US2672697A - Infant's self-feeding dish - Google Patents

Description

March 23, 1954 c. s. LA TOUR 2,672,697 INFANTS SELF-FEEDING DISH Filed Sept. 13, 1951 Patented Mar. 23, 1954 INFANTS SELF-FEEDING DISH Clifl'ord S. La Tour, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Lyn-Chicago Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application September 13, 1951, Serial No. 246,397

2 Claims.

. The present invention relates to infants selffeeding dishes, and is a division of my copending application Serial No. 66,906, which wasfilled December 23, 1948, now Patent No. 2,596,255, for an Infant's Feeding Set. More particularly, the invention is concerned with the provision of a specially shaped dish which primarily is for use by an infant at the age when he is first learning to feed himself.

It has been learned that right or left-handedness in later life can be influenced to a great extent at the time an infant is first beginning to use his hands for grasping objects placed near him. Particularly, it has been learned that one of the strongest early influences on handedness is the eating habits developed by a child when hefirst begins to feed himself. It is known, of course, that left-handedness in an individual is a substantial handicap because of the fact that many operations are designed to be performed most easily in a right-handed manner, and much equipment must be specially constructed at higher cost if it is to be operated by a left-handed person. Also, left-handed eating is a social handicap, since it tends to interfere with the person seated to the left.

In view of the above, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a novel, specially constructed dish for the use of an infant at the time he begins feeding himself, which makes righthanded feeding extremely easy, and left-handed eating substantially impossible, thereby encouraging the early development of right-handedness.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an infants food dish which cannot easily be picked up, thereby making food spilling less likely.

Still another object is to provide an infant's dish which encourages the infant to lean forward while eating, thereby making the spilling of food from the spoon less likely.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of my invention, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a high, front perspective view of a dish constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view which may be considered as taken in the direction of the arrows substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view which may be considered as taken in the direction of the arrows substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a right-hand end view of the dish.

The dish shown in the drawings may be formed of ceramic material, or may be molded of any of a number of suitable plastic materials, or may be formed of metal or the like. In general, it is formed to provide a concavely curved front edge In which is connected by well rounded front corners l2 to side edges M which are substantially straight, but which are angled toward each other so that the back of the dish at It is narrower than the front. The side edges M are smoothly rounded into the back edge I 6.

Preferably, the front and side faces l8 and 20, respectively, converge toward the top so that the top surface 22 of the dish is somewhat smaller than. the bottom surface thereof. This configuration has the advantage of making the dish difficult to grasp, thereby preventing its being picked u and the contents spilled.

In the top surface of the dish, two depressions or food pockets 24 and 26 are provided in side by side relation, and since these two pockets are substantially identical in conformation, only one need be described. The shape of the right-hand pocket 26 is such that as is best shown in Fig. 3, the depressed surface slopes at a gradual angle in a downward and forward direction from the rear right-hand corner of the dish, so that, as shown at Fig. 3, the lowermost portion of the food pocket indicated at 28, is quite close to the front edge of the dish. Rearwardly of this point the surface curves gradually upwardly and backwardly, so that it meets the top edge of the dish, as has been previously explained, at a quite oblique angle. From the lowermost point, that is, the point 28, the surface of the depression curves forwardly and upwardly and thence backwardly and upwardly to form a horizontal semicircular portion 30 near the front of the dish, with the top edge 32 of the opening overhanging the forwardmost portion 30 of the pocket. This forms an overhanging lip, the purpose of which will be indicated presently.

The line of the section 3-3 follows approximately the line an infant using a spoon will usually take with the bowl of the spool in obtaining food from the dish. That is, the tendency is to dip the spoon into the depression rearwardly and to the'right of the position from which thespoon is lifted, if the spoon is used in a righthanded manner.

It will be seen, therefore. that since the deepest portion of the dish at 28 is overhung by the hp at 32, particularly when it is considered that the infant will be at a position somewhat forwardly of the edge of the dish, that the-food will be difflcult to obtain by any spoon motion excepting one which is directed forwardly, downwardly, and to the left. Obtaining of the food in this manner is greatly facilitated, particularly when the level of the food is low, by the rounded portion 30 which forms the overhanging lip 32. This is be au e th s eep of th @9 99 e re s ly along the "bottom of the dish, and thence inpwardly around the curved edge 30, will have the effect of causing the food being pushed ahead of the spoon to be crowded into thespoon bowl.

The surface of the pocket in the dish also slopes gradually downwardly from the ight to; ward the left, as shown in :Fig. 2 so as to zpro: vide an overhanging lip 34 along the left-hand edge of the pocket similar to the ,one just ides scribed. In other words, the left-hand edge 34 and the front edge 32, both overhang to :a con.- siderable extent, as does the corner 36 where these We led e iiQin- 9 th ether hand t e wa d nd i h -h nd ed e f t e e e i e e e smee hl -h-i l a h o h a the -r.-., s ar @92 1?! 3B,,h erge hie the sheer sl i-e ea i the a ansh ah ahs -hy ot o {Di-1 i eeh ih di h t re e e i pu n feed, i mere ef e i if thi i e h forw rd y e 1. th ft, ea 9h in het e h- Oh he other his he histam ne feed by he mo n of a s eep at as sha e ei 11 degre s he th dh eh Je t given (which is nonmal for va left-handed peris ts hw iaht e s h e, he at a t e heeahse the i e l sar so tha th rehh h hi n ahhu ilv'a ie ass n e e e'ei the reeh h has a ee ha hes is sheie away ie we of the s ad-M1 ene 9 the hemm- 7 it hea he d :el eh-ihg Z4 i subst nt a The 2 a th ugh,

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- a ih e th h ,ihe 9 .e d h I18 m de ?W, 'heeehs me h tr ys t hie eha h a e s d the eheir s de and he hi ih i-ehe he t he te a ain this the e e i he d sh has t s e n-s ve f mia iii h 1,398 izh. i eht ge 2 ve h s the he e h e the di h at 28, ahdisih e the naiv hehdehey i ehi d i to tr to see h f d ha een :iehhcl that the ihfhnt 4 usually will lean well forward in order to look over the overhanging lip 32, with the result that food spilled from the spoon will be more often confined to the tray of the highchair, or at least to the infants bib, than is normally the case.

From the above description of a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will he seen that he encourages right-handedeating and discourages left-handed eating, and, because of the tapering sides'of the dish, it cannot easily be picked the contents'spilled, and further, the dish promotes easy loading of the spoon and also a encoura ges the infant to lean forwardly somewhat, seats to iconfine spilled food to a comparati-ve'ly small area.

slthough only embodiment of my invention has been described and illustrated, it will be appreciated that variations may be made therefrom without departing from the scope of the innt n, an t a there ore the hv ni h h h be mea u ed :b th se n .e the i lzl wihe 1. training ideyice for infants to encourage the use of the right hand, comprising a have ing ,a food-containing depression formed there; in, the deepest part of said depression lying ad= jacent the front left-hand portion thereof as the dish confronts the infant the surface .of swirl I18: 131368510111 sloping abruptly upward in the frontal leftehand direction from deepest part gradually upward in the rearward right-hand hi,- reotion therefrom, whereby a spoon be a erated against the abruptly sloping portion of depression surface by 'lnormal spoon manipulate tion.

2- An i ts training de e f eheo rssine the use of the right hand, comprising a dish ing a food pocket formed therein which slopes gradually downwardly, forwardly, and to "the left in the dish, the bottom surface of the pocket being so shaped that the forward and left-hand portions of the pocket-curve sharply upwardly.

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