Patent Publication Number: US-2005119699-A1

Title: Vibrating pacifier

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      There is a need for a vibrating pacifier that will massage the gums of an infant when teething.  
      Throughout time, parents share their infant&#39;s suffering when their infants go through the teething process. Attempts have been made to solve this problem. For example, cold wet washcloths were given to infants to bite on. As time progressed, a slew of teething rings, frozen and not, where developed. The problem with teething rings was that, more often or not, the rings would not remain in the infant&#39;s mouth due to their shapes. Most infants do not have the coordination to maintain a ring in their mouth for an extended period of time.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,294 B2 discusses many of the prior Patents attempting to address the necessity of this invention. The &#39;294 patent states that prior patents had the following disadvantages: the pacifiers were heavy, the vibrational elements of the pacifiers were geared to disturb the child rather that pacify the child, the weight distribution of the pacifiers pulled the pacifiers out of the infants mouth, and the pacifiers could be disassembled by the infants.  
      The &#39;294 patent shows a device that vibrates the palate of the infants mouth rather than the gums of the child. The patent does not address the need that this invention satisfies. It fails to massage the gums of a child.  
      An object of the present invention is to relieve the pain a child experiences when teething because of the configuration of the U-shaped biting element of this invention.  
      Another object of this invention is to provide a device that a child can bite evenly with the majority of his gums, thereby preventing teeth displacement.  
      A further object of this invention is to provide a device that a child can maintain in his mouth with out the aid of his hands.  
      Yet, another object of this invention is to provide a device that will automatically turn-off after preset period.  
      Lastly, another object of this invention is to provide a device that will soothe a child while going to sleep.  
     SUMMARY  
      The present invention is directed to a vibrating pacifier device that satisfies the needs mentioned above. The vibrating pacifier comprises of a holder, the holder has a circular holding section and a housing section, a battery operated motor housed within the housing section of the holder, wherein the motor has a vibrating end, a shield that surrounds the body of the housing section of the holder, and a mouthpiece shaped to conform to the shape of a child&#39;s gums that is attached to the housing section of the holder and that is further attached to the vibrating end of the motor. In another embodiment of this invention, the mouthpiece has a plurality of bumps extending outward from the sections of the mouthpiece that conform to shape of a child&#39;s gums.  
      This invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. This invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology being used in this application are for the purposes of the description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     DRAWINGS  
      These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:  
       FIG. 1  shows a cross sectional view of a vibrating pacifier;  
       FIG. 2  shows a cross sectional of another embodiment of the vibrating pacifier; and  
       FIG. 3  show a perspective the mouthpiece of the vibrating pacifier. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 a  vibrating pacifier comprises a holder  10 . The holder  10  has a circular holding section  10   a  and a housing section  10   b , a battery operated motor  12  housed within the housing section  10   b  of the holder  10 , wherein the motor  12  has a vibrating end  12   b , a shield  14  that surrounds the housing section of the holder  10   b , and a mouthpiece  16  shaped to conform to the shape of a child&#39;s gums that is attached to the housing section  10   b  of the holder  10  and that is further attached to the vibrating end  12   b  of the motor  12 . The motor  12  can be any battery operated motor that would fit within the housing of the pacifier  10   b . The motor  12  would have a vibrating means  12   c  attached to the vibrating end  12   b  that would attach to the mouth piece  16 . The above elements would be secured together by means know in the art so that the elements cannot be separated once they are attached, e.g. using an adhesive to attach the elements together.  
      Ideally, the mouthpiece  16  is made of a resilient plastic, rubber, or of a resilient polymer. As seen in  FIG. 3 , the mouthpiece  16  can have a plurality of bumps  20  located on the sides of the mouthpiece  16  that conform to the gums of the user.  
      Ideally, the motor  12  is adjusted to vibrate at a rate between 1 and 100 cycles per second. The motor  12  would run for a set period of time once activated, e.g. a 5 minute period. The motor&#39;s  12  on/off switch can be incorporated in to the pacifier so that by simply squeezing the holders housing  10   b  the motor  12  would be turned on. The motor  12  would automatically turn off after a set period of time. Different on/off switches can be used with this device, such switches are known in the art.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , another embodiment of the invention would have a U-shaped wire  18  running through the center of the mouthpiece&#39;s body  16  and attaching from the center of the mouthpiece  16  to the vibrating end of the motor  12   b . This configuration ensures that the mouthpiece vibrates uniformly along the length of the mouthpiece  16 .  
      The shield  14  is made of a hard plastic or polymer. The shield  14  can be solid or have holes defined within so that air can reach the skin of the child using the pacifier.  
      An advantage of the present invention is that it relieves the pain a child experiences when teething because of the configuration of the U-shaped biting element of this invention.  
      Another advantage of this invention is that it provides a child with a device that can be bitten evenly, thereby preventing teeth displacement.  
      A further advantage of this invention is that it provides a device that a child can maintain in his mouth with out the aid of his hands.  
      Yet, another advantage of this invention is that it provides a device that will automatically turn off after preset period.  
      Lastly, another advantage of this invention is that it provides a device that will soothe a child while going to sleep.  
      Therefore, the forgoing description is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.