WO2009150409A1

WO2009150409A1 - A removable double-sided adhesive anchor for temporarily securing an object in place

Info

Publication number: WO2009150409A1
Application number: PCT/GB2009/001432
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ines Catherine Ascott
Original assignee: Ines Catherine Ascott
Priority date: 2008-06-10
Filing date: 2009-06-08
Publication date: 2009-12-17
Also published as: GB2470791A; GB2470791B; EP2296875A1; GB0914905D0

Abstract

A removable double-sided anchor (2) for temporarily securing an object (6) in place, which anchor (2) is such that: (i) it is in the form of a circular disc; (ii) it is at least 3.5mm thick; (iii) it is made of a plastics foam material; (iv) it has a first adhesive (8) on a first side (10, and a second adhesive (12) on a second side (14); (v) the first adhesive (8) is protected by a first separable sheet (16); (vi) the second adhesive (12) is protected by a second separable sheet (18); (vii) the first adhesive (8) is such that it enables the anchor (2) to be stuck to a support surface (20) such that the infant (4) cannot remove the anchor (2) from the support surface (20), an adult can remove the anchor (2) from the support surface (20), and the support surface (20) will not normally be damaged when the anchor (2) is removed from the support surface (20);(viii) the second adhesive (12) is such that it enables the object (6) to be stuck to the anchor (2) such that the infant (4) cannot remove the object (6) from the anchor (2), an adult can remove the object (6) from the anchor (2), and the object (6) will not normally be damaged when the object is removed from the support surface (20); and (ix) the plastics foam material, the first adhesive (8) and the second adhesive (12) are non-toxic to the infant (4).

Description

A REMOVABLE DOUBLE-SIDED ADHESIVE ANCHOR FOR TEMPORARILY SECURING AN OBJECT IN PLACE

This invention relates to a removable double-sided adhesive anchor for temporarily securing an object in place. The invention may be used for securing a wide variety of objects in place.

When infants learn to grasp objects, they quickly proceed to the learning stage of throwing the objects away from them, or accidentally knocking the objects over. This can often be frustrating for parents, especially if a parent is trying to teach an infant how to feed itself. Elderly or disabled persons sometimes have a tendency to knock over objects. Objects also tend to fall over in situations such as in a moving vehicle where the motion causes instability.

It is an aim of the present invention to reduce the above mentioned problems.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided a removable double-sided adhesive anchor for temporarily securing an object in place, which anchor is such that:

(i) it is in the form of a circular disc;

(ii) it is at least 3.5mm thick;

(iii) it is made of a plastics foam material; (iv) it has a first adhesive on a first side, and a second adhesive on a second side;

(v) the first adhesive is protected by a first separable sheet;

(vi) the second adhesive is protected by a second separable sheet;

(vii) the first adhesive is such that it enables the anchor to be stuck to a support surface such that the infant cannot remove the anchor from the support surface, an adult can remove the anchor from the support surface, and the support surface will not normally be damaged when the anchor is removed from the support surface;

(viii) the second adhesive is such that it enables the object to be stuck to the anchor such that the infant cannot remove the object from the anchor, an adult can remove the object from the anchor, and the object will not normally be damaged when the object is removed from the support surface; and

(ix) the plasties foam material, the first adhesive and the second adhesive are non-toxic to the infant.

The anchor of the present invention is advantageous in that it is able to prevent the infant throwing or knocking over the object, whilst at the same time enabling an adult to remove the object as may be necessary and appropriate, for example for the purpose of giving the object to the infant under specific supervision, or for washing the object. The infant will usually tend to try and remove the object from the anchor with a pushing or pulling action. The adult may remove the anchor with a pushing, pulling or peeling action. Similarly the adult may remove the anchor from the support surface with pulling or peeling action.

The anchor of the present invention is also advantageous for a range of other purposes. Thus, for example, the anchor may be used to facilitate self-feeding or recreational activities of elderly or disabled persons who may have a tendency to knock over objects. The anchor may be especially useful for persons with limited or reduced fine motor skills whether as a result of age such for example as occurs with infants or the elderly, or as a result of a disability. The anchor may further be used in such situations where instability can cause an object to fall over, for example due to vehicle motion, as can be the case on a boat, an aeroplane, a caravan or a train. The anchor may further be used for other purposes, for example for other types of people or other situations likely to cause an object to fall or be knocked over.

The anchor of the present invention may be specifically designed as an aid for persons with reduced or limited motor skills, for example infants, the disabled or the elderly, although its functionality is not limited exclusively to these uses. Thus, the anchor of the present invention may be used to fix unstable objects whilst in transit such for example as in moving vehicles such as boats, trains, aeroplanes and caravans. The anchor may be one in which the circular disc comprises at least one circular cut which is positioned inwards of a periphery of the circular disc and which forms the circular disc into an inner disc and an outer ring, thereby to afford a user the possibility of using the entire circular disc, or the inner disc on its own and/or the outer ring on its own. Thus, for example, there may be only one circular cut, thereby defining one said inner disc and one said outer ring. Alternatively, for example, there may be two of the circular cuts, thereby defining one said inner disc and two said outer rings. More than two circular cuts may be employed if desired. Preferably, the inner disc is not less than 40mm in diameter. Such a diameter disc should avoid the disc being a choke hazard to the infant.

Preferably, the plastics foam material is a medium density foam. The medium density foam may have a gsm in the range of 25 - 55Kg per m³. Preferably, the medium density foam has a gsm of 33Kg per m³. Preferably, the pJastics foam material is polyethylene foam material.

Preferably, the anchor is 4mm thick. The anchor may be of other thicknesses if desired providing is it at least 3.5mm thick. The thickness of 3.5mm is required so that the anchor is able to fit within a circular rim often found on the bottom of plates and bowls, and be sufficiently thick to extend proud of the circular rim for contact with a chosen support surface such for example as a tray part of an infant's high chair, or a table.

The separable sheet for the first or the second adhesive may form a backing sheet from which the anchor is removable for use of the anchor. With such a backing sheet, the anchor may be packaged for presentation, selling and subsequent use. For example, the backing sheet may have a plurality of the anchors. There may be, for example, six of the anchors arranged in two rows of three, or three rows of two, or a single line of six of the anchors. The use of the backing sheet enables the anchors to be arranged in any suitable and desired pattern. The first and second peel-off sheets may be release liners. The first and/or the second sheets may be in different sizes, shapes and colours. The first and/or the second sheets may be in the form of protective layers or films. The first and the second sheets may be of the same or different shapes to the circular disc.

The first and the second adhesives may be the same.

Alternatively, the first and the second adhesives may be different, for example differential adhesives. Thus for example, the first adhesive may be more aggressive than the second adhesive. This may then able the anchor to stick more firmly to the support surface than the object sticks to the anchor. This in turn may enable the object relatively easily to be removed from the anchor, e.g. for washing purposes if the object is, for example, a plate, a cup or a toy. At the same time, the removal of the object from the anchor will not cause the anchor to become unstuck from the support surface.

The anchor of the present invention may be used with any suitable and appropriate objects including crockery and toys. Basically, the object can be anything that an infant plays with in the initial learning stages of grasping objects and subsequently recognising them and using them. If the object is large, for example a large toy, then two or more of the anchors may be used to keep the toy in a desired place. The anchor may be one in which at least one of the first and the second adhesives is present on a carrier as the adhesives are applied to the anchor. The carrier may be a plasties film. The adhesives applied to both sides of the anchor may be through the application of a double sided differential adhesive coated polyester plastics film carrier. The use of polyester will prevent a bleed of the two adhesives into each other. This is important as the adhesive side applied to the anchor has to be permanent (more aggressive) and need not be food and drug regulated. The adhesive applied to the side of the carrier which adheres to the surface or to the object must not be permanent (clean peelable) and should conform to F&DA Regulation 175.105 - Safe for indirect contact with food. This non-toxic clean peel adhesive is preferably acrylic. A preferred plastics film carrier is polypropylene or other polyester.

The first separable sheet and the second separable sheet are preferably silicone release sheets. Materials other than silicone may be employed. The sheets will usually be separated with a peeling action.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a removable double-sided adhesive anchor in use for preventing an infant throwing an object;

Figure 2 is an exploded cross section through the anchor and object shown in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the anchor shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is an exploded cross section through the anchor shown in Figures 1 — 3, but shows the anchor before use with its first and second adhesive sides being protected by a first and second peel-off sheets;

Figure 5 is an upside down view of a small bowl with a removable double-sided adhesive anchor;

Figure 6 is an upside down view of a plate with a removable double- sided adhesive anchor;

Figure 7 shows the anchor being peeled off the plate shown in Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a plan view of a plurality of the removable double-sided adhesive anchors in a sales format.

Referring to Figures 1 - 4, there is shown a removable double adhesive anchor 2 for use in preventing an infant 4 throwing an object 6. The anchor 2 is such that:

(i) it is in the form of a circular disc;

(ii) it is at least 3.5mm thick;

(iii) it is made of polyethylene foam material;

(iv) it has a first adhesive 8 on a first side 10, and a second adhesive 12 on a second side 14;

(v) the first adhesive 8 is protected by a first separable sheet 16; (vi) the second adhesive 12 is protected by a second separable sheet 18;

(vii) the first adhesive 8 is such that it enables the anchor 2 to be stuck to a support surface 20 such that the infant 4 cannot remove the anchor 2 from the support surface 20, an adult can remove the anchor 2 from the support surface 20, and the support surface will not normally be damaged when the anchor 2 is removed from the support surface 20;

(viii) the second adhesive 12 is such that it enables the object 6 to be stuck to the anchor 2 such that the infant 4 cannot remove the object 6 from the anchor, an adult can remove the object 6 from the anchor 2, and the object 6 will not normally be damaged when the object 6 is removed from the support surface 20; and

(ix) the polyethylene foam material, the first adhesive 8 and the second adhesive 12 are non-toxic to the infant 4.

As shown in Figure 1, the object 6 is a plate. The bottom of the plate has a rim. The anchor 2 is 4mm thick which means that the anchor 2 is sufficiently thick to protrude beyond the rim and thus be able to be stuck on the support surface 6.

As can be seen from Figure 3, the anchor 2 has a circular cut 22 which is positioned inwards of a periphery 24 of the circular disc and which forms the circular disc into an inner disc 26 and an outer ring 28. This affords a user the possibility of using the entire circular disc, or the inner disc 26 on its own and/or the outer ring 14 on its own.

The foam is a medium density foam having a gms of 33Kg per m³. Before use of the anchor 2, the first and the second adhesives 8, 12 are protected by the first and the second separable sheets 16, 18. These sheets 16, 18 are preferably silicone release sheets. The silicone release sheets may be cut to be circular so that they are the same size as the anchor 2.

Figure 5 shows a small bowl 30 with a removable double-sided adhesive anchor 32 positioned within a rim 34 on the bottom of the bowl 30.

Figure 6 shows a plate 36 with a removable double-sided adhesive anchor 38 positioned within a rim 40 on the bottom of the plate 36. Figure 7 shows a separable sheet 42 being removed from the plate 36 in order to get the plate 36 ready for being stuck to a support surface.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention as shown in Figure 8, the separable sheet for the first adhesive 8 is in the form of a backing sheet 44 containing six of the removable double-sided adhesive anchors 2. The backing sheet 44 can thus form part of packaging enabling the anchors 2 to be seen and displayed. When it is desired to use one of the anchors 2, the anchor 2 is simply peeled from the backing sheet 44 and stuck to the desired support surface. The second release sheet 18 covering the second adhesive 12 can then be peeled off to expose the second adhesive 12 for receiving an object such for example as the object 6.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the anchor 2 may have two or more of the circular cuts 22. The first and the second adhesives 8, 12 may be the same or different. The first and/or the second adhesives may have an adhesive tack of 300 - 500 Newtons/metre. The first separable sheet for the first adhesive may be an individual sheet for each anchor, or it may be a sheet for a plurality of anchors as shown in Figure 8. The anchors shown in the drawings have uses other than for preventing an infant throwing an object. Thus, the anchors shown in the drawings may be used for temporarily securing any suitable object in place for any suitable purpose in any suitable location.

Claims

1. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor for temporarily securing an object in place, which anchor is such that:

(i) it is in the form of a circular disc;

(ii) it is at least 3.5mm thick;

(iii) it is made of a plastics foam material;

(iv) it has a first adhesive on a first side, and a second adhesive on a second side;

(v) the first adhesive is protected by a first separable sheet;

(vi) the second adhesive is protected by a second separable sheet;

(ix) the plastics foam material, the first adhesive and the second adhesive are non-toxic to the infant.

2. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 1 in which the circular disc comprises at least one circular cut which is positioned inwards of a periphery of the circular disc and which forms the circular disc into an inner disc and an outer ring, thereby to afford a user the possibility of using the entire circular disc or the inner disc on its own and/or the outer ring on its own.

3. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 2 in which there is only one of the circular cuts, thereby defining one said inner disc and one said outer ring.

4. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 2 or claim 3 in which the inner disc is not less than 40mm in diameter.

5. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which the foam is a medium density foam.

6. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 5 in which the medium density foam has a gsm in the range of 25 - 55Kgs per m³.

7. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 6 in which the medium density foam has a gsm of 33Kgs per m³.

8. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which the plastics foam material is polyethylene foam material.

9. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which the anchor is 4mm thick.

10. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which the peel-off sheet for the first or the second adhesive forms a backing sheet from which the anchor is removable for use of the anchor.

11. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 10 in which the backing sheet has a plurality of the anchors.

12. A removable removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which the first and the second adhesives are the same.

13. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of claims 1 - 11 in which the first and the second adhesives are different.

14. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 13 in which the first adhesive is more aggressive than the second adhesive.

15. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which at least one of the first and the second adhesives is present on a carrier as the adhesives is applied to the anchor.

16. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 15 in which the carrier is made of a plastics film or a tissue.

17. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 16 in which the carrier film is a polyester plastics film -

18. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to claim 17 in which the carrier film is polypropylene.

19. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of claims 15 - 18 in which the adhesive is a non-toxic acrylic adhesive.

20. A removable double-sided adhesive anchor according to any one of the preceding claims in which the first separable sheet and the second separable sheet are silicone release sheets.