A gel-dispensing pacifier which includes a nipple provided with one or more openings that communicate with a hollow interior, a guard attached to the nipple to prevent an infant from swallowing the nipple and a valve-equipped teething ring threadibly attached to the nipple, wherein a sweetened or fruit-flavored gelatin or "gel" is provided in the nipple for dispensing through an opening or openings in the nipple. In a preferred embodiment, the nipple element is fitted with external threads for mating with the internal threads on a gel tube for introducing gel into the nipple. In another preferred embodiment of the invention the teething ring element includes an air intake opening and a ball valve which communicates with the nipple interior, in order to facilitate introduction of air into the nipple to displace the gel sucked from the nipple and to seal the air intake opening from reverse flow of gel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to pacifiers for infants and more particularly, to a 
gel-dispensing pacifier which is characterized in a preferred embodiment 
by a gel-containing nipple provided with a conventional guard and a 
threaded ring mount extending from the guard for removably receiving a 
ring which is adapted to prevent the flavored gelatin material, or "gel" 
from exiting the nipple through the ring mount. In a most preferred 
embodiment, the ring element includes internal threads for threaded 
attachment to the mount threads on the ring mount and the nipple is 
capable of being loaded with gel from a gel-containing tube, by means of 
nozzle threads located on a projecting nozzle. In another most preferred 
embodiment of the invention, the gelatin material or "gel" is contained in 
the nipple by means of a ball valve which is slidably mounted in a seat 
opening located in the ring seat and ring. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Pacifiers have long been used to satisfy the sucking instinct of infants 
between meals. Such pacifiers typically consist of a flexible nipple 
provided with a guard to prevent the infant from ingesting the pacifier 
nipple and a ring for grasping and holding the pacifier and for teething. 
One of the problems associated with conventional pacifiers is that of 
satisfying the infant between meals, since no food or milk is dispensed 
through the pacifier responsive to the sucking action. 
Various attempts have been made to alleviate the problem of pacifier 
rejection, including the placing of sweetened materials such as frozen 
fruit juice and candy pellets inside the pacifier nipple to satisfy the 
infant. Typical of these devices is the "Pacifier With Sweets-Dispensing 
Nipple", disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,307, dated Mar. 11, 1980, to 
Allen R. Baer. This patent details a pacifier for infants which is 
characterized by a hollow nipple having a multi-perforated wall. In use, 
the nipple chamber is supplied with flavored sweets such as pellets of 
candy or frozen fruit juices. When the nipple is placed in the infant's 
mouth, saliva circulates through multiple perforations in the nipple and 
the resulting sweetened fluid flowing through the openings in the nipple 
encourages the infant to retain the nipple in its mouth. U.S. Pat. No. 
3,669,117, dated June 13, 1972, to Murray Herbst, discloses a "Combination 
Teether and Pacifier". The device detailed in this patent includes a 
thin-walled, flexible body having nipple guard and teething portions which 
are hollow and located in communication with each other. A soft, 
compressible body of gel or liquid is provided in the hollow portions of 
the pacifier, in order to encourage the infant to maintain the pacifier in 
its mouth. A "Medicated Pacifier" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,165, 
dated Sept. 30, 1952, to Joseph J. Szuderski. The medicated pacifier 
detailed in this patent includes a multi-perforated nipple, a guard 
mounted on the nipple and a nozzle fitted with a threaded cap removably 
provided inside the nipple for introducing medication into the nipple and 
dispensing the medication to the infant by sucking action when the infant 
retains the pacifier nipple in its mouth. Other patents which are of 
interest in this regard are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,829, dated 
June 9, 1959, to Tannenbaum, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,808, dated Feb. 
18, 1986, to Campbell, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,282, dated Feb. 3, 1987, 
to Careborg; U.S. Pat. No. 58,186, dated Sept. 18, 1866, to Bourguard; 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,637,919, dated Aug. 2, 1927, to Whitlock; U.S. Pat. No. 
4,558,792, dated Dec. 17, 1985, to Cabernoch, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 
3,145,867, dated Aug. 25, 1964, to Roberts, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 
2,836,321, dated May 27, 1958, to Soltesz, et al; U.S. Pat. No. 1,607,055, 
dated Nov. 16, 1926, to Cooper; U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,117, dated June 13, 
1972, to Herbst; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,248, dated Oct. 5, 1971, to 
Davidson. 
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved 
gel-dispensing pacifier which is characterized by a nipple having at least 
one opening therein, a guard attached to the nipple and a ring portion 
adapted for threadible attachment to the guard and provided with a 
partially hollow interior for receiving a valve to facilitate introduction 
of air into the ring portion and the nipple and dispensing of the gel 
material from the pacifier nipple to an infant. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved 
gel-dispensing pacifier which is characterized by a removable ring portion 
provided with a valve, in order to maintain the gel flowable in the 
pacifier nipple for dispensation to an infant. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a gel-dispensing pacifier 
which includes a nipple provided with at least one gel-dispensing opening 
communicating with the interior thereof, a guard attached to the nipple, a 
threaded ring mount projecting from the guard for receiving a companion 
internally-threaded ring element which is provided with an interior 
chamber extending partially through the ring element for receiving a 
valve, wherein the ring mount can be threaded on the nozzle of a 
gel-containing tube and the nipple refilled with gel, as desired. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other objects of the invention are provided in a new and improved 
gel-dispensing pacifier which includes a nipple provided with one or more 
openings communicating with the hollow interior thereof for dispensing gel 
to an infant, a guard attached to the nipple and a ring element attached 
to the guard, with a valve slidably located in the ring element to 
introduce air into the nipple and facilitate dispensing the gel from the 
nipple responsive to sucking of the nipple by an infant. The valve also 
prevents gel from being forced from the nipple rearwardly through the ring 
element and valve when the infant bites the nipple.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIGS. 1-5 of the drawing, in a first preferred embodiment of 
the invention the gel-dispensing pacifier is characterized by a teething 
ring pacifier 1. The teething ring pacifier 1 is further characterized by 
a pacifier element 2, which includes a hollow nipple 6 provided with a 
nipple opening 8 in the end thereof and secured to a round guard 3 at the 
opposite end. A quantity of gel 30 can be introduced into the hollow 
interior of the nipple 6 through the ring mount 4 as hereinafter described 
and the gel is contained by the relatively thick nipple wall 7 of the 
nipple 6, as illustrated. The ring mount 4 projects from the opposite side 
of the guard 3 from the nipple 6 and is provided with multiple mount 
threads 5. The ring mount 4 is also provided with an internal bore (not 
illustrated) which communicates with the hollow interior of the nipple 6, 
for introducing the gel 30 into the nipple 6, as hereinafter further 
described. A ring element 9 is designed for threaded attachment to the 
pacifier element 2 of the teething ring pacifier 1 by means of internal 
seat threads 12, provided in a cylindrically-shaped ring seat 11, as 
illustrated in FIG. 2. The ring seat 11 extends from a ring 10 which is 
provided with a valve 18, which includes a valve seat 19 and a seat 
opening 20, extending from the valve seat 19 and communicating with the 
internal opening located in the ring mount 4 and with the gel 30, located 
in the nipple 6, as further illustrated in FIG. 2. A valve neck 23 is 
slidably disposed in the seat opening 20 and a ball 21 is attached to one 
end of the valve neck 23 and selectively seats in the ball seat 22. A ball 
stay 24 is attached to the opposite end of the valve neck 23 and locates 
in the valve seat 19. The ring 10 may be constructed of relatively hard 
plastic or soft plastic material, in order to act as a "teether", of 
desired resiliency. 
As illustrated in FIG. 5, quantities of the gel 30 can be introduced into 
the nipple 6 by threading the mount threads 5 in the ring mount 4 into the 
nozzle threads 15 of the tube nozzle 14 extending from the gel tube 13 and 
pressing the gel tube 13. In a most preferred embodiment of the invention, 
the gel tube 13 is characterized by a conventional flexible tube such as a 
toothpaste tube, having a body 17 filled with gel 30 and a tube neck 16 
which tapers from the tube body 17 to the tube nozzle 14. When the nipple 
6 is substantially filled with gel 30, the ring mount 4 is unthreaded from 
the internal nozzle threads 15 in the tube nozzle 14 and the ring mount 4 
is reinserted on the ring 10 by engaging the seat threads 12 with the 
mount threads 5, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Pressure applied by sucking 
action of an infant on the nipple 6 causes gel to flow from the nipple 6 
through the nipple opening 8, to the infant. This flow is expedited by a 
flow of air around the non-sealing ball stay 24, through the seat opening 
20 and into the nipple 6 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3. 
Accordingly, it will be appreciated from a consideration of FIG. 5 that 
gel 30 can be introduced into the interior of the hollow nipple 6 by 
operation of the gel tube 13, to satisfy an infant for an extended period 
of time. When this initial charge of gel 30 is exhausted, additional gel 
30 can be injected into the nipple 6 as often as desired. 
Referring now to FIG. 4 of the drawing, it will be appreciated that the 
nipple 6 of the teething ring pacifier 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 can be 
provided with multiple nipple openings 8 instead of a single nipple 
opening 8, depending upon the viscosity of the gel 30 located inside the 
nipple 6 and the size of the feeding infant. Furthermore, it will also be 
appreciated that the size of the nipple openings 8 can be varied, 
depending upon the number of nipple openings 8 provided in the nipple 6. 
Moreover, when the infant bites the nipple 6 and forces the gel 30 
rearwardly toward the guard 3 in the direction of the arrow, this pressure 
shifts the valve 18 and causes the ball 21 to seat in the ball seat 22, to 
prevent gel from flowing through the seat opening 20. 
It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that various 
types of fruit gel are available from various manufacturers in gel tubes 
13 having threaded tube nozzles 14. These gels include such fruit flavors 
such as apple, pear, banana and the like and are of a suitable viscosity 
to be easily introduced into the nipple 6 in the teething ring pacifier 1. 
The gels are most preferably characterized by a viscosity which decreases 
with increasing body temperature and therefore flows easily from the 
nipple 6 by the sucking action of the infant. The gels used in the 
gel-dispensing pacifier of this invention are not intended for consumption 
per se, but rather, to increase and enhance pacification of an infant. By 
way of comparison, the various gels satisfy the infant much in the same 
manner that an after dinner mint satisfies an adult. It is understood that 
other edible, flavored, heat-sensitive substances, including coated 
substances known to those skilled in the art can be used in the 
gel-dispensing pacifier of this invention. 
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, 
it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be 
made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such 
modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.