Novelty spoon

A hand held eating and drinking utensil that is constructed to be used for the dual purpose of serving as a spoon for eating and as a straw for drinking. The utensil is in the form of a spoon having a handle with a bowl for eating food as a spoon and having a handle that is hollow throughout its center for use as a straw to suck liquid or bits of food through the handle into a child's mouth. A decorative figure is attached to the handle for easier grasping and holding of the utensil while providing an amusing device for the child to play with either with or without any food or liquid thereon.

I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the design and construction of hand held 
eating and drinking utensils and, more particularly, to a spoon that can 
be operated as a straw. 
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
During meals, children often require two different utensils for eating and 
drinking. For example, soup having bits of food in it can be consumed 
through a spoon or a straw. Children are faced with the dilemma of which 
utensil to use. Moreover, children need encouragement at times to eat 
their meal or merely desire to experience a more pleasurable eating 
experience during meal time. 
Also, food manufacturers often place promotional items in cereal or candy 
boxes. Such items must be designed so that they can be packaged in a flat 
configuration, must be inexpensively manufactured, and must be safe in the 
hands of children. Furthermore, such products must meet stringent 
requirements for food applications. It is also advantageous if such items 
are easily modified to provide for several different types of amusing and 
decorative utensils without changing the operational aspects of the 
product. 
In the past, various types of children's utensils have been developed. For 
instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,055 entitled "Articulated Toy and Spoon 
For Hand Feeding An Infant" discloses an articulated toy spoon which 
protrudes through a face of a cartoon like character. The idea of this 
device is to take the child's mind off eating and have the child's 
attention directed toward the cartoon like face through which the spoon 
protrudes. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,344 entitled "Manipulatable 
Utensil Figure" discloses a hand held eating utensil that has a figure 
member positioned on the handle of the utensil. The figure can be operated 
by placing a finger within the figure to manipulate its placement along 
the handle. Neither spoon, however, is designed to be used as a straw. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,591 entitled "Combined Spoon and Toy" discloses a spoon 
with a toy integrally interposed between the ladle and handle portions of 
the spoon. This device provides an incentive for small children to eat 
their food. However, this device does not permit the spoon to be used as a 
straw. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,698,996 entitled "Food or Medicine Administering Spoon" 
there is disclosed a spoon that uses a reservoir containing a measured 
amount of food or liquid and a plunger to regulate the amount of food or 
liquid pushed through an opening in the bowl of the spoon for intake. 
Although this device allows food or fluid to be pushed through an opening 
in the spoon from an enclosed reservoir, the device does not permit intake 
of the food or fluid through a straw formed within the spoon. Instead, the 
device must always be used as a spoon. 
As illustrated by the prior devices, there has never been disclosed a hand 
held utensil configured to operate both as a spoon for eating and a straw 
for drinking. Accordingly, applicant's invention provides a hand held 
eating and drinking utensil that can be operated both as a spoon and as a 
straw. 
III. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a novel 
construction of a hand held utensil that can be used for the dual purpose 
of serving as a spoon for eating and as a straw for drinking. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a decorative figure on the 
hand held eating and drinking utensil which induces the child to eat or 
drink his food and still provide an amusing device for the child to play 
with either with or without any food or liquid thereon. 
A related object is to provide a decorative figure on the hand held eating 
and drinking utensil that allows for easier grasping and holding of the 
utensil by the child for eating or drinking his food. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a hand held eating and 
drinking utensil that can be inexpensively made of several parts, packaged 
in a flat configuration, and easily assembled by the user. 
Other objects of the present invention will become more apparent to persons 
having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains 
from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying 
drawings. 
IV. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a novel construction for a hand held utensil that 
can be used for the dual purpose of serving as a spoon for eating and as a 
straw for drinking. The utensil consists of three main parts: a handle, a 
bowl, and a decorative figure. 
The handle is an elongated cylindrical tube with a hollow bore extending 
through the center the entire length of the handle. The handle consists of 
two pieces, the forward handle portion and the rearward handle portion, 
which are snapped together end to end to form one elongated piece. 
The bowl is formed at the forward handle portion. The decorative figure is 
attached to the rearward handle portion. Locating posts protrude from the 
exterior of the rearward handle portion for receiving and holding the 
decorative figure in place on the rearward handle portion. 
The child can grasp any portion of the handle for eating or drinking. The 
decorative figure, besides acting as an amusement for the child, provides 
the child with a larger handle for easier grasping of the utensil. The 
hand held utensil can then either be used in a scooping manner to collect 
food or inserted into a liquid such that the liquid can be sucked through 
the hollow portion of the handle into the child's mouth.

VI. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Turning first to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a hand held eating and 
drinking utensil, and more particularly a spoon 10. The spoon 10 is 
comprised of a handle 12, a bowl 14, and a decorative figure 16. The bowl 
14 is formed into one end of the handle 12. The decorative figure 16 is 
attached to the exterior of the handle 12. The decorative figure 16 is 
illustrated to be an elephant, but the decorative figure 16 may be any 
type of figure or design including but not limited to animals and human or 
fictitious characters. Furthermore, the decorative figure 16 can be 
textured to resemble the particulars of the animal or character used. 
Turning to FIG. 2, the component parts of the spoon 10 are more clearly 
illustrated, particularly the handle 12. The handle 12 is an elongated 
cylindrical tube with a hollow bore 19 extending through the center of the 
entire length of the handle 12 to a drinking end 22. The handle 12 is 
comprised of two pieces: a forward handle portion 18 and a rearward handle 
portion 20. The forward handle portion 18 and the rearward handle portion 
20 are snapped together end to end at a point of attachment 23 to form one 
elongated piece. The bowl 14 is formed at the forward handle portion 18. 
The bowl 14 is oval in shape with an opening at the top to collect the 
food and closed at the bottom to hold the food. 
The decorative figure 16 is attached to the rearward handle portion 20 and 
preferable covers the point of attachment 23 between the forward handle 
portion 18 and the rearward handle portion 20. Approximately one-half of 
the decorative figure 16 encompasses approximately one-half of the tubular 
exterior of the handle 12 with the other one-half of the decorative figure 
16 protruding above the exterior of the handle 12. The decorative figure 
16 is situated along the handle 12 approximately midway from the closest 
point of the bowl 14 and the drinking end 22. This distance allows a child 
to eat the food from the bowl 14 or drink the food from the drinking end 
22. The open end of the bowl 14 and the decorative figure 16 are formed 
and attached, respectively, on the same side of the handle 12. 
Turning to FIG. 3, the assembly of the spoon 10 can be more clearly 
described. The forward handle portion 18 is attached to the rearward 
handle portion 20 through the insertion of the combination of an internal 
peg 24 and a key 26 on the forward handle portion 18 into a hollow opening 
27 and a kewyay 28 of the rearward handle portion 20. The internal peg 24 
is an extension of the forward handle portion 18, but is slightly smaller 
in diameter than the outer diameter of the forward handle portion 18. The 
internal peg 24 is of sufficient length to facilitate a tight connection 
upon the snapping of the relative ends of the forward handle portion 18 
and the rearward handle portion 20 together. The key 26 is slightly 
smaller than the keyway 28 in order for the keyway 28 to receive the key 
26. Following the insertion of the key 26 into the keyway 28, the keyway 
28 acts to hold the forward handle portion 18 from rotating within the 
rearward handle portion 20. The prevention of this rotation allows the 
child to use the spoon 10 without the forward handle portion 18 rotating 
and forcing the bowl 14 to drop whatever food it contained. 
The decorative figure 16 is attached to the rearward handle portion 20 
through two locating posts 30. The locating posts 30 are sufficiently 
spaced from one another to create a secure attachment of the decorative 
figure 16 to the handle 12. As seen in FIG. 2, the decorative figure 16 
contains corresponding holes 32 for receiving the locating posts 30. 
It is recommended that the indiviudual components be injection molded from 
a food grade plastic material. Furthermore, the plastic material should 
not be made of a plastic that is easily chipped or broken, due to the fact 
that children will be biting on the bowl 14 and the handle 12. The plastic 
comonents should also have resiliency. The forward handle portion 18, the 
rearward handle portion 20, and the decorative figure 16 can each be 
injection molded as a separate component. The bowl 14 is to be injection 
molded integrally with the forward handle portion 18. The three components 
are then snapped together to form the finished product. 
Thus, there has been provided a novelty spoon which can be used as a spoon 
or a straw. While the invention has been described in conjunction with a 
specific embodiment, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications 
and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of 
the foregoing description. Accordingly, it in intended to embrace all such 
alternatives, modifcations and variations as fall within the spirit and 
scope of the appended claims.