The disclosure relates to toddler food tray devices and more particularly pertains to a new toddler food tray device for retaining food dishes on a tray to prevent their spillage.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a panel that has a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter edge. A perimeter flange is attached to and extends downwardly from the panel. The panel has a plurality of apertures therein extending through the top and bottom sides. The perimeter edge has a front edge. A plurality of sleeves is provided. Each of the sleeves has a closed lower end and an upper edge defining an access opening. Each of the apertures has a peripheral edge that is attached to and coextensive with one of the upper edges of the sleeves. The sleeves each extend downwardly from the panel. A plurality of food supporting members is provided. Each of the food holding supporting members has a bottom wall and a peripheral wall that is attached to and extends upwardly from the bottom wall. Each of the bottom walls includes a mount that is extendable into one of the sleeves.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of sleeves 34 is provided. Each of the sleeves 34 has a closed lower end 36 and an upper edge 38 defining an access opening. Each of the apertures 24 has a peripheral edge that is attached to and coextensive with one of the upper edges 38 of the sleeves 34. The sleeves 34 each extends downwardly from the panel 12.
A plurality of food supporting members 40 is provided. Each of the food holding supporting members 40 has a bottom wall 42 and a peripheral wall 44 that is attached to and extends upwardly from the bottom wall 42. Each of the bottom walls 42 includes a mount 46 that is extendable into one of the sleeves 34. The mounts 46 are each threaded and are threadably couplable to an associated one of the sleeves 34 to releasably secure the supporting members 40 to the sleeves 34. This prevents a child from picking up and throwing or tipping the food supporting members 40. At least one of the supporting members 40 comprises a drinking cup 48 that has a cover 50 removable mounted thereon. A straw 52 extends through the cover 50 to allow the toddler to drink from the drinking cup 48 without having to pick up the drinking cup 48. At least one of the supporting members 40 comprises a bowl 54 and at least one of the supporting members 40 comprises a plate 56.
A liner 58 is removably positionable on the top side 14 of the panel 12 to cover the apertures 24 when the food supporting members 40 are removed from the sleeves 34 to form a planar upper surface. This will allow the top side 14 of the panel 12 to be used without the food containers 40 while ensuring that the sleeves 34 are not filled with food and for providing easy cleanup by simply removing and cleaning the liner 58. The liner may be comprised of a plastic material that is either rigid or resiliently bendable.
Additionally, the assembly 10 may include a housing 60 removably positionable on and engageable with the perimeter flange 20 to completely seal and cover the panel 12 and cover 50. As can be seen in
Plugs 66, which are threaded, may be insertable into the apertures 24 and engageable with the sleeves 34 to fill in the sleeves 34 when such are not being used. The plugs 66 may include an upper surface with a slot 68 therein to assist a person in rotating the plug 66 as it is threadably engaged or disengaged from the sleeve 34.
In use, the panel is placed in the chair tray 72 and each of the sleeves 24 is engaged with one of the mounts 46. The food supporting members 40 hold food to be eaten while the mounts 46 prevent the child from throwing or tipping the food supporting members 40.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1377588 | Kayser | May 1921 | A |
| 2640595 | Byford | Jun 1953 | A |
| 2652702 | Hintze | Sep 1953 | A |
| 2850079 | Prushnok et al. | Sep 1958 | A |
| 3233804 | Dahm | Feb 1966 | A |
| 3475052 | Kaposi | Oct 1969 | A |
| 4908066 | Taylor et al. | Mar 1990 | A |
| 4927024 | Lloyd | May 1990 | A |
| 5586800 | Triplett | Dec 1996 | A |
| 5720226 | Padovano | Feb 1998 | A |
| D418024 | Howell et al. | Dec 1999 | S |
| 6484989 | Connery | Nov 2002 | B1 |
| 7201440 | Heck et al. | Apr 2007 | B2 |
| 7475937 | McGrew et al. | Jan 2009 | B2 |
| 20040178253 | Stier | Sep 2004 | A1 |
| 20080149580 | Hill | Jun 2008 | A1 |