US3267937A - Teething ring-pacifier - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 23, 1966 F. VERSCHOOR TEETHING RING-PAC IFIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 23. 1964 INVENTOR.

BY J

ATTORNEY 1966 F. v'ERscHobR 3,267,93?

TEETHING RING-PACIFIER Filed April 23 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

1' iii/MW Afro/FIVE) United States Patent 3,267,937 TEETHING RING-PACIFIER Frans Verschoor, Mexico City, Mexico, assignor to Dunhill International, Inc., Ravenna, Ohio, a corporation of 1 Delaware Filed Apr. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 362,129 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-360) This invention concerns a combination teething ring and pacifier to be utilized by infants.

Devices of this general type are utilized to calm infants between feedings, to satisfy their urge to suck or chew and to assist the infant during the trying period prior to, during and soon after the initial cutting of their teeth.

There are presently numerous devices available in the marketplace designed to satisfy an infants desire to chew or suck which desire originates when withdrawn from its mother as well as by the initial formation of teeth within the infants gums.

Prior art devices have generally solved these two problems by means of separate pacifiers and teething rings, although occasionally they are found together in one device. However, when any one of the components of the two-part device experiences a mal-function, or is damaged, the entire device must be discarded. Also these devices are generally diflicult to clean.

The purpose of the present invention is to dispose of the foregoing problems and consists initially of a pacifier connected to a teething ring by means of a threaded cap or the like, and a base for the teething ring.

An object of the invention is to provide a sanitary device capable of being used as a pacifier and as a teething ring.

An additional object is to provide a device easily and economically manufactured.

Another object is the provision of a teether-pacifier capable of being readily disassembled so that it can be cleaned or sterilized easily and quickly.

Yet another object is to provide a device whose parts are large enough to deter swallowing of same by an infant.

A still further object is to provide a nipple that, by means of liquid or air trapped in its interior, provides a damping effect giving an infant a pacifying sensation such as caused by sucking an object soft and elastic.

These and other objects will become obvious in view of the following description and drawings, having like numerals representing like parts, in which;

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the assembled device;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the same device of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through the nipple;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through the cap;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom View of the cap;

FIGURE 6 is a broken side elevation, partially in section of the teething ring and base; and

FIGURE 7 is a top view of the teething ring base.

Looking now at FIGURES 1 and 2, the device of this invention will be seen to consist generally of a nipple portion 10, a cap portion 20 and a teething ring portion 30. When assembled, the three portions present the appearance shown in FIGURES l and 2.

FIGURE 3 shows nipple 10 to have a barrel portion 11 attached at lower end 12 thereof to annular flange portion 13. It is to be noted that barrel 10 flares outwardly from immediately above the flange-barrel junction at 12. This outward flare allows a snug fit between the nipple 10 and the cap 20 as later described. Further, flange 13 possesses an upward protuberance or thickened portion 14 radially outward from juncture 12. The particular configuration of thickened portion 14 is that of an inclined plane extending from the upper extreme outer Patented August 23, 1966 periphery 15 of flange 13 to a position intermediate said periphery 15 and said juncture 12. Thus, the upper surface of flange 13 radially outward of juncture 12 presents a generally concave or dish-shaped appearance. The presence of portion 14 allows a simple mating of nipple 10 with cap 20 in a manner hereinafter described as well as makes a receptacle of the upper surface of the flange 13. It will further be seen that barrel portion 11 possesses an internal cavity 16 which is fully enclosed at its upper end 17, but open at its lower end 18 for a purpose later described.

Consider now the cap member 20 shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. Cap 20 has a disc portion 21 connected at its outer periphery to annular skirt portion 22, said skirt portion having external finger grip ridges 27 spaced around its outer periphery and being internally threaded at 23 for mating with ring 30 as later described. Obvious equivalents such as an annular bead permitting a press or snap fit could be utilized. Disc portion 21 is seen to have a centrally disposed aperture 24 to allow the thrusting therethrough of barrel portion 11 of nipple 10. The upper surface of disc portion 21 is shown to be concave or dish shaped. This configuration facilitates sucking on the part of an infant. Further, the undersurface of disc portion 21 is seen to have a downwardly depending annular ridge 25, concentric with and radially outward from aperture 24. Adjacent ridge 25 and outwardly therefrom, disc 21 is reduced in thickness forming cavity 26 and configured in a manner accommodating thickened portion 14 of nipple flange 13. Thus, when barrel 11 of nipple 10 is thrust upwardly through aperture 24, portion 14 will be seated in cavity 26, tending to securely hold flange 13 with respect to ap 20.

Moving now to FIGURES 6 and 7, teething ring portion 30 is seen to consist of an annulus 31 having a plurality of spaced protuberances 32 on either side thereof. Annulus 31 is poined at 33 to base member 34, said base member also being substantially disc shaped and being externally threaded at 35 for threadedly engaging internal threads 23 of cap 20. If cap 20 were fitted for a press or snap fit, for example, then a single annular protuberance or ridge, rather than threads 35 would serve to engage diverse elements 20 and 30. Centrally disposed on the upper surface of base 34 is upstanding annular ridge 36.

In operation, nipple barrel 11 is thrust through aperture 24 of cap 20. Thickened portion 14 is seated within cavity 26 of the under surface of cap disc 21. Base 34 of teething ring 30 is then threadedly or otherwise engaged with the threads or equivalent elements of cap skirt portion 22. On being tightly fit, ridge 36 of base 34 will press into the under surface of nipple flange 13 while cap ridge 25 will bite into the upper surface of flange 13, thus tightly securing the three component parts together as Well as effectively closing the open lower end 18 of nipple cavity 16. Thus, on an infant chewing or sucking on barrel 11, said barrel can tend to collapse or give, due to the compressibility of the entrapped air and the seal effected thereby entrapping same, and thereby safely and efficiently satisfy the infants urge to chew or suck.

The three component parts, members 10, 20 and 30, may be quickly separated for cleaning purposes. Each part is large enough so as to remove the danger of swallowing by a using infant. The nipple or teething ring may be used separately, however the nipple will not function in the most advantageous manner unless base 34 is screwed or otherwise aflixed into cap 20, thereby closing open end 18 of cavity 16.

Thus, it has been seen that all objects are fulfilled by this invention. While a preferred embodiment has been depicted and described, it is obvious that numerous modi- 3 4 fications are well within the ability of one skilled in the whereby said nipple flange is securely locked thereart without departing from the scope of this invention, between, said securing means including an exteriorly said invention being limited only by the following claims. threaded disc portion for mating with said threaded I claim: 7 portion of said cap skirt, said disc portion of said 1. In an infant pacifier, the combination of: base member pressing against the underside of said a nipple having a barrel portion and an annular flange nipple flange when said disc threads are mated with attached to said barrel portion and extending outsaid cap skirt threads thereby causing said cap top wardly a substantial distance from adjacent one end extension to bite into said nipple flange. of said barrel, said flange being of substantially uni- 2. The pacifier of claim 1 wherein said nipple barrel is form thickness from its juncture with said barrel to a 10 open at said one end and closed at the other end. point near its outer periphery, the outer periphery of 3. The pacifier of claim 1 wherein said disc portion of said flange being substantially thicker than said unisaid base member of said teething portion has an upwardly formly thick portion and the upper surface of said depending annular extension, radially inward of said cap flange tapering downwardly and inwardly in a relatop extension and radially outward of said cap top perforatively straight line from said periphery to said point tion which disc extension bites into the 'undersurface of near said flanges outer periphery; said nipple flange when said teething portion threads are a cap portion having a centrally perforated top re- Operatively mated With Said P thfeadsceiving the barrel portion of said nipple, the upper surface of said top being of concave configuration, References Cited by the Examine! and an interiorly threaded ski-rt portion, the under UNITED STATES PATENTS surface of said top including means biting into the upper surface of said nipple flange, said biting means 3 232 2/1949 Steckler 128-360 comprising a depending annular extension concen- 5;;2 32 2 trio with said perforated portion, and an annular OZWIa n 1 60 cavity formed in said under surface of said cap top FOREIGN PATENTS radially outward of said extension, said cavity being 19,385 9/1934 AustraliaL correlative in onfiguration to said thicker portion of said nipple flange, and receiving said nipple flange thicker portion therein; and

a teething portion having a ring member attached to RICHARD A GAUDET P m r E a a base member, said base member having securing n a y x mmer' means attaching said base member to said cap DALTON L. TRULUCK, Examiner.

708,907 5/1931 France. 811,133 8/1951 Germany.

Claims (1)

1. IN AN INFANT PACIFIER, THE COMBINATION OF: A NIPPLE HAVING A BARREL PORTION AND AN ANNULAR FLANGE ATTACHED TO SAID BARREL PORTION AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE FROM ADJACENT ONE END OF SAID BARREL, SAID FLANGE BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS FROM ITS JUNCTURE WITH SAID BARREL TO A POINT NEAR ITS OUTER PERIPHERY, THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID FLANGE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY THICKER THAN SAID UNIFORMLY THICK PORTION AND THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID FLANGE TAPERING DOWNWARDLY AND INWARDLY IN A RELATIVELY STRAIGHT LINE FROM SAID PERIPHERY TO SAID POINT NEAR SAID FLANGE''S OUTER PERIPHERY; A CAP PORTION HAVING A CENTRALLY PERFORATED TOP RECEIVING THE BARREL PORTION OF SAID NIPPLE, THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID TOP BEING OF CONCAVE CONFIGURATION, AND AN INTERIORLY THREADED SKIRT PORTION, THE UNDER SURFACE OF SAID TOP INCLUDING MEANS BITTING INTO THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID NIPPLE FLANGE, SAID BITTING MEANS COMPRISING A DEPENDING ANNULAR EXTENSION CONCENTRIC WITH SAID PERFORATED PORTION, AND AN ANNULAR CAVITY FORMED IN SAID UNDER SURFACE OF SAID CAP TOP RADIALLY OUTWARD OF SAID EXTENSION, SAID CAVITY BEING CORRELATIVE IN CONFIGURATION TO SAID THICKNESS PORTION OF SAID NIPPLE FLANGE, AND RECEIVING SAID NIPPLE FLANGE THICKER PORTION THEREIN; AND A TEETHING PORTION HAVING A RING MEMBER ATTACHED TO A BASE MEMBER, SAID BASE MEMBER HAVING SECURING MEANS ATTACHING SAID BASE MEMBER TO SAID CAP WHEREBY SAID NIPPLE FLANGE IS SECURELY LOCKED THEREBETWEEN, SAID SECURING MEANS INCLUDING AN EXTERIORLY THREADED DISC PORTION FOR MATING WITH SAID THREADED PORTION OF SAID CAP SKIRT, SAID DISC PORTION OF SAID BASE MEMBER PRESSING AGAINST THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID NIPPLE FLANGE WHEN SAID DISC THREADS ARE MATED WITH SAID CAP SKIRT THREADS THEREBY CAUSING SAID CAP TOP EXTENSION TO BITE INTO SAID NIPPLE FLANGE.

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