Abstract:
A teething device for exercising gums and deciduous teeth. Two hollow receptacles sealingly mate to form a body of the teething device. A plurality of hollow knobs extend outwardly from the receptacles. The hollow interior of each knob is in a fluid communication with the interior space of the teething device. The teething device may be filled with a cold liquid to cool the exterior surfaces of the knobs. The liquid may be periodically discarded, and the hollow interior of the teething device may be refilled with a liquid of a predetermined temperature.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to teething devices. More specifically, it relates to a refillable water-cooled multi-lobed teething device for teething infants. 
     2. Brief Description of the Related Art 
     Teething is the process by which a human infant&#39;s deciduous teeth emerge through the gums. To facilitate teething and exercise jaws, gums, and teeth, infants are often given teething devices. The teething devices are generally made of a flexible, resiliently deformable plastic or rubber material, thereby allowing the infant to bite on the device without risking an injury. 
     Teething may cause a fair amount of pain and discomfort to the infant. To alleviate the pain, teething devices may be cooled to provide a numbing and soothing sensation during the bite. Several teething devices known in the art—such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,344—are at least partially filled with liquid, which may be cooled by placing the device in the refrigerator. The liquid is permanently contained within a receptacle of the teething device intended for insertion into the infant&#39;s mouth. As the infant uses the device, the heat from the infant&#39;s gums and mouth transfers to the liquid by means of conduction, thereby increasing the temperature of the liquid. After some time passes, the device must be placed again into the fridge or another cold environment to cool the liquid. 
     One major disadvantage of a cooling teething device that permanently contains a liquid therein is that the only way to cool the device is by subjecting the device to cold temperatures for a prolonged period of time. Accordingly, the use of the device must be periodically discontinued, and the infant must wait until the device regains the predetermined cold temperature. During this hiatus, the feelings of pain and discomfort associated with teething may return. Furthermore, the device that permanently contains a liquid requires a refrigerator or another cold environment to cool the liquid. This shortcoming makes this class of devices ill-suited for car travel and other environments outside of one&#39;s home. 
     Accordingly, what is needed is a teething device that can be periodically refilled with a cold liquid, thereby eliminating a requirement for the device to be placed in a cold environment for a predetermined period of time prior to each use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A long-felt but heretofore unfulfilled need for a teething device that can be readily cooled without requiring a cold environment is now met with a new useful and non-obvious invention. 
     In an embodiment, the teething device includes a first receptacle partially enclosing a first interior space and a second receptacle partially enclosing a second interior space. The second receptacle is configured to sealingly mate with the first receptacle to form a body of the teething device. Thus, the body has an assembled and disassembled configurations. A plurality of hollow knobs radially protrude from the body of the teething device. The hollow knobs are in fluid communication with the first interior space, thereby permitting the liquid contained within the body of the teething device to flow into the knobs. 
     The body of the teething device can be filled with a liquid when the body is in the disassembled configuration. The body of the teething device is configured to retain the liquid when the body is in the assembled configuration. The liquid flows into the hollow knobs affecting temperatures of outer surfaces thereof through heat exchange. 
     In an embodiment, the first receptacle has a male thread, while the second receptacle has a thread and a female thread. The male and the female threads are adapted to mate, thereby creating a water-impermeable seal between the first and the second receptacles. A washer may disposed between the first and the second receptacles when the body of the teething device is in the assembled configuration to improve the impermeability of the seal. 
     The hollow knobs may have texturized outer surfaces. In an embodiment, a plurality of protruding elements is disposed on the outer surfaces of the hollow knobs. The protruding elements are configured to compress responsive to a compressive force of a bite and return to the normal decompressed position after the compressive force is removed. The hollow knobs may be made of silicone. 
     In an embodiment, at least one of the plurality of the hollow knobs may be detachable. The detachable knob has a base configured to mate with a corresponding aperture within the body of the teething device. The detachable knob may be replaced with a nipple. The nipple may contain an aperture configured to permit the liquid to exit the body of the teething device allowing the infant to consume the liquid. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the teething device in a disassembled configuration. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the teething device having a parallelepiped body depicting a detachable knob being detached from the body of the teething device. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the teething device having a polyhedron body depicting a detachable knob being detached from the body of the teething device. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the teething device having a spherical body depicting a detachable knob being replaced with a nipple. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and within which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments by which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. 
       FIG. 1  depicts the multi-lobed teething device  10  according to the present invention. The body of the device comprises a first receptacle  12  and a second receptacle  14 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , first and second receptacles  12  and  14  are hollow hemispheres. Receptacles  12  and  14  contain a plurality of hollow knobs  20 . The interior space of each knob  20  is in fluid communication with the hollow space enclosed within teething device  10  by first and second receptacles  12  and  14 . This allows the liquid contained inside the hollow interior of teething device  10  to flow into knobs  20 . The liquid alters the temperature of knobs  20  making their outer surfaces cold or warm depending on the temperature of the liquid. 
     In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , first and second receptacles  12  and  14  screw-threadingly mate with one another by means of a male thread  16  disposed on first receptacle  12 , and a female thread  18  disposed on second receptacle  14 . The screw threaded engagement forms a liquid impermeable seal between receptacles  12  and  14 , thereby ensuring that the liquid contained within the hollow interior of teething device  10  does not spill during use, transport, or storage. A washer may be used to further improve the water impermeability of the seal. 
     In an alternative embodiment, receptacles  12  and  14  can be mated by other means known in the art. For example, first receptacle  12  may include a protruding male end adapted to be received into the inner circumference of the second receptacle  14 . Furthermore, a clamp can be disposed on the outer surface of first receptacle  12  and may be configured to engage a hook disposed on the outer surface of second receptacle  14 . The clamp increases the pressure exerted by the contacting rims of receptacles  12  and  14  onto one another, thereby increasing the strength of the formed seal. 
     In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , receptacles  12  and  14  are not connected to one another when teething device  10  is disassembled. In an alternative embodiment, receptacles  12  and  14  may be connected to one another. One advantage of such embodiment is that the receptacles  12  and  14  will not be misplaced while teething device  10  is in its disassembled configuration. In an embodiment, receptacles  12  and  14  may be hingedly connected to one another. In this embodiment, receptacles  12  and  14  cannot be mated via a screw-threaded means, and therefore, one of the alternative means known in the art for sealingly mating two receptacles must be employed. Examples of such means are provided in the preceding paragraph. 
     Teething device  10  includes a plurality of knobs  20  extending outwardly from receptacles  12  and  14 . Each knob  20  has a hollow interior adapted to be filled with a cold liquid contained within the hollow interior of teething device  10 . Knobs  20  may have a variety of shapes, and their surfaces may have a variety of textures. In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , knobs  20  are made of silicone and are studded with multiple hollow protruding elements  24 . Protruding elements  24  are configured to compress responsive to the infant&#39;s bite, and return to the normal decompressed position after the bite is discontinued. Knobs  20  may be made out of any flexible and soft material that undergoes a plastic deformation responsive to a compressive force of a bite, but returns to the original shape upon removal of the compressive force. 
     When teething device  10  is in the disassembled configuration, first receptacle  12  or second receptacle  14  may be filled with a cold liquid, such as ice water. Teething device  10  is then assembled by mating together receptacles  12  and  14 . The cold liquid is confined within the hollow interior defined by internal surfaces of receptacles  12  and  14  and can flow into knobs  20 . Through heat transfer, the cold liquid causes texturized surfaces of knobs  20  to cool, thereby providing the infant with a cold device that soothes the pain associated with teething. After the temperature of the liquid contained within teething device  10  seizes to be sufficiently cold, teething device  10  may be opened and the liquid can be discarded. Teething device  10  can then be refilled with fresh cold liquid to cool knobs  20  to a desired temperature. 
     Although teething device  10  depicted in  FIG. 1  has a spherical body, other shapes including cylinders, cubes, prisms, pyramids, parallelepipeds, any other type of a polyhedron, or a combination thereof also fall within the scope of the invention. Some of these alternative shapes are depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     In alternative embodiments of the invention depicted in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , teething device  10  comprises a detachable knob  26 . Detachable knob  26  has a base  28  configured to mate with an aperture  30  disposed on teething device  10 . In an embodiment, base  28  may have an annular shape. When detachable knob  26  is removed, interior space  32  within the hollow body of teething device  10  is exposed, thereby allowing interior space  32  to be filled with a cold liquid. Once interior space  32  of teething device  10  contains an adequate amount of liquid, detachable knob  26  is reattached to the body of teething device  10  thereby sealingly enclosing the fluid contained within interior space  32 . The seal formed between base  28  and aperture  30  must be impermeable to fluids to prevent spillage during the use of teething device  10 . Some examples of means of forming a seal between base  28  and aperture  30  include a screw-threaded engagement, a friction seal, a clamp, and other means known in the art. A washer can be used to reinforce impermeability of the seal. During the process of removal, the body of detachable knob  26  may be used as a grip to provide necessary leverage to unscrew, pull out, or otherwise remove base  28  of detachable knob  26  from aperture  30 . 
     In the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 4 , detachable knob  26  may be replaced with a nipple  34  having base  38  adapted to mate with aperture  30 . The hollow interior of teething device  10  may be filled with a fluid intended for consumption by an infant or a child. Nipple  34  may contain an opening  36  to permit the fluid to flow into the infant&#39;s mouth. This feature further increases the versatility of teething device  10 . 
     The advantages set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained. Since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.