Patent Application
20170172853
The invention relates to a food feeder and, more particularly, to a baby food feeder.
Typically, baby food, such as pureed fruits, vegetables, and meats, is stored in glass or plastic containers. These containers generally include a removable lid and the contents are transferred into another container, such as a bowl, before consumption by the baby. For convenience, many users use a utensil to remove the food and feed the baby.
More recently, food pouches have been used for convenience. These known food pouches include a hard nozzle with a cap that creates a liquid and airtight seal of the pouch. The nozzle is sized to fit within a baby's mouth, so that the baby can suck or squeeze the food out of the pouch without need for any other utensils.
While these known baby food pouches provide flexibility and mobility, many major baby food manufacturers do not offer food pouches for consumption. Furthermore, these food pouches are not reusable or adapted to use with known glass or plastic containers.
In view of the aforementioned shortcomings, an object of the invention, among others, is to provide a baby food feeder having a lid and a food feeding tube. The baby food feeder includes a lid and a food feeding tube. The lid includes a top panel and a tube receiving passageway disposed along and extending through the top panel. The food feeding tube extends through the tube receiving passageway and includes a support connector to the lid.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to embodiments of a baby food feeder. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and still fully covey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
A baby food feeder 1 according to the invention is shown in
The lid 20 will be described with reference to
The top panel 22, as shown in
As shown in
The sidewall 24 is a continuous wall element extending downward around the circumference of the top panel 22. The sidewall 24 defines the mouth of the container receiving cavity 26, as best shown in
Now with reference to
As shown, the outer wall 32 is an elongated tubular element extending between the proximal end 31a and the distal end 31b. The outer wall 32 provides the food receiving passageway 34 therein. In the embodiment, the outer wall 32 is a cylindrical shaped, however, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the outer wall 32 could be any shape that permits the connections described below.
The support connector 36 is disposed around the circumference of the outer wall 32 and extends away from the outer wall 32. The support connector 36 is positioned between the proximal end 31a and distal end 31b.
The support connector 36 may be formed in a variety of shapes, as shown in
The valve (not shown) may be disposed on the inside of the outer wall 32 within the food receiving passageway 34. The valve may be formed from a plurality of pieces abutting one another. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the number and shape of pieces may vary, or the form of the valve may vary, provided the valve seals the food receiving passageway 34.
Now with reference to
The storage container 10 generally includes food 11, a container bottom 12, a container wall 14, a container cavity 16, a container rim 18, and a sheet 19. The storage container 10 is rigid, and may be integrally formed from a material such as plastic or glass, but one with skill in the art would appreciate that other materials are possible. The storage container 10 may alternatively be assembled from a set of pieces. The storage container 10 may be a baby food container known in the art, such as glass jars or plastic tubs produced by Gerber®, or food containers produced by other manufacturers in a variety of other forms.
The container bottom 12 is a planar surface. In the embodiment, the container bottom 12 is a rectangular shaped, however, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the container bottom 12 could be any shape that permits the connections described below.
A continuous container wall 14 extends up from the circumference of the container bottom 12 to define a food receiving cavity 16. As shown, food 11 is optionally contained within the food receiving cavity 16.
The top of the container wall 14 terminates in a substantially continuous container rim 18. The container rim 18 defines the mouth of the container cavity 16. In the embodiment, the container rim 18 is a rectangular shape matching the shape of the container bottom 12; however, one skilled in the art would appreciate that the container rim 18 could be any shape that permits the connections described below. As shown in
The sheet 19 optionally covers the container cavity 16 by contacting the circumference of the container rim 18. The sheet 19 is removably attached to the container rim 18, such as by an adhesive material or other attachments known to those with skill in the art. In the embodiment, the sheet 19 is a flexible plastic material, however, one skilled in the art would appreciate that other materials are possible.
Now reference to the Figures, assembly of the baby food feeder 1 will now be described.
To form the baby food feeder 1, the lid 20 and food feeding tube 30 are connected at the support connector 36.
In an embodiment of the baby food feeder 1 shown in
In another embodiment, as shown in in
In another embodiment of the invention, as shown in
The storage container 10 contains baby food 11 and may be enclosed by the sheet 19.
Now with reference to the Figures, use of the baby food feeder 1 according to the embodiments of the invention will be described.
Firstly, a user first peels the sheet 19 off of the container rim 18, as shown in
In the embodiments described above in which the food feeding tube 30 is integrally formed with the lid 20, a user positions the inside surface of the sidewall 24 around the outside surface of the container rim 18 of the storage container 10. The user presses down on the lid 20 until the top panel 22 abuts the annular flange 18a, as shown in
In the assembled baby food feeder 1 of these embodiments, the food feeding tube 30 is positioned orthogonally or at an angle with respect to the top panel 22, as described above and shown in
In the embodiments described above in which the food feeding tube 30 is not integrally formed with the lid 20, a user positions the inside surface of the sidewall 24 around the outside surface of the container rim 18 of the storage container 10. The user presses down on the lid 20 until the top panel 22 abuts the annular flange 18a, as shown in
The user then inserts the food feeding tube 30 into the tube receiving passageway 23. The food feeding tube 30 of this embodiment includes the support connector 36c, 36d which is positioned between the proximal end 31a and distal end 31b of the food feeding tube 30 such that, when the baby food feeder 1 is used with the storage container 10, the distal end 31b extends into the container cavity 16 but does not contact the container bottom 12.
The positioning of the food feeding tube 30 in the assembled baby food feeder 1 according to the above embodiments permits a baby to extract the baby food 11 through the food receiving passageway 34. The optional valve is actuated by the baby; permitting food 11 to flow through the food receiving passageway 34 when the baby uses the baby food feeder 1, and preventing the food 11 from flowing outside of the container cavity 16 and food receiving passageway 34 when the baby food feeder 1 is not in use.
While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the described embodiments are illustrative, and that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
