Patent ID: 6592315
Filing Date: 2003-07-15
Classification: A47G,B25J,G05B

Abstract:
A self feeding apparatus comprising:a. a robotic arm b. a set of one or more food holding vessels selected from the group consisting of plates and bowls and trays and boxes and microwave containers and refrigerator dishes and compartmented food trays and frozen dinner trays, c. a set of one or more eating utensils selected from the group consisting of forks and spoons and sporks, d. a gripper mounted on the end of said robot arm, said gripper capable of grasping any of said utensils, e. a control apparatus to operate said robot arm which can cause said utensil to move over one of said food holding vessels (the selected food holding vessel), use said utensil to pick up food and convey said food to the food delivery position, f. an operating sequence which includes a hover mode in which said utensil is steered in the horizontal plane only and in which said utensil is constrained to remain over said selected food holding vessel, said hover mode constituting the subject matter which applicant regards as his invention, whereby persons who may have severe paralysis can easily and intuitively feed themselves a wide variety of foods in a sequence of their choice using a utensil of their choice from any of a wide variety of standard food holding vessels.