Patent Publication Number: US-6216605-B1

Title: Multi-purpose high chair tray construction

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of specialized trays for high chairs in general, and in particular to a high chair tray having releasable engaging means to accommodate a variety of accessories. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,143,374; 4,606,576; 5,458,394; 5,558,391; and 5,586,800, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse high chair constructions having trays adapted to releasably receive a variety of receptacles. 
     While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical high chair tray construction that is designed to releasably secure receptacles wherein the receptacles are provided with tethered utensils. 
     As any parent or caregiver is all too well aware, young infants and small children are extremely prone to spilling food receptacles and/or knocking the receptacles and eating utensils from the high chair tray onto the floor. 
     As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved type of high chair tray construction wherein a central food receptacle is captively secured in a stationary location on the surface of the tray and further provided with utensils and auxiliary receptacles that are tethered to the main food receptacle in a satellite fashion, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Briefly stated, the multi-purpose high chair tray construction that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general, a tray unit adapted for use on a conventional high chair wherein t he tray unit is adapted to releasably receive a base unit which is further provided with a plurality of tethered accessory units. 
     As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the tray unit comprises a tray member having a contoured central recess provided with a plurality of radially projecting J-shaped slots which are dimensioned to releasably receive portions of the base unit. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the base unit comprises an enlarged food receptacle whose bottom is dimensioned to be received in the central portion of the recess and is further provided with a plurality of horizontally disposed J-shaped tangs which are dimensioned to drop through the J-shaped slots and then be rotated into engagement with the interior of the tray member. 
     In addition, the upper portion of the base unit is provided with a plurality of discrete apertures which are dimensioned to receive the captive end of the tethered accessory units which in the preferred embodiment of the invention includes eating utensil members such as forks and spoons and drinking receptacle members such as bottles and drinking cups. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other attributes of the invention will become more clear upon a thorough study of the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, particularly when reviewed in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tray construction attached to a conventional high chair; 
     FIG. 2 an isolated exploded perspective view of the tray construction; 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the tray unit; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the interior one of the tray slots taken through line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIGS. 5 and 6 are isolated perspective views of different drinking receptacle members,that can be employed in the invention; and 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate version of the base unit and the tethered accessory units. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the high chair tray construction that forms the basis of the present invention is designated generally by the reference number  10 . The tray construction comprises in general, a tray unit  11 , a base unit  12 , and a plurality of tethered accessory units  13 . These units will now be described in seriatim fashion. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, the tray unit comprises a tray member  20  of conventional design having a top surface  21  provided with an enlarged contoured central recess  22  provided with a plurality of generally J-shaped slots  23  formed in the top surface  21  of the tray member  20  and projecting outwardly in a generally radial fashion from the periphery of the central recess. 
     Furthermore, as can be seen by reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the J-shaped slots  23  form the opening into a tortuous multi-tiered keyway designed generally as  24  and having an upper horizontal race  25 , a vertical intermediate race  26  disposed on the outboard end of the upper race  25  and a lower horizontal race  27  that is disposed beneath the upper horizontal race  25  for reasons that will be explained presently. 
     Turning back to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the base unit  12  comprises an enlarged foot receptacle member  30  such as a bowl  31  or the like having an apertured rim  32  formed on its upper end and provided with a generally cylindrical base element  33  formed on its lower end. The external periphery of the lower end of the base element  33  is further provided with a plurality of J-shaped tang elements  34  which are dimensioned to be received in the J-shaped slots  23  formed in the top surface  21  of the tray member  20 . 
     In order to properly engage the base unit  12  with the tray unit  11 , an adult would position the base unit  11  such that the tang elements  34  will drop through the apertures  23  onto the upper horizontal race  25 . The base unit  12  would then be rotated so that the tang elements  34  would be positioned above the vertical race  26  and then dropped downwardly once more into alignment with the lower horizontal race  27 . Then the base unit  12  would be rotated in the opposite direction to releasably lock the base unit  12  into the tray unit  11  so as to prevent a child from disengaging the base unit  12  from the tray unit  11 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  2 ,  5 , and  6 , the plurality of tethered accessory units  13  comprise eating utensil members  40  such as spoons  41  and forks (not shown) and drinking receptacle members  50  such as baby bottles  51  and drinking cups  52 . Each of the eating utensil members  40  and drinking receptacle members  50  are provided with a resilient tether member  60  provided with clips  61  that are releasably engaged with a handle element  32  of the enlarged food receptacle member  30 . 
     In this manner, once the food receptacle member  30  is engaged with the tray member  20 , an infant not only cannot dislodge the food receptacle member  30  from the tray member  20 , but the child or infant also cannot throw the tethered eating utensil members  40  or the tethered drinking receptacle members  50  in such a manner that the resilient tether members  60  will not return those tethered accessory units  13  back onto the top surface  21  of the tray member  20 . 
     In the alternate version of the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 7, it can be seen that the base unit  12 ′ has a dome shaped base element  33 ′ having a plurality of J-shaped tang elements  34  projecting outwardly therefrom. The upper portion of the dome shaped base element  33 ′ is provided with a contoured framework member  35 ′ provided with a plurality of cross arms  36 ′ which support a plurality of tethered accessory units  13 ′. The plurality of tethered accessory units  13 ′ comprise a plurality of differently configured mobile elements  70 ′ that are intended to amuse the child while the adult is preparing their meals. 
     Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. 
     Having thereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications, and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims.