U.S. patent number 3,923,067 [Application Number 05/432,506] was granted by the patent office on 1975-12-02 for baby soother.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Lewis Woolf Griptight Limited. Invention is credited to Eric Kenneth Hurst.
United States Patent |
3,923,067 |
Hurst |
December 2, 1975 |
Baby soother
Abstract
A baby soother comprising flexible teat and a separately formed
flexible handle portion connected together by a ring moulded around
them, at a position at which they are in juxtaposition.
Inventors: |
Hurst; Eric Kenneth (London,
EN) |
Assignee: |
Lewis Woolf Griptight Limited
(Birmingham, EN)
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Family
ID: |
9729897 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/432,506 |
Filed: |
January 11, 1974 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jan 13, 1973 [UK] |
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1893/73 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
606/236;
264/263 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61J
17/001 (20150501); A61J 2205/20 (20130101); A61J
17/109 (20200501) |
Current International
Class: |
A61J
17/00 (20060101); A61J 017/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/359,360 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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12,168 |
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1914 |
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UK |
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549,227 |
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Nov 1942 |
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UK |
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641,314 |
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Aug 1950 |
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UK |
|
Primary Examiner: Page; Channing L.
Claims
I claim:
1. A baby soother comprising a flexible teat, a flexible handle
portion separate from the teat, and a shield serving to secure the
teat and handle permanently together at their junction, wherein the
teat and handle portions have respective integral flanges which are
arranged in juxtaposition, said shield being defined over and
around said flanges to secure the teat and handle portion
permanently together, said flanges and said shield being chemically
and mechanically bonded together whereby said flanges and said
shield form an integral mass.
2. A baby soother as claimed in claim 1 in which the shield is of a
flexible material.
Description
The invention relates to baby soothers of the kind comprising the
essential elements of a teat, a handle extending in a direction
away from the teat and a flange forming a shield disposed between
the teat and the handle.
Baby soothers of this kind must be so constructed that the elements
cannot be readily separated without breaking one or more parts,
since there is a danger that smaller components may be swallowed by
the baby. In conventional soothers, the elements are all separately
formed and fixed together in such a way that they cannot easily be
dismantled. However should one part be removed, it is frequently
the case that all parts will thereby become loosened or actually
separated.
It is the object of this invention to provide a baby soother of the
kind specified in which the risk of separation of the constituent
elements is substantially eliminated.
According to the present invention a baby soother of the kind
specified comprises a teat and a handle portion which are
separately formed from flexible material and are secured together
with a shield defined at their junction.
An example of the invention will now be described with reference to
the accompanying drawing, the single FIGURE of which is a
cross-sectional view of a soother constructed in accordance with
the invention.
In the example of the invention, shown in the drawing the baby
soother comprises a preformed teat 10 made from a flexible material
such as latex rubber. The teat has a bulbous olive or pear shaped
configuration and an integral peripheral flange 10a.
Connected to this at the flange end is a handle portion 11 which is
also formed from a flexible material such as latex rubber. In this
example, the handle portion is a hollow disc shaped element having
at one position on its periphery an integral annular flange 11a of
external diameter approximating to the flange 10a of the teat. The
flange 10a of the teat and the flange 11a of the handle portion are
in face to face contact and are joined by a ring 12 forming a
shield for the soother, this ring being cast over and around the
flanges of the teat and handle portion. The shield ring 12 in this
example, is also made from the flexible material and there is
formed a chemical bond as well as a mechanical connection to secure
the teat and handle portion together.
The teat may be filled for example with a jelly material or other
flexible or rigid material which may be of the same of a different
colour from the material of the teat itself.
The handle portion may contain one or more coloured or other
decorative inserts rendering it either rigid or flexible. A hollow
capsule may be incorporated in the handle portion containing beads
or other objects to make a rattle type soother. The shape of the
handle portion may be other than the disc shown. The handle portion
may have dimples or depressions to provide finger grip portions,
one of these being indicated at 13 in the drawings.
The ring forming the shield may also incorporate coloured or other
decorative inserts which may be rigid or flexible. Such inserts may
be incorporated during the moulding operation to form the flange,
the inserts becoming completely or partly encapsulated in the
material during pouring into a suitably shaped mould.
The shield ring may however be pre-formed from a rigid material
which is attached to the combined teat and handle portion which
have been secured together by adhesive means by a previous
operation.
Such adhesion may be achieved between the components by pouring
additional quantities of latex rubber to form a chemical bond with
the material from which the components themselves are made.
Preferably, such bonding should incorporate a mechanical
overlapping formation to provide mechanical connection between the
components.
In a further alternative construction, the teat and handle portion
have no flanges which are in juxtaposition but instead have
interlocking formations whereby they can be mechanically connected
together, prior to casting of a flange to form the shield or prior
to fitting of a pre-formed shield by the pouring of additional
material.
In the examples described, the teat and handle portions are both
made by the latex dip process but in an alternative, the handle
portion is constructed by a casting operation. In such an example,
it is formed with a ring and a portion for engagement with and
securement to the teat. Rigid or flexible material can be used for
this portion of the baby soother.
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