AU2018200057A1 - Tether with flexible socket for pacifiers, teethers, toys and other implements babies use - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a kit for tethering items that babies tend to mouth or hold in their hands, to keep those items from falling to the floor when the baby releases its grip. Cr

Description

Tether with flexible socket for pacifiers, teethers·, toys and other implements babies use Technical field [0001] This invention is intended to be used as an aid for babies and toddlers. It also has utility for older children or adults who have difficulty gripping objects.

Background of the invention [0002] It is know that babies are often given objects to put in their mouths to sooth them, relieve sore gums or to assist with eating. It is common for such objects to fall from a baby’s hand either because the baby is so young it cannot sustain its grip or because the baby chooses to drop or throw the object. The object falls to the floor or the ground where it is not only out of the baby’s reach, it could also become contaminated with germs or dirt, or could be lost if it is dropped from a moving stroller. In the interests of hygiene and convenience, caregivers attempt to tether objects that babies have in order to prevent them from ending up on the floor or ground.

[0003] The present invention relates to a kit that is used for tethering items a) That are for babies to put in their mouths such as soothers, teethers, eating utensils and sticks of food; and b) that are for babies to hold in their hands; to keep those items from falling to the floor or ground when the baby releases its grip. Description of the Prior Art [0004] The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that the prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

[0005] The prior art in this area typically consists of a strap of some kind (made of ribbon, fabric, plastic or the like) that can attach at one end to a baby, a baby’s clothing (normally the clothing over the baby’s chest or shoulder area) or a baby’s close surrounds such as a safety harness. The other end of the strap secures the object the baby is mouthing or playing with. The vast majority of these arrangements use a loop closure to encircle an object. The loop closure is typically achieved by engaging Velcro, buttons, snap fasteners or the like.. Sometimes the loop closure mechanism is a ring that can be prised apart to momentarily allow an object through it. A loop closure is only effective in securing an object if it fits snugly around the object or if the strap can thread through a hole in the object (such as with a teething ring or pacifier handle) and then close to form a closed loop.

[0006] The prior art includes devices that have one or more of the following features: i. A strap of fabric that uses a clip to attach to a baby’s clothing or safety harness; ii. A strap of fabric that uses a loop closure to encircle a baby’s: a. wrist (e.g. US5957515A and US20110290835 Al); b. torso (e.g. US 20120041487 Al); or c. safety harness (e.g. US20110315732 Al has a non-adjustable ring that can attach around a baby’s wrist or safety harness); iii. A strap of fabric that uses: a. a loop closure to encircle, or thread through a hole in, objects (e.g. US20110290835 A1); or b. a flexible cup that a stick shaped object can be inserted into (e.g. US20110315732 Al) where the cup accommodates only one size of object and does not have any apparent means of keeping the object in place against the forces of gravity. Further a small cup poses a choke hazard in the event that the baby puts it in its mouth; iv. An arrangement that is capable of tethering more than one object at a time (e.g. US20100155440A1) or a variety of different objects separately (e.g. US20110315732 Al).

[0007] However, the prior art does not include any device that is capable of achieving all of the following: i. At one end, attach to a baby’s clothing, wrist or safety harness; ii. At the other end, attach to soothers, teethers, eating utensils, toys, washcloths and other similar objects of a broad range of thicknesses and shapes, and in particular, easily grip stick shaped objects (such as a teething rusk and spoon handle) of varying thicknesses and profiles; iii. Secure teething rusks and fruit or vegetable sticks without soaking up dribble or harbouring germs and food remnants; iv. Provide a sufficient range of motion for a baby who is using a tethered object while complying with the Australian Safety Standards with respect to the length of dummy/pacifier tethers (no longer than 22cm) and cords attached to toys (no longer than 30cm); v. Shorten in length so that when a baby is crawling, the object attached to the baby will not touch the ground but the baby can still put the object in its mouth or hold onto it; vi. Achieve this functionality without posing a choking or strangulation hazard due to detachable small parts that could block air supply or straps that are, or can be stretched, to an unsafe length; vii. Achieve this functionality without having a multitude of components - rather the present invention has three components; viii. Avoid deterioration (as happens to Velcro) due to repeated use and washing.

[0008] There is some prior art relevant to the flexible socket component of the present invention.

[0009] In the area of ice block moulds, there are moulds made of impermeable material shaped like an elongated cone with a top open end and bottom, closed end. The purpose of these moulds is to pour liquid into them, place a cap on the top open end and then freeze them until the liquid solidifies to become an ice block. They are typically made of flexible material so the ice block can be pushed upwards and out of the mould, by squeezing the mould at the bottom, to facilitate eating the ice block.

[0010] The purpose of the ice block mould is to wholly contain liquid and, later, to allow the solid ice block to slide easily out of the mould. Its purpose is not to secure a solid object, or a range of solid objects of varying thicknesses and profiles. Indeed, it lacks features that are conducive to doing that, such as an open bottom end, soft material and a sufficiently tapered shape. Nor does the ice block mould have any mechanism to secure it to another object such as a strap.

[0011] There is also prior art that discloses ‘socks’ or ‘sleeves’ for attaching a prosthetic limb to an amputee’s ‘stump’ that are made of silicone (e.g. UDS5931872A). The purpose of such socks is to grip to the stump if the amputated limb. They must be the exact shape of the stump to achieve this purpose. These socks do not seek to use resistance (squeezing on part of the stump) to help to secure them to the stump. Further, they are not intended to fit a range of thicknesses and profiles, and they are not capable of doing that.

Summary of Invention [0012] It is preferable for a caregiver to be able to tether a wide range of implements that babies mouth, play with or use to assist with eating, with one simple, safe product. There is currently no device that achieves this, or the other objectives set out in paragraph 7. The present invention does achieve these things.

[0013] The present invention consists of the following components: a) a soft, flexible, resilient socket (‘socket’) that tapers from the top open end inward towards the bottom open end, such that the circumference at the top open end is bigger than the circumference at the bottom open end. At the bottom open end, part of the socket continues downwards to join the base that has a hole to allow the fabric tape described in (b) and (c) to thread through it. The socket and base is one moulded part made of a material such as food grade silicone that is very strong, limiting the risk of parts breaking off and posing a choking hazard. b) A short length of fabric tape (‘short tether’) attached to a clip at one end and measuring less than 22cm in total, with a snap fastener stud approximately 1cm from the non-clip end, a snap fastener socket approximately 2cm from the clip end, and another snap fastener socket approximately 7cm from the clip end. The two snap fastener sockets make the length adjustable so that on the longer setting there is a reasonable range of motion for a baby who is mouthing an object, and on the shorter setting a dummy/pacifier or other mouth toy used by a baby who is crawling - and whose torso is therefore lower to the ground - will not touch the floor if it drops from the baby’s mouth. c) A longer length of fabric tape (Tong tether’) that is less than 30cm long when attached to a toy, that includes at one end a loop of tape approximately 14cm in circumference. When the loop is pressed flat, there is a snap fastener socket approximately 1cm from the end of the loop, a snap fastener stud approximately 8cm from the end of the loop, another snap fastener stud approximately 17cm from the end of the loop, a snap fastener stud approximately 9.5cm from the nonloop end of the tape, and a snap fastener socket approximately 1cm from the nonloop end of the tape.

[0014] The socket differs from the prior art in that: i) it secures objects using only resistance and friction; ii) it is capable of securing stick shaped objects of a variety of thicknesses and profiles due to its tapered shape and flexibility; iii) it is capable of securing objects that are very narrow at the bottom end but thicker further up, such as a spoon handle, because the open bottom end allows the user to push the object into the socket until a thicker section meets resistance from the walls of the socket; iv) it does not harbour dribble or food remnants because to is made of smooth, impermeable material and has an open bottom end; v) if it is inserted into a baby’s mouth such that the baby cannot remove it, it is most unlikely to block the airflow, given the open top and bottom ends, and the material being sufficiently stiff to prevent the socket being folded to block airflow.

[0015] The long tether differs from the prior art in that: i) It has an in-built loop which can be made into a smaller loop using snap fasteners (see Figure IF); ii) This is an original and unique arrangement in terms of the length of the strap, inclusion of the built-in loop and placement of the snap fasteners; iii) It has the following functionality that the prior art does not have: (1) The snap fasteners accommodate a small object by forming a closed loop around it, and as the object is small it does not take up an inordinate amount of the length of the strap, leaving a sufficient range of motion for the baby; (2) The built-in loop accommodates thicker objects (that can be secured by being pushed through it) without eating up the length of the strap; and (3) Without this design, he strap would have to be significantly longer in order to encircle a thicker object and leave sufficient range of motion. This would make the strap longer than 30cm when attached to smaller toys (a smaller length of the strap being required to encircle the object), and would mean that if a baby drops a smaller object it would fall so low, it would be out of the baby’s reach and unable to be retrieved by the baby.

[0016] The set as a whole differs from the prior art in that: a) it contains original, unique components (the socket and longer tether) that have the advantages set out in paragraphs 14 and 15; and b) it achieves all of the objectives in paragraph 7.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0017] An example of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - • Figure 1A depicts the flexible socket, with 101 being the top open end, 102 being the bottom open end, 103 being the base and 104 being the hole inside the base; • Figure IB depicts the short tether fully extended, with 201 being the non-detachable clip, 202 being the snap fastener socket nearest to the clip, 203 being the snap fastener socket near the middle of the tape, and 204 being snap fastener stud at the non-clip end; • Figure 1C depicts the short tether with 203 and 204 engaged together to form a closed loop; • Figure ID depicts the short tether with 202 and 204 engaged to form a closed loop that also shortens the tether, for use with a dummy/pacifier when a baby is crawling; • Figure IE depicts the short tether threaded through the base of the socket (103) and with 203 engaged with 204. • Figure IF depicts the long tether, with 301 being the inbuilt loop, fully extended. 302 is the snap fastener socket on the inbuilt loop, 303 is the snap fastener socket nearest to the loop, 304 being the snap fastener stud near the middle of the tape, 305 being the snap fastener stud approximately 9.5cm from the non-loop end, and 306 being the snap fastener socket at the non-loop end; • Figure 1G depicts the long tether with 302 and 303 engaged to form a small closed loop; • Figure 1H depicts 305 and 306 engaged to form a closed loop that could encircle something the size of a safety harness; • Figure II depicts 304 and 306 engaged to form a closed loop that could encircle a baby’s wrist;

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments [0018] The socket seeks to use friction and resistance to secure objects that are in a shape similar to a stick that babies tend to put in their mouths (such as a teething rusk or spoon) those objects being difficult, impossible or impractical to secure using a loop closure arrangement. The socket secures the lower end of the object against the force of gravity but allows human force to insert or extract the object.

[0019] Further, the socket seeks to secure objects of varying thicknesses and profiles due to its tapered shape and its softness, allowing the sides of the socket to hug the object as it is pushed down into it.

[0020] Further, by using friction and resistance, the socket does not require an additional mechanism to secure objects within it.

[0021] Further, by having an open bottom end, the socket seeks to secure objects that are very narrow at the bottom (like a spoon handle) but thicker elsewhere, as such objects can be pushed downwards until the thicker part creates resistance against the walls of the socket.

[0022] Further, the socket, by its size and ergonomic shape, seeks to be easy and comfortable for a baby to hold, whereas a loop closure could be difficult to hold and get in the baby’s way.

[0023] Further, with its impermeable material (food grade silicone or similar) and open bottom end, the socket seeks to avoid harbouring dribble or food remnants, and to be easy to clean and dry.

[0024] Further, the socket does not pose a suffocation hazard if it is inserted into a baby’s mouth because both ends are open allowing air to flow and it is not so soft that it can be folded over such as to block the airflow.

[0025] The short tether seeks to secures small objects that babies tend to put in their mouths to the baby by: a) securing the object such as a pacifier or teething ring at one end by engaging the snap fasteners to form a closed loop around a part of an object or through a hole in the object, or threading the strap through the base of the socket and securing an object such as a teething rusk by inserting a part of it into the socket; and b) attaching to the baby’s clothing or safety harness at the other end using the clip which cannot be detached from the strap.

[0026] Further, the short tether uses the positioning of the snap fasteners to give a baby a sufficient range of motion while ensuring that the short tether measures less than 22cm, and when the socket is attached to it, the short tether and socket together measure less than 22cm.

[0027] Further, the short tether seeks to use the snap fastener socket near the clip to shorten the tether to stop a dummy/pacifier from touching the ground when a baby is crawling and the dummy/pacifier drops out of the baby’s mouth, while also giving enough length for the baby to have the object it its mouth.

[0028] Attaching the socket to the short tether, by threading the strap through the opening at the base of the socket, gives the short tether a great deal more functionality than a standard pacifier/teether leash.

[0029] The long tether seeks to secure objects that babies tend to play with while secured in a car seat, stroller/pram/buggy, high chair or the like, using a range of different configurations including: a) Forming a closed loop around a safety harness by engaging the snap fasteners; b) Forming a closed loop around a baby’s wrist by engaging the snap fasteners; c) Using the in-built loop to secure a thick object that can be inserted through the loop such as the arm of a teddy bear (and it can also potentially fit around a baby’s wrist and in that way make the tether reversible); d) Forming a small closed loop around a thin object using the snap fasteners along the back of the in-built loop.

[0030] Further, the long tether seeks to give a large range of motion to a baby, while limiting the potential for strangulation, and complying with the Australian Safety Standard recommending that cords attached to toys not be more than 30cm long. For example, without the inbuilt loop, the tether would have to be 7cm longer in order to secure an object that the inbuilt loop can secure. The long tether, when attached to an object, or to a safety harness, by any of the methods available, does not leave loose tape measuring more than 30cm. The long tether is capable of securing the things that the short tether can secure plus thicker toys like a fluffy toy.

[0031] The kit as a whole, consisting of the socket, short tether and long tether, seeks to provide a simple means by which a caregiver can secure a very large range of objects of the kind that babies typically ‘mouth’ or play with, while maintaining hygiene and product safety standards. With respect to safety standards, the snap fasteners on the short tether are incompatible with the snap fasteners on the long tether, making it impossible to use them to join one tether to the other to make a single extended tether.

[0032] The flexible socket can be applied in a broader sense so that the socket could be used by older children or adults who have difficulty maintaining their grip on things like eating utensils or pens. Broadly it could be used to secure anything that has a stick shaped part or protrusion to keep it from falling to the floor or ground.

Claims (5)

1. THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) A flexible socket that uses resistance and friction to secure objects that babies typically put or have in their mouths, that are stick shaped or have parts that are stick shaped, such as teething rusks, spoons, straws and the like, against the force of gravity that: a) Has a base that a tether can thread through to secure it to the tether; b) Is made of material that is flexible, soft, resilient, durable, impermeable and food safe (such as food grade silicone); c) Allows an adult to easily insert an object by pushing it in and remove an object by pulling it out; d) Has a tapered shape somewhat like a cone, to accommodate objects of a range of thicknesses; e) Has a top open end and a bottom open end, or has a top open end and a bottom close end; f) Is of a size that allows a baby’s hand to hold it;
2. 2) A short tether that attaches to clothing at one end and an object at the other end, and: a) Is made of fabric tape or similar material, snap fasteners that can engage with and release from each other and a clip that closes to secure itself to fabric and opens to detach itself, and is sewn onto the tether; b) Is less than 22cm in length; c) Uses precisely positioned snap fasteners to secure objects and adjust its length as follows: i) Snap fasteners 203 and 204 engage to form a closed loop through or around an object; ii) Snap fasteners 202 and 204 engage to, at once, shorten the tether and create a closed loop through an object;
3. 3) A long tether that attaches to a baby’s wrist or safety harness or other part of a car seat, pram/stroller/buggy, high chair or the like at one end, and to baby’s playthings of varying thicknesses at the other end in that: a) It is made of fabric tape or similar, and snap fasteners that can engage with and release from each other; b) It uses snap fasteners and an in-built loop to attach to things; specifically: i) Snap fasteners 305 and 306 engage to form a closed loop around a safety harness strap or a thin pram crossbar or the like; ii) Snap fasteners 304 and 306 engage to form a larger closed loop that can secure it to a baby’s wrist; iii) Snap fasteners 302 and 303 engage to form a small closed loop that is capable of securing a thin object that fits snugly into the loop or an object that has a gap that allows the tape with snap fastener 302 to thread through it and then loop over a thin part and lock into snap fastener 303. iv) The in-built loop can secure thicker objects such as the arm of a teddy bear if they fit snugly into the loop; v) The tether is reversible in that the built in loop can fit over a baby’s wrist and the snap fasteners at the other end can form a closed loop to secure objects that fit snugly into the closed loop or have a gap that allows the tape to thread through and then form a closed loop. c) It provides a generous range of motion to a baby playing with a tethered object while conforming to the Australian Safety Standard recommendation with respect to the maximum safe length of cords attached to baby toys.
4. 4) A kit consisting of the socket, short tether and long tether described in claims 1, 2 and 3 that provides caregivers with the ability to tether a wide range of objects that babies commonly put in their mouths or play with, of varying shapes and thicknesses, to a baby or a baby’s car seat, pram/stroller, highchair or the like, in which: a) The short tether can use a closed loop to secure an object; b) The short tether can be combined with the socket to tether a broader range of objects -that cannot or should not be tethered using a closed loop; c) The long tether can use a closed loop or the in-built loop to tether an object; d) The long tether can be combined with the socket to tether a broader range of objects -that cannot or should not be tethered using a closed loop or the in-built loop; e) Each tether conforms to the Australian Safety Standards with respect to maximum length, and the snap fasteners cannot be used to join the tethers together to create an extended tether as they are not compatible with each other so are unable to engage with each other.
5. 5) The claims made in 1 applied in a broader sense so that the socket could be used to secure a number of different sorts of objects that are not used by babies, or for persons who are not babies and who wish to keep a thing they are using from falling onto a particular surface. The invention could be made in different sizes for different applications. For example, a longer version could be used to secure a pen or eating utensil by a person, who is not able to reach down to the ground, or who suffers from Parkinson’s disease.