The present invention relates to an eating aid for children and in particular to an aid that encourages children to eat at meal times.

Many parents face great difficulty in persuading their children to eat at meal times. They often encourage their children to eat by placing food on a spoon and then, pretending that the spoon is a plane, move the spoon around the air whilst making the noise of a plane, before successfully manoeuvring the spoon into the child's mouth. This can be successful for a short period of time, but inevitably, the parent tires and the child does not eat properly.

The present invention aims to provide an aid that can be used at meal times to encourage children to eat. The aid can also help the child develop hand eye co-ordination and dexterity. In one embodiment, the invention provides track and a number of carriages, each adapted for carrying a different foodstuff. The carriages have an upper part adapted to carry a foodstuff that is detachably mounted to a bogey that runs on the track. The upper part is preferably made of plastic or some other washable material that can be washed in the sink or dishwasher. In this way, the upper parts of the carriages can be detached from the bogey and cleaned. As a result, the bogey does not have to be made from a material that can be washed - which lowers the cost of making the bogey. In a preferred embodiment, the carriages include one with an elongate upper part for carrying elongate food, such as a banana or a hot dog; one having an upper part that has water tight walls for carrying a liquid such as a drink, soup or the like; and one having an upper part shaped as a plate for carrying sandwiches or the like.

In one aspect, the invention provides an eating aid comprising: a track defining a path; a plurality of carriages each for following the path defined by the track, each carriage comprising an upper part shaped to receive a foodstuff and a lower part for allowing the carriage to follow the track; wherein the upper part and the lower part have co-operating members for detachably attaching the upper part to the lower part so that the upper part of each carriages is attached to the lower part during normal use and is detachable from the corresponding lower part to facilitate washing of the upper part. The co- operating members may be a spigot and socket arrangement or magnets or a magnet and a metallic member. In a preferred embodiment, the upper parts have different shapes. However, this is not essential and the upper parts could, in some embodiments, have the same shape.

The track preferably defines a closed path, such as a figure of '8', along which the carriages can move. The track may be formed as one or more conductors that provide power to the carriages so that the carriages can move along the track. Alternatively, the carriages may be self powered and "follow" the path defined by the track. Alternatively still, the track and carriages may not be powered at all, instead relying on the child or the parent to move the carriage relative to the track. When the track provides power to the carriages, an AC power adapter may be provided to convert power from a mains supply to a safe operating voltage for powering the carriages. Alternatively, one or more batteries may be embedded within the support to provide power to the track. When the carriages are self powered, they are preferably battery powered, although they may be powered through a mechanical spring that is wound up by hand. In one embodiment, the track is provided in a support that can be folded or rolled up when not in use. The track is preferably embedded into the support so that the support has a substantially flat upper surface. The support may be defined by a plurality of 'tiles' or mats that are couple together to define the track shape. Different sizes of track or different track layouts may be provided for different sized tables. By providing a track embedded within such a support, the track becomes easy to set-up prior to mealtime and easy to put away afterwards. This is an important aspect of this invention from a practical perspective. In another embodiment, the track may be embedded into the surface of the table itself. In this case, the system can be set-up simply be placing the carriages onto the table.

When the carriages are self powered and the track is used to define the path along which the carriages move, the track may be defined, for example, by one or more magnetic or conductive strips embedded within the support.

In one embodiment, the upper part of the carriage comprises one of a magnet and a magnetic material (such as a piece of steel) and wherein the lower part of the carriage comprises the other one of the magnet and a magnetic material. In this way, the upper parts are attached to the lower parts by magnetism and the upper parts can be separated when appropriate to wash the upper parts. When the main unit is battery powered, it preferably includes a motor that drives one or more wheels of the main unit. He driven wheel or wheels preferably comprise a resilient outer surface for reducing the noise of the main unit as it travels over the track. In order to reduce noise further, the main unit preferably includes foam around the motor. The batteries and/or the motor are preferably mounted over the one or more wheels that are driven by the motor to improve their traction on the track.

In one embodiment, the main unit comprises one or more wheels that run within a grove of the track and one or more wheels that run outside the groove of the track. The one or more wheels that run in the groove of the track are preferably those that are driven by the motor.

In a preferred embodiment, the lower part of the carriage comprises one or more downwardly extending portions for providing stability to the carriage against lateral forces. These may be provided at the corners or along the sides.

The lower part of the carriage may include a base and a top portion connected to the base, and wherein the top portion is cupped to receive the upper part. In this case, the inner surface of the top part may have an internal shape to accept upper parts having different shapes and the upper parts have a common base shape for being received in the top part. In this way all the lower parts of the carriages can be the same and they can accept any of the different shaped upper parts.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments that are given with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure Ia illustrates a track that is mounted on a table and that defines a path for carriages for carrying different foods around a table;

Figure Ib schematically illustrates the carriages that can run on the track shown in Figure Ia and which, in this embodiment, are pulled along the track by a powered unit; Figure 2 illustrates an alternative arrangement for defining the track using a number of mats that connect together to define the track layout;

Figure 3a is a plan view, and Figure 3b is a cross-sectional view of part of, the track and table shown in Figure Ia, illustrating the way in which the track is defined within a supporting mat that sits on top of the table and that can be rolled up when not in use;

Figure 4 illustrates in more detail the detachable nature of the upper part of the carriages relative to the lower bogie part of the carriages;

Figure 5 schematically illustrates an arrangement of a non-circular spigot-socket connector to prevent rotation of the upper part of the carriage relative to the lower part.

Figure 6 illustrates a second embodiment of the eating aid;

Figures 7a to 7d illustrate different aspects of a powered unit used in this second embodiment

Figure 8a is an exploded view and Figure 8b is a cross-sectional view of the powered unit used in the second embodiment and Figure 8b;

Figures 9a and 9b illustrate a straight section and a curved section of the track used in the second embodiment;

Figures 10a, 10b and 10c are different views of a carriage assembly and Figure 1Od is an exploded view of the carriage assembly used in the second embodiment;

Figures 11a, lib and lie illustrate different bowl shapes used in the second embodiment; and

Figures 12a, 12b and 12c illustrate the way in which a bowl can be attached to and detached from the carriage used in the second embodiment. First Embodiment

Figure Ia is schematically illustrates a table 1 having a track 3 mounted on the top, eating surface, of the table. In this embodiment, the track 3 defines a figure of "8" path for carriages 5-1 to 5-3 shown in Figure Ib. As shown in Figure Ib, the carriages 5-1 to 5-3 are releasably secured to each other and each include an upper part 7-1 to 7-3 for carrying a foodstuff around the path defined by the track 3; and a lower part 8-1 to 8-3 having two pairs of wheels 9 mounted on a bogey. In this embodiment, each of the upper parts 7 has a different shape to the other upper parts and is designed to hold a different foodstuff from the other upper parts 7. For example, upper part 7-1 is shaped as a bowl with solid walls so that it can hold and retain a liquid foodstuff, such as soup; upper part 7-2 has an elongate shape suitable for holding elongate food, such as a banana; and upper part 7-3 is shaped as a plate to hold general foodstuffs such as meat, potato, vegetables etc. Other carriage shapes may be provided and multiple carriages of the same shape may also be provided if desired.

In this embodiment, the carriages 5 are coupled together so that they move together around the track 3 and are pulled along the path defined by the track 3 by a battery powered unit 11. In other embodiments, the powered unit may be a clockwork unit or may not be powered at all. In this embodiment, the powered unit 11 is radio controlled by a radio controller (not shown), so that an adult can control the motion of the powered unit 11 and of the carriages 5 around the track 3. In operation, at meal times the child or children are seated around the table 1 and their food is loaded into the upper parts 7 of carriages 5. Then, using the remote control, the adult can control the movement of the powered unit 11 and connected carriages 5 around the track, stopping if necessary as it travels around the track 3 in the vicinity of the or each child. The child can then remove the foodstuff carried by one or more of the carriages before the powered unit 11 sets off again around the track. The inventor has found that this relatively simple arrangement can dramatically increase the food eaten by the child or children due to the interactive and fun nature of the food delivery. Additionally, the inventor has found that if the powered unit 11 does not stop then the child is forced to try to remove the foodstuff while the powered unit is moving and this helps to develop the child's hand-eye coordination. The inventor has realised that to be practical, the track 3 has to be easy to set up on the table 1 prior to the meal and easy to dismantle and put away after the meal; and that the carriages have to be designed so that they can be washed easily in the sink or the dishwasher. The upper and/or lower parts of the carriages 5 and the track 3 may also be sterilised so that they can be used in clean environments, such as in hospitals or the like.

With regard to the easy setting up of the track 3, the inventor has found that a track that is defined within the surface of a roll-up mat can be used. This allows the track 3 to be set up in seconds, simply by rolling out the mat on top of the table. The disadvantage, however, of such a roll-up mat is that the mat itself has to be relatively thin (for example having a thickness between lmm and 3mm) if one is to be able to roll it up; and the use of such a thin mat limits the possible ways to define the track 3. In particular, with such a thin mat, it would not be practical to define the track 3 using one or more grooves in the mat that the carriages 5 and the powered unit 11 can follow - as the groove thickness is likely to be too small which would result in the powered unit 11 and/or the carriages easily coming out of the groove. One way that the track could be defined using a thin roll-up mat is to use a conductive or magnetic material. This material can also be embedded within the mat under the normal upper surface. In this case, the powered unit would have a suitable sensor to sense the conductive or magnetic material embedded in the mat and would steer itself to follow the path defined by the track 3. This embodiment also has the advantage that the upper surface of the mat can be provided with a suitable design and be made wipe clean. A similar mat may be provided with the track being defined by a material that can be sensed using an optical sensor (such as a reflective material that can be distinguished from the other material of the mat).

An alternative to the use of a roll-up mat is to use a plurality of mat segments that connect together to define the track layout. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figure 2, which shows 10 mat segments

15-a to 15-j that are designed to connect together to define a rectangular mat 17 that defines the track

3. One advantage of this arrangement is that different track layouts can be defined using different mat segments 15 or a subset of the available segments 15. For example, a track 3 defining an oval path may be provided by omitting mat segments 15b, 15c, 15g and 15h. Another advantage of this arrangement is that the mat segments can be made much thicker (for example 10mm to 20mm). With such a thickness it is easier to define the track using one or more grooves formed in the upper surface of the mat 17 that the powered unit 11 and/or the carriages 5 follow. This is illustrated in Figure 3.

In particular, Figure 3a is a plan view showing, in outline, the table 1 and on the top of which is the mat 17 defining, in this illustration an oval shaped track 3. Figure 3b is a cross-sectional view of part of the table 1 and mat 17 shown in Figure 3a. As shown, the mat 17 has a pair of parallel grooves 21-a and 21- b that define the track 3. The mat itself has a thickness of between 10mm and 20mm and the grooves 21 have a depth of between 7mm and 14mm, depending on the thickness of the mat 17. Those skilled in the art will, of course, appreciate that other thicknesses of mats and grooves can be provided if desired. The grooves 21a and 21b are spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the spacing (track) of the wheels on the powered unit 11 and on the lower parts 8 of the carriages 5. In this way, the wheels of the powered unit 11 and of the carriages can be placed inside the grooves 21 and when moving will follow the path defined by the grooves 21. The advantage of this embodiment is that it reduces the design complexity of the powered unit 11 and/or the carriages 5 (because there is no need to have any steering in the powered unit 11 or in any of the carriages). The same advantage is provided when a single groove 21 is defined within the mat 17 and when the powered unit 11 (and perhaps also the carriages) have a co-operating member that can couple with the groove 21 and cause the powered unit 11 to follow the track 3. With regard to cleaning the carriages, in the preferred embodiment (as illustrated in Figure 4), the upper parts 7 of the carriages 5 are detachable from the corresponding lower parts 8 and are made of a plastics material that is safe to be washed in the sink or in a dishwasher. In this way, the lower part 8 of the carriages can be made from cheaper components that would rust or otherwise degrade if washed repeatedly. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, there are various ways in which the upper parts 7 can be made detachable from the lower parts 8. Examples include providing a socket on one of the parts and a mating bayonet or spigot on the other part. This is illustrated in Figure 4, with a spigot 25 being provided on the lower part 8 of the carriage 5 and a corresponding socket 27 on the upper part 7. The spigot 25 preferably is non circular in cross-section (as illustrated in Figure 5), so that the upper part 7 of the carriage does not rotate when mounted on the lower part 8. The spigot 25 and socket 27 may be coupled together using interference fit or suitable shoulders may be provided on each to allow a click type mating. Alternatively, the bayonet 25 and the socket 27 may be threaded so that the upper and lower parts are screwed together. Other arrangements will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Second Embodiment

Figures 6 to 12 illustrate a preferred embodiment of the eating aid 50. Figure 6 is a general perspective view showing the powered unit 51, in this case in the form of a locomotive, that pulls three carriages 53- 1, 53-2 and 53-3 around a track 55, in this example laid out to define a circular path. As illustrated in Figure 6 and as will be explained in more detail below, in this embodiment the carriages 53 each carry a respective different bowl 57-1, 57-2 and 57-3 having a different shape from the other bowls.

Figure 7 (comprising Figures 7a to 7d) illustrates the form of the powered unit 51 used in this preferred embodiment. As shown in Figure 7a, the powered unit 51 has three pairs of wheels - a rear set of wheels 59, a middle set of wheels 61 and a front set of wheels 63. The rear wheels 59 are powered by a battery powered motor (not shown) mounted inside the powered unit 51 over the rear wheels 59. The weight of the motor and the batteries help to provide the rear wheels 59 with traction on the track 55. As can be seen more clearly from the rear view of the powered unit 51 and the cross-section through the track 55 shown in Figure 7b and from the detailed view of Figure 7c, the track includes grooves 71-1 and 71-2 into which rims 73-1 and 73-2 of the rear wheels 59 are located. Similar rims are provided on the middle set of wheels 61 and these also locate into the grooves 71. Each of the grooves 71 is defined by an inner projection 75 and an outer projection 77. As shown, each of the rear wheels 59 includes an inner portion 81 on the inside of the rim 73 and an outer portion 83 on the outside of the rim 73. As shown in Figure 7b, the inner portion 81 is designed to run along the inner projection 75 of the track 55 and the outer portion 83 is designed to run along the outer projection 77 of the track 55. The middle set of wheels 61 is similarly constructed. In this embodiment, the surface of the inner portion 81 of the rear wheels 59 is made of a resilient material, preferably rubber, to reduce noise and, as illustrated, has a ribbed texture to help with traction. As shown in Figure 7d, the smaller front wheels 63 do not ride in the grooves 71, but instead ride along the surface of the inner projections 75 of the track 55 and provide extra stability, especially when the powered unit is going round corners. Figures 8a and 8b illustrate the components of the powered unit 51 in more detail. Figure 8a is an exploded view of the powered unit 51, showing the mouldings 89-1, 89-2 that define the two halves of the powered unit 51 and which house the motor 91 used to drive the rear wheels 59, a battery housing 92 for housing batteries 93 that power the motor 91, and a switch 95 that is mounted in the turret 97 of the powered unit 51 and that allows a user to switch the powered unit 51 on and off during normal use. As can be seen from Figure 8a, the motor 91 and the batteries 93 are mounted over the rear wheels 59. This aids in providing traction to the rear wheels.

In this embodiment, in order to reduce noise from the motor 91, foam (not shown) is provided in the space 99 above the motor 91. The two mouldings 52 are moulded to provide this additional space 99 around the motor 91. Noise is an important factor for an eating aid, as a noisy device will distract the children and make it difficult to talk with them. Hence features such as the rubber provided around the running surface of the rear wheels and the foam around the motor 91 significantly help to reduce the noise produced by the eating aid 50.

Figures 9a and 9b illustrate the preferred form of track segments 101-1 and 101-2 used in this embodiment. As shown, each track segment 101 comprises two parts - a relatively hard upper part

103-1, 103-2 and a rubber lower part or mat 105-1, 105-2. The lower parts 105 are made of a softer more resilient material, such as rubber, and again are designed to reduce the noise caused by the powered unit 51 and the carriages 53 as they travel over the track 55. The upper and lower parts 103,

105 clip together using the spigots 107 that are received and held in corresponding sockets (not shown) on the bottom surface of the upper track segments 103.

Figure 10 illustrates in more detail the preferred form of the carriage 53. Figure 1Od is an exploded view of the carriage 53. As shown, each carriage 53 has two sets of wheels 121 which are rotatably mounted onto axles 122, which in turn are held by a carriage base portion 123. The carriage 53 also includes a top portion 125 which is fixed onto the base 123, in this case using screws 127. The top portion 125 of the carriage is made from a washable material such as plastic, so that spills can easily be cleaned. The top portion 125 also has, in this embodiment a downwardly extending limb 129 provided at each of the four corners. These limbs 129 provide the carriages with extra stability. For example, if a child applies too much lateral force when trying to retrieve food from one of the bowls 57, then the carriage 53 will tilt until one or more of the limbs 129 contact the track 55. This contact will provide a reactive force that opposes (to some extent) the lateral force applied by the child, thereby reducing the likelihood of the carriage 53 toppling over as a result of the child's actions As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the limbs 129 do not need to be provided at the corners Instead, one limb 129 could be provided on one or each side In addition to providing additional stability, the limbs 129 also protect, to a certain extent, the moving parts from food contamination which could cause the wheels 121 to become jammed However, this need not be a major problem as the whole carriage, including the wheels and the axles 122, can be made of plastic and so can be made dishwasher proof

Figure 1Od also shows that each carriage 53 has at one end a projecting member 124 and at the other end a catch member 126 that is designed to couple with the projecting member 124 of another carriage In this embodiment, the projecting member 124 is integrally formed with the carriage base 123 and the catch member 126 is sandwiched between the top portion 125 of the carriage and the carriage base 123 and held in place by the peg 128 This arrangement is advantageous as it allows the catch member 126 to be able to move (and in particular rotate) around the peg 128 when the carriages 53are moving around a corner

In this embodiment, as can be seen in Figures 10a and 1Od, the top portion 125 of each carriage 53 is cupped to receive one of the bowls 57 and has an inside surfaces 131 that is designed to receive and provide support to each of the different shaped bowls 57 This is possible because the base 133 of each of the bowls 57 is shaped, as illustrated in Figures 11a, lib and lie, to mate with the inner surface 131 of the carriage 53 Figure 11 also shows the three different shapes of bowl 57-1, 57-2 and 57-3 used in this embodiment

As shown in Figure 1Od, in this embodiment, a magnet 135 is provided that is sandwiched between the top portion 125 and the carriage base 123, in a central position underneath the cupped inner surface 131 of the top portion 125 The position of the magnet 135 is most clearly seen in the cross-section shown in Figure 10b and the detailed view of Figure 10c As will now be described with reference to Figure 12, the magnet 135 is used, in this embodiment, to attach the bowl 57 to the carriage 53 during normal use, in such a way that the bowl 57 can be detached from the carriage 53 as desired to add food to the bowl 57 or to remove the bowl 57 so that it can be washed Figure 12a is a cross-section of the carriage 53 when a bowl 57 is mounted therein. As can be more clearly seen from the detailed view in Figure 12b, the base 137 of the bowl has an embedded metal plate 139 that is magnetically attracted to the magnet 135. The magnetic attraction between the magnet 135 and the metal plate 139 is such that the bowl 57 is held (attached) within the top portion 125 of the carriage, but not too strong so that a user can separate them, as illustrated in Figure 12c. Of course, the metal plate 139 may also be another magnet or other magnetic material, but this is not preferred as this is more expensive. Similarly, the magnet may be provided in the base of the bowl 57 and the metal plate may be provided in the carriage 53. The metal plate/magnet 139 is preferably over- moulded during the moulding operation of the bowl 57, as this is a simple and cost effective way of embedding the plate 139 in the bowl 57.