GB2429169A

GB2429169A - Pacifier with self retracting teat

Info

Publication number: GB2429169A
Application number: GB0516414A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Gooch
Original assignee: TOP BOX Ltd
Current assignee: TOP BOX Ltd
Priority date: 2005-08-10
Filing date: 2005-08-10
Publication date: 2007-02-21
Also published as: GB0516414D0

Abstract

A pacifier 1 which comprises a teat 4 moveable between a retracted position and a nursing position, a chamber 3 for receiving the teat 4 when in the retracted position and a tether 8 which is attached to the pacifier 1 at one end and the child, or apparel associated with the child, at the other end, the arrangement being such that, in use, the teat 4 is retracted into the chamber 3 when the pacifier 1 falls a distance equal to the length of the tether.

Description

2429j 69

SELF-RETRACTING TEAT

The invention relates to a child's pacifier having a teat which automatically retracts into a chamber upon falling from the child's mouth.

Pacifiers (also known as soothers or dummies) are well known in childcare and comprise a rubber teat or nipple which is inserted into the mouth to be sucked. They are used by parents and childcare providers to calm anxious babies and infants. For example, if a baby or infant is anxious or uncomfortable when hungry or during a routine medical examination they are less likely to cry when sucking on a pacifier.

Pacifiercmay also be used as a training aid, for example, they enable a baby to strengthen suckling muscles which makes feeding from a breast or bottle easier and will therefore enhance the speed of their development. It is also believed that the sucking action increases saliva and digestive enzyme production and therefore enhances digestion. A further advantage of the use of pacifiers is to prevent the development of undesirable habits, such as thumb sucking.

One main disadvantage of the use of pacifiers is the fact that they regularly fall from the mouth of a child once the sucking action has ceased or during movement or attempted speech. Once the pacifier has fallen from the mouth of a child it will inevitably land on the floor or ground upon which the child themselves or a parent or childcare provider may then return the pacifier to the child's mouth because they are unable to clean the pacifier. This is clearly unhygienic because any germs, dirt or hair present on the floor or ground will then be transferred to the child's mouth and will cause contamination. It has been observed that incidences of gastrointestinal infections in children are increasing and medical practitioners have linked this finding, in part, to the increased use of unhygienic pacifiers.

Pacifiers which attempt to solve this hygiene problem are well known. For example, US 2002/087191 (Huang, Te-Ta) and EP 0285737 (Chen, Bo- Zhou) both disclose a protective cover for a pacifier which springs over the teat when not in use and US 5,366,481 (Zade, Ismail) and US 6,066,162 (Hudson, Cartresa) both disclose a tensioned retractable pacifier.

Thus, as a first aspect of the invention there is provided a pacifier which comprises a teat moveable between a retracted position and a nursing position, a chamber for receiving the teat when in the retracted position and a tether which is attached to the pacifier at one end and the child, or apparel associated with the child, at the other end, the arrangement being such that, in use, the teat is retracted into the chamber when the pacifier falls a distance equal to the length of the tether.

The pacifier of the invention demonstrates a clear advantage over previously known pacifiers by automatically retracting into a chamber upon falling from the child's mouth. Furthermore, because the teat is retracted by the force generated when the pacifier falls a distance equal to the length of the tether, there is no pressure against the teat when in use, which makes it easier for a child to suck and less likely to be ejected from the child's mouth in the first instance.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the teat is constructed from a flexible and resilient material, such as latex or rubber.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the pacifier additionally comprises a mouth shield portion having an aperture for the teat to pass through and which rests around the mouth area of the child when the teat is being sucked. This feature has the advantage of preventing a child from swallowing the pacifier. Preferably, the mouth shield portion has features which co-operate with the chamber to allow a tight and sealable fit, e.g. co-operating screw-threads or twist-lock features. Preferably, the mouth shield portion is constructed from a flexible plastics material. This has the advantage of fitting to the contours of the mouth of the child.

In a yet further preferred embodiment of the invention, the pacifier additionally comprises a retraction shaft which is configured to slidably move the teat between the nursing position and the retracted position.

Preferably, the teat is attached to one end of the retraction shaft and the tether is attached to the other end. Preferably, the tether is attached to the retraction shaft by a loop present on said other end of the retraction shaft.

Preferably, the tether is a ribbon, cord, chain or string. It will be appreciated that the tether may be attached to a child, or apparel associated with a child, at any position, although preferably it will be attached to an item of the child's clothing.

It will be appreciated that the length of the tether will depend upon the size of the child and where the tether is attached on the child's body. For example, the length of the tether should be shorter than the distance from the point of attachment on the child to the floor. Preferably, the length of the tether is shorter than the distance between the point of attachment on the child to the floor when the child is in a crawling position. Therefore, the tether is preferably attached to the child on their upper body, e.g. the upper arm or shoulder.

Preferably, the tether is attached to the child's clothing by fastening means. Preferably, the fastening means comprise a clip (e.g. crocodile clip), clasp, pin (e.g. safety pin) or VelcroTM attachment. Most preferably, the tether is attached to the child's clothing by means of a crocodile clip.

In a yet further embodiment of the invention, the chamber is open at one end, to allow the teat to pass through, and is closable at the other end.

Preferably, said other end of the chamber is closable by a lid. More preferably, the lid co-operates with the chamber by a screw-threaded or twist-lock arrangement.

Preferably, the lid contains an aperture to allow the retraction shaft to project therefrom. More preferably, the retraction shaft comprises an abutment device which abuts against the lid to limit the extent which the teat is moveable in the nursing position. Most preferably, the abutment device is the loop present on the retraction shaft for attachment of the tether. This feature has the advantage of preventing a child from choking on the teat when sucking excessively.

Also preferably, the retraction shaft comprises co-operating features with the lid to enable the teat to be held in the chamber in a retracted position.

This feature has the advantage of preventing the accumulation of dust or dirt on the teat when the pacifier is not in use.

Preferably, in addition to the teat being constructed from latex or rubber and the mouth shield portion being constructed of a flexible plastics material, the retraction shaft, chamber and lid are each constructed from a rigid, generally moulded, plastics material. Such construction gives the pacifier a sufficient mass to enable the teat to retract into the chamber immediately upon falling a distance which is equal to the tether, while not being of an excessive mass which is uncomfortable for the child to use.

In a yet further preferred embodiment of the invention, the chamber comprises a medicament. Preferably, the medicament will be in the form of a gel or syrup, for example a teething gel or cough mixture. This embodiment has the advantage of providing the child with treatment while using the pacifier. For example, each time the pacifier falls from the child's mouth the teat retracts into the chamber and is therefore coated in the medicament contained therein. A further advantage of the medicament chamber is that when the child is of an age where pacifiers are deemed unacceptable, then the chamber may contain a substance which has an unpleasant taste to prevent the child using the pacifier.

It will be appreciated that the medicament chamber embodiment may find wider applicability in a pacifier containing a teat which retracts by alternative means. Thus, as a second aspect of the invention there is provided a pacifier which comprises a teat moveable between a retracted position and a nursing position and a chamber for receiving the teat when in the retracted position, characterised in that the chamber comprises a medicament.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a pacifier according to one embodiment of the invention with the teat in the nursing position; Figure 2 shows a pacifier according to one embodiment of the invention with the teat in the retracted position; and Figure 3 shows a partially dismantled pacifier according to one embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, a pacifier, shown generally as 1, comprises a retraction shaft 5 which has a teat 4 at one end and a tether 8 at the other end. The retraction shaft 5 is constructed from a rigid plastics material, the teat 4 is constructed from rubber and the tether 8 is a ribbon. The tether 8 is attached to the other end of the retraction shaft 5 by a loop 7.

The retraction shaft 5 is slidably associated with a chamber 3 which has a lid 6 at one end and is open at the other end for connection to a mouth shield portion 2. Connection of the lid 6 and the mouth shield portion 2 to the chamber 3 are all achieved by a simple twist-lock mechanism. The mouth shield portion 2 has an aperture (not shown in Figure 1) through which the teat 4 projects when in the nursing position. It can be seen from Figure 1 that when the pacifier is in the nursing position, the retraction shaft 5 is almost entirely located within the chamber 3. The teat 4 is prevented from projecting any further through the mouth shield portion 2 by the presence of the loop 7 on the end of the retraction shaft 5 which acts as an abutment means against the lid 6 of the chamber 3. The pacifier 1 is attached to a child by means of the tether 8 which is connected to the child's clothing by fastening means 9 which in Figure 1 is a safety pin, although numerous other fastening means 9 may be envisaged.

It will be appreciated that safety is paramount with the construction of any article intended for use by babies or children. Therefore, all features of the pacifier must be sized accordingly to prevent choking or swallowing.

Figure 2 shows an identical pacifier 1 to that shown in Figure 1 except that the teat 4 in Figure 2 is shown in the retracted position. Therefore, it can be seen that the teat 4 is fully housed within the chamber 3 and the retraction shaft 5 has now projected fully through an aperture (not shown) in the lid 6 of the chamber 3.

Figure 3 shows a dismantled pacifier 1 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this Figure it can be seen that the retraction shaft 5 and the teat 4 may be removed from the remaining components of the pacifier I by twisting the lid 6 from the chamber 3. The ease by which the pacifier 1 may be dismantled provides the advantage for cleaning the individual components.

In the embodiment wherein the chamber 3 contains a medicament it can be seen that the medicament may easily be added to the chamber 3 by simple removal of the lid 6.

In use, the pacifier 1 is attached to the upper arm or shoulder portion of a child's clothing by means of attachment of the safety pin 9. The pacifier 1 is activated into the nursing position by holding in a position where the teat 4 faces in a downward direction. This action results in the retraction shaft 5 sliding downwards into the chamber 3 and causes the teat 4 to project through an aperture in the mouth shield portion 2. The pacifier 1 will then be in the nursing position as shown in Figure 1 and may be inserted into the child's mouth. The mouth shield portion 2 of the pacifier 1 rests against the mouth area of the child and the child sucks on the teat 4.

In the event that the pacifier 1 becomes dislodged from the child's mouth, the pacifier 1 will fall until it is restrained by the length of the tether 8 acting against the fastening means 9. For example, once the pacifier 1 has fallen a distance equal to the length of the tether 8, the teat 4 will retract into the chamber 3. This retraction is caused by the weight of the pacifier I acting upon the fastening means 9 which results in the retraction shaft 5 being lifted out of the chamber 3 which consequently results in the teat being fully located in the chamber 3. The teat 4 will then be in the retracted position as shown in Figure 2.

When the pacifier 1 is no longer in use, it may be locked into the retracted position as shown in Figure 2. This locking may be achieved by twisting the loop 7 on the retraction shaft 5 which results in cooperating features (not shown in the figures) engaging with the lid 6 of the chamber 3 to lock the teat 4 in the retracted position.

Claims

1. A pacifier which comprises a teat moveable between a retracted position and a nursing position, a chamber for receiving the teat when in the retracted position and a tether which is attached to the pacifier at one end and the child, or apparel associated with the child, at the other end, the arrangement being such that, in use, the teat is retracted into the chamber when the pacifier falls a distance equal to the length of the tether.

2. A pacifier as defined in claim 1, wherein the teat is constructed from a flexible and resilient material, such as latex or rubber.

3. A pacifier as defined in claim 1 or claim 2, which additionally comprises a mouth shield portion having an aperture for the teat to pass through and which rests around the mouth area of the child when the teat is being sucked.

4. A pacifier as defined in claim 3, wherein the mouth shield portion has co-operating screw-threads or twist-lock features to allow a tight and sealable fit with the chamber.

5. A pacifier as defined in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the mouth shield portion is constructed from a flexible plastics material.

6. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, which additionally comprises a retraction shaft which is configured to slidably move the teat between the nursing position and the retracted position.

7. A pacifier as defined in claim 6, wherein the teat is attached to one end of the retraction shaft and the tether is attached to the other end.

8. A pacifier as defined in claim 7, wherein the tether is attached to the retraction shaft by a loop present on said other end of the retraction shaft.

9. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, wherein the tether is a ribbon, cord, chain or string.

10. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, wherein the tether is attached to an item of the child's clothing.

11. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, wherein the tether is preferably attached to the child on their upper body, such as the upper arm or shoulder.

12. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, wherein the tether is attached to the child's clothing by fastening means, such as a clip, clasp, pin or VelcroTM attachment.

13. A pacifier as defined in claim 12, wherein the tether is attached to the child's clothing by means of a crocodile clip.

14. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, wherein the chamber is open at one end, to allow the teat to pass through, and is closable with a lid at the other end.

15. A pacifier as defined in claim 14, wherein the lid co-operates with the chamber by a screw-threaded or twist-lock arrangement.

16. A pacifier as defined in claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the lid contains an aperture to allow the retraction shaft to project therefrom.

I

17. A pacifier as defined in any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the retraction shaft comprises an abutment device which abuts against the lid to limit the extent which the teat is moveable in the nursing position.

18. A pacifier as defined in claim 17, wherein the abutment device is the loop present on the retraction shaft for attachment of the tether.

19. A pacifier as defined in any of claims 14 to 18, wherein the retraction shaft comprises co-operating features with the lid to enable the teat to be held in the chamber in a retracted position.

20. A pacifier as defined in any of claims 6 to 19, wherein the retraction shaft, chamber and lid are each constructed from a rigid, generally moulded, plastics material.

21. A pacifier as defined in any preceding claims, wherein the chamber comprises a medicament.

22. A pacifier as defined in claim 21, wherein the medicament is in the form of a gel or syrup, such as a teething gel or cough mixture.

23. A pacifier substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Figures 1 to 3.