1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an informational device and in particular to a nutrition indicator device for providing nutritional information with respect to a variety of foods.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There are many people for whom it is important to watch their diets. Such people include diabetics and dieters. In fact, people suffering from diabetes mellitus must constantly monitor their intake of carbohydrates. Doctors and dieticians also find use for a list of foods and their nutritional values when advising patients or others. Accordingly, a need exists for some form of device for providing a quick indication of the nutritional value of foods. Our society indulges in a wide variety of foods on a regular basis. Thus, a booklet or other form of list of foods and their nutritional values could be quite bulky.
3. General Description of the Invention
The object of the present invention is to meet the above-defined need by providing a relatively simple, compact, nutrition indicator device, which, despite its small size, is adapted to carry a large quantity of information.
Accordingly, the invention relates to a nutrition indicator device comprising a pin; a plurality of discs on said pin, said discs having two sides, each of said sides having the names of foods and nutritional information for each of the foods, each food name being radially aligned with the nutritional information, the nutritional information being arranged in a plurality of concentric annular rows nearest the center of the disc, and the names of the foods being arranged in a first annular area externally of and concentric with said annular rows; a radially extending slot in at least some of said discs permitting removal of selected of said discs from the pin, whereby the food names and nutritional information on a disc beneath a removed disc can be viewed; a circular, opaque mask for covering only the nutritional information in said annular rows; an arm extending radially outwardly from said mask for covering a plurality of food names, a window extending radially of said arm a distance sufficient to expose only one food name and the nutritional information with respect to said one food, whereby, when a disc immediately beneath said mask is rotated relative to the mask, the name and nutritional information of only one food appears in said window.
The invention is described below in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:
Referring to
As best shown in
Some of the radially extending lines 21 extend outwardly to the outer peripheral edge 24 of each disc 1, 2 and 3 dividing the outer annular area 13 into arcuate areas containing words 25 identifying the categories of the foods listed in a given section of the disc. The areas 12 between the longer lines 21 containing the names of several foods in one category can be colored, the colors in adjacent such areas being different from each other and from the colors in the carbohydrate boxes 18. The same is true of the arcuate area containing the words 25. In the present case, there are seventeen categories and two hundred and seventy foods listed on the six surfaces of the three discs 1, 2 and 3. The categories and foods are as follows:
The device is symmetrical, including three discs. By turning the device over the top side becomes the bottom side and vice versa. Either of the discs 2 and 3 can be slide out of the device and rotated so that the bottom side becomes the top side and vice versa, or both discs 2 and 3 can be removed so that both sides of the center disc 1 are visible to the user.
As mentioned above, the slots 9 in the discs 2 and 3 permit removal of such discs. While they are not necessary to the function of the device, transparent, protective circular covers 28 are permanently mounted on the nut 5 above the disc 2 and below the disc 3. Each cover 28 includes a mask 29, which can be an opaque material, e.g. a piece of paper glued onto the disc or a dark color such as black printed onto the cover 28. In the absence of a cover 28, the masks would be separate elements mounted on the pin. The mask 29 includes a circular center section 30 of sufficient diameter to cover or mask all of the nutritional values represented by the carbohydrate numbers and the annular rows of numbers in the boxes 20. A hole 31 in the center of the section 30 receives the nut 5. An arm 32 extends radially outwardly from one side of the central section 30 of the mask 29 to the outer edge of the cover 28. The arm 32 is sufficiently wide to cover several radial rows of the names of foods (in this case five rows). A deep notch 33 extends radially inwardly from the outer edge 34 of the arm 32 towards the center of the cover. The notch 33 defines a window, which is sufficiently deep that when aligned with one of the food names in a box 20 on one of the discs 1, 2 or 3, one of the numbers in the boxes 18, one set of three numbers in the food name box 20 and the one food name are visible to the user of the device. A bar 36 defining a color legend radially inwardly of the notch 33 on the circular center section of the mask 29 is divided into four color coded sections 37 with numbers adjacent to the sections on the mask 29. The end section 37 with the lowest numbers is colored blue, the next adjacent section is colored yellow, the next section is colored orange and the last, end section is colored red. As mentioned above, one of the colors also appears in each of the boxes 18. The colors provide an indication of the carbohydrate content of the food, blue being low and red being very high for the given quantities. The numbers adjacent to the bar are indicative of the weight ranges of carbohydrates corresponding to the colors in the sections of the bar, e.g. “0 to 10” adjacent blue indicates that there are up to 10 grams of carbohydrates and “31 and more” adjacent to the red section indicates that there are 31 or more grams of carbohydrates.
As mentioned above, the clear plastic covers 28 are not strictly essential to the operation of the device. The masks 29 can be separate, opaque elements. However, the presence of the covers 28 makes it easier to rotate the discs 1, 2 or 3 while keeping the mask 29 in one position. It is merely necessary that the discs 1, 2 and 3, and the mask 29 can be rotated relative to each other for aligning one of the food names with the notches 33 in the masks. The mask 29 could be rotated and the discs 1, 2 and 3 could remain stationary. However, with a view to making the device as compact as possible, only three discs are used, two of them being removable which is why the inventor decided to make the discs rotatable. Moreover, without departing from the essence of the invention, it is possible to provide a stack of discs with a mask and window on only the top of the stack, in which case all but the bottom disc in the stock would be removable. However, the form of the invention described in detail in the foregoing is believed to be the simplest and best.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2592106 | Askeli | Apr 1952 | A |
2956358 | Pennington | Oct 1960 | A |
3977106 | Kapp | Aug 1976 | A |
5173588 | Harrah | Dec 1992 | A |
5232222 | Deutch | Aug 1993 | A |
5640774 | Goldman | Jun 1997 | A |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060123995 A1 | Jun 2006 | US |