Abstract:
A feeding system comprising a spoon body having a concave feeding portion surrounded by an upper elliptical edge, a longitudinal handle having a pair of opposite ends, one end of the handle being attached to the spoon body and the other end of the handle constituting a first connector, and a compressible reservoir adapted to contain a predetermined quantity of food therein and having a second connector thereon engageable with the first connector, a passageway extending from the concave portion of the spoon body longitudinally through the handle and to the first connector so as to provide fluid communication between the spoon body and the reservoir, whereby, upon application of compressive force in said reservoir, a portion of the food is forced through the connectors, through the passageway, and into the interior of the spoon body.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/925,756 filed on Aug. 9, 2001 now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to spoons designed for feeding infants and invalids. More particularly, but not way of limitation, the present invention relates to a spoon body which can be attached to a compressible reservoir such as a closed tube or syringe for feeding predetermined quantities of food or medication from the compressible reservoir into the spoon body for consumption by the infant or invalid. 
     2. Background 
     Spoons are obviously well known in the art. Many proposals have been put forth in the past for the purpose of dispensing predetermined quantities of food, medication or other beverage or soft solid to a consumer who might be an infant or an invalid. However, the art does not teach attaching a compressible reservoir, containing a predetermined quantity of liquid or semi-liquid material to be dispensed through a longitudinal axis into the spoon. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a feeding spoon consisting essentially of a spoon body and an attached compressible reservoir such as a flexible closed tube, possibly of plastic material, or a syringe which would have a plunger and graduations on the side of the syringe to indicate predetermined amounts to be dispensed to the spoon body. The “spoon” portion of the spoon body looks quite similar to the conventional spoon; however the handle of the spoon body is quite different in that it contains a longitudinal passageway which communicates with the interior surface of the spoon, and in that it also extends rearwardly away from the spoon body into a threaded adaptor which can be connected to the discharge end of a tube or syringe. 
     Reference to a “tube” means the conventional closed end tube which is generally sealed at the bottom by crimping, fusion or other method which closes the bottom in a liquid tight manner, and which has an upper threaded opening of reduced size which is closed by a threaded cap. Such tubes can contain tooth paste or medications such as ointments or salves. Obviously, the tube which is attached to the spoon body in the present invention can contain a predetermined quantity of liquid or semi-liquid material, especially some type of food or medication, which would be fed to an infant or invalid. Similarly, the syringe, when attached to the adaptor on the spoon, can dispense predetermined quantities of liquid into the spoon for the simple reason that the graduations on the body of the syringe will make it evident how much material has been dispensed into the spoon. 
    
    
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiments. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of the spoon or spoon body itself. 
     FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-section of the spoon taken along section line  2 — 2  of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view of the spoon of FIG. 1 showing its attachment to a tube for dispensing liquid or semi-liquid into the spoon. 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the spoon showing its attachment to a syringe. 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of an alternate preferred embodiment of the spoon. 
     FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the spoon as seen from perspective  6 — 6  of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is an elevation view of an end of a tube configured to receive the spoon of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 8 is an elevation view of the tube as seen from perspective  8 — 8  of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 9 is an end view of the tube as seen from perspective  9 — 9  of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 10 is an end view of the spoon showing the connector as seen from perspective  10 — 10  of FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 11 is a side cross section view of the spoon of FIG. 5 attached to the tube of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 12 is a top cross section view of the spoon of FIG. 5 attached to the tube of FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is important to understand that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction illustrated and the steps described herein. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 
     Referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the invention is represented by a spoon body  10  having an elliptical rim or edge  12  at the top of a concave bowl or cavity  14  which represents the “spoon” portion of the spoon body and which is generally in the shape of one half of an oblate spheroid. The upper “spoon” portion  14  of the spoon body  10  shown in FIG. 1 is shaped similar to a conventional teaspoon; however the spoon body  10  of FIG. 1 is not provided with a conventional handle. To the contrary, the spoon body  10  of FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided with a short longitudinal handle  16  which terminates in a cylindrical portion  18  having internal threads  20  and constituting a first connector. The cylindrical portion  18  connects with the spoon body through a portion of reduced diameter  22 . A longitudinal passageway  24  communicates with the center of a cavity  26  in which the threads  20  reside. The passageway  24  is preferably circular in cross-section. 
     As best seen in FIG. 2, the bottom surface  28  of the bowl  14  is concave in shape. The passageway  24  also communicates with the surface  28  through an opening  30  which appears to be oval in shape in FIG.  1 . 
     Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown a compressible reservoir consisting of a closed end tube  32  which connects with the handle  16  of the spoon body  10 . The tube  32  is a conventional closed tube made of plastic or metal and is designed to contain a predetermined quantity of liquid or semi-liquid material such as food or medication. The upper open end of the tube  32  is provided with a conventional reduced cylindrical portion  34  which has external threads  36  thereon and which would otherwise be closed by a conventional threaded cap (not shown). For the purposes of the present invention the cylindrical portion  34  constitutes a second connector (boss) which interfits with and connects with the first connector  18  at the end of the handle  16 . The threads  36  on the second connector  34  interact with the threads  20  (FIG. 2) on the cylindrical portion or first connector  18  so that the tube  32  can be screwed into or out of the cylindrical portion  18 . When the arrangement of FIG. 3 is presented to an infant or an invalid, the tube  32  can be squeezed or compressed so that material inside the tube  32  will pass through the passageway  24  and into the cavity  14  on the spoon body. Depending on how much the infant or invalid wishes to consume, or is supposed to consume, more than one tube  32  can be provided, under which circumstances the tube shown in FIG. 3 can be removed and another placed in its stead. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4, as an alternative to the flexible tube  32 , it is contemplated that the flexible reservoir might be a conventional syringe  38 . The syringe  38  can be provided with a plunger  40  which fills the cross-sectional shape of the interior of the syringe and which is attached to a rod  42  that extends outwardly to an external handle  44 . The syringe  38  may also be provided with graduations  46  on the exterior of the syringe so as to provide an indication of the amount of food or medication which is dispensed into the spoon body after pushing on the handle  44 . The upper end of the syringe  38  is provided with a conventional threaded boss  48  which is the equivalent of threaded upper end  34  (second connector FIG. 3) of the tube  32  shown in FIG.  3 . The boss  48  constitutes a second connector which cooperates with the first connector  18  in the same manner as the second connector  34  cooperates with the first connector. 
     Pushing on the handle  44  will cause the piston  40  to move upwardly in the interior of the syringe  38  so as to exert a compressive force so as to cause liquid or other semi-solid material to pass through the passageway  24  and into the interior  14  of the spoon body. 
     In another preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5-12, the inventive feeding spoon connects to a tube, or other compressible reservoir, by means of a push-on connector. Referring first to FIGS. 5 and 6, spoon  100  is similar in appearance to the spoon previously described, and comprises: an elliptical rim or edge  102  at the top of a concave bowl  104 ; a short longitudinal handle  106  which terminates in a frustro-conical portion  108  having slots  110 , an opening  112 , and latching members  114  (best seen in FIG.  10 ), constituting a first connector  118 . A longitudinal passageway  116  communicates opening  112  to spoon bowl  104 . 
     Turning now to FIGS. 7-9, spoon  100  (FIG. 5) is connectable to a compressible reservoir such as tube  120 . Tube  120  includes a connector  122  which interfaces connector  118  (FIG. 5) of spoon  100 . Connector  122  preferably has a shape which is substantially cylindrical, having inward tapered portion  126  at distal end  124  and a slight inward taper on main body portion  128  from base  130  to tapered portion  126 , however, most preferably, connector  122  is formed to be received in opening  112  of passageway  118  (FIG.  5 ). Connector  122  also includes tabs  132  extending outward from main body  128  and cavities  134  located in main body  128 . 
     Referring net to FIGS. 11 and 12, to connect spoon  100  to tube  120 , connector  122  is simply inserted into opening  112  (FIG. 10) with tabs  132  aligned with slots  110 . Tapered portion  126  facilitates alignment between the two parts. The spoon  100  and tube  120  are pushed towards each other until latching members  114  snap into cavities  134 . With further reference to FIG. 8, it should be noted that each cavity  134  is formed to have an inner wall  138  and a top wall  140 . Inner wall  138  tapers outward from top wall  140  until, at its lower end, inner wall  138  intersects the wall of main body  128 . Top wall  140  slopes slightly downward from inner wall  138  to the wall of main body  128  giving cavity  134  a barb-like appearance. The shape of latching member  114  is the inverse of cavity  134  having a top surface  150  (FIG. 6) which slopes slightly upward from the wall of cavity  116  so that, when spoon  100  is snapped onto tube  120  latching member  114  securely locks into cavity  134 . 
     It should also be noted that, with the spoon  100  latched to tube  120 , it is most preferable that there is sufficient contact between main body  128  and the wall of cavity  116  to prevent leakage when food is dispensed from the tube  120 . 
     In many instances it may be ideal for the spoon to latch permanently to the tube so that, once the food is dispensed, the tube and spoon are disposed of as a unit. In the preferred embodiment, latching member  114  and cavity  134  latch in such a manner. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the shape of latching member  114 , and the matching shape of cavity  134 , may be easily modified to adjust the degree of force required to remove spoon  100  from tube  120 . 
     As will also be apparent to those skilled in the art, a number of variations are possible which are still within the scope of the present invention. By way of example and not limitation, such modifications may include: changing the shape or appearance of the spoon portion; using a connector having an engaging means other than those described above, such as a quarter-turn fastener, a flange and garter spring connector, etc.; a squeeze bottle in lieu of the tube or syringe; and the like. 
     As will be further apparent to those skilled in the art, various adapters could be formed to interface a spoon and a tube having different styles of connectors. For example, an adapter could be formed to adapt spoon  100  to a tube having a threaded connector, the adapter having the connector of tube  120  at one end, and a female threaded connector similar to that found on spoon  10 , at the other end. Conversely, an adapter could also be formed having a female connector similar to connector  118  at a first end, and a male threaded connector at the opposite end to interface spoon  10 . 
     Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherent therein. While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as defined by the appended claims.