Spoon

Abstract

A spoon is provided that has a handle, a neck, a head, and a spoon or food receiving recess that has a front edge and a rear edge. The rear edge is raised such that a straight line joining the front edge and the rear edge extends in the same general direction as a straight line extending in the general direction of the length of the handle of the spoon. Preferably, the neck is spaced from the spoon or food receiving recess by a distance of the same order as the dimension of the recess itself. The cross-sectional size of the spoon increases from the neck to a position corresponding to the rear edge of the recess with the outer surface being smoothly contoured to provide a smooth contact surface for the lips of a person using same to encircle the spoon between the neck and recess.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A spoon having a handle, a neck, a head, and a spoon or food receiving recess that has a front edge and a rear edge wherein the rear edge is raised such that a straight line joining the front edge and the rear edge extends in the same general direction as a straight line extending in the general direction of the length of the handle of the spoon. 
     
     
         2 . A spoon as claimed in  claim 1  in which the neck is spaced from the spoon or food receiving recess by a distance of the same order as the dimension of the spoon or food receiving recess. 
     
     
         3 . A spoon as claimed in either one of  claim 1  or  2  in which the cross-sectional size of the spoon increases from the neck to a position corresponding to the rear edge of the spoon or food receiving recess with the outer surface being smoothly contoured to provide a smooth contact surface for the lips of a person using same to encircle the spoon between the neck and spoon or food receiving recess. 
     
     
         4 . A spoon as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the cross-sectional shape of the neck is approximately oval with the cross-sectional shape of the spoon at the rear edge of the spoon or food receiving recess being larger and approximately oval with an upper side of the oval bulging upwards. 
     
     
         5 . A spoon as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the spoon or food receiving recess has a shape in plan view that closely approximates a circular shape with a width of between 18 to 25 mm and a length of between 20 and 30 mm. 
     
     
         6 . A spoon as claimed in  claim 5  in which the width of the spoon or food receiving recess is about 20 mm and the length thereof is about 25 mm. 
     
     
         7 . A spoon as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the spoon or food receiving recess is shallow relative to a straight line joining the top edges of two opposite sides of the spoon or food receiving recess. 
     
     
         8 . A spoon as claimed in  claim 7  in which the depth of the spoon or food receiving recess relative to a straight line joining the top edges of two opposite sides of the spoon or food receiving recess is from 1.5 to 2 mm. 
     
     
         9 . A spoon as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the sides of the spoon or food receiving recess are somewhat concave between the front edge and rear edge thereof to provide a smooth surface to the recess for the purpose of a person's lips clearing food off the recess surface. 
     
     
         10 . A spoon as claimed in  claim 9  in which the depth of the concavity is about 3 to 4 millimetres in extent. 
     
     
         11 . A spoon as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the neck is located rearwards of the rear edge of the spoon or food receiving recess by a distance of between 15 and 25 mm. 
     
     
         12 . A spoon as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the entire spoon is of a solid construction consisting of a relatively rigid inner plastic element and a soft rubbery outer surface. 
     
     
         13 . A method of manufacturing a spoon as claimed in  claim 12  in which a relatively rigid inner plastic element is moulded firstly; followed by a second moulding step in which approximately one half of an outer cover is moulded onto the inner plastics element to cover a first major surface thereof and thereafter a third moulding step is carried out in which a second-half of an outer cover is moulded onto the inner plastics element to cover a second major surface thereof. 
     
     
         14 . A method as claimed in  claim 13  in which registration formations are formed on the inner plastic element and the registration formations are used to locate the inner plastic element it in a second mould for the purpose of moulding the said one half of an outer cover onto the inner plastic element in the second moulding step.