Nursing tray

May 31, 1938.

F. S. SCHADE

NURSING TRAY

Filed Feb. 1, 1937

2,118,900

Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR ff?AW StA/U£Y Se/MZ>£ BY _ _ .

ATTORNEYS

May 31, 1938.

F. S. SCHADE

NURSING TRAY

Filed Feb. 1, 1937

2,118,900

Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented May 31, 1938

2,118,900

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,118,900 NURSING TRAY Frank Stanley Schade, Holyoke, Mass. Application February 1, 1937, Serial No. 123,513 4 Claims. (Cl. 40—130)

This invention relates to a nursing tray. It Is made so as to help persuade a child to take food from a dish. The way this can be done, according to the invention, will be explained after the 5 drawings and description of the tray construction are given.

In the accompanying drawings—

Fig. 1 is a side view of the tray with the dish in it;

¹⁰ Fig. 2 is a sectional composite view of the separated parts;

Fig. 3 is a top view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view on line S—8 ¹⁸ of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional composite view of the separated parts showing a slightly modified form of the‘invention;

Fig. 7 is a side view of the assembled parts of 20 Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a side view of a form of the invention like that in Fig. 1 but with a slightly different arrangement of tray and dish.

The tray shell I is preferably made so that it appears as a bowl of sturdy and plain exterior construction. It may be made to appear as a simple dish like Fig. .1 or as a combined tray or dish holder as in Fig. 9. At the bottom are shown recesses 2, Fig. 4, in which dry cells 3 may be inserted against springy contacts 4 tending to hold the cells 3 in position for energizing the electrical wiring system. The wiring, except for necessary terminals, is conveniently molded in the material

SS of the tray, such material being made of glass, pottery, plastic or other composition that insulates, so that bare wire may be used. Centrally of the tray bottom, on the inside, is a lamp socket 5 to receive lamp 10, surrounded by a reflector seat

6 to receive reflector 7. The glass cover 8 will close the top of reflector 7 resting on its rim and serve as a dish supporting wall of the tray. This transparent glass 8 serves as a good surface on which a cut-out picture 9 may be laid out smoothly.

Picture 9 is contemplated as one cut from the children’s page of a newspaper or picture book. A characteristic of the picture is that it be on semi-transparent material such as the paper of

SO a newspaper so that the light from‘lamp 10 will show brightly under the picture and go through the picture to illuminate it strongly enough to serve the purpose of the invention. Of course the picture element of the combination can be varied in a great many ways. But since it is a feature of the Invention to change the picture frequently, emphasis is put on successively using cut-oiit pictures from the children’s page of a newspaper,¹ although of course pictures may be made up in other ways, and silhouettes may be ® used. This it is expected will all be managed by the nurse.

The picture element 9, as indicated, is placed on glass cover plate 8 and conveniently held in fiat position by a retaining rim I i made of rather stiff springy material with integral ears 12 adapted to spring into'holding recesses 13' in the tray.

When the parts shown in Fig. 2, with glass eating bowl '3, are telescoped together, the com- “ bination will have the simple appearance of Fig. 1—just a bowl or simple tray appearance except for a finger piece 14 for the lamp switch.

The lamp switch is best shown in Fig. 5 and indicated in the other figures. If the finger piece g© 14 is pressed, terminals 15 and 16 contact to light the lamp. Terminal 16 Is in the form of a rather strong leaf spring as common in electrical switch constructions so it will open the switch when the finger pressure is released. The leaf spring 86 as indicated in Fig. 5 is split to provide for portion 16'. Finger piece 14 may slide back and forth like a slide switch between the two positions indicated in Fig. 5. When pushed to the dotted line position, the disk-shaped bottom of 8© piece 14' slides under spring end 17 of a terminal in the wiring and, by having bottom disk portion 14' made of conductor material, while f4 is otherwise a non-conductor, contact is made between terminals 16' and fl, with the same result 35 as between 15 and 16, the terminal 17 having a leg, indicated in Fig. 4, to connect to the same wire W as terminal IS. Also spring terminal 17 will hold the disk portion 14' for switch closed position until finger piece 14 is pushed back to 40 full line position. The wiring W to the batteries in the recesses of the tray I is clear from Figs. 2 and 4 and the switch from Fig. 5. It is a nice feature of the invention that all this wiring W, except the necessary terminals and switch, can 45 be molded in the insulating material of the tray I, making the latter of simple appearance mechanically, which is an advantage from the standpoint of use as a tray.

The, mechanical and electrical constructions 50 of the combination are disclosed by the foregoing description. And it will be clear that there is provided a tray for transparent dish 13, a lamp, a- reflector, and a picture frame arranged in a particular manner for the particular use of coax- K

9,118,900 food In order to discover what there Is In the picture window at the bottom of the dish. There Is the light to coax, as also Its flashing on and . off; there Is the picture—never necessarily the same as at the time of the previous use of the 5 bowl; and there Is the element of mystery and olay—all of which tend strongly and pleasantly to divert the child from the mere task of eating to something else, but nevertheless holding attention to the eating act as the child’s part of 10 getting at the picture. These effects, managed by the nurse, can be graded nicely to coax the child to do what the nurse wants, which of course is to drink the milk and eat the food at the right time. The tray Is the means to the nurse’s main 15 object.

Of course the tray Is also useful as a. plaything, even when the child’s appetite Is all that one desires. In such a case the mild play element during the time of eating tends to Improve dlges- 20 tlon.

I am aware of prior art children’s dishes having pictures made In the dish material. I am claiming as my Invention specific Improvements going to do more than that general Idea will do 25 for the child. These Improvements are pointed out In the following combination claims.