Tethered Pair Liquid Feeder/Toy Set

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to infant liquid feeders, and particularly to feeders that are connected with a line to form a paired tether set. Also, the invention relates to how such tethered sets can be converted to play toys suitable for infant use. One major aspect of the invention is the use of spherical liquid feeder containers which can be converted to a tethered pair of play balls. The tether line for paired feeders has a length that will space liquid filled containers about the same as that of a mother's breasts when tether line is taut.

2. Description of the Related Art

Prior art revealed no direct design as that of subject invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,902 to Warehime, the same person presenting subject invention, has paired tethered ball set with ball spacing from 10" to 20" (25 to 50 cm), with ball diameters ranging from 15/8" to 27/8" (4.2 to 7.4 cm). The prior art ball sets are intended for use by persons over 6 years and did not have any feeder aspects. But it was noted by the inventor that when a ball set was given to an infant, the infant would grasp the balls firmly and usually put one ball to its mouth, suggesting the basic instinct of breast feeding. Another prior art reference is a newspaper article in The Baltimore Sun, page 2, Oct. 7, 1989 (Baltimore, Md., USA), which shows and describes how a pair of breast-feeding bottles are placed in a brassiere-like harness so a father can wear and "breast-feed" an infant. No play/toy aspects are present in this design. Conventional elongated feeding bottles are used singularly and have no obvious play/toy aspects. Also, such bottles can easily slide or fall from area of infant use. Furthermore, such bottles have no suggestion of the mother's breasts. Tethered pair feeders of subject invention offers many features that are lacking in the prior art, in that they do suggest the mother's breasts and will encourage feeding; they can be converted easily to play toys, or one container can be used for feeding and the other for play; tether pair containers tend to stay in place better than conventional containers since one container holds the other back; tethered pair containers can be hung conveniently on frame of crib, carriage or hook. Also, they can help to develop ambidexterity of the infant when it handles the two containers at one time.

Subject invention deals directly with infant feeder containers that are connected by a line to form tethered pair feeder sets that can be converted easily to play toys for infants. Spherical containers with segmental spherical shaped sealing rings are used to simulate the mother's breasts. To keep the spherical appearance, the seal rings which hold the feeding nipples in place have access holes which allow the seal rings to be screwed on and off when necessary by using a donut-like key that has prongs to fit into the access holes of the seal rings. Also, the containers have small access holes for receiving the ends of the tether line. Standard feeding nipples are used on containers. Interchangeable items that fit on containers in place of nipples have same size sealing flanges and matching dimensions where needed in container opening area. Closure caps and closure caps with attached toys can be fitted on containers when so desired. The spherical containers are easy to clean and should be made of transparent material to retain full visual effect of toys that may inserted into containers. The tether line is short and can be strung with beads or sleeves for added play effect and as a safety measure. With closure caps having segmental spherical outside surfaces used in place of nipples, the overall containers have shapes of spheres or a tethered pair of play bills. Furthermore, play/toy items can also be placed inside of containers for added visual and audible effects. Closure caps can also have added mechanical attachments that can be actuated by infant. The invention also shows how conventional elongated containers can be connected with tether lines so as to make it possible to extend their use aspects further as tethered pair feeders. This can be done by providing nipple seal rings with attachment means to connect tether line. Also, another method of attachment can be accomplished by using a special tether line arrangement which has thin, flat rings that are passed through seal ring openings and then placed on tops of nipple or closure cap flanges and then seal rings are rotated to tighten the assemblies. Another arrangement is a tether line with elastic end loops which are stretched and placed around necks of the containers. Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a tethered pair of spherical infant feeders or containers, with one container having a cut portion showing seal ring, container, and nipple details, with other container showing how pronged seal ring key, in phantom view, is used to rotate seal ring.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a closure cap, with cut portion showing interior.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a closure cap with attached toy (bell) with actuating knob.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a tethered pair of spherical containers in reduced scale, with closure caps in place, forming tethered ball set.

FIG. 5 is a reduced scale perspective of a tethered pair of conventional elongated containers with closure cap on a container and with toy objects inside same container.

FIG. 6 is a reduced scale perspective of a tether line assemblage that can be used to form a tethered pair of conventional elongated containers.

FIG. 1 shows a general view of tethered pair of spherical liquid feeder containers 1, made up of two unit containers 2, with each having the same basic features and elements such as spherical bulb 3 with threaded nozzle on outside wall, threaded seal ring 4, seal ring access holes 5 to facilitate placement of a donut-shaped seal ring key 12, shown in phantom view, having projecting prongs 13 that can be placed into access holes 5 for rotation of seal ring 4. Conventional liquid feeding nipple 6 is clamped in place by having its pliable flange 8 squeezed between the inner shoulder of container bulb 3 and the inner shoulder of seal ring 4 with screw action taking place by mating threads 9 when seal ring 4 is rotated in closing direction. Nipple feeder hole 7 is outlet of nipple. Hole 10 in seal ring is for receiving and attachment of tether line 11 which connects both container units 2. The diameter of a spherical container is about 23/4" (7 cm) and container will hold about 4.0 oz. (124 cc) of liquid. The tether line is fashioned in length to have spacing of centers of containers approximate that of the average mother's breasts spacing when tether line is taut. This should make length of tether line about 6" to 7" (15.3 to 17.8 cm) between containers. For safety reasons and for added attraction for infant, beads and/or sleeves can be strung on line. The seal ring key 12 could in other forms so long as the projecting prongs 13 can be placed easily into the access holes 5 on seal ring 4. Several wrench type keys could be used. Receiving hole 10 in seal ring 4 could also be placed in container bulb 3, just under the outer shoulder where the wall material is fairly thick. The container bulb 3 and seal ring 4 should be made of transparent material to provide better visual effect of play toys inside container when that option is taken. Also, better cleaning of bulb is possible. Spherical container bulb 3 has large nozzle opening 14 which allows easy cleaning access to inside container.

FIG. 2 shows an optional feeder/toy fixture in form of a container closure cap 20, with segmental spherical top surface 21, and flange 22 which is same size of nipple flange 8 in FIG. 1. Cap 20 should be made of rigid material and sized so top surface 21 will be flush with that of seal ring 4 and should form a smooth spherical surface in the general area.

FIG. 3 shows an assemblage of closure cap with toy attached 30, with main elements consisting of segmental spherical surface 31, flange 32, rod passage hole 33, twirling knob 34, hanging rod 35, and bell 36. Assemblage 30 can be used in place of nipple 6 or closure cap 20. Many types of toy items can be added to closure cap.

FIG. 4 shows how a tethered pair of spherical containers 1A appears when converted to a pair of play balls, with each unit container 2 having a closure cap 20 in place of a feeding nipple 6. Segmental spherical surface 21 of closure cap 20 blends with spherical surfaces of container bulb 3 and seal ring 4 to form a reasonable spherical container or ball.

FIG. 5 shows a tethered pair of conventional elongated feeding containers 40 made up of conventional containers 41 and seal rings 42, with one container unit having standard nipple 6 and the other having a closure cap 43. Each seal ring 42 has a boss 44 with eyelet 45 for attachment of tether line 46. Play objects 47 are placed inside the container that has closure cap 43 for added toy effect. A wide variety of toy objects can be added in this manner. Also, toys that can be actuated by infant can be used, such as that shown in FIG. 3. Tether attachment boss 44 and eyelet 45 on seal ring 41 could be replaced by adhesively attached pad with perforated tab to receive tether line.

FIG. 6 is a tether line assemblage 50 that can be used to form a tethered pair liquid feeder set using conventional elongated containers and their seal rings without any modifications. Assemblage 50 consists of two units, with each unit being a thin flat pliable washer-like ring 51, with small tab 52 and with aperture opening 53 therein. The two units are connected together by tie fasteners 54 and ends of tether line 55. Optional beads 56 can be strung on line 55 as added play item and as safety precaution against possible cutting effect of line. Length of line should be about 6" to 7" (15.3 to 17.8 cm) long between seal rings. In attaching tether line assemblage 50 to containers, the washer-like ring 51 is first folded slightly and passed through the top opening of a free seal ring similar to that shown in FIG. 5. Next, a nipple 6 or closure cap 43 is placed on top shoulder of elongated container 41 and the washer-like ring 51 is placed on top of the flange of nipple 6 or closure cap 43. Ring 51 is sized with same outer diameter as nipple 6 or closure cap 43. With all items in proper position, seal ring is then turned to clamp all items together, with tab 52 passing up through seal ring opening along side nipple 6 or at edge of closure cap 43, depending on which item is used. Same treatment is done on each container. Use of containers of 4 oz. (125 cc) volume is suggested for this type of tethered pair containers. This tether line assemblage provides a simple and inexpensive method of making a tethered pair liquid feeder/toy set for infant use.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed in the foregoing description, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is intended to embrace any alternatives, modifications, and rearrangements and/or substitutions of parts, elements, and formats that may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.