Eating aid

Abstract

An eating aid has a contact area for placing against a food item and a finger receiver facing away from the contact area for attachment to a finger. Herein, it is provided that at least one spike protrudes from the contact area serving to be inserted into the food item.

Claims

1. An eating aid, comprising: a contact area for placing against a food item, the contact area having a top surface, a bottom surface and a pair of side edges; and a finger receiver facing away from the contact area for attachment to a finger, wherein exactly one spike protrudes from the contact area serving to be inserted into the food item, wherein the one spike has a length of at least 2 cm, and wherein the eating aid is integrally made as an injection-molded part.

2. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the contact area is formed by a planar element bounding the finger receiver.

3. The eating aid according to claim 2, wherein the finger receiver is additionally bounded by a ring element extending away from the planar element.

4. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the eating aid is at least partially made of metal.

5. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the eating aid is at least partially made of a single-use material.

6. The eating aid according to claim 5, wherein the single-use material consists of a renewable resource.

7. The eating aid according to claim 5, wherein the at least one spike is made from a toothpick.

8. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the eating aid can be assembled from several parts.

9. An arrangement of at least two of the eating aids according to claim 1, wherein a first eating aid is provided for fixation to a thumb, the first eating aid being formed separately from at least a second eating aid provided for fixation to another finger.

10. The arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the first eating aid has a different finger receiver with respect to the at least a second eating aid.

11. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the spike has a length of from 2.5 to 3.5 cm.

12. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the finger receiver includes a concave area for receiving the finger, and wherein the concave area of the finger receiver is curved upward at a fingertip portion thereof towards an end of a finger nail for covering a fingertip.

13. The eating aid according to claim 1, wherein the pair of side edges extend in a first direction and the spike extends in a second direction, and wherein the finger receiver is offset from the one spike in the first direction.

14. An eating aid, comprising: a contact area for placing against a food item; and a finger receiver facing away from the contact area for attachment to a finger, wherein exactly one spike protrudes from the contact area serving to be inserted into the food item, and wherein the one spike has a length of at least 2 cm, and wherein the contact area is formed by a planar element bounding the finger receiver wherein the planar element shapes a concave area for placement against a finger.

15. The eating aid according to claim 14, wherein the finger receiver is additionally bounded by a ring element extending away from the planar element.

16. The eating aid according to claim 14, wherein the spike is held within a portion of the planar element, with the finger receiver forming a fingertip placement surface at a height thereof.

17. An eating aid, comprising: a contact area for placing against a food item, the contact area having a top surface, a bottom surface and a pair of side edges; and a finger receiver facing away from the contact area for attachment to a finger, wherein exactly one spike protrudes from the contact area serving to be inserted into the food item, wherein the one spike has a length of at least 2 cm, wherein the contact area is formed by a planar element bounding the finger receiver, and wherein the spike is held within a portion of the planar element, with the finger receiver forming a fingertip placement surface at a height thereof.

18. An eating aid, comprising: a contact area for placing against a food item, the contact area having a top surface, a bottom surface and a pair of side edges; and a finger receiver facing away from the contact area for attachment to a finger, wherein at least one spike protrudes from the contact area serving to be inserted into the food item, and wherein the at least one spike is made from a toothpick.

19. The eating aid according to claim 18, wherein the pair of side edges extend in a first direction and the spike extends in a second direction, and wherein the finger receiver is offset from the at least one spike in the first direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in the figures. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an arrangement of eating aids worn on a hand when holding a food item,

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the eating aids of FIG. 1 towards a contact area,

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the eating aid of FIG. 2 towards a finger receiver, and

(5) FIG. 4 is a side view of the eating aid of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) FIG. 1 shows a hand H of a user with an arrangement of several separate eating aids 2 slipped onto its finger F and thumb D which serve to better hold a food item E exemplified as a hamburger. For this purpose, each eating aid 2 has a planar element 4 forming a bottom-side contact area 6 which can be placed against a surface of the food item E. A spike 8 protrudes from each contact area 6 serving to penetrate the various layers of the food item E, which consists, for example, of a bun, a meat patty, a cheese layer and/or a lettuce or vegetable layer, and thereby fix the various layers in relation to one another.

(7) On a top side 12 facing away from the contact area 6 and the spike 8, the eating aids 2 each have a finger receiver 10, enabling the eating aids 2 to be slipped onto the respective individual finger F or thumb D. As can be seen from FIGS. 2 to 4, the finger receivers 10 are essentially bounded or formed by a ring element 14. Herein, each one of them is attached to or extends away from the planar element 4 such that a circumferentially closed receiver opening 16 is formed which can be pulled onto the concerned finger F or thumb D.

(8) The finger receiver 10 is also bounded by the top side 12 of the planar element 4. As depicted, a concave area 18 may be recessed into it in order to enable more comfortable placing or more stable positioning of the finger F or thumb D.

(9) As can be seen from FIG. 4, in particular, the spike 8 is held within a portion of the planar element 4, with the finger receiver 10 forming a fingertip placement surface 20 at the height thereof, against which, upon putting the eating aid 2 onto a finger F or thumb D, the fingertip S or outer phalanx G thereof is placed. In this way, the user can handle the spike 8 particularly well and insert it into the food item E with sufficient force. Herein, it is particularly favorable if the concave area 18 extends essentially completely across a bottom side of the outer phalanx G or the finger end, including a fingertip S, and is curved upward at the fingertip S towards an end of the respective finger nail N for this purpose, as depicted by dot-dashed lines in FIG. 4.

(10) In order to be able to warrant comfortable handling when inserting the spikes 8 and fixing the food item E, the individual spikes 8 each have a length L of at least 2 cm, preferably 2.5 to 3.5 cm.

(11) The eating aid 2 or the arrangement of eating aids 2 overall may be made of any known and suitable material. In the case of permanent or repeated use of the eating aid 2, it may at least partially be made of metal, for example, such as a silver alloy, in particular.

(12) Alternatively, the eating aid 2 may at least partially be made of a single-use material for a single use, enabling inexpensive manufacturing, in particular. To achieve this, the eating aid 2 may preferably at least partially be made of a renewable resource, such as starch, a wood-based material, such as beech, or of a bamboo. Herein, it may be provided that the planar element 4, the spike 8 and the ring element 14 are made as separate parts assembled to form the eating aid 2, for example, by bonding or interlocking. For example, a commercially available toothpick may be used as the spike 8. Herein, suitable interlock connection means or receiver areas for an adhesive may be provided on the eating aid 2 (not depicted). The planar element 4 and the spike 8 may also be formed of a rigid material, such as a metal and/or a renewable resource, whereas an elastic material is used for the ring element 14, such as a plastic or rubber ring.

(13) Alternatively, the eating aid 2 may overall or partially, such as to the extent of the planar element 4 and the finger receiver 10, in particular, also be integrally made, for example, as an injection-molded part made of plastic.

(14) Moreover, an arrangement with at least two eating aids 2 may be made available, as depicted in FIG. 1. Herein, a first eating aid 2A is provided for fixation to a thumb D or shaped and sized accordingly and formed separately from at least a second eating aid 2B shaped and sized for fixation to another finger F, such as an index, middle, ring, or little finger.

(15) In any case, the concerned fingers F, D onto which the eating aid 2 has been put may be placed against the food item E with the planar element 4 placed therebetween. In doing so, the fingers F, D are protected from direct temperature application of the food item and, at the same time, the various layers of the food item E are fixed in relation to one another by means of the spikes 8.

(16) It is noted that all of the features of the object according to the invention described above are interchangeable or combinable unless interchanging or combining the same is precluded for technical reasons.