CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of NonProvisional U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/196,037, filed Jun. 29, 2016, which application is hereby incorporated by reference along with all references cited therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a new and novel technology and use for an expandable arm mounted apparatus.

One embodiment of the invention is designed to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and safety in the restaurant and food service industry.

Food service workers provide many functions but one function they all do across the board is to carry plates and trays. They use their hands to carry them from the kitchen to the table, and then they use their hands to carry them back again, often carrying as many at one time as possible to increase efficiency at a cost to their bodies, health, and safety.

Both the heat of a plate and the weight of said plate cause issues to the health and well being of food service workers. I have personally worked in the food service industry for years and have issues with my wrists resulting from the repetitive action of carrying heavy plates.

Mostly, plates are round and carried by placing a thumb over their outer edge with the remaining fingers of the hand under the bottom of the plate. The bulk mass of the plate therefore extends outward from the hand creating a leveraging force acting upon the carrier's thumb, hand, and wrist. It also has harmful long term effects on a carrier's elbow, shoulders, and back. The costs of this repetitive motion wear and tear, and resulting industries is huge for both the individual food service worker and the industry itself. Healthcare costs for treatment as well as day's of work missed by affected workers are huge both in regards to social and economic costs. It almost goes without question that people in any industry who carry heavy loads with their hands and fingers will almost without exception experience pain and injuries resulting from their daily work.

This invention takes the weight and leverage of a plate off of the server's wrist and hand and places it on the server's forearm allowing for more ergonomic function and sparing server's from repetitive motion injuries. A server simply picks up a plate and inserts it between arms extending from the apparatus secured to their forearm, walk to the table, and then slide the plate out from the apparatus arms and place it on the table. They no longer need to carry these plates with their hands and fingers to the table or necessarily support that unhealthy leveraged weight from the kitchen to the table, or from the table back to the kitchen. It also largely eliminates the equally non-ergonomic action of hosting a tray full of heavy plates over their head and carrying said weighted tray over one shoulder to the table along with a tray stand, positioning said tray stand in place while sustaining the tray over their shoulders, then awkwardly lowering the heavy tray from over their shoulder down onto the tray stand. Traditionally four top tables have always been served this way because a server can usually transport no more than 3 plates full of food at the same time without the use of an assistant server or a tray. Carrying 3 plates full of food is possible, but it is harmful to the health of a server.

An optional support connecting the forearm assembly to a portion of the arm above the elbow can be employed to prevent the elbow from bending beyond a healthy angle. This will allow a server to carry weight while resting their forearm in addition to their wrist for even greater protection.

Another embodiment shown inFIGS. 9 and 10allow a user with injured wrists or with the desire to protect their wrists to protect their wrists without losing the ability to perform certain functions such as curls or press downs on a weight machine. Any person who has ever injured their wrists will quickly tell you that it's impossible to perform curls or other exercises to maintain optimal physical fitness with injured or painful wrists. With this embodiment of the apparatus we seek to provide a solution to their problem which has remained unaddressed to date.

