Teat

Abstract

A teat with a base and a hollow and flexible mouthpiece protruding from it with a palate contact area, characterized in that the mouthpiece has a planar thinning area fully or partially extending over the palate contact area, in which the mouthpiece has a smaller wall thickness than in its adjacent areas.

Claims

1. A teat comprising: a base comprising a base wall thickness; and a hollow and flexible mouthpiece protruding from said base and having a mouthpiece wall thickness, said mouthpiece comprising: a palate contact area; a two-dimensional thinning area fully or partially extending over the palate contact area, said thinning area having a thinning area wall thickness, said thinning area wall thickness having a smaller dimension than said base wall thickness and said mouthpiece wall thickness; and a reinforcing element having at least one elliptical contour, said reinforcing element being disposed along the perimeter of the thinning area.

2. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the thinning area is at least one of completely surrounded by the palate contact area, congruent with the palate contact area, and encloses the palate contact area.

3. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the thinning area is surrounded by the reinforcing element.

4. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the thinning area is only present on the palate contact area of the mouthpiece.

5. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece further comprises a teeth contact area, each of the palate contact area and the teeth contact area having a cross-section dimension that is larger in a direction of a horizontal axis than in a direction of a vertical axis.

6. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece defines a dome diametrically opposed to a waist disposed adjacent to a top end of the base.

7. The teat according to claim 6, wherein the thinning area or a vertical reinforcing element extends in a vertical longitudinal cut through the mouthpiece from a crown of the dome to the waist.

8. The teat according to claim 6, further comprising a drink hole disposed through the mouthpiece adjacent to a crown of the dome.

9. The teat according to claim 6, wherein the dome is asymmetrical along a horizontal axial plane.

10. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the thinning area has an elliptical contour and a main axis of the elliptical contour of the thinning area is arranged in a vertically aligned middle plane of the teat and a secondary axis of the elliptical contour is arranged perpendicular to the middle plane.

11. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing element of the mouthpiece further comprises a plurality of reinforcing elements each of the plurality of reinforcing elements defines a bulge that protrudes inwardly from an inside of the wall of the mouthpiece.

12. The teat according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one drink opening through the mouthpiece in or next to the palate contact area; and an elastic base having a circumferential flange or fastening ring disposed along a bottom end of the base.

13. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece is made of silicone, natural rubber, or a thermoplastic elastomer and/or the base is made of silicone, natural rubber, a thermoplastic elastomer, a thermoplastic, or a thermosetting plastic.

14. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing element of the mouthpiece comprises a plurality of reinforcing elements, each of the plurality of reinforcing elements having said elliptical contour, each of the plurality of elliptical contours being concentric relative to each other.

15. The teat according to claim 14, wherein a gap is defined between each adjacent reinforcing element of the plurality of reinforcing elements.

16. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the base comprises a valve having at least one cross slit.

17. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece defines a bevel disposed along a first side of the mouthpiece, wherein the two-dimensional thinning area is disposed along a second side of the mouthpiece opposite the first side.

18. The teat according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece defines a bevel diametrically opposed to a waist adjacent to the base.

19. A teat comprising: a base comprising a base wall thickness; a hollow and flexible mouthpiece protruding from said base and comprising a mouthpiece wall thickness, said mouthpiece comprising: a palate contact area; a two-dimensional thinning area fully or partially extending over the palate contact area, said thinning area comprising a thinning area wall thickness, said thinning area wall thickness having a smaller dimension than said base wall thickness and said mouthpiece wall thickness; and a reinforcing element having an elliptical contour and disposed along the periphery of the thinning area.

20. The teat according to claim 19, wherein the mouthpiece defines a bevel disposed along a first side of the mouthpiece, wherein the two-dimensional thinning area is disposed along a second side of the mouthpiece opposite the first side.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is explained in greater detail below using the attached drawing of an exemplary embodiment for a bottle teat and an exemplary embodiment for a pacifier. The drawing shows:

(2) FIG. 1 the bottle teat in a view vertically from the top;

(3) FIG. 2 the bottle teat in a view from the left side;

(4) FIG. 3 the bottle teat in a view from the right side;

(5) FIG. 4 the bottle teat observed from a direction perpendicular from the bottom;

(6) FIG. 5 the bottle teat from the front;

(7) FIG. 6 the bottle teat in a view from behind;

(8) FIG. 7 the bottle teat in an enlarged cut through the median plane;

(9) FIG. 8 the bottle teat in a perspective view diagonally from the top and from the left side;

(10) FIG. 9 a mouthpiece of a pacifier in a perspective view diagonally from behind and from the top;

(11) FIG. 10 the mouthpiece in a perspective view diagonally from behind and from the bottom;

(12) FIG. 11 the mouthpiece in a top view;

(13) FIG. 12 the mouthpiece in a bottom view;

(14) FIG. 13 the mouthpiece in a side view;

(15) FIG. 14 the mouthpiece in a front view;

(16) FIG. 15 the mouthpiece in a view from behind;

(17) FIG. 16 the mouthpiece in a section along the line XVI-XVI from FIG. 11;

(18) FIG. 17 the mouthpiece in a section along the line XVII-XVII from FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(19) While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there are described in detail herein a specific preferred embodiment of the invention. This description is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment illustrated.

(20) The teat 1 (also called bottle teat) has a base 2 in the shape of a hollow dome or bell, which is connected on its tapered end with a hollow mouthpiece 3 and on its large opening with a circumferential, annular-disk-shaped flange 4. The flange 4 is thus called the proximal end of the bottle teat and the mouthpiece 3 is also accordingly called the distal end.

(21) The base 2 of the bottle teat is also called the body. Below its largest diameter, it has a retracted area 5, which extends up to the inner edge of the flange 4. In the area of the largest diameter, the base 2 has a valve 7 in a recess 6. In the example, the valve 7 is designed as a slit valve with two crossing slits 8.

(22) The mouthpiece 3 is mainly oval in cross-section, wherein the mouthpiece has in each cross-section in the direction of the horizontal axis 9 greater dimensions than in the direction of the vertical axis 10 (see FIG. 5, 6).

(23) Furthermore, the mouthpiece 3 has a dome 11 on top for placement on the palate and a bevel 12 on the bottom for placement on the tongue. Moreover, the mouthpiece 3 has a waist 13 adjacent to the base 2. The mouthpiece 3 is wasted in a vertical middle plane (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 7) as well as in a horizontal plane aligned perpendicular to it through its distal end (see FIGS. 1 and 4).

(24) The bevel 12 is mainly even but dented inward slightly.

(25) The bottle teat has a drink hole 14 in the dome 11. This has a cross-section, which tapers from outside to inside. The drink hole is arranged slightly offset with respect to the peak of the dome 11.

(26) The mouthpiece 3 has a planar thinning area 15 in which its wall thickness is smaller than in the other areas of the mouthpiece 3. The thinning area 15 extends approximately from the crown of the dome 11 over the waist 13 up to the connection of the mouthpiece 3 with the base 2 (FIG. 7). The thinning area 15 is congruent with the palate contact area of the mouthpiece 3.

(27) The thinning area 15 has an elliptical contour. The mouthpiece 3 has reinforcing elements 16, 17 around the thinning area 15, which are designed as bulges, and have an elliptical contour just like the thinning area 15. The reinforcing elements 16, 17 have a small separation distance from each other. The drink hole 14 is located on the vertical middle plane between the reinforcing elements 16, 17.

(28) Furthermore, the bottle teat 1 has two additional reinforcing elements 18, 19 in the shape of bulges, which progress from the inside of the wall of the bottle teat 1 approximately in a horizontal middle plane through the bottle teat. The additional reinforcing elements 18, 19 are slightly curved and thus differ somewhat from the horizontal middle plane (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 7). They extend from the connection area of the mouthpiece 3 with the base 2 up to almost the distal end of the mouthpiece 3.

(29) The teat 1 is made as one piece of silicone, in particular through injection-molding. In a similar design, the bottle teat can also be made of natural rubber.

(30) During use, the flange 4 is screwed onto the edge of the opening of a bottle with fastening thread by means of a fastening ring. The bottle teat is aligned in the mouth of the child so that the dome 11 and the waist with the thinning area 15 rest against the palate, in particular on the incisive papilla. The bevel 12 then rests on the tongue. Due to the soft and supple thinning area 15, use is very pleasant for the child. The reinforcing elements 16, 17, 18, 19 prevent the development and growth of cracks or the like.

(31) In the following description of the pacifier, the same reference numbers are used for components with the same name as in the previous description of the bottle teat.

(32) The pacifier 1 (also called teat) has a hollow mouthpiece 3. This is shaped orthodontically, i.e. is adapted to the shape of the oral cavity. The mouthpiece 3 has an access hole 20 to a hollow space 21 inside the mouthpiece 3 on the proximal end.

(33) Furthermore, an edge bulge 22 protruding towards the outside surrounds the proximal end.

(34) The mouthpiece 3 has a narrow neck 23 with a waist in the top view and a widened head 24. On the top side, the head 24 has dome 11 arched towards the outside for placement on the palate. On the bottom, it has a bevel 12 for placement on the tongue. The bevel 12 is mainly even but dented inward slightly.

(35) The mouthpiece 3 has a planar thinning area 15 in which its wall thickness is smaller than in the other areas of the mouthpiece 3. The thinning area 15 is designed in the dome 11 of the head 24. The thinning area 15 has an elliptical contour. In the longitudinal direction of the mouthpiece 3, the thinning area 15 extends approximately from the highest point of the dome 11 up to the connection of the head 24 with the neck 23 (see FIG. 13). In the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the maximum width of the thinning area 15 is approximately one-third to three-fourths, preferably approximately half of the maximum width of the head 24 (see FIGS. 9 and 11).

(36) Around the thinning area 15, the mouthpiece 3 has a reinforcing element 16 in the shape of an inwards-protruding bulge on the inside 3 surrounding the thinning area 15.

(37) The mouthpiece preferably has a wall thickness of approximately 1 mm in the thinning area 15 and a wall thickness of approximately 1.5 mm in the adjacent area. The mouthpiece 3 preferably has a wall thickness of approximately 1.5 mm everywhere outside of the thinning area 15. The mouthpiece 3 preferably has a greater wall thickness in the area of the edge bulge 22.

(38) The mouthpiece 3 is preferably made as one piece of silicone, in particular through injection-molding. In a similar design, the mouthpiece 3 can also be made of natural rubber.

(39) For complete formation of the pacifier 1, the mouthpiece 3 is connected with a mainly rigid shield (also called mouth shield). The shield serves for support on the outer mouth area so that the child does not swallow the mouthpiece.

(40) The shield is preferably convex on the inside and arched in a concave manner on the outside so that it rests comfortably on the mouth area of the user.

(41) The shield has a central receiving hole through which the mouthpiece 3 is stuck so that it rests on the outside of the mouth shield with the edge bulge 22 on the edge of the receiving hole. A pin is inserted into the access hole 20 from outside so that the mouthpiece 3 is not pulled out of the receiving hole. The pin is connected as one piece with a button or cover, which is permanently connected (e.g. welded or glued) with the outside of the mouth shield. The pacifier can be gripped from outside on the button in order to insert it into or remove it from the mouth. A cover serves for storage of a ring, which can be used to insert or respectively remove the pacifier in or from the mouth.

(42) A pacifier 1 with mouthpiece 3 (also called sucking part), shield, pin and button or respectively cover and ring is described in European standard EN 1400-2:2002, the content of which is hereby incorporated into this application.

(43) If the pacifier 1 with the shield rests on the mouth area and the mouthpiece 3 is arranged in the mouth of the child, the dome 11 with the thinning area 15 rests on the palate, in particular on the incisive papilla. The bevel 12 then rests on the tongue. Due to the soft and supple thinning area 15, use is very pleasant for the child. The reinforcing element 16 prevents the development and growth of cracks or the like.

(44) This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.