Soft Silicone Soother with Extended Bead and Clamp Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional soothers cause 'nipple confusion' in infants, leading to discomfort and difficulty in breast feeding due to their rigid design and attachment methods, which can result in irritation and increased risk of tearing.
Innovation Solution
A soother design featuring a soft silicone baglet that extends beyond the rigid shield, with undulating ribs and a helical channel, providing a breast-like teat feel and action, and a secure clamping mechanism that reduces stress on the baglet, allowing for easy interchange between breast feeding, bottle feeding, and soothers while ensuring safety and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rigid shield is used to meet safety requirements, then safety and structural integrity are improved, but comfort and ease of operation deteriorate due to hard plastic contact with baby's face
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the soother have different material properties: the shield is rigid for safety while the baglet is soft for comfort. The baglet material extends beyond the shield periphery, creating a soft outer edge that contacts the baby's face, while the shield maintains its rigid structure for safety compliance.
2Reliability
If a plug attachment method is used to secure the baglet to the shield, then reliability of attachment is improved, but the baglet is subjected to stress and risk of tearing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful plug attachment method and replaces it with a clamp-based attachment system. The clamp secures the baglet to the shield without introducing compressive stress into the baglet material, thereby maintaining attachment reliability while preserving baglet strength and reducing tearing risk.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional soother design is used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but nipple confusion occurs and adaptability to breast feeding deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the baglet geometry to include an enlarged areola portion with specific dimensional relationships. The areola portion has a diameter greater than the nipple portion, creating a breast-like configuration that encourages proper latching. This geometric parameter change maintains manufacturing feasibility while significantly improving adaptability to breast feeding.
Data Source
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AI summary
A soother (10) is provided comprising a baglet (12) and a shield ring (14). The baglet (12) includes a continuous external bead (32) which extends beyond the outer periphery of the shield ring (14). The soother (10) further comprises a handle ring (16), wherein the external bead (32) also extends beyond the outer periphery of the handle ring (16). According to an alternative embodiment, a soother (10) is provided which comprises a baglet (12) having a continuous external bead (32), at least one discontinuous shield ring segment (44, 50) and at least one discontinuous handle ring segment (42, 48).