Evolving Pacifier With Adjustable Flanges for Dental Development
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pacifiers and thumb sucking pose orthodontic challenges by impeding proper dental development and palate growth, with existing solutions being costly, complex, and risking ingestion hazards.
Innovation Solution
An evolving pacifier design featuring adjustable flanges that progressively reduce the mouthpiece length through snap-fitting mechanisms, ensuring no small parts can be ingested, and allowing for simple, cost-effective manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the mouthpiece length is reduced to promote dental development, then the orthodontic benefit is improved, but the child's satisfaction and comfort may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pacifier incorporates adjustable flanges that allow the mouthpiece length to be dynamically reduced over time. The flanges can be added progressively to shorten the effective sucking length, enabling the device to adapt from a longer configuration (when child satisfaction is prioritized) to a shorter configuration (when orthodontic health is prioritized), thus resolving the contradiction between comfort and dental development
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameter of mouthpiece length through the addition of adjustable flanges. Each flange reduces the effective length L of the mouthpiece by its thickness e, allowing systematic parameter adjustment from initial length L0 to reduced lengths L1, L2, etc., thereby transitioning the device from satisfying comfort needs to promoting orthodontic health
2Object-affected harmful factors
If multiple pacifiers of different lengths are manufactured to reduce mouthpiece length, then the orthodontic benefit is improved, but the manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of manufacturing multiple complete pacifiers of different lengths, the invention segments the length adjustment function into separate, interchangeable flange components. Each flange is a simple, standardized piece that can be added to a base pacifier structure, transforming a complex multi-product manufacturing problem into a simple modular component system
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable flanges serve multiple functions: they reduce mouthpiece length, maintain structural integrity, and provide a standardized interface for attachment. A single flange design can be used across different pacifier models, and the same base pacifier can accommodate multiple flange configurations, thereby reducing overall manufacturing complexity and inventory requirements
3Adaptability or versatility
If the mouthpiece is made removable to allow length adjustment, then the adaptability is improved, but the reliability decreases due to ingestion risk
Solution Approach 1:
The flanges are designed to nest onto the base pacifier structure in a hierarchical manner, with each flange fitting over the previous one. This nested configuration ensures that all components remain contained within the overall pacifier structure and cannot be separately removed or ingested, maintaining reliability while enabling length adjustment
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the adjustment mechanism with the structural components of the pacifier. The flanges are not separate removable parts but integrated elements that become part of the overall pacifier assembly when attached. The coupling means integrate the flange with the base, creating a unified structure that eliminates the risk of separate部件 ingestion while maintaining adjustability
Data Source
AI summary
An evolving pacifier, which includes: a mouthpiece intended to be suckled by a child; a handle; at least one base flange having a base thickness and on one side of which the mouthpiece extends to have a suction length L, and on the other side of which the handle extends; and a system for reducing the length L. The reduction system includes at least one first adjustment flange having a passage for the mouthpiece so as to surround the mouthpiece and an element for coupling the first adjustment flange to the base flange so as to have the first adjustment flange on the side of the mouthpiece relative to the base flange. The first adjustment flange has a first adjustment thickness which is at least equal to the base thickness.