Teething spoon
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Solution Overview
Problem
Young children and individuals with special needs often struggle with managing and keeping objects, such as utensils and toys, within reach due to lack of coordination, leading to frequent drops and germ exposure, which poses challenges for caregivers, especially in social settings.
Innovation Solution
A placemat and tether system that securely anchors objects to a surface, featuring a mat with suction cups and anchors, an elongated tether, and a teething spoon designed with a safety guard and textured surface, allowing for easy cleaning and storage, and promoting motor skill development.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If objects are provided for children to touch and explore, then tactile development and sensory exploration are improved, but objects are frequently dropped or thrown leading to germ exposure and caregiver burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the placemat, tether system, and objects into a single integrated unit. The tether anchors objects to the placemat, ensuring they remain within the child's reach zone and cannot be dropped or thrown. This merging of components resolves the contradiction by maintaining tactile accessibility while eliminating the harmful effect of objects being dropped and exposing the child to germs.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether acts as an intermediary element between the child and the objects. It allows the child to interact with and explore objects while the tether prevents the objects from being dropped or thrown. This intermediary mechanism enables tactile exploration without the harmful consequence of germ exposure from dropped objects.
2Adaptability or versatility
If objects are made accessible to children for play and learning, then developmental opportunities are improved, but coordination difficulties cause objects to be dropped or thrown
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the objects with the placemat through the tether system, the patent ensures that objects remain reliably attached during child interaction. The tether compensates for the child's coordination difficulties, allowing objects to be made accessible for developmental play while maintaining reliable retention and preventing drops or throws.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether system applies preliminary anti-action by preventing the harmful action of dropping or throwing before it can occur. The tether is positioned and tensioned to counteract any force that might cause the object to be dropped, ensuring reliable retention while the child explores and plays with the object.
3Ease of operation
If caregivers constantly retrieve dropped objects, then object accessibility is maintained, but caregiver time and energy are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of the tether system with the placemat creates a self-contained system that maintains object accessibility without requiring caregiver intervention. Objects remain tethered to the placemat within the child's reach, eliminating the need for caregivers to constantly retrieve dropped objects and reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether system provides self-service by automatically preventing objects from being dropped or thrown out of reach. The system serves itself by maintaining object accessibility through the mechanical constraint of the tether, eliminating the need for caregiver action to retrieve objects and reducing time consumption.
4Adaptability or versatility
If toys and utensils are provided for child engagement, then occupational therapy and skill development are improved, but objects are repeatedly tossed to the ground
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the toys and utensils with the placemat through the tether system, the patent enables skill development activities while preventing the harmful effect of repeated dropping. The tether allows full range of motion for therapeutic exercises while constraining the object from being tossed to the ground.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether serves as an intermediary that enables skill development by allowing the child to manipulate and move objects freely, while simultaneously preventing the harmful action of dropping. The intermediary mechanism permits therapeutic motion but blocks the harmful consequence of objects being tossed to the ground.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively keeps objects within reach, reducing germ exposure and caregiver burden, while promoting child safety and development by preventing objects from being thrown or dropped, and facilitating independent use for individuals with motor control disorders.
Implementation Method 1
a mat with suction cups and anchors
Data Source
AI summary
A teething spoon may include a feeding end with a concave, textured surface configured to retain soft food and stimulate a tongue, mouth, or gums of a teething toddler; a base having a base diameter at its greatest extent and at least one aperture capable of receiving a removable tether; a handle coupling the feeding end to the base; and a safety guard adjacent the feeding end that extends perpendicularly. The safety guard may have a perpendicular reach of about 50 mm and may include a first loop and second loop opposite and in plane with the first loop. The first and second loops may allow a cylinder of about 10 mm or about 13 mm to pass through unobstructed. The base may comprise a generally hemispherical structure that enables the teething spoon to be disposed vertically. A slot in the base may be configured to accommodate a removable tether.