Spoon and straw combination device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6463662
  • Patent Number
    6,463,662
  • Date Filed
    Monday, April 9, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 15, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
A spoon and straw combination device comprising a substantially hollow handle having at least one opening, and a scoop attached to the substantially hollow handle. The scoop has a top face shaped similar to a spoon and at least one hole. There is also a reservoir disposed below the top face on the scoop. This reservoir is in fluid communication with the top face and the substantially hollow handle so that when the scoop is placed inside a fluid this fluid can be drawn through the hole, into the reservoir and through the substantially hollow handle. This reservoir is shaped non cylindrical. In this case, the reservoir is bounded by a top plate shaped as a spoon and a bottom plate also shaped as a spoon. Both the top and bottom plates are coupled together forming the hole.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Field of the Invention




The invention relates to a spoon-straw combination. More particularly the invention relates to a spoon-straw combination that is molded as a one-piece instrument.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




A spoon and straw combination device comprising a substantially hollow handle having at least one opening, and a scoop attached to the substantially hollow handle. The scoop has a top face shaped similar to a spoon and at least one hole. There is also a reservoir disposed below the top face on the scoop. This reservoir is in fluid communication with the top face and the substantially hollow handle so that when the scoop is placed inside a fluid this fluid can be drawn through the hole, into the reservoir and through said substantially hollow handle. This reservoir is shaped non cylindrical. In this case, the reservoir is bounded by a top plate shaped as a spoon and a bottom plate also shaped as a spoon. Both the top and bottom plates are coupled together forming the hole.




The hole could either have a circular or non circular opening. This hole could also be placed at an end of the spoon opposite the spoon's connection to the hollow handle or positioned in the spoon adjacent to the hollow handle.




This hole could also be crescent moon shaped which is formed by a connection between the top plate and the bottom plate of the reservoir.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which disclose several embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.




In the drawings wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:





FIG. 1

is cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the invention;





FIG. 2

is a front cross sectional view of the first embodiment of the invention taken along the line II—II;





FIG. 3

perspective view of the first embodiment of the invention;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the invention;





FIG. 5

is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the invention; and





FIG. 6

a cross-sectional view of the third embodiment of the invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to the drawings,

FIG. 1

is a cross sectional view of a spoon straw combination device


10


comprising a scoop portion


20


and a hollow handle portion


30


. Scoop portion


20


comprises a top plate


22


and a bottom plate


24


forming a reservoir


26


. On top plate


22


is a hole


28


which is in fluid communication with reservoir


26


.




Hollow handle


30


extends up from scoop portion


20


and includes a hollow chamber


32


and a shell


34


that extends up from hollow chamber


32


. On a top portion of chamber


32


is a hole


36


which allows a user to draw fluid out of chamber


32


and into the user's mouth.





FIG. 2

shows a cross-sectional view of reservoir


26


which includes bottom plate


24


and top plate


22


. Reservoir


26


is designed to have a sufficient size to easily receive a viscous fluid such as a milk shake or a frosty drink. This reservoir has a non-circular cross section that is shaped similar to a crescent. With this design, a user can draw fluid into reservoir


26


, such that this fluid remains in reservoir


26


as a reserve supply before being drawn into chamber


32


in hollow handle


30


.





FIG. 3

shows a perspective view of the first embodiment of the invention


10


, wherein hole


28


is placed at an end of scoop


20


in a region opposite from where hollow handle


30


connects to scoop


20


. With this design, a user would position this device


10


substantially vertically and place inside a glass or cup, submerged underneath the fluid. The user would then draw fluid into reservoir


26


, through hole


28


. This fluid would then fill reservoir


26


. Next, the fluid would then flow up through hollow handle


30


through chamber


32


and out of hole


36


.





FIG. 4

shows the second embodiment of the invention. With this design, hole


28


is positioned in scoop


20


adjacent to hollow handle


30


. A user could position this device


10


substantially vertically, inside a cup or glass and then draw fluid through hole


28


through only a top portion of reservoir


26


and then up through hollow handle


30


.





FIG. 5

shows a third embodiment of the invention wherein there is a hole


40


positioned on an end of scoop


20


. Hole


40


has a non-circular cross-section and is formed by a gap or offset between top plate


22


and bottom plate


24


(See FIG.


2


). This non-circular cross section allows fluid to easily flow into reservoir


26


, because it is formed wider than holes


28


having a circular cross section. This additional width of hole


40


allows hole


40


to accommodate any possible impingements such as chunks of ice, ice cream, or any other gel-like substance that would be inside a viscous drink such as a milk shake.




This design is also beneficial because it allows a hole to be formed simply by applying top plate


22


to bottom plate


24


in an offset manner while sealing the sides of these plates


22


and


24


together to leave a gap or hole


40


. Thus, during manufacturing, scoop


20


can be formed by two separate plates joined together around a substantial portion of a rim joining these two plates together.




In all of these designs, holes


28


and


40


have a smaller cross section than that of reservoir


26


or that of chamber


32


in hollow handle


30


. Thus, any large chunk of ice will not go through holes


28


and


40


and then get stuck inside of reservoir


26


or chamber


32


. In addition, reservoir


26


is designed to allow viscous fluid such as a shake to expand and fill reservoir


26


to create an even supply for a user. This expanded region inside of reservoir


26


allows this fluid to break apart and become more fluid like to allow a user to easily draw this fluid up through chamber


32


.




Accordingly, while several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A dining utensil device comprising:a substantially hollow handle having at least one opening; a scoop attached to said substantially hollow handle, said scoop having a substantially spoon shaped top face and at least one hole; and a reservoir disposed below and in fluid communication with said top face on said scoop, said reservoir being bounded by said substantially spoon shaped top face and a substantially spoon shaped bottom face, said bottom face and said top face being coupled together forming a substantially enclosed reservoir wherein said reservoir is in fluid communication with said hole on said scoop and in fluid communication with said substantially hollow handle so that when said scoop is placed inside a fluid, said fluid can be drawn through said hole, into said reservoir and through said substantially hollow handle.
  • 2. The device as in claim 1, wherein said reservoir is shaped non cylindrical.
  • 3. The device as in claim 1, wherein said substantially hollow handle, said scoop and said reservoir are formed as a one piece unit.
  • 4. The device as in claim 1, wherein said scoop is coupled to said substantially hollow handle at one end and said hole is disposed on said scoop on an opposite end of said scoop.
  • 5. The device as in claim 1, wherein said hole has a circular cross-section.
  • 6. The device as in claim 1, wherein said hole has a non-circular cross-section.
  • 7. The device as in claim 1, wherein said hole on said scoop is formed by a gap between said top face and said bottom face.
  • 8. The device as in claim 1, wherein said hole on said scoop is positioned adjacent to a coupling point between said reservoir and said substantially hollow handle.
  • 9. A spoon and straw combination device comprising:a substantially hollow handle having at least one opening; a scoop attached to said substantially hollow handle, said scoop having a top face shaped similar to a spoon and at least one hole; and a reservoir disposed within said scoop below said top face and in fluid communication with said top face, said reservoir being defined by said spoon shaped top face and a substantially spoon shaped bottom face, to form a substantially enclosed reservoir wherein said reservoir is in fluid communication with said at least one hole and with said substantially hollow handle.
  • 10. The device as in claim 9, wherein said reservoir is formed by a top plate containing said top face of said scoop and a bottom plate disposed adjacent to said top plate, said bottom plate being substantially coupled to said top plate.
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Number Name Date Kind
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2859515 Kinham Nov 1958 A
D259533 Frodsham Jun 1981 S
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D330481 Green Oct 1992 S
D370587 Lynch Jun 1996 S
5727321 Lewis Mar 1998 A
D414382 Crane et al. Sep 1999 S
5946807 Crane et al. Sep 1999 A
D440810 Olson Apr 2001 S