Patent Application
20250134287
The present invention relates generally to the field of eating supplies for children, and, more particularly, to an attachment accessory for plates and bowls.
Physical development refers to a child's rate of growth and control over muscles, coordination, and ability to sit, stand, walk, and run. Motor development is part of physical development, and refers to the growth in the ability of children to use their bodies and physical skills. Gross motor skills refer to a child's ability to control larger parts of the body, including balance, coordination, purposeful control, locomotion, and stability. Fine motor skills refer to the level of coordination of and ability to manipulate smaller body parts, such as using your hand to hold a utensil to eat food. Most experts recommend introducing utensils to children between 10 and 12 months. At this stage of development, the fine motor control needed to successfully utilize a utensil without spilling the food is still mostly lacking. It is usually not until between 18 and 24 months when a toddler will slowly master the ability to grasp a utensil independently, use the utensil to scoop up food and deliver the utensil to his or her mouth. Because of this, as any parent would know, any toddler eating time is often followed by a thorough cleaning of the child, the table, and the floor. Further, recent studies have found that imbalanced motor skills (i.e. hand-eye coordination) among children with developmental disorders causes lower efficiency in daily routines, such as at eating time.
In response, the market has developed specialized children feeding aid products to minimize the inevitable mess. Popular products include adjustable bibs, soft silicone utensils, suction bowls, and divided plates, amongst others. Recently, specialized bowls with an extended lid have become popular to help children scoop food without spilling. Such a specialized bowl is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 1728078. Similar discloses are made in Korean Patent Nos. 20160003398 and 20180001724. The downside of the prior art bowls is that the bowls are designed to be exclusively used by children.
Therefore, there is a present need for a bowl attachment apparatus for children in the form of a removable accessory to any bowl that helps children scoop food without spilling while developing self-feeding skills.
An improved bowl attachment apparatus for children embodying the principles of the invention is designed to attach to plates or bowls as an accessory to teach young children how to eat from a bowl or plate with a utensil without inadvertently spilling food and while developing self-feeding skills. The bowl attachment is designed to allow a child to easily scoop food with a utensil while holding a bowl. The bowl attachment comprises a removable attachment rim that is easily and removably attachable to any bowl. The lip of the attachment rim is shaped like a small wave that creates a higher edge on the bowl or plate it is attached to. This prevents children from inadvertently scooping food over the edge of the bowl or plate. The improved bowl attachment further comprises a handle located on the rear side of the attachment rim to aid and teach children to hold the bowl or plate in place when scooping food with a utensil. This double action of scooping and holding provided by the bowl attachment apparatus reduces unwanted spillage and promotes self-feeding skills. The improved bowl attachment may be made of food-grade silicone or another similar synthetic rubber or synthetic plastic polymer with analogous qualities. Further, the improved bowl attachment is dishwasher, microwave, freezer, and oven safe up to 400° F.
To promote an understanding of the principles of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, which are described herein. The embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the invention to the precise form disclosed. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may utilize their teachings. Therefore, no limitation of the scope of the claimed invention is thereby intended. The present invention includes any alterations and further modifications of the illustrated devices and described methods and further applications of principles in the invention which would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
In one preferred embodiment, the attachment rim 11 is a clip-on rim. In this embodiment, the attachment rim 11 removably attaches to the lip of a bowl 14 or plate via a clipping mechanism. For example, to clip-on the attachment rim 11 to a bowl 14, place the attachment rim along the rim of the bowl 14 and push down firmly until fully attached. To these ends, the exact dimensions of the attachment rim 11 can be made to match a specific bowl or can be made so one-size fits most standard bowls. In any configuration, the attachment rim 11 is curved so to align with the outer curve of the rim of the bowl 14.
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The improved bowl attachment may be made of food-grade silicone or another similar synthetic rubber or synthetic plastic polymer with analogous qualities. Further, the improved bowl attachment is dishwasher, microwave, freezer, and oven safe up to 400° F.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63546123 | Oct 2023 | US |
