EP2529819A1 - Motor skills stick for mammals - Google Patents

Abstract

The baby teething stick has an elongated structure (1) made of a soft wood, natural rubber or soft plastic. The specific gravity of soft wood, natural rubber or soft plastic is 55 g/cm 3>. Liquid substance is provided in soft wood, natural rubber or soft plastic. A hollow portion (2) is formed with passage opening (3) in longitudinal direction. The passage opening is provided with outlet opening (4) with outlet region (6) expanded outwardly. A signal edge (8) is provided at longitudinal end of stick.

Description

The invention relates to a motor rod according to the preamble of claim 1.

As is known, an infant, due to the inborn gripping reflex in the first month of life, usually clenches his hands into fists. As soon as he can fix and track objects with his eyes, he tries to grab them with his hands. Initially, however, his efforts are often unsuccessful, as the infant moves with the whole body and individual body parts can not yet be used independently and concretely. So it is difficult for him to open his hand to take objects targeted. From the eighth week of life he succeeds more and more. It is the primary developmental need of a child at this time (sensitive phase) to learn to grasp and let go. He strives to put objects in his mouth. The mouth, lips and tongue are its main exploration tools (oral phase) in the first few months. Only when he succeeds in guiding an object deliberately and controlledly to the mouth can he examine the object closely. However, as the baby's movements are initially very impulsive and uncoordinated, there is a risk that he might injure himself while walking to the mouth and, in the worst case, lead the object into his mouth so far that the throat is blocked and there is danger of suffocation.

In order to animate the infant for targeted grasping and teach him targeted grasping, known baby trainers or teething toys usually a variety of colors, shapes, dimensions, materials and mobility and in some cases even beep. Often, such baby trainers are designed so that many different colored moving parts either firmly on a rail, as in DE 76 15 973 U1 shown, or plates, as in US 5,454,745 A shown, mounted or even dangling freely from a suspension, as in DE 198 15 070 A1 shown, or on a transversely oscillating string, including for strollers, are threaded. Many teething toys also have colorful, individually movable parts, as in DE 295 03 171 U1 shown. Often such toys are in ring form or in rod form with a maximum length of 15 cm, but usually much shorter. The many colors and shapes as well as the free dangling of the objects are intended to appeal to the infant with visual, tactile and tactile stimuli.

Problem with such devices is that they want to address infants with too many different stimuli. Since this is not able to select such a variety of stimuli and hide unimportant stimuli, especially in the first year of life, the many simultaneous stimuli overwhelm the infant massively. The infant gets into inner turmoil, which soon becomes exhausted and hyperactive behavior becomes observable. The above-mentioned known toys for babies are often actually only suitable for infants and overcharge a two to twelve months old baby, especially a young baby. As a rule, the known device mentioned above exceeds both the physiological and cognitive abilities of infants up to twelve months old. If a non-processable stimulus variety affects the infant over several weeks and months, this may favor the development of attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or hyperkinetic syndrome very early, depending on the individual's predisposition.

Another problem is the motor overburdening of the infant, since the commercial baby toys are often not dimensionally stable and free to move in too many directions and often have oscillating parts, such as so-called Mobiles. With his untrained hand, the infant can not safely make such parts in ever more repeatable equal. Wise way. Thus he does not feel a recurring stimulus-like gripping experience. This is of learning psychological importance, since the ability to acquire is built up from perceptual repetitions. These devices thus tend to produce the opposite of the desired faster development of grasping ability. If objects against the infant firmly attached to a rail or the like, he can certainly grasp this, but the objects are often due to its small gripping and movement radius and the lack of body mobility only at the edge of his grasp, so that he or not hard to reach and release soon.

Another problem of the known baby toys is that they are often designed very short or as a ring due to safety issues. Thus, they can not penetrate very far into the mouth of the infant, so that he can examine only with a part of his oral cavity the objects. In particular, he can not gain any experience of how to defend himself or to behave in the case of an object placed too far in the mouth against a gagging effect triggered thereby. However, this experience would be in view of the later, significantly longer oral phase, in which the infant puts any tangible object in the mouth, makes sense, especially since he later has a much greater range of motion and thus also reaches objects that are not intended for him. With the well-known toys, the infant does not learn to spit an object on a self-triggered gagging.

An example of a well-known baby toy reveals the DE 96 455 A in the form of a tooth-relief body made of hard wood, ivory or any other hard rubber-coated article. At one end, the finger-like body has a rubber stopper provided with a ring for attachment to a child's dress. This has the disadvantage that the body is very long, relatively sharp and hard. This is to be feared serious injury in uncontrolled movements of the infant with this body in the hand.

The DE 417 278 A discloses a children's sucking device for the presentation of solid nutrient and stimulant which has at its one end a ring for gripping or fastening and at the other end a cavity which provides an opening in the oral cavity. This opening is surrounded by a rubber coating and can accommodate a sucking element. This device has the disadvantage that a baby no longer gets air during the firm mouth and lip closure around the nipple of the sucking device. Since he can not automatically switch from mouth to nasal breathing, his breathing stops. Because the causes of sudden infant death have not yet been adequately researched, this poses a particular danger. It is assumed that it may possibly be related to the still unstable breathing.

The DE 85 05 197 U1 discloses a device for weaning of eating, drinking, smoking and / or addictive habits, which consists of an elongated hollow cylinder of small diameter. In this hollow cylinder, an active ingredient capsule is used, which is intended to release an active substance by sucking the air through the hollow cylinder. This entails the danger that the infant can not suck in enough breathing air through the hollow cylinder, so that danger of suffocation exists. If the baby breathes very panicky then there is a risk that the capsule is inadvertently sucked in and closes the throat. There is also the danger that the device is advanced too far into the throat and closes it.

Another example of a bite bar comes from the DE 196 53 249 A1 out. The local bite bar consists of flavored and / or active ingredient-enriched or enriched wood or plastic, wherein the material is solid and changes its consistency during use, at most insignificant. Also, the material is low in tannins, not splintering and not fibrous. Since the bite bar is to be suitable for oral stimulation in infants, toddlers, older children, adolescents and adults, it has multiple disadvantages for use exclusively in infants. So the bite bar is relatively narrow due to the preferred diameter between 5 and 10 mm and has pointed ends. It can therefore cause serious injuries to the face or mouth during uncontrolled movements of the rod in the hand of an infant, since the small frontal ends, due to their small surface, cause a high force during hard impact. In addition, the rod has relatively smooth and invariable surfaces, with the result that the rod end can easily slip or be pushed into the throat, especially in infant-typical sucking or sucking. Also, the small diameter of the rod, possibly with rounded ends, increases the risk that the rod penetrates into the throat and clogged him, if the infant puts the rod too far in the mouth. Also, the infant is initially due to its still uncontrolled and uncoordinated movements not able to exercise the necessary for a stuck or adjoining staff care when pulling out again without certainly not hurt.

The object of the invention is therefore to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide a motorikstab that allows the earliest possible initiation and promotion of targeted gripping and the targeted change of an object from one hand to the other hand of a baby and the injury and / or Almost excludes suffocation.

The invention solves this problem by a motorikstab with the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments and advantageous developments are specified in the dependent claims.

An inventive motoric rod for babies is inventively characterized in that it consists of a soft wood, natural rubber or soft plastic.

Preferably, the soft wood, the natural rubber or the soft plastic may have a specific gravity of 55 g / cm ³ or less, so that the motorized rod is lightweight and easy to hold and guide for the infant without much effort. Advantageously, the wood, natural rubber or plastic may be provided for receiving a liquid active substance in order to be able to playfully administer the active substance to the infant. In an advantageous embodiment, the soft wood can be poplar wood, horse chestnut wood, linden wood or willow wood.

In an advantageous development, the motor-driven rod has at least at one longitudinal end a completely or partially circulating signal edge, which helps the infant to improve its sensorimotor orientation and serves as depth or length perception and orientation for the mouth and hands. Advantageously, the signal edge is formed as penetrating into the motor rod signal groove. In this case, an edge of the signal groove directed toward the longitudinal end of the motor-driven rod can advantageously be rounded off and a flank of the signal groove directed towards the center of the motor-driven rod can run obliquely. The entry angle of the rounded flank can advantageously be between 25 ° to 80 °, preferably between 30 ° to 60 ° and particularly preferably between 45 ° to 55 °, while that of the oblique flank preferably between 25 ° to 80 °, preferably between 30 ° to May be 60 ° and more preferably between 45 ° to 55 °.

In an advantageous development, the motor-driven rod can have a thickening or a constriction in its middle region.

In an advantageous development, the motor rod can be designed as a hollow body with a passage opening running in its longitudinal direction. In this way, the danger of suffocation can be prevented in addition to too far penetration of the motor rod in the pharynx. Since the infant can not automatically switch from mouth to nasal breathing, thereby his airway is kept open, so that a stoppage of his breathing can be prevented. The sucked or blown through the passage opening breathing air also animates the infant for conscious inhaling and exhaling. Hereby, whistling sounds or other blowing sounds develop, which stimulate the infant to make specific sounds and noises. As a result, a first notation is promoted, which then advantageously stimulates the formation of syllables and thus helps prepare the later language acquisition.

The passage opening can advantageously have at least one outlet opening with an outwardly widening outlet area in order to minimize the risk of injury. Further, for the same reason, the motorized rod may have at least one longitudinal end a mouthpiece with a rounded outer portion.

Fig. 1

eine schematische dreidimensionale Ansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Motorikstabs mit durch Strichlinien angedeutetem Innenkonturen;

Fig. 2

einen Längsschnitt durch den Motorikstab aus Fig. 1;

Fig. 3

eine Detailansicht eines Teils des Motorikstabs aus Fig. 2;

Fig. 4

eine weitere Detailansicht eines anderen Teils des Motorikstabs aus Fig. 2;

Fig. 5

eine schematische Konturansicht eines alternativen erfindungsgemäßen Motorikstabs;

Fig. 6

eine schematische Konturansicht eines weiteren erfindungsgemäßen Motorikstabs;

Fig. 7

eine schematische Konturansicht einer weiteren erfindungsgemäßen Motorikstabs.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It shows

Fig. 1

a schematic three-dimensional view of a motor rod according to the invention with indicated by dashed lines inner contours;

Fig. 2

a longitudinal section through the engine rod Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3

a detailed view of a part of the engine rod Fig. 2 ;

Fig. 4

another detail view of another part of the engine rod Fig. 2 ;

Fig. 5

a schematic contour view of an alternative engine rod according to the invention;

Fig. 6

a schematic contour view of another motor rod according to the invention;

Fig. 7

a schematic contour view of another motor rod according to the invention.

An in Fig. 1 shown inventive motor rod 1 has a body which is formed as a cylindrical hollow body 2 and provided with a through hole 3 formed as a through hole. The hollow body 2 is advantageously made of poplar wood, but may also be made of another suitable, preferably elastic, non-splitting and sufficiently stable in the vertical and radial directions material, eg soft plastic or natural rubber. Horsewood, linden or willow can also be used as wood. In contrast to plastic has wood, especially poplar wood or a Another wood with the above properties, the advantage that it can be soaked without further processing to some extent with a liquid agent, be it a means of reducing the pain during teething or a drug. As a result, the infant can be supplied to the infant in a simple manner, without trafficking him, for example, by administering with a spoon. The motor rod 1 then serves as a carrier material for this drug.

The diameter of the hollow body 2 is preferably between 15 mm and 35 mm, particularly preferably between 20 mm and 30 mm. As a result, too deep penetration of the motor rod 1 is prevented in the throat of the infant, so that he can not block the airway through the mouth. Further, the motor rod 1 is preferably between 150 mm and 300 mm, preferably between 185 mm and 245 mm long, so that the infant can easily pass it from one hand to the other.

At the two ends of the motor rod 1 exit openings 4, 4 'of the through hole 3 in mouthpieces 5, 5', which in the embodiment according to Fig. 1 are identical. Below, therefore, only in Fig. 1 corresponding statements also apply to the other mouthpiece 5 'on the other end side of the power stick 1. The corresponding parts of the other mouthpiece 5' therefore bear the same reference numerals as the mouthpiece 5 supplemented by an apostrophe.

The through-hole 3 is advantageously used to ensure the continuous flow of air through the motor-driven rod 1, since infants are often not yet able to consciously and automatically switch between mouth and nose breathing.

The outlet opening 4 of the through hole 3 in the mouthpiece 5 has an outwardly widening outlet region 6, which in the detail representation in FIG Fig. 3 has a radius R6. The outlet region 6 then merges into a rounded outer region 7 of the mouthpiece 5. The rounding in the outlet area 6 and outside area 7 serves both to animate the infant's tongue for playing, groping and exploring but at the same time to protect it against injury from penetration into the through-hole 3 as well as the lips and face and other body parts.

The mouthpiece 5 then merges into a signal edge designed as a circumferential signal groove 8, this region in Fig. 4 shown in detail. The mouthpiece 5 extends in a rounded radius R9 with a rounded edge 9 to the groove bottom of the signal groove 8, while a straight edge 10 from the groove bottom of the signal groove 8 extends obliquely away from the mouthpiece 5 to the center of the hollow cylinder 2 out.

The signal groove 8 is preferably located at a distance of 10 mm to 40 mm and particularly preferably at a distance of 10 mm to 25 mm to the end of the motor rod 1. The penetration depth of the signal groove 8 in the hollow cylinder 2 is preferably 0.1 to 10 mm, and more preferably 2 to 6 mm. The entry angle of the rounded flank 9 to the longitudinal axis of the power steering rod 1, as in Fig. 4 indicated by a curved double arrow, here is advantageously 45 ° while the flat oblique flank 10 to the longitudinal axis of the power steering rod 1 here is advantageously 45 °, as in Fig. 4 indicated by a second curved longer double arrow. The groove bottom can also be wider in an alternative embodiment, so that the flanks 9 and 19 do not intersect in the groove base.

Instead of in Fig. 1 Signal groove 8 shown, the signal edge may also have other forms, which delimits the mouthpiece 5 in the longitudinal direction of the central part of the hollow cylinder 2, for example, a raised over the hollow cylinder circumference circumferential ring or a differently shaped circumferential recess. The signal edge can advantageously also circulate only partially and / or intermittently around the hollow body 2.

In an alternative embodiment, not shown in the drawing, the mouthpiece 5 and / or the hollow body 2 can also have an elliptical, polygonal, round outer contour or combinations thereof in cross-section. Likewise, the mouthpieces 5, 5 'at both ends of the power steering rod 1 may be formed differently, such as in the embodiment according to Fig. 7 ,

The signal groove 8 haptically signals to the infant the respective end of the motor-assisted rod 1 and helps to improve its sensorimotor orientation, since it serves as a length perception and orientation for the hands. The signal groove 8 additionally provides a basic orientation aid for the penetration depth of the motor control rod 1 into the oral cavity, so that the infant can get to know his mouth better. The signal groove 8 allows the Infant the motorbike 1 with his still toothless Kauleisten aware to hold firmly and let go, which animates the infant to a hand-to-mouth change game.

Through the use of wood, especially poplar wood, for the engine 1 bar both its outer contour and the flanks 9, 10 are compressible to some extent and / or rebounding, so that the infant while biting on the power bar 1 with his still toothless and sensitive Kauleiste does not bite on a too hard material, which can lead to biting pleasure and thus to relieve pain in Zahnungsbeschwerden. Due to the low specific gravity or the density of preferably 55 g / cm ³ or less, as is the case with poplar wood in particular, the motor-driven rod 1, despite its relatively large dimensions, is light and easy to arrange for the infant without much effort. In addition, the use of rather soft but absorbent wood, such as poplar wood in particular, has the advantage of preventing the motorized rod 1 from sliding too deeply into the infant's mouth. For when the infant takes the still-dry motor rod 1 made of wood in the mouth, the wood absorbs the saliva in the mouth, which is particularly at the points of contact of the mouth with the wood moisture is removed from the points of contact. As a result, the wood adheres slightly to the points of contact and it forms a rough surface on the wood, which reduces the lubricity at the points of contact of the power steering rod 1. Too much sliding into the mouth and especially the pharynx of the infant is thus maximally slowed down.

The Fig. 5 to 7 show training and alternative embodiments of the motor rod 1 from Fig. 1 to 4 , which is why the differences are discussed below. Like parts are designated by the same reference numeral as in the engine 1 rod.

An in Fig. 5 illustrated inventive motor rod 21 has the same mouthpieces 5, 5 'as the power steering rod 1 from Fig. 1 to 4 on. The in Fig. 5 shown motor rod 11 differs from the motor rod 1 essentially in that its hollow body 12 has a circumferential, convex thickening 12 with a diameter R12 of preferably between 15 mm and 55 mm in the central region of the motor rod 11. In this way, the risk of too far penetration of the motor rod 11 in the oral cavity can be additionally reduced because the infant grips his hands because of the increasing diameter rather at the ends.

An in Fig. 6 shown inventive motor rod 21 differs from the motor rod 1 essentially in that its hollow body 22 tapers toward the center and thus has a central constriction 23 with a diameter R22 of preferably between 10 mm and 35 mm. In this way, the infant can safely grasp the motor rod 21 even with his small hands in the middle, while the end-side mouthpieces 5 and 5 'are still so large that too far penetration and closing of the throat of the infant is prevented.

An in Fig. 7 shown alternative motor rod 31 has a mouthpiece 5 of the motor rod 1 largely identically formed mouthpiece 35 that has only an additional annular groove 32 as a bite incentive for the infant. A mouthpiece 35 'on the opposite end of the power steering rod 1 has a smaller diameter. Likewise, the outer contour between the two mouthpieces 35 and 35 'is formed asymmetrically in the longitudinal direction, with a first bevel 33 seen from the mouthpiece 35 with flanks extending to the central region, a subsequent circumferential first constriction 34 and then a radially and concavely outwardly extending thickening up to an encircling Ringerhöhung 36th of the in Fig. 7 On the left side, the infant can push the mouthpiece 35 'and the adjoining area of the motorized staff 31 relatively far into the mouth, so that he can experience "self-induced gagging" within a "maximum safety margin". The Ringerhöhung 36 then prevents too far insertion, so that the throat can not be closed. Starting from the Ringerhöhung 36, the motor rod 31 then tapers toward a recessed grip 37, which allows a secure grip of the motor rod 31. Subsequently, the motor rod 31 widens again to an annular thickening 38th

The different formations of in Fig. 1 to 7 shown motor rods can also be combined with each other, so for example, the mouthpieces 35, 35 'also on the motorikstab 1 from Fig. 1 be provided.

Claims (15)

Motorikstab (1) for infants with an elongated body, characterized in that it consists of a soft wood, natural rubber or soft plastic. Motoric rod (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the soft wood, the natural rubber or the soft plastic has a specific gravity of 55 g / cm ³ or less. Motorikstab (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the soft wood, the natural rubber or the plastic for receiving a liquid active substance is formed. Motorikstab (1) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the soft wood is poplar wood, horse chestnut wood, basswood or willow wood. Motorikstab (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the body is substantially cylindrical and its diameter is between 10 mm and 55 mm and preferably between 20 mm and 30 mm. Motorikstab (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least at one longitudinal end a completely or partially circumferential signal edge (8). Motorikstab (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the signal edge (8) has a distance of 10 mm to 40 mm and preferably from 10 mm to 25 mm from the one longitudinal end of the motorikstabs (1). Motorikstab (1) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the signal edge as in the motorikstab (1) penetrating signal groove (8) is formed. Motorikstab (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the signal groove (8) 0.1 mm to 10 mm and preferably 2 to 6 mm deep penetrates into the hollow body (2). Motorikstab (1) according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that a longitudinal end of the motorikstabs (1) directed flank (9) of the signal groove (8) is rounded and / or an entrance angle to the groove bottom of 25 ° to 80 °, preferably from 30 ° to 60 ° and more preferably from 45 ° to 55 °. Motorikstab (1) according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that an axis of the motorikstabs (1) directed flank (10) of the signal groove (8) extends obliquely and / or an entrance angle to the groove bottom of 25 ° to 80 °, preferably from 30 ° to 60 ° and more preferably from 45 ° to 55 °. Motorikstab (11) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has in its central region a thickening (12) or a constriction (22). Motorikstab (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one longitudinal end of a mouthpiece (5, 5 ') with a rounded outer region (7). Motorikstab (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is designed as a hollow body (2) with a running in its longitudinal direction through opening (3). Motorikstab (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that the passage opening (3) has at least one outlet opening (4, 4 ') with an outwardly widening outlet region (6).

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