Abstract:
A feeding device for use by persons with limited or no use of their arms, wherein a spoon is mounted on supporting and counterbalancing levers and is associated with a mouth-piece in such a manner that the user can manipulate the spoon to lift food from a dish, can then place the spoon on a fixed support and then adjust the spoon to a position for convenient eating of the food. The spoon mounting includes an adjustable support for a counterbalancing spring. All the parts are mounted on a flat base which is adapted also to support the food dish.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention pertains to the field of aids for the physically handicapped and more particularly concerns a self-feeder device designed to hold a spoon on a damped arm above a food bowl to allow persons suffering from tremors, neurological problems or weakness in the upper extremities to better feed themselves. 
     2. State of the Prior Art 
     Persons suffering from a wide range of neurological and other conditions including multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinson&#39;s disease, Huntingdon&#39;s disease, head injuries, rheumatoid arthritis and muscular dystrophies may experience great difficulty in performing simple manual tasks due to loss of fine motor control over their extremities, and may in fact become unable to use eating utensils in order to feed themselves. Hand and arm tremors caused by these diseases prevent close control over eating utensils so that the person is unable to keep food on a spoon long enough to lift the food to his or her mouth, or to even maneuver the spoon into his or her open mouth, due to loss of dexterity. Persons in such a condition are likely to drop and spill food and are humiliated in the presence of others by their inability to feed themselves. In many these symptoms are sufficiently severe that the persons become largely dependent upon others to feed them, with severe negative impact on the afflicted individual&#39;s self-esteem. Either friends or family must make themselves available for this purpose, or professional help must be retained at considerable cost. In either case a considerable burden, personal or economic, is imposed by the need to care for the handicapped individual. 
     There is a need for devices, tools or aids which can assist moderately impaired persons afflicted with conditions such as just described to feed themselves without the assistance of third persons, in order to restore these persons to a measure of independence and self-sufficiency. 
     Electrically operated self-feeders are available but are costly and generally intended for more severely incapacitated persons. The applicant is aware of one self-feeder powered by the user and provided with a damped arm and a self-leveling spoon for use by persons with tremors or weakness of the upper extremities. Nonetheless, further improvements and refinements in user powered self-feeders are needed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In response to the aforementioned need this invention provides a self-feeder for the handicapped, having a base, an upright support on the base, and a cross arm supported on the upright support for rotation about a vertical axis thereby to swing the cross arm horizontally and also supported for pivotal movement in a vertical plane thereby to raise and lower a free end of the cross arm. A spoon holder is supported near the free end of the cross arm for pivotal movement in the same vertical plane relative to the cross arm. A linkage mechanism is operative for keeping the spoon holder in a constant, e.g. vertical position during pivotal movement of the cross arm in the vertical plane. A mechanical spring is contained in the upright support and urges the cross arm to a maximally elevated position. A one way damper is also located in the upright support, and is effective in slowing the speed of the rising cross arm. Consequently, a spoon attached to the spoon holder may be lowered by pushing down the cross arm against the force of the spring for scooping food from a food bowl placed on the base, and the cross arm may be then released to an elevated position under urging of the spring to raise the spoon to the mouth of a user while keeping the spoon level to avoid spilling the food from the spoon. 
     The upright support may be telescopically assembled to and can be slidably removable from a base post affixed to the base, such that the upright support together with the cross arm can be readily disassembled from the base for compact storage of the self-feeder. For example, the upright support can be a vertical tube slidably fitted on a base post affixed to the base, with the upright support freely rotatable about the base post for horizontal rotation of the cross arm. The spring and damper are preferably contained in the vertical tube, and the cross arm is pivoted to the tube at a location radially spaced from the center axis of the tube, and the damped mechanical spring is compressed between the tube and the cross arm along the center axis of the tube, whereby an upward bias is applied by the spring to the cross arm. 
     The cross arm has two mutually opposite walls vertical to the base, a first shaft between the opposite walls for pivoting the arm to the upright support, a second shaft between the opposite walls for pivoting the spoon holder to the arm. The linkage mechanism includes a linkage rod having one end pivoted to the upright support at a location spaced from the first shaft and a second end pivoted to the spoon holder at a location spaced from the second shaft thereby to form a parallelogram arrangement for keeping the spoon holder in a constant attitude relative to the base during pivotal movement of the cross arm. 
     It is desirable to provide first stop means adjustable for setting the maximally elevated position of the cross arm under upward urging by the spring, and second stop means adjustable for limiting left and right horizontal swing of the cross arm. 
     The spoon is supported transversely to the arm in the spoon holder for oscillation in the vertical plane independently of the cross arm. More specifically, the spoon holder has an upper portion pivoted to the cross arm for movement in the vertical plane independently of the cross arm and a lower portion including spoon retaining means, the lower portion being pivoted to the upper portion for oscillation relative to the upper portion between a normal vertical condition corresponding to a level position of the spoon and an elevated position corresponding to an inclined position of said spoon. The spoon has a spoon handle adapted for releasable retentive engagement to the spoon retaining means of the spoon holder. 
     Optionally, a handle may be rigidly affixed to the lower portion of the spoon holder for use in lifting the lower portion of the spoon holder from a vertical position to a tilted position, thereby to move a spoon retained to the lower portion between a level and an inclined position to assist in dipping the spoon into a serving of food. The lower portion of the spoon holder is returned to the normal vertical position from the tilted position by its own weight. Retentive engagement of the spoon handle may be on either a left side or a right side of the cross arm for ambidextrous left hand or right hand use of the self-feeder, respectively. The spoon holder may also be attached to the cross arm with the longitudinal dimension of the spoon aligned with the cross arm instead of at right angles thereto. 
     The self-feeder further has a turntable rotatable on the base for supporting a food bowl under the spoon holder. Preferably the turntable has a raised edge for holding a plate placed on the turntable against sliding off the turntable during self-feeding. It is also desirable to provide a slip resistant top surface for restraining a plate against sliding across the turntable surface during self-feeding. 
     The turntable is displaceable across the base for optimum positioning relative to the spoon holder. For example, a slide plate is slidable on the base, the turntable is rotatably fixed to the slide plate, and a fastener is provided for releasably locking the slide plate to the base in a selected position. The fastener is adjustable between a fully locked first position for locking the slide plate against movement relative to the base, a selective locking second position wherein the glide plate is free to turn about the fastener relative to the base, and a released third position wherein the slide plate is also free to slide radially to the fastener. More particularly, the fastener has a knob on a shaft threaded to the base, and the fully locked first position corresponds to a fully tightened condition of the knob against the slide-plate thereby to capture the slide plate between the knob and the base, the selective locking second position is a partially tightened condition of the knob against the slide plate, and the released position is a loosely tightened condition of the knob against the slide plate. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the self-feeder of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the self-feeder of FIG. 1 showing in phantom lining the spoon leveling mechanism in the cross arm and the spring assembly contained in the arm support column; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the feeder arm assembly of the self-feeder of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional detail view of the spoon holder assembly; and 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines  5 — 5  in FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like elements are designated by like numerals, FIG. 1 illustrates a presently preferred embodiment of the self-feeder of this invention, which is generally designated by the numeral  10 . The self-feeder  10  consists of two main assemblies: the feeding arm assembly  12  and the base assembly  14 . The feeding arm assembly includes an upright support in the form of a vertical tube  16 , a cross arm  18  and a spoon holder assembly  20 . The base assembly includes a base plate  22  which rests on four equal feet  24  of slip-resistant material. The base  22  has a top surface  26  on which is supported a turntable assembly  30 , which includes a slide plate  32 , a slide plate fastener  34 , and a turntable  36 . The base assembly also includes a base post  38  with a mounting flange  42  fastened to the base plate  22  by two screws  44 . A food bowl  25  is supported on turntable  36 . 
     The feeding arm assembly  12  is assembled to the base assembly  14  by a telescoping sliding fit of the vertical tube  16  onto the base post  38 , as best understood from FIGS. 2 and 3. Tube  16  is freely rotatable about base post  38 , that is, about the vertical center axis of the base post. Rotation of tube  16  is limited, however, by a base flange  46  fixed as by welding to the lower end of tube  16 . Base flange  46  has two opposite right and left contact edges  46   a ,  46   b  each of which contacts a corresponding right and left stop lug  48   a ,  48   b  fastened to the base plate by screws  44 , as shown in FIG.  5 . The stop lugs are of elongated shape and can be turned about the corresponding screw  44  to provide an adjustable stop for limiting the arc of rotation H of the vertical tube  16  about the base post  38  in either sense of rotation indicated by arrow A in FIG.  1 . 
     The cross arm  18  is a straight beam of rectangular cross sectional shape which includes a top  50   a  and two opposite side walls  50   b ,  50   c . A first pivot shaft  52  supported between side walls  50   b,c  pivots the cross arm  18  for oscillation in a vertical plane to the upper end of the vertical tube  16  by way of a supporting elbow  54 . The lower end of elbow  54  is welded to the tube  16  close to the upper end of the tube. Pivot shaft  52  passes through a lower hole  54   a  in elbow  54 , as indicated in FIG. 3, and pivotably supports the arm  18  in radially spaced relationship to the center axis of tube  16 . 
     As shown in FIG. 2 the vertical tube  16  contains a damped spring assembly  60 , which as best seen in FIG. 3 includes a damper cylinder  62  and a coil spring  64 , both cooperating to urge a piston rod  66  toward extension from the cylinder  62  at a controlled rate. An end block  68  is threaded to the end  68   a  of the piston rod, and the coil spring is compressed between the end block and the cylinder  62 . The end block has a screw hole  68   b  which aligns with hole  72  in vertical tube  16  to receive screw  74 . Screw  74  supports the spring within tube  16  in spaced relationship above the base post  38 , as best understood by reference to FIG.  2 . The damper cylinder  62  is a one way damper which has a controlled rate of extension of the damper piston rod  66  such that the damper works to control the rate of upward movement of the cross arm under the urging of the coil spring  64 . The damper cylinder is a commercially available unit and has at its top end a threaded shaft  63 . A coupling  65  is threaded onto shaft  63 . A spring transfer arm  67  has a lower end pivoted at  69  to the top of coupling  65 . The upper end of the spring transfer arm is pivoted by pivot shaft  76  to the cross arm  18  approximately along the center axis of tube  16 . The damped spring assembly  60  is compressed between the cross arm  18  and the vertical tube  16  and operates to apply a continuous upward spring bias to the cross arm along a vector approximately aligned with the center axis of tube  16 . This spring bias vector is spaced along cross arm  18  from the first pivot shaft  52  and consequently acts to raise the free end  75  of cross arm  18  towards a maximum elevation determined by an adjustable elevation stop  55  on elbow  54 . Elevation stop  55  includes a detent tab  57  slidable along the upright arm of elbow  54  and fixed to the elbow at an adjustable position by means of set screw  59 . The upper edge  53  of detent tab  57  contacts the underside of cross arm  18  to stop downward movement of the cross arm end  73  corresponding to upward movement of the opposite free end  75  of the cross arm. As a result, lowering of detent tab  57  along elbow  54  results in an increase in maximum height of the free end  75  under the urging of spring assembly  60 . Conversely, maximum elevation of the cross arm is reduced by raising the position of detent tab  57  on elbow  54 . 
     The spoon holder assembly  20  includes an upper portion or arm  80  pivoted to arm  18  by third pivot shaft  82  supported in holes  82   a  in side walls  50   c  of the cross arm, and passing through lower hole  82   b  in arm  80  of the spoon holder assembly. The upper end of arm  80  is connected by way of cross linkage  84  to the upper end of elbow  54 , by means of pivots  86   a ,  86   b  respectively. The four pivots  52 ,  86   b ,  86   a  and  82  define a parallelogram arrangement which operates to keep the upper portion  80  of the spoon holder assembly in a constant attitude, e.g. a vertical relationship, to the base  22  during pivotal movement of the cross arm  18  in the vertical plane. Turning to FIG. 4, spoon holder assembly  20  also includes a lower portion  88  which is dependent from the upper portion  80  and pivoted at  90  for oscillation in the same vertical plane as the cross arm  18 . Oscillation of lower portion  88  is limited, in a clockwise sense, by stop pin  92  which is located so as to stop the lower portion  88  in vertical alignment with the upper portion  80  by contact of pin  92  with the inside edge  94  of the upper portion  80 . Counterclockwise oscillation of lower portion  88  is limited by adjustable detent  96  which is displaceable along upper portion  80  and set in a selected position therealong by tightening set screw  98 . The lower portion tends to return under its own weight to a normal condition limited by pin  92 , and must be manually lifted to an elevated or tilted condition such as depicted in FIG.  4 . Lifting of the lower portion  88  as suggested by arrow D is aided by handle  100  which has a handle knob  102  and a handle shaft  104  fitted into a handle bore  106  of lower portion  88  and retained in the handle bore by spoon screw  108 . A spoon  110  is removably secured to the underside of lower portion  88  also by spoon screw  108 . The flat spoon handle  109  is captured between the head  112  of screw  108  and the underside of lower portion  88 , with the longitudinal dimension of the spoon transversely to the cross arm  18 , either on the left or the right hand side of the cross arm. For this purpose the spoon handle may have a short slot  113  sized to receive the threaded shaft of screw  108 . The spoon can therefore be easily detached from the feeder for washing or replacement with a different sized spoon simply by loosening the screw  108 . The spoon screw holds the spoon with the bowl  115  of the spoon level when the lower portion  88  of the spoon holder is in its normal lowered position. As earlier explained, the lower portion  88  drops to the lower position under its own weight, so that the spoon attached to the lower portion  88  is self leveling relative to the upper portion  80  of the spoon holder. The upper portion  80 , as also explained, is kept in a vertical condition at all times independently of vertical cross arm movement. The net result of both these actions is that the spoon remains level for any position of the cross arm unless the spoon is deliberately lifted to an inclined condition by the user in the course of self-feeding. 
     Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, the circular turntable  36  is mounted for-free rotation on a slide plate  32 . The slide plate has a slot  114  through which extends a threaded shaft  116  fixed to the base  22 , as suggested in phantom lining in FIG. 2. A slide plate fastener knob  34  screws onto the upper end of threaded shaft  116  and can be tightened against the slide plate  32  so as to press the slide plate against the base  22  and thus capture and lock by frictional engagement the slide plate against displacement relative to the base  22 . In a normal, tightened condition of fastener  34  the slide plate  32  and consequently the turntable  36  are fixed on the base  22 . However, the position of the turntable relative to the spoon can be adjusted by loosening fastener  34 , which allows the slide plate to be displaced towards or away from the vertical tube  16  along the slot  114 , and also by rotation of the plate  32  about the shaft  116  so as to move the turntable and consequently the food bowl  25  across the base  22  transversely to the cross arm  18 , thereby to optimally position the turntable for a given food bowl size and to suit the preferences of the user. The top surface  35  of the turntable  36  is covered with a sheet of material selected to resist slippage of the food bowl  25  across the turntable. Furthermore, the turntable has a relatively high rim  37  to ensure that the food bowl  25  is not pushed off the turntable during self-feeding. The various features described in this paragraph allow interchangeable use of different food bowls to suit the user&#39;s preferences or the particular food being served, and to adapt to use of existing institutional food bowls, so that the self-feeder is not restricted to custom food bowls. 
     For self-feeding use the user is seated at a table or other surface with the feeder  10  placed on the supporting surface directly in front of the user and the cross arm extending left to right in front of the user. The vertical tube  16  is positioned to the left of a right-handed user or on the right hand side of a left handed user to facilitate access by the user&#39;s dominant hand to the spoon holder  20 . The spoon  110  is attached to the lower portion  88  of the spoon holder assembly  20  accordingly, i.e., extending from the cross arm  18  towards the user regardless of the left or right hand placement of the self-feeder  10  relative to the user. The self-feeder  10  is readily adapted to either right or left hand use simply by reversing the position of the spoon on the spoon holder from one side to the other of the cross arm  18  by loosening spoon screw  108 , turning the spoon about the screw shaft, and tightening the screw. The height adjustment  55  is preset so that the spoon rises to the level of the user&#39;s mouth when the cross arm is released. The two stop lugs  48   a ,  48   b  are set to prevent the cross arm from swinging further away from the user than is necessary to adequately reach all parts of the food bowl with the spoon, yet allow the cross arm to swing towards the user so as to bring the spoon within comfortable reach of the user&#39;s mouth. The settings of the right and left stop lugs  48   a ,  48   b  are therefore dependent, among other factors, on whether the self-feeder is being set-up for right or left handed use. 
     In an initial before-use position of the feeder  10  the cross arm  18  will be elevated to the preset maximum height, as depicted in FIG. 2. A bowl or plate  25  containing a serving or portion of food F is placed on the turntable surface  37  generally underneath-the spoon  110 , as illustrated in FIG.  1 . The user will push down on either on the cross arm  18  or handle  100  to depress the free end  75  while at the same time rotating the cross arm towards or away from him or her self, so as to position the spoon  110  for dipping into the food serving F. The bowl of the spoon  110  is loaded with food by lifting the spoon to a tilted position as shown in FIG. 1, by lifting the handle  100 , and maneuvering the cross arm both in the vertical and the horizontal plane so as to bring the bowl of the spoon into contact with food serving F. The spoon is then lowered through an arc C in FIG. 1, as by pushing down on the handle  100 , to dip the spoon bowl into the food F until the spoon bowl  115  reaches a level position corresponding to a vertical condition of the lower portion  88  of the spoon holder, that is, a condition where further depression of the handle  100  is stopped by detent pin  92 . At this point, the spoon bowl  115  can be lifted from the food serving F, now loaded with a spoonful of food, by releasing the cross arm  18  which then rises away from the food bowl  25  under the upward urging of the spring assembly  60 . The action of the coil spring  64  is damped by the damper cylinder  62  to ensure a relatively slow and steady vertical movement of the cross arm  18 , both up under the urging of spring assembly  60  as well as down under the pressure of the user&#39;s hand. The user typically operates the cross arm  18  and handle  100  with his dominant hand, and may hold onto vertical tube  16  with his or her other hand to further stabilize the self-feeder. Alternatively, the dominant hand may operate handle  100  to lower the cross arm and to load food onto the spoon, and the other hand used to swing the cross arm towards and away from the user. 
     As the cross arm rises under spring bias the weight of the spoon keeps the lower portion  88  of the spoon holder in lowered position and the spoon level, as previously explained and shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The cross arm  18  rises to its maximum preset elevation with the spoon bowl  115  aiming towards the user, who can then bring the spoon bowl  115  towards his or her mouth by swinging the cross arm  18  in a horizontal plane, that is, by turning the cross arm with vertical tube  16  about the base post  38 , into sufficient proximity where the user can comfortably take the bowl of the spoon with the spoonful of food into his or her mouth. Once the user has transferred the spoonful of food from the spoon bowl to his or her mouth, the empty spoon is again loaded with another spoonful of food by repeating the aforementioned sequence of steps. 
     It will be appreciated that the self-feeder disclosed above offers three separate degrees of movement of the spoon available to the user; a) rotation of the cross-arm about a vertical axis permits horizontal swinging of the cross arm b) pivotal movement of the cross arm in the vertical plane allows the cross arm to swing up or down vertically, and c) oscillation of the spoon relative to the cross arm in a direction transverse to both the vertical swing and horizontal swing of the cross arm. These three degrees of freedom, indicated in FIG. 1 by arrows A, B and C respectively, facilitate the self-feeding process. 
     The damped vertical movement of the cross-arm  18  of the self-feeder  10  compensates in large measure for tremors or poor muscular control of the upper extremities, while the upward bias of the cross arm lifts the spoon to a safe height if the user is unable to hold it and lets go of the cross arm during feeding, thereby preventing dropped spoons and spilled food which would likely result if the handicapped user attempted to feed himself or herself in a conventional manner by handholding the spoon without mechanical assistance. 
     While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and illustrated for purposes of clarity and illustration, it must be understood that many changes, substitutions and modifications to the described embodiment will be apparent to those having only ordinary skill in the art, and that the scope of the invention is limited only by the scope of the following claims.