Abstract:
An eating utensil with a spoon shell fastened to a handle enables handicapped people, who have, e.g., only one usable hand, to reduce in size pieces of food, e.g., meat, by cutting into bite-sized pieces. To achieve this, the spoon shell ( 1, 31 ) and the handle ( 6 ) are of a two-part design. The spoon shell ( 1 ) has a first shell part ( 2 ) with a first handle shaft ( 4 ) and a second shell part ( 3 ) with a second handle shaft ( 5 ). The respective shell parts ( 2, 3 ) and handle shafts ( 4, 5 ), which are rigidly connected to one another, are connected to one another by a scissor hinge ( 7 ) and can be moved against one another in a scissor-like manner. The shell parts ( 2, 3 ) have cutting edges ( 8, 9 ) cooperating in a scissor-like manner.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention pertains to an eating utensil with a spoon shell fastened to a handle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Eating utensils of this type have been known for a long time. Those with a handle and with a spoon shell fastened thereto are used especially in the form of a soup spoon for eating liquid or small particulate food. The drawback of these prior-art eating utensils is that larger pieces of food, e.g., pieces of meat, cannot be reduced in size with the spoon shell. Even if such reduction in size is possible in the case of relatively soft pieces of food, a second eating utensil, e.g., in the form of a fork, is needed to hold this piece of food during division. Dividing such a food with a conventional soup spoon is thus possible with difficulty only, especially with one hand, so that especially handicapped people with only one usable hand are usually dependent on the assistance of a second person to reduce in size pieces of food. 
     Various eating utensils with multiple functions to enable such persons to reduce in size pieces of food independently have become known. 
     For example, an eating utensil that can be used with one hand for one-armed and handicapped people (DE 86 19 103.9 U1) has been known, which has a fork and a knife arranged on one side of the fork, which said knife is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the fork and is mounted tiltably around an axis extending approximately at right angles to the edge of the knife against spring pressure by loading the back of the knife. The knife and the fork are mounted in a common, grip-like sheath. The fork can be turned around between a folded-out position projecting from the sheath in the longitudinal direction of the sheath and a folded-in position located adjacent to the outside of the sheath, while the knife is displaceable between an extended position in which it is extended from the sheath and a withdrawn position in which it is withdrawn into the sheath, and it is accommodated in the sheath. This fork and knife combination shall enable handicapped persons to independently reduce in size a piece of food locked with the fork by extending the blade of the knife and a relative movement. This means that the user must displace the blade of the knife in the axial direction and must also perform the tilting movement simultaneously by pressing the back of the knife, e.g., with a finger. This type of use is extremely complicated and is consequently suitable for the one-hand operation of the fork and knife combination only conditionally. 
     A fork-and-knife eating utensil for one-handed people, in which a fork body is arranged on a handle, has likewise been known from DE 27 49 685 A1. An axially movable knife body of an approximately U-shaped design, whose fork-side front edge is designed as a knife blade, is arranged on this handle. A piece of food, which is held by means of the fork body, shall be “punched out” by the forward movement of the knife body by means of this eating utensil. The handling of this prior-art eating utensil is also extremely difficult, because, especially in order to ensure the complete cutting through of the piece of food, the handle must be held with the knife body at right angles to the support so that the knife body can indeed cut the piece of food completely with its blade. Since the knife body has an essentially U-shaped design, this eating utensil must be brought into contact with the food, tuned at least twice by 180°, to completely separate a piece of food, so that complete cutting through is extremely complicated. 
     In another eating utensil for the handicapped (DE 85 27 734.7 U1), a fork, with which a cutting device is associated, is likewise provided on a grip part. The cutting device has a knife arranged in the area of the prongs of the fork with a blade extending at right angles to the prongs of the fork, wherein the said knife is longitudinally displaceable in the direction of the prongs of the fork and is mounted pivotably. To facilitate the cutting movement proper, an electric motor, which mediates a cutting pivoting movement to the knife via a gear mechanism, is also provided in the housing. Thus, a piece of food picked up by the fork can be cut through by means of this eating utensil at least on one side by the axial displacement of the knife and the simultaneously active electric motor. However, depending on the shape of the piece of food, this eating utensil must be brought into contact with the piece of food several times in order to perform a complete separation. Furthermore, energy supply is always necessary for the electric motor in this eating utensil, which has the disadvantage, especially in the case of a battery-operated eating utensil, that replacement batteries must always be present in order to maintain the ability of this eating utensil to function and that the batteries increase the weight and make the eating utensil bulky. 
     SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to design an eating utensil with a spoon shell fastened to a handle such that it can be used with one hand and that a cutting function can also be performed with it in a simple manner to reduce in size pieces of food. 
     According to the present invention a spoon shell and the handle being designed as two-part pieces and by a first spoon shell part and a second spoon shell part and forming a first handle shaft and a second handle shaft, respectively, and by the first spoon shell part being rigidly connected to the first handle shaft and by the second spoon shell part being rigidly connected to the second handle shaft, and by the handle shafts being connected to one another by a scissor hinge and being movable against one another in a scissor-like manner, and by the two spoon shell parts having cutting edges cooperating in a scissor-like manner. 
     The design according to the present invention makes available an eating utensil with which the functions of division, picking up of the food and moving it to the mouth can be performed by handicapped people in a simple and reliable manner. Using the eating utensil according to the present invention, a handicapped person can thus reduce in size pieces of food and eat them independently with one hand only. The scissor-like movement of the two spoon shell parts makes available an extremely simple cutting method, in which it is not necessary to fix the piece of food by means of a second utensil in any way. The design of the eating utensil according to the present invention thus corresponds approximately to a pair of scissors, whose scissor blades are designed as spoon shell parts. 
     Due to the scissor hinge being arranged in the vicinity of the edge of the spoon shell it is possible to apply extremely strong shearing forces or cutting forces during the reduction in size of pieces of food, which makes the eating utensil according to the present invention particularly suitable even for people, e.g., handicapped children, who do not have a correspondingly strong force in their hand. 
     Handiness is further improved by the spreading spring provided, by which the two handle shafts and spoon shell parts can be spread apart. The arrangement of the spreading spring between the two handle shafts makes possible the extremely simple assembly as well as variable design of the spreading spring. 
     Due to the spoon shell being divided lengthwise approximately in the middle, the eating utensil according to the present invention can also be used in a simple manner as a gripping tong, as a result of which its user-friendliness is considerably improved and its applicability is expanded. 
     As an alternative, the spoon shell may also be divided along a ring line, so that an edge ring closed in itself is created with the first handle shaft and an inner shell part is connected to the second handle shaft. Due to this embodiment, the cutting edge proper is located during the reduction in size of a piece of food essentially in a plane extending in parallel to the edge of the spoon, so that while the spoon shell is closed in a scissor-like manner and is held horizontally, the piece of food cut off automatically comes to lie on the spoon and can be moved immediately to the mouth. An extremely simple and easily handling is achieved due to this embodiment as well. 
     Due to the ability of the spoon shell parts to be locked in their closed position by means of a securing element arranged on a handle shaft, the eating utensil according to the present invention can be safely used as a conventional one-part soup spoon with the spoon shell parts locked. Advantageous embodiments of a locking means are also disclosed. 
     Due to the replaceable arrangement of the handle shafts at the spoon shells, the eating utensil according to the present invention can be adapted to the individual needs of a handicapped person in a simple manner. Thus, handle shafts of different shapes and sizes can be connected to the spoon shell parts, so that the eating utensil according to the present invention can be selected optimally in a simple manner, e.g., depending on the size of the hand or the nature of the handicap of the person using it. 
     The cutting edge of one spoon shell part may be provided with a sealing strip extending under the cutting edge of the other spoon shell part, so that the eating utensil according to the present invention can also be used to take up liquid foods, e.g., a soup. 
     The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an eating utensil according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the components from FIG. 1 in the assembled state; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the eating utensil according to FIG. 2 in the closed state; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line IV—IV from FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an eating utensil of the type according to the present invention with a spoon shell divided in another manner in the closed state; 
     FIG. 5 a  is a sectional view along line Va—Va from FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the eating utensil according to FIG. 5 in the opened 
     FIG. 6 a  is a perspective view of the spreading spring as an individual part; 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional view along line VII—VII from FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an eating utensil with a spoon shell divided according to FIGS. 5 and 6 in the closed state with two replaceable handle shafts; 
     FIG. 9 is a partially sectional perspective view of the handle shaft from FIG. 8, which is cut in the longitudinal direction; 
     FIG. 10 is a longitudinally cut representation of an eating utensil according to FIG. 6 with another spreading spring and another locking device in the opened state; 
     FIG. 11 is a longitudinally cut representation of the eating utensil according to FIG. 10 in the closed state; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an eating utensil according to FIG. 8 in the closed state with a locking clamp; 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the eating utensil according to FIG. 12 in the opened state; 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an eating utensil with a spoon shell divided according to FIGS. 5 and 6 with the handle shafts, which are spread even in the closed state of the spoon; 
     FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the eating utensil according to FIG. 14 in the opened state; and 
     FIG. 16 is a view of an eating utensil corresponding to FIG. 12 with replaceable, but bent handle shafts. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings in particular, the eating utensil shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 has a spoon shell  1  divided into two in the longitudinal direction. The two shell parts  2  and  3  are made in one piece each and are rigidly provided with a respective handle shaft  4  and  5 . In the closed state of the eating utensil shown in FIG. 3, these two handle shafts  4  and  5  form a spoon handle  6  and the two shell parts  2  and  3  form the closed spoon shell  1 . 
     In the vicinity of the edge of the spoon shell  1 , the two handle shafts  4  and  5  are connected to one another by a scissor hinge  7  and thus they can be moved against one another in a scissor-like manner. 
     To be able to be used as a scissor-like cutting tool in the opened state, the two shell parts  2  and  3  are provided with respective cutting edges  8  and  9 , which cooperate in a scissor-like manner and mutually extend under one another in the closed state of the spoon shell  1 , as is shown in FIG. 4, so that liquid food can also be moved to the mouth with this spoon shell  1  or with this eating utensil in the closed state. 
     It may also be expedient to provide the cutting edge  9  extending under the other with a sealing strip  9 ′. 
     The scissor hinge  7  comprises two bearing bores  11  and  12 , which are arranged in respective bearing eyes  13  and  14  made in one piece with them and are connected to one another in the coaxial position by a common cylindrical bearing bolt  10 . 
     A spreading spring  15 , which is bent in the shape of a U, consists of a flat strip material, is fastened with an extended shaft part  16  to the handle shaft  4  on the inside, and is supported with the bent end section  17  on the inside of the opposite handle shaft  5 , is arranged between the two handle shafts  4  and  5 . 
     This spreading spring  15  has the task of pushing the two handle shafts apart and of holding the two handle parts  2  and  3  in the opened state so that when this eating utensil is being used as a cutting tool, only the closing and thus the cutting movement must be brought about by manual force. 
     To hold the two shell parts  2  and  3  as well as the handle parts  4  and  5  in the closed state shown in FIG. 3 as needed, the handle shaft  5  is provided with a displaceable locking bar  20 , which extends with a locking nose  21  into the range of pivoting of a locking edge  22  of the shell part  2  when it is in the locked position shown in FIG.  3 . 
     In FIG. 2, in which both the shell parts  2  and  3  and the handle shafts  4  and  5  are shown in the opened spread-apart position, the locking bar  20  is in its ineffective position, in which it is away from the locking edge  22 , so that the locking nose  21  cannot cooperate with the locking edge  22 . 
     This possibility of locking is necessary to lock the spoon shell  1  in the closed state when the eating utensil is used as a spoon only. 
     A two-part spoon shell  31  is also present in the eating utensils shown in FIGS. 5 through 16, inclusive, but this spoon shell is not divided longitudinally in the middle, as the spoon shell  1 , but along a ring line  47 , such that an edge ring  32  that is closed in itself and an inner shell part  33  are formed. 
     The edge ring  32  is made in one piece with and rigidly connected to a handle shaft  34 , and the shell part  33  is likewise made in one piece with and rigidly connected to a handle shaft  35 . 
     The two handle shafts  34 ,  35  are connected to one another by a scissor hinge  37  located in the vicinity of the edge of the spoon shell  31  and can be moved in a scissor-like manner against one another as a result. To make it possible to use these two components of the spoon shell  31  as a scissor-like cutting tool as well, both the edge ring  32  and the shell part  33  are provided with a respective cutting edge  48  and  48 / 1 , which cooperate in a scissor-like manner in order to reduce in size food, e.g., pieces of meat, vegetable parts, desserts, etc., located between them while pressing together the handle shafts  34  and  35 , which can be spread by a spreading spring  45 . 
     In this case as well, the spreading spring  45  comprises a U-shaped strap, which is arranged between the two handle shafts  34  and  35  to exert a spreading action. 
     While the pivot axis  18  of the scissor hinge  7  extends at right angles to the plane of the spoon shell edge  19  in the eating utensil according to FIGS. 1 through 4, the pivot axis  36  of the scissor hinge  37  extends in parallel to the plane of the spoon shell edge  49  and at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the two handle shafts  34  and  35  in the eating utensil according to FIGS. 5 and 6. 
     To make it possible to lock the two spoon shell parts  32  and  33  in a closed position in this eating utensil as welt as is shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a locking device  43  is provided here as well. This locking device comprises a locking pin  44 , which is mounted displaceably in the longitudinal direction of the handle shaft  35  in an elongated hole  38  of this handle shaft  35  and is provided with a locking nose  39 , which lockingly extends behind a locking shoulder  40  of a recess  46  of the opposite handle shaft  34  when it assumes the locked position shown in FIG. 5 a.    
     The locking pin  44  can be displaced in the elongated hole  38  by means of an actuating knob  41  to the extent that the locking nose  39  leaves the locking shoulder  40  and the two handle shafts  34  and  35  can be spread apart, as is shown in FIG.  6 . 
     The displacement of the locking pin  44  from the released position and into the locked position shown in FIG.  5  and vice versa is always to be performed manually, e.g., with the thumb or another suitable finger. 
     As is apparent from FIG. 5, the two hinge parts, namely, the edge ring  32  and the shell part  33 , form a closed spoon shell  31  in the closed state, which can be readily used as a normal spoon for eating liquid meals from a bowl or another container. 
     In the embodiment according to FIG. 8, the two parts of the spoon shell  31 , namely, the edge ring  32  and the shell part  33 , are provided in one piece each with shaft stumps  50  and  51 , to which straight or bent handle shafts  52  and  53  of different designs can be optionally fastened replaceably. 
     The sectional view of such a replaceable handle shaft  53  is shown in FIG. 9. A recess  54 , which is used to receive the shaft stump  51 , is recognized at its front end. Cross pins, not shown, which can be easily detached and fixed, may be provided to fix the two handle shafts  52  and  53  to the respective shaft stumps  50  and  51 . 
     The eating utensil shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 differs from that according to FIGS. 5 and 6 only in that a different locking device is provided. This locking device comprises a U-shaped wire clip  55 , which is pivotably fastened to the front end of the handle shaft  34  and, as is shown in FIG. 12, can be pivoted over the front end of the handle shaft  35  in order to prevent it from performing a spreading movement, which is brought about by a spreading spring in this case as well. 
     FIGS. 10 and 11 show an eating utensil cut in the longitudinal direction, which corresponds essentially to the eating utensil according to FIGS. 5 and 6 in the opened and closed states. 
     While the spoon shell  31  has a completely identical design as in the eating utensil according to FIGS. 5 and 6, the eating utensil according to FIGS. 10 and 11 has a different locking device  43 / 1  as well as a spreading spring  45 / 1  of a different design. 
     The locking device  43 / 1  comprises a pivotable detent pawl  56 , which is mounted pivotably on a bearing journal  57  in a recess  58  of the handle shaft  34  and is under the effect of a torsion spring  59 . To receive the detent pawl  56 , a handle shaft  35 ′ is likewise provided with a recess  60 , which has an oblique deflecting surface  61  for the detent pawl  56  on the inside. 
     In the closed state according to FIG. 11, the detent pawl  56  with its locking nose  62  extends over the outer edge  63  of the recess  60  of the handle shaft  35 , so that the two handle shafts  34  and  35  are held together and the spoon shell  31  is held in the closed state. 
     To release the locking device  43 / 1 , the detent pawl  56  is pivoted against the action of the torsion spring  59  in the direction of arrow  67  in order to release the handle shaft  35 , so that the spreading finger  45 / 1  can open the eating utensil in a scissor-like manner in the manner shown in FIG.  10 . 
     The spreading spring  45 / 1  provided here comprises a spring steel strip bent essentially in the shape of an S, which is fastened with one end  64  in an inner longitudinal groove  65  of the handle shaft  35  and is loosely in contact with its other end  66  with the inside of the handle shaft  34 , i.e., displaceably in the longitudinal direction. 
     In the embodiment according to FIGS. 14 and 15, the edge ring  32  and the shell part  33  of the spoon shell  31  are provided with respective handle shafts  34 / 1  and  35 / 1 , which form an acute angle a of about 15° to 20° with one another even in the closed state of the spoon shell  31  (see FIG.  14 ), so that their two end sections  74  and  75  bent against one another are located at a greater distance from one another than the straight handle shafts  34  and  35  of the embodiments described before, which are located close by to one another in the closed state. A spreading ring  45 / 2 , which is a two-part spring in this case, is also arranged between these handle shafts  34 / 1  and  35 / 1  for an independent opening of the spoon shell  31 . 
     Due to this greater distance, it is easier for the operator or user to exert a stronger manual closing force on the two handle shafts  34 / 1  and  35 / 1  and consequently also on the cutting edges  48  and  48   a  of the spoon shell  31 . 
     To make it possible to lock the spoon shell  31  in the closed state in this embodiment as well, the bent end sections  74  and  75  of the two handle shafts  34 / 1  and  35 / 1  are provided with a locking device  43 / 2 . 
     This comprises essentially a detent pawl  76 , which is arranged on the end section  74  and with a locking nose  77 , it can be brought into locking engagement with a ratchet  78  of the opposite end section  75  of the handle shaft  35 / 1 , as is shown in FIG.  14 . 
     By pressing the two handle shafts  34 / 1  and  35 / 1  together more, this locking connection can be released in order for the spreading spring  45 / 2  to be able to open the spoon shell  31 , as is shown in FIG.  15 . 
     With such a prior-art locking device  43 / 2 , this eating utensil can be used in a very simple manner both to cut and to reduce in size foods and to bring this cut food or other foods to the mouth with the closed spoon shell  31 . 
     Finally, FIG. 16 shows an embodiment of the eating utensil according to the present invention, which corresponds essentially to the embodiment according to FIG. 8, but in which the two replaceable handle shafts  52 , 1  and  53 / 1  have a bent shape. This bent shape of the handle shafts  52 / 1  and  53 / 1  may offer a special kind of advantage to one-handed users with motor handicap of the aim and/or hand. It is also possible to use handle shafts of any other desired shape if needed. 
     The application and the mode of operation of this embodiment shown in FIG. 16 are otherwise the same as in the embodiment according to FIGS. 8 and 9. 
     While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.