this problem, truss-structured muscle portions are formed outside the upper and lower end positions of the handle portion 3 and the recess portion 2, and the muscle portions are connected by a plurality of vertical and oblique muscle portions. By dispersing the force applied to the muscle, vertical muscle, and oblique muscle, the pressure applied by the thumb and index finger or the thumb and middle finger may be changed to reduce the cross-sectional area of the recess 2. It is.
The oblique stripes may be formed so as to be inclined in the same direction between the vertical stripes, or they may be formed so as to be inclined in opposite directions between the vertical stripes.

By providing the cross-sectional area reduction means, the food can be safely and surely inserted into the mouth of the person requiring care, and the series of operations can be performed with one hand, so that the person receiving care can use the other hand to hold the food. It is possible to hold and support the body of the person requiring care.

When a metal spoon hits the lips of a person requiring nursing care who has poor awareness of food, it tends to lead to behavior such as closing the mouth or brushing it off with a hand in rejection. 1 is considered to have a positive effect on the subsequent feeding assistance itself, because even if it touches the lips of the person requiring nursing care, it does not cause discomfort and is transmitted as a gentle stimulus.

By providing a semicircular projection 1 at the tip of the recess of the spoon, it is possible to stimulate the K point of the person requiring nursing care and encourage him or her to open the mouth. The K point is a slightly posterior inner part of the rearmost part of the postmolar triangle in the mouth. Stimulation of this site can induce the swallowing reflex and encourage mouth opening in patients with pseudobulbar palsy. Since the assistance spoon itself is entirely made of silicon, it can stimulate the K point softly and gently, so it is possible for the person requiring assistance not to feel uncomfortable.

Since this devised product can be manufactured only by providing a concave groove 5 in an existing assistance silicon spoon, mass production is possible at low cost.

The service spoon K, which is a devised product, is available in S, M, and L sizes, and can be used according to the needs of the person requiring care.

Silicon has excellent properties such as heat resistance, cold resistance, electrical insulation, water repellency, easy peeling, bubble elimination, chemical stability, colorless transparency, tastelessness and odorlessness. It has the feature that it can be used for a long time.

Within the scope of the utility model registration claim, this device, the assistance spoon K,
The use of soft materials other than silicon (EVA resin, thermosetting elastomer), the size and shape of the semicircular protrusion 1 at the tip of the recess, the size, thickness, and shape of the recess 2 of the spoon , the thickness and length of the handle 3 of the spoon, and the left-right balance of the folding part 4 can also be changed.

The depression 2 of the assistance spoon has dozens of bilaterally symmetrical protrusions with a diameter of 1 mm in both size and height. can quickly drop food into

For those who require nursing care, we can expect an increase in food intake, so we can expect maintenance and improvement of ADL.

For the cared person, it can be expected that the caregiver's labor will be reduced because the meal assistance can be done without changing the current work flow.

K Assistance spoon 1 Protrusion 2 Depression 3 Handle 4 Cross-sectional area reducing means 5 Groove

Claims (3)

The assistance spoon is provided with a depression wider than the handle at the tip of an elongated handle made of an elastic material, wherein the assistance spoon is folded at a folded portion passing through the center line of the handle in the longitudinal direction. An assistance spoon characterized by comprising cross-sectional area reduction means for reducing the cross-sectional area of the recess in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal center line of the handle by folding the support spoon. 2. An assistance spoon as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cross-sectional area reduction means has a handle portion and a hollow portion which are all preliminarily bent around a center. A semicircular protrusion is provided on the tip of the spoon, and the size of the protrusion is about 1/3 of the diameter of the recess of the spoon. Item 3. The assistance spoon according to any one of items 2.