Technical Field

The invention relates to food apparatus such as spoons, forks and knives for individuals whose hand grip skills are not sufficient, and adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus that aims to facilitate the grasping of materials such as toothbrushes and pencils that require grip skills by thickening them.

In particular, the invention relates to a foldable adaptive fork/spoon apparatus consisting of an inner and outer body that allows the use of products such as forks/spoons of different sizes thanks to the narrowing and expanding of the inner body.

State of the Art

Today, people with inadequate hand grip skills have difficulties in eating, especially in activities of daily living. For these difficulties, an adaptive spoon fork with a thickened handle is recommended for people who receive occupational therapy training.

Adaptive spoon forks used in the previous art are suitable for home use. There are no such products in a restaurant or cafe outside. Therefore, the person has to carry their own spoon- fork-knife. This situation poses difficulties for the person, especially in terms of hygiene.

In the known state of the art, adaptive spoons and forks are used separately for each product such as spoon, fork, etc. For this reason, each product must be purchased separately and transported separately. This should be carried with all of them during use outside. The transportation of each product also makes the user's job difficult.

Purchasing each product separately in the known state of the art imposes an extra cost on the person. As a result of the research made in the literature, various structures related to the mentioned spoon holding apparatus are encountered. One of them is the useful model with the application number TR2006/01341 titled "Feeding spoon-footed toy apparatus". In the summary of the invention, of which classification class is A47G 21/04, it is stated that "The invention relates to a food spoon toy apparatus, characterized in that it has at least one chamber element positioned on said food spoon toy apparatus to provide assembly/disassembly feature and convenience to the food spoon toy apparatus. In order to prevent the food spoon toy apparatus from contacting unwanted surfaces, at least one foldable foot element connected to the lower part of the food spoon toy apparatus has been formed. Thanks to the invention, while parents feed their children with a spoon, playing and nutritional activities are combined and this action is easily performed. In order to reduce costs, the food spoon toy apparatus has an advertising surface created on the aforementioned food spoon toy apparatus to promote the brand."

Another example of said embodiment is the utility model with application number 2019/06830 titled "Adaptive Key Holding and Use Apparatus". In the summary of the invention, the classification class of which is A45C 11/32, the expression "The invention is an adaptive key holding and use apparatus consisting of portable, ergonomic led light, battery slot, weighted mechanism, push-pull mechanism and key slot parts that enable key holding and door opening and locking with cylindrical grip ability." is included.

In the abovementioned applications, an improvement has been made to fix the baby spoon in a certain place and a holding apparatus has been developed to keep the cylindrical materials comfortable. These applications are not helpful for people with poor dexterity. Therefore, these applications can be shown as an example of some of the abovementioned disadvantages.

As a result, improvements are made in parallel with the developing technology of adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus, therefore, there is a need for new structures that will eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and bring solutions to existing systems.

The Object of the Invention The invention relates to an adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus that is developed to solve said disadvantages and provides some additional advantages, unlike the embodiments used in the present art.

The object of the invention is to make it easier for individuals who do not have sufficient hand grip skills to grasp thickening materials such as toothbrushes and pencils that require food apparatus such as spoons, forks and knives and grip skills.

Another object of the invention is to ensure the use of a single adaptive apparatus for each product by expanding and narrowing the diameter of the inner body where products such as spoons, forks, etc. will be placed.

Another object of the invention is to ensure that the person can easily carry it with them thanks to the foldable feature of the adaptive spoon and fork holding apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to minimize the cost by using a single apparatus for each different product.

The structural and characteristic features and all the advantages of the invention will be understood more clearly by reference to the following figures and the detailed explanation thereof. Therefore, the evaluation should be made by taking these figures and detailed explanations into consideration.

Brief Description of the Figures to Help Understand the Invention

Figure - 1; shows a perspective view of the adaptive apparatus, which is the subject of the invention, with a fork.

Figure - 2; shows a perspective view of the folded version of the adaptive apparatus subject to the invention.

Figure - 3; shows a perspective view of the widest diameter of the inner body of the adaptive apparatus subject to the invention.

Figure - 4; shows a perspective view of the narrowed inner body of the adaptive apparatus subject to the invention. Figure - 5; shows a perspective view of the narrowed inner body of the adaptive apparatus subject to the invention.

List of the Reference Numbers

1. Adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus

2. Product

10. Outer body

11. Outer body parts

111. Outer body lock part

20. Inner body

21. Inner body parts

211. Inner body lock part

22. Product cavity

30. Mechanism

Detailed Description of an Example of the Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1) of the invention are described only for a better understanding of the subject matter and without any limiting effect.

Construction principle;

The adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1) consists of the outer body (10), the inner body (20) and the mechanism (30). The open state of the adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1), which is foldable, is shown in Figure 1 and the closed state is shown in Figure 2.

The outer body (10) consists of the outer body parts (11). When the outer body parts (11) are pressed from the upper and lower parts, they can be intertwined and closed as in Figure 2. When pulled out from the ends, it comes to the open position as in Figure 1. In order to prevent the outer body parts (11) from getting rid of each other, the outer body lock parts (111) are formed at the ends of the outer body parts (11). When pulled outward, the outer body lock parts (111) limit movement. The inner body (20) is the element that is positioned in the outer body (10) and where the product (2) will be placed. The product cavity (22) in the middle part is narrowing and expanding. In this way, it ensures that products (2) such as spoons/forks of different sizes are held tightly. A perspective view of the inner body (20) is shown in Figures 3 and 4. The inner body (20) consists of the inner body parts (21). As in the outer body (10), there are inner body lock parts (211). It is opened and closed together with the outer body (10) in case of folding and opening.

There is a mechanism (30) at the lowest part of the outer body (10). The mechanism (30) is connected from the inner part to one end of the inner body (20). The mechanism (30) is rotated to allow the inner body (20) to contract and expand.

Working principle;

The adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1), which is in the closed state as in Figure 2, is pulled upwards by holding the outer body part (11) in the outer part to be ready for use. The pull-up process ends with the fitting of the outer body lock parts (111) in the outer body parts (11) and the adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1) takes the form of Figure 1. The places shown as locks have cavities as in layered pipes such as brooms. When it comes to the lock points during this shooting, the lock sits on the cavities at the lock points and the elongation process stops.

The mechanism is rotated in the narrowing direction (A) according to the size of the product (2) such as forks, spoons, etc. to be placed inside. The inner body (20) connected to the mechanism (30) moves in the narrowing direction (A), allowing the product cavity (22) to narrow. In this way, after the product (2) is placed, it is well compressed and made ready for use. In Figure 5, it is seen that the adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1) is placed in the product (2) as a fork.

After use, the mechanism is rotated in the expanding direction (B), allowing the inner body (20) to expand and the product (2) to be released. The user then removes the product (2) and presses it from both ends of the outer body (10), allowing the outer body parts (11) to be intertwined. The adaptive fork/spoon holding apparatus (1) takes its shape in Figure 2 with this movement.