BABY PACIFIER

Abstract: A baby pacifier comprises a mouth shield (12, 16) a teat substitute (10) and a finger ring (14), all made unitarily and integrally from liquid silicon rubber, and with the teat substitute made as a hollow closed body so as to be pneumatic in character, by first forming the hollow body with a core, and then after removing the core, injecting further material to plug the teat substitute.

Description: BABY PACIFIER This invention relates to baby pacifiers or so-called "dummys". " En accordance with -the—invention a baby pacifier or dummy comprises a disc or shield, a teat substitute in the form of a hollow baglet projecting from one face of the shield, and a projection from the other face of the shield, and is characterised in that the disc, teat substitute and projection are made unitarily and integrally from a liquid silicon rubber, and in that the hollow baglet is closed to make the teat pneumatic by the same material. By these means, the teat becomes "pneumatic" giving it a great resilience. The invention solves a number of longstanding problems in the art, as will be recognised by those skilled in the art. Briefly however a three-piece construction neeeds to have the parts locked together against risk of the baby pulling the baglet off the shield and hence being able to choke on it; the locking construction depends for efficacy on the nature of the materials as well as the design, and a material which is suitable for the baglet, in terms of being sufficiently soft, pure and capable of being easily sterilised, may be unsuitable for being fixed for example have a low tear strength. The pneumatic feature provides a degree of resilience for the teat substitute which could only be otherwise achieved with a greater mass of even softer material. The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:- Figure 1 is an elevation of a first embodiment; Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 of second embodiment; Figure 5 is an elevation of the opposite side of the second embodiment; and Figure 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of figure 5. Referring to the drawings and particularly Figures 1 and 3 thereof, the baby pacifier shown therein is of the so-called orthodontic kind and comprises a baglet 10 projecting from the concave side of a disc or shield 12, and a ring 14 projecting from the convex side of the disc. As clearly seen in Figure 1, the disc is not circular, but is laterally symmetrical about the line 3-3. The disc is substantially thicker than the baglet to provide greater rigidity, and includes a gently curved rim portion 16 extending upwardly from the convex side to increase the stiffness of the disc. The disc is moulded with a series of apertures 18 as a safety feature, in conventional fashion. The baglet 10 is of generally rectangular or elliptical cross section having a headed end which is obliquely bevelled at 20 on what is, in use, the lower face. The ring 14 comprises a generally semi-circular loop extending from opposite sides of the baglet as seen by the broken lines in Figure 1. The baby pacifier shown in Figures 4 to 6 has a circular disc provided with a continuous rim on one side which also carries the ring, and the baglet is also circular in cross section terminating in a generally part-spherical portion 22 on the opposite side of the disc. In this instance three safety holes 18 are provided. It will be noted that the ring extends transversely of the axis of the baglet, so that in manufacture, the illustrated form is defined by a pair of mating die halves including a core which is to form the interior of the baglet. When the die halves are separated to remove the moulded but (as so-far described) incomplete pacifier, the pacifier can be stripped from the core despite the core being headed to form the enlarged end of the baglet, due to the resilience and elasticity of the material used. The pacifier is moulded from liquid silicon rubber of suitable medical grade as used for example to mould prosthetic parts for surgery. Such a rubber is commercially available usually in the form of two components which are mixed and then have a limited shelf life, although still measured in months, before moulding. The manufacturing method employed here is to inject a measured quantity of the liquid into the mould cavity, maintain the dies under pressure, and heat the dies to the required vulcanising temperature, holding the dies under pressure for the required vulcanising time then separating the dies ready for removal of the part-finished products and before the beginning of a fresh manufacturing cycle. The injection of the liquid rubber may be by way of a screw maintained at ambient temperature in order to prevent prior and undesirable vulcanisation. A suitable vulcanising temperature is usually about 180-190 * C. The pacifier (in both versions) is completed by the addition of a plug 30 formed and moulded into the hitherto open end of the baglet. This plug is moulded in after a first degree of vulcanisation has taken place to form the remainder of the pacifier, and after stripping from the die core-part used to form the baglet interior. The said core part may be removed and the dies re-used whilst injecting the liquid silicon rubber to form the plug. A further vulcanisation and post curing step follows. The exact time and temperature of the various vulcanisation steps depends upon the usual parameters which will be plain to those skilled in the art. Because the teat or baglet is then a wholly closed and hollow body, it has an additional resilience due to the air trapped in its interior.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A baby pacifier or dummy comprising a disc or shield (12) a teat substitute in the form of a hollow baglet (10) projecting from one face of the shield, and a projection (14) from the other face of the shield, characterised in that the disc, teat substitute and projection are made unitarily and integrally from a liquid silicon rubber, and in that the hollow baglet is closed by a plug (30) to make the teat pneumatic, of the same material. 2. A pacifier as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the unitary and integral parts (10, 12, 14) are made by injection moulding in a die set including a core piece forming the interior of the hollow baglet, which core piece is removed before a further injection of material to close and plug the teat. 3. A pacifier as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the unitary and integral parts are part-vulcanised before the core is removed and further vulcanised after the further injection to form the plug.

Inventors: VICHAI PLAPHONGPHANICH, VICHAI, PLAPHONGPHANICH
Applicants: L S R BABY PRODUCTS U K LIMITE, L.S.R. BABY PRODUCTS (U.K.) LIMITED
Application year: 1985
Main classification: A61J17
IPC codes: A61J17, B29C45