U.S. patent application number 11/518391 was filed with the patent office on 2007-03-08 for reusable placemat.
Invention is credited to Christopher Bartell, Lindy Lee Bartell.
Application Number | 20070051864 11/518391 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37836504 |
Filed Date | 2007-03-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070051864 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bartell; Lindy Lee ; et
al. |
March 8, 2007 |
Reusable placemat
Abstract
A cost effective, durable, safe, and washable placemat that
remains in place during use, contain spills that arise during meal
time, and collects food and other debris before it falls on the
floor is disclosed. In one disclosed embodiment, the reusable
placemat has a substantially planar eating surface that is
encircled by a spill retention rim with a food retention gutter
detachably secured thereto. A resilient strip of material
preferably encircles the lower side of the placemat thereby
defining a non-slip foot. The planar eating surface may be
substantially transparent, thereby allowing one or more activity
cards to be displayed therethrough.
Inventors: |
Bartell; Lindy Lee;
(Portland, OR) ; Bartell; Christopher; (Portland,
OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
IPSOLON LLP
111 SW COLUMBIA
SUITE 710
PORTLAND
OR
97201
US
|
Family ID: |
37836504 |
Appl. No.: |
11/518391 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60715053 |
Sep 7, 2005 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/346.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 23/0306 20130101;
A47G 23/0633 20130101; A47G 23/0303 20130101; G09F 23/00
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
248/346.01 |
International
Class: |
A47B 91/00 20060101
A47B091/00 |
Claims
1. A reusable placemat having: a substantially planar eating
surface; a spill retention rim encircling said substantially planar
eating surface; and, a food retention gutter detachably secured to
the substantially planar eating surface.
2. The reusable placemat of claim 1, further including a
slip-resistant foot operably secured to the planar eating
surface.
3. The reusable placemat of claim 2, wherein said foot is more
resilient than said substantially planar eating surface.
4. The reusable placemat of claim 1, wherein said substantially
planar eating surface is substantially transparent.
5. The reusable placemat of claim 4, further including an activity
card having surface indicia thereon, said activity card
positionable below said transparent substantially planar eating
surface so that said surface indicia is viewable through said
substantially transparent planar eating surface.
6. The reusable placemat of claim 5, further including a plurality
of activity cards, each card of said plurality of activity cards
having different surface indicia thereon, thereby allowing a user
to select which card of said plurality of cards to display through
said substantially transparent eating surface.
7. The reusable placemat of claim 6, further including packaging
containing said reusable placemat, and a portion of said packaging
defining at least one activity card.
8. The reusable placemat of claim 1, wherein said substantially
planar eating surface is integrally molded with said spill
retention rim.
9. The reusable placemat of claim 8, further including a slot
operably received within said spill retention rim and further
including a strip of slip-resistant material operably received
within said slot thereby defining a slit resistant foot.
10. The reusable placemat of claim 1, wherein said placemat has a
lower edge and said food retention gutter is operably secured along
a lower edge.
11. The reusable placemat of claim 10, wherein said placemat is
substantially rectangular.
12. The reusable placemat of claim 11, wherein said substantially
planar eating surface rests substantially horizontally on a table
with said food retention gutter extending over an edge of said
table.
13. The reusable placemat of claim 1, wherein said substantially
planar eating surface has a top edge and bottom edge, and said rim
has a defined height, and said defined height is higher at said rim
positioned toward said top edge than said defined height of said
rim positioned toward said bottom edge.
14. The reusable placemat of claim 1, wherein said gutter is
detachably secured to said substantially planar eating surface
adjacent to said bottom edge.
15. The reusable placemat of claim 1, wherein said substantially
planar eating surface includes an anti-bacterial material operably
secured thereto.
Description
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority
to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/715,053 filed on
Sep. 7, 2005.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a reusable placemat for use
primarily by infants, toddlers, and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Children, particularly infants and toddlers, are messy
eaters. They tend to eat with their hands, and they frequently do
not effectively use bowls or plates. As a result, they tend to
spill food on themselves and around their surrounding areas during
meal times.
[0003] In addition to this mess, childrens' eating styles tend to
allow their food and beverages to frequently contact potentially
unclean surfaces. For example, children often let food fall to the
floor, and they are sometimes prone to retrieving these dropped
items and eating them before a parent can intervene. Moreover, the
general cleanliness of a tabletop in a restaurant is often
undeterminable.
[0004] Efforts to address these issues have focused on providing
protective barriers around the child and/or table. For example,
infants frequently wear washable bibs. Similarly, the meal table
and even the floor around the child are often covered with a
protective covering such as a tablecloth or the like.
[0005] While these protective cover solutions reduce the clean-up
time and protect furniture and the like, they have several
drawbacks. For example, these protective cover devices do little to
help contain spills or prevent food from falling to the floor
during mealtime. Moreover, reusable bibs and tablecloths must be
washed between use. In practice, frequently washing large
tablecloths grows burdensome.
[0006] Placemats have been used in an attempt to protect children
from unclean surfaces and reduce clean-up time. Such placemats are
usually substantially planar mats formed of either disposable paper
or reusable plastic. While these types of devices reduce the
workload associated with cleaning them between meals, they do
little to help contain spills or prevent food from falling to the
floor during meal time. Moreover, the small and flexible nature of
these mats permits them to frequently become a toy for the child.
Some children will even pull up such mats while their food and
beverages are resting thereon, thereby causing an even bigger mess
than would have been created by not using the placemat at all.
[0007] Efforts to improve the basic design of a placemat have had
limited success. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,735 to Snedeker
discloses adding a scoop to one side of a conventional
substantially planar, foldable, placemat to collect food and the
like that would otherwise spill on the floor during use. While the
scoop helps collect some debris, these types of designs do little
to contain spills arising on the mat itself, entertain the child
during meal-time, or prevent the child from pulling up the mat
during use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly, despite the improvements of the known placemat
designs, there remains a need for a cost effective, durable, safe,
and washable placemat that remains in place during use, contain
spills that arise during meal time, and collects food and other
debris before it falls on the floor. In addition to other benefits
that will become apparent in the following disclosure, the present
invention fulfills these needs.
[0009] In one disclosed embodiment, the reusable placemat has a
substantially planar eating surface that is encircled by a spill
retention rim with a food retention gutter detachably secured
thereto. A slip-resistant foot encircles the lower side of the
placemat thereby holding it in place on a table during use.
[0010] If desired, the planar eating surface may be substantially
transparent, thereby allowing one or more activity cards to be
display therethrough to entertain the child during meal time.
Packaging material for storing and marketing the placemat can also
define at least one activity card. A plurality of activity cards,
each having different surface indicia to define a different
activity can also be sold separately as a set.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a left front isometric view of a reusable placemat
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 1A is a left front isometric view of the placemat of
FIG. 1 showing a possible detachment of a removable food collecting
gutter.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the placemat of FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the placemat of FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the placemat of FIG. 1.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a partial, section view of the placemat of FIG. 1
taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a left side view of the placemat of FIG. 1 showing
a possible orientation on a table shown in broken lines.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the placemat of FIG. 1.
[0019] FIG. 8 is a right, front isometric view of the placemat of
FIG. 1 showing a possible packaging container in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 9 is a right, back isometric view of the placemat and
packaging container of FIG. 8.
[0021] FIG. 10 is a left, front isometric view of the placemat of
FIG. 1 showing a possible use of a portion of the packaging
container of FIG. 8 as an entertainment panel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] A reusable placemat 20 having a spill retention rim 22, a
removable food collecting gutter 24, a slip resistant foot 26, and
an activity viewing system 28 is shown in FIGS. 1-10.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 1-5, the placemat 20 preferably has a
substantially planar eating surface 30 that is sized to accommodate
the eating needs of a user and is surrounded by the raised spill
retention rim 22 that preferably has a low profile as shown. The
height 31a, 31b (FIGS. 5 & 6) of the rim 22 is sized so as to
retain within the chamber 32 (FIG. 5) defined by the eating surface
30 within the rim 22 a volume of liquid typically encountered by
children when eating.
[0024] Preferably, the placemat 20 is substantially rectangular
defining an upper edge 40, lower edge 42, left edge 44, right edge
46, top side 50, and bottom side 52, and the removable food
collecting gutter 24 is preferably operably secured along the lower
edge 42 of the placemat 20 as best shown in FIG. 1. More
preferably, the substantially planar eating surface 30 and rim 22
are integrally molded of the same substantially rigid material such
as a polycarbonate plastic material or the like. More preferably,
the material also includes a fungal-bacterial resistant product
such as those sold by the Microban Corporation of New York, N.Y. If
desired, a logo platform 60, cup holder (not shown), and/or toy
stand (not shown) may also be integrally molded within a portion of
the placemat 20. More preferably, and as best shown in FIG. 5, the
rim 22 has a recess or groove 70 defined therein that is open along
the bottom side 52 of the placemat 20.
[0025] Preferably, the slip resistant foot 26 is formed of a
flexible, rubber or rubber-like, slip-resistant material that is
operably secured to the bottom side 52 of the placemat 20 so that
the placemat 20 rests on the foot 26 when placed on a table 80
(FIG. 6) or the like. More preferably, the slip resistant foot 26
is a strip of slip-resistant material that is operably received
within the groove 70 on the bottom side 52 of the placemat 20.
[0026] The removable food collecting gutter 24 is preferably formed
of the same or similar flexible material used to form the slip
resistant foot 26. More preferably, the gutter 24 defines a food
retention trough 90 that is positioned substantially adjacent to
and extends along the entire length of the lower edge 42 of the
placemat 20 as best shown in FIG. 1.
[0027] One possible structure for detachably securing the gutter 24
to the placemat 20 is best shown in FIG. 5. An arm portion 100
extends substantially horizontally from the gutter 24. The distal
end 102 of the arm portion 100 includes a mating nub 104 for
operably engaging the groove 70 in the bottom edge of the placemat
20. Accordingly, the gutter 24 can be secured or removed by the
placemat simply by wedging the mating nub 104 of the gutter 24 into
the groove 70 of the placemat 20 as shown.
[0028] Preferably and as shown in FIG. 6, the placemat 20 is
positioned on a table 80 so that the gutter 24 extends over the
edge 82 of the table 80 to collect food and other debris dropped by
the child during meal time. More preferably, the height 31b of the
rim 22 is lower adjacent to the gutter 24 as best shown in FIGS. 5
and 6 so that liquids retained in the chamber 32 will fill spill
over the rim 22 adjacent to the gutter 24 and into the food
retention trough 90 before spilling outside the placemat 20.
[0029] If desired and as best shown in FIG. 10, the placemat 20 can
be configured to have an activity viewing system 28 therein. One
such system includes selecting the material forming the eating
surface 30 so as to allow the eating surface 30 to be substantially
transparent. Accordingly, a variety of activity cards 120 each
having different surface indicia 122 thereon such as mazes, math
problems, word searches and the like can be placed, one at a time,
under the placemat 20 within the area defined by the slip-resistant
foot 26. Accordingly, a child or parent can select a particular
card 120 to display during mealtime, thereby helping entertain the
child.
[0030] Referring to FIGS. 8-10, the packaging 140 used to market
and display the placemat 20 can include at least one such activity
card 120. For example, the packaging 140 can be a blank form of
card stock that has fold lines 142 positioned so as to define a
box-like structure that encircles the placemat 20. Tabs 144 are
preferably cut in the stock to as to operably engage mating
recesses 146 in the stock as shown, thereby securing the packaging
140 around the placemat 20. A portion of the surface ornamentation
150 on the card stock preferably defines at least one activity card
120. As shown in FIG. 10, perforation lines 160 are provided on the
card stock to allow the activity card 120 to be removed along the
perforation lines 160. Preferably, a set of additional activity
cards 120 are sold separately and are also available for use.
[0031] Preferably, all materials forming the placemat 20, spill
retention rim 22, slip resistant foot 26, and food collecting
gutter 24 are shatter proof and dishwasher safe.
[0032] In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the
principles of the invention can be applied, it should be apparent
that the detailed embodiments are illustrative only and should not
be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. For example, the
spill retention rim 22 could be integral with the slip resistant
foot 26 by mounting a band of resilient material along the edge of
a substantially planar material that defines the eating surface.
The upper portion of the resilient material could define the rim
22, while the lower portion of the resilient material defines the
foot 26. In such case, the preferred attachment structure between
the gutter 24 and placemat 20 could be modified by providing a slot
in the resilient material for connecting the arm of the gutter 24.
Accordingly, the claimed invention includes all such modifications
as may come within the scope of the following claims and
equivalents thereto.
* * * * *