Patent Application
20170209299
None.
Not Applicable.
A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to devices for preventing thumb and finger sucking. In particular, the present invention relates to such devices that prevent the person from obtaining a vacuum at his or her thumb or finger to discourage any sucking activity and assist the person break the habit of thumb or finger sucking. More particularly, the present invention relates to such devices that are configured in the form of a glove that is configured to allow the person to fully utilize his or her hand.
B. Background
As well known to many parents, the sucking of the thumb or one or more of the fingers is a relatively common habit among infants and young children, particularly those children who are less than approximately two years old. Although most children outgrow the habit of sucking their thumb or fingers while they are relatively young, some children continue to suck their thumb and/or one or more of their fingers until well into their early school years. Unfortunately, thumb or finger sucking can result in damage to the child's teeth and jawbone if they continue such activity for too long of a period. For instance, if the child continues to suck their thumb and/or fingers after the age of three, which is when the permanent teeth typically start to come in, the sucking action can cause their teeth to grow out of alignment and position, can reshape the jawbone due to it being relatively soft and pliable, can affect the growth of the roof the child's mouth (his or her palate) and lead to problems with regard to chewing, speaking and snoring. As well known, once any activity becomes a habit and remains a habit for a period of time, it becomes much harder to break the habit. As a result, many people recommend that the parent take action to discourage thumb and finger sucking while the child is still very young, such as around the time the child turns two, to prevent the activity from becoming a habit.
One of the traditional methods of discouraging thumb or finger sucking is to provide the child with a pacifier or other sucking device to replace the thumb or finger sucking. Unfortunately, this may only result in the child developing a habit for the pacifier or other device, which can result in many of the same problems as thumb or finger sucking. In addition, once the pacifier or other device is taken away, the child may simply revert to the thumb or finger sucking as a replacement. Another traditional method of discouraging thumb or finger sucking is to place a substance on the child's favorite digit to suck, typically either the thumb or a pair of fingers, such that when the child puts the thumb or fingers into his or her mouth he or she will find the taste unpleasant or even revolting and not want to suck the digit. Substances utilized for such purposes tend to be very sour, such as lemon juice or the like, tart or otherwise something the child would not want to taste. Unfortunately, this method is seriously limited in its ability to be effective because the substance can be wiped off and/or the child can suffer through the initial displeasant taste until the substance is substantially removed from the digit. In addition, many substances that are useful for this purpose can be harmful to the eyes if the child rubs the eyes with the substance on his or her hand. Some substances, such as cayenne pepper laced polish, can be harmful to some children, particularly infants. Another one of the traditional methods of discouraging thumb or finger sucking is to place a larger sized long sleeve shirt on the child and pull the sleeves over his or her hands and then pin or otherwise secure the sleeves in a closed position around the hands or place gloves on the child's hands. Unfortunately, both of these methods can usually be undone or removed by the child who is not interested in having to cease sucking his or her thumb or finger and both methods may interfere with a young child's dexterity development.
A number of prior art patents have attempted to address potential solutions to the problem of how to discourage thumb and finger sucking. Some of these devices are configured to be worn around the hand and have an extending portion that encloses or partially encloses the thumb and one or more fingers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,870 to Zilber discloses a thumb and finger sucking prevention device that utilizes a vacuum-breaking cylinder placed over the thumb or one or more fingers that prevents the formation of a sucking vacuum by utilizing air passages between in the cylinder or between the cylinder and the digit. The cylinder is sufficiently rigid to prevent collapsing, which would allow sucking, and is secured to the hand by means of a wristband and a strap that connects the cylinder to the wristband. Various other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 1,990,384 to Klohs, U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,093 to Pettiet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,014 to Pace, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,633,037 to Rood and U.S. Pat. No. 1,794,515 to Davis also describe thumb sucking prevention devices that have a generally rigid, tubular member which encloses the thumb or a finger and have one or more straps or ties that secure the device to the user's hand to prevent the user from sucking the thumb or finger. Most of these types of devices have rigid cylinder members that can inhibit the child's dexterity development, provide a chewable surface for the child to chew on, lead to chaffing of the enclosed digit and allow moisture to accumulate between the cylinder and digit.
Other prior art patents disclose glove or glove-like devices that are configured for preventing a child from sucking his or her thumb and/or one or more fingers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,783,759 to Hill discloses a glove for preventing thumb sucking that comprises a glove having open ended thumb and finger extensions with flexible strips embedded in the woven material of the extensions to prevent the lips of the infant from forming a complete vacuum around the thumb or fingers. The glove is secured to the hand with a chain and lock combination. The flexible strips appear to be such that a child could pinch them off with his or her teeth to obtain sufficient vacuum to enjoy sucking and the chain could hurt the child's teeth if he or she bit it. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0028341 to Smith discloses a glove-like device for preventing thumb sucking that comprises a glove with an opening for all of the fingers to extend through to allow uncovered use of the fingers and a thumb enclosure that completely covers the thumb to prevent sucking thereof. A tie mechanism is used to secure the glove to the hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,405 to Brock discloses a thumb sucking deterrent device that also comprises a glove made out of cloth with an opening for all of the fingers to extend through and thumb shield structure made out of terry cloth having outward extending loops with a chamber that receives the thumb. An anti-sucking latex rubber coating coats the thumb portion to prevent sucking. Snaps are utilized to secure the glove to the hand. U.S. Pat. No. 2,498,122 to Haniuk discloses digit sucking deterrent device comprising a mitt worn over the hand having open ended thumb and finger extensions through which the thumb and fingers extend and one or more tubular shaped guards, preferably made out of plastic, that are placed on the extending thumb/finger to prevent suction thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,901 to Pales discloses a device for preventing thumb or finger sucking that is configured as a partial glove having a tubular closed-ended digit receiving part which receives and encloses the thumb or one or more fingers and an external flange near the end of the digit receiving part to prevent insertion of the part into the mouth. The wrist portion of the glove tightly encircles the wrist to prevent its removal. Several of the above-described devices do not prevent sucking of the fingers and have a securing mechanism, such as ties or snaps, that can be easily undone by most toddlers, which would likely prevent their effective use for toddlers and older children. Other devices have removable suction prevention components that appear to be easily removed by toddlers and older children. Other devices are configured in a manner that either limits dexterity of the thumb or fingers or can be relatively easy to manipulate the hand out of the glove and, as such, will only work on children who want to stop sucking their thumb or fingers.
Although the prior art generally describes a number of different types of devices for preventing the wearer from sucking his or her thumb and/or one or more fingers, there are certain limitations to such devices that have limited their full acceptance and use. What is needed, therefore, is an improved anti-suction device that prevents the wearer from effectively sucking his or her thumb and/or one or more fingers so as to discourage such sucking activity and either break a pre-developed sucking habit or prevent the sucking from becoming a habit. The preferred device should be configured to prevent the wearer from being able to obtain a vacuum around the thumb or fingers so as to discourage him or her from wanting to suck the thumb or fingers. Preferably, the device should be configured such that the wearer, even older children, cannot easily remove the device from his or her hand or remove the anti-suction component from the device to defeat the purpose of the device. The preferred device should be configured so as to not interfere with the dexterity development of the wearer by allowing the wearer to accomplish the same movement and tasks that he or she could without the device. Preferably, the device should be adaptable for use to prevent sucking of the thumb and/or one or more of the fingers and be adaptable to a wide range of sizes and shapes of hands to accommodate different ages and sizes of children or other thumb/finger suckers.
The glove for preventing sucking of thumb and fingers of the present invention solves the problems and provides the benefits identified above. That is to say, the present invention discloses an anti-sucking device that is configured as a glove which is worn on the user's hand with a hand portion secured to the user's wrist and a digit portion with an affected member that covers the affected digit or digits having one or more tubes disposed along the length of the affected portion to prevent the wearer from being able to create a vacuum to discourage him or her from sucking the digit or digits and prevent or break a sucking habit. The preferred embodiment also includes a securing mechanism at the wrist area of the hand portion that prevents the wearer from easily removing the glove and, thereby defeating the anti-suction benefits of the present invention. The present invention does not include any anti-suction components that can be removed by the wearer. Because the glove of the present invention allows the wearer to perform the same tasks as he or she would be able to without the glove, it will not interfere with the wearer's dexterity development. The glove of the present invention can be manufactured in a wide variety of different sizes, such as a small size for infants and toddlers and a larger size for young children and adults who may have a thumb/finger sucking problem, so the glove can comfortably fit wearer's having different sizes and shapes of hands.
In a primary embodiment of the present invention, the glove for preventing sucking of thumb and fingers comprises a glove body, which generally conforms to the shape of the wearer's hand, having a hand portion with a hand opening for receiving the wearer's hand therein and a digit portion with a plurality of open ended digit receiving members configured to receive the wearer's thumb and fingers therein. The digit receiving members are open to allow at least the tips of the wearer's fingers and thumb to extend beyond the end of the digit receiving members so he or she may use the ends of the digits for grabbing and manipulating objects. To prevent sucking of the affected digits, that being those digits (thumb or fingers) which the wearer normally sucks on, the corresponding digit receiving members, designated as affected members, extend substantially the full length of the affected digits. Those digit receiving members which receive digits that are not typically sucked on are preferably configured to not extend beyond the base of their digit. Each of the affected members have one or more anti-suction components disposed along a length of the affected member that are configured to define an air flow channel in the affected member that prevents the wearer from obtaining a vacuum when he or she sucks on the affected member or digit. In one embodiment where the thumb is the affected digit, the affected member that extends along the thumb can have two anti-suction components that are spaced apart to prevent the wearer from pinching both of the components at the same time with his or her teeth, which would block the air flow channel and allow a vacuum to be formed. The anti-suction components are positioned in the affected members such that the first end of the component does not extend completely to the open end of the affected member in order to prevent clogging or other blocking of the air flow channel defined by the anti-suction component. In one embodiment, the second end of the anti-suction components extends into the hand portion of the glove body and air is drawn therefrom. In the preferred embodiment, the anti-suction component is a tube that has the air flow channel disposed inside the tube. Preferably, any such tube is made out of materials and configured so as to not be easily crushed. In an alternative configuration, the anti-suction component can be a series of interconnected balls, diamonds, beads or other interconnected objects or a chain or chain-like object that define the air flow channel around such objects.
The glove has a securing mechanism at the hand opening that is configured to secure the glove to the wearer's hand in a manner which prevents the glove from being removed by the wearer. In one embodiment, the securing mechanism comprises a pair of non-elastic straps and an attachment mechanism which attaches or otherwise joins the straps together. In another embodiment, one strap encircles the glove near the hand opening of the glove body and the attachment mechanism joins the ends of the strap together. The attachment mechanism can be a hook on one strap or strap end that is configured to engage a mesh panel on the other strap or strap end. In the preferred embodiment, the attachment mechanism is a side release buckle that comprises a first buckle which lockedly joins to a second buckle to secure the glove around the wrist area of the wearer's hand. The preferred embodiment of the glove also includes a mechanism cover that at least partially or fully covers the attachment mechanism in a manner which makes it much more difficult for the wearer to disengage the attachment mechanism by limiting the wearer's ability to use his or her sight or touch senses to figure out how to open, unlock, disconnect or otherwise disengage the attachment mechanism.
Accordingly, the primary aspect of the present invention is to provide a device for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers that has the advantages discussed above and overcomes the disadvantages and limitations associated with the prior art anti-thumb or finger sucking devices.
It is also an important aspect of the present invention to provide a glove for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers that is configured to prevent the wearer from obtaining a vacuum around the thumb or finger he or she likes to suck so as to discourage the wearer from sucking his or her thumb in order to prevent or break a sucking habit.
It is also an important aspect of the present invention to provide a glove for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers having one or more tubular portions that extend substantially the entire length of a thumb or finger and one or more tubes that extend substantially the length of the tubular member to prevent the wearer from obtaining a vacuum around the thumb or finger.
It is also an important aspect of the present invention to provide a glove for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers having a securing mechanism at the wrist portion of the glove that is configured to prevent the wearer from removing the glove and, thereby, defeating the anti-sucking benefits of the glove.
It is also an important aspect of the present invention to provide a glove for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers that is configured to allow the wearer to utilize his or her hand and perform tasks therewith so as to not interfere with the wearer's dexterity development.
Another important aspect of the present invention is to provide a glove for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers that is adaptable to being configured to prevent sucking of the thumb and/or one or more fingers.
Yet another important aspect of the present invention is to provide a glove for preventing sucking of the thumb or fingers that can be manufactured in a variety of different sizes and shapes to conform to the wearer's hand so that it may be utilized with different ages and sizes of wearers.
The above and other aspects and advantages of the present invention are explained in greater detail by reference to the attached figures and the description of the preferred embodiment which follows. As set forth herein, the present invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, mode of operation and combination of the above presently described and understood by the claims.
In the drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiments and the best modes presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:
With reference to the figures where like elements have been given like numerical designations to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present invention, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are set forth below. The enclosed figures and drawings are merely illustrative of one or more of the preferred embodiments and, as such, represent one or more ways of configuring the present invention. Although specific components, materials, configurations and uses are illustrated, it should be understood that a number of variations to the components and to the configuration of those components described herein and in the accompanying figures can be made without changing the scope and function of the invention set forth herein. For instance, although the figures and description provided herein are directed to certain shapes and designs for the glove, those skilled in the art will readily understand that this is merely for purposes of simplifying the present disclosure and that the present invention is not so limited.
A glove for preventing sucking of the thumb and fingers that is manufactured out of the various components and configured pursuant to the preferred embodiments of the present invention is shown generally as 10 in
As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, glove body 12 is configured to generally conform to the shape of a typical hand 20 and to be generally worn in much the same way as a conventional, albeit fingerless, glove. Although glove body 12 can be made out of a wide variety of different materials, any material selected for glove body 12 must be substantially breathable, or at least not completely closed to air passing through the material, to prevent the wearer from achieving a vacuum against the outer surface of glove 10. Being breathable also helps avoid skin problems that could otherwise arise as a result of wearing a fully closed cover for an extended period of time. In addition, the preferred material for glove body 12 is one that is substantially flexible so glove 10 will not impede the wearer's motor skill usage and dexterity development, comfortable fitting so glove 10 can be worn for extended periods of time without causing discomfort for the wearer and relatively soft so glove 10 will not chafe or otherwise irritate the wearer. An example of such a material is cloth fabric.
As shown in
In order to prevent the wearer of glove 10 from being able to obtain sufficient vacuum to suck their affected digits 38, each of the affected members 40 are provided with one or more anti-suction components 42 that, individually, define an air flow channel 44 inside the affected member 40 such that any attempt to suck on the affected digits 38 will be futile, effectively discouraging sucking activity so as to prevent or break a habit of such sucking. In a preferred embodiment, as set forth in more detail below, a single affected member has one or more anti-suction components, such as 42a and 42b of
As shown in the embodiments of
As stated above, each of the affected members 40 will have at least one anti-suction component 42 disposed along a portion of the length of affected member 40. In a preferred embodiment, the anti-suction component 42 extends substantially the entire length of the affected member 40, from near its distal end, where affected digit 38 extends outwardly therefrom, to the hand portion 14 of glove body 12, as exemplified in
To secure the glove 10 onto the wearer's hand 20 so that he or she will not be able to easily remove it from the hand 20 and, therefore, make his or her affected digits 38 available for sucking, the glove 10 of the present invention is provided with securing mechanism 66. The securing mechanism 66 should be of the type that a parent or other responsible person can utilize to secure glove 10 to the hand 20 but that the wearer cannot easily manipulate to remove. In a preferred embodiment, the securing mechanism 66 comprises a pair of strap members, first strap member 68 and second strap member 70 (which can be separate strap members or the opposite ends of a single strap), that are sized to join around the wrist area 72 of wearer's hand 20 and an engaging mechanism 74 that engagedly connects the two strap members 68/70 together, as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the securing mechanism 66 comprises a comfort strap 90 that is disposed around or at least substantially around the first end 18 of the glove body 12 of glove 10 and a buckle strap 92 that is positioned on the outer surface 94 of comfort strap 90, as shown in
To ensure securing mechanism 66 is effective and that the engaging mechanism 74, best shown in its closed position 100 in
To further strengthen the effectiveness of the glove 10, mechanism cover 102 can be made of a material of having sufficient thickness and stiffness to prevent the wearer from discovering how engaging mechanism 74 works by using his or her touch sensation to feel the buckle or other engaging mechanism 74. One such material for use in mechanism cover 102 is nylon webbing, but it can be any material such as leather, vinyl or other synthetic or natural fabrics or other non-fabric materials that will prevent the wearer from using a great deal or all of the touch sense of his or her fingers to feel the shape of engaging mechanism 74 underneath mechanism cover 102 and thus figure out how to open or otherwise disengage the engaging mechanism 74. Additionally, the mechanism cover 102 is to be made of a sufficiently thick material as to make it difficult for the wearer to unfasten the clip members 96/98 or other components of engaging mechanism 74 in order to remove the glove 10. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the mechanism cover 102 will require extra pressure, which will not be able to be supplied by the wearer, needed on buckle type of engaging mechanism 74 to squeeze in the sides and release engaging mechanism 74, as would be done in typical use of such mechanisms. Buckle strap 92 should be made of a material that is non-elastic to prevent the glove 10 from being pulled off of the hand 20 of the wearer without properly releasing engaging mechanism 74. The sizing of buckle strap 92 can be adjusted by the use of a ladder lock 104, shown in
If desired, the engaging mechanism 74 shown in the figures can be replaced with other designs of buckles or fasteners or locking buckles or locking fasteners that effectively prevent the removal of glove 10 from the wearer's hand 20 and which, in order to be effective, may or may not require objects similar or identical to mechanism cover 102. If desired, the two-strap design that features buckle strap 92 and comfort strap 94 can be combined into a single strap design. This design of securing mechanism 66 is applicable to a wide variety of designs of glove 10 that may or may not include covers for any and all digits of wearer's hand 20 in all possible combinations or permutations of digit coverage. As an added functional and safety feature, the ladder lock 104 can be secured onto buckle strap 92 by folding over and stitching the end 106 of buckle strap 92 a sufficient number of times to build up enough thickness to prevent buckle strap 92 from slipping out of ladder lock 104, which would allow the glove 10 to be removed from the wearer's hand 20 to due the slack in buckle strap 92 that would result or due to the removal of ladder lock 104 from buckle strap 92, causing the securing mechanism 66 to become ineffective. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, other configurations of securing mechanism 66 and engaging mechanism 74, some of which are described in the above-identified prior art or otherwise known to those skilled in the art, can also be utilized with glove 10 of the present invention.
Uses of the securing mechanism 66 shown in
If desired, one or more decorative items 82 can be placed on the upper surface 84 of glove body 12, as shown in
If also desired, glove 10 can include one or more gripping members 88 to improve the gripping ability of the glove 10, as shown in
In use, glove 10 is manufactured with a glove body 12 configured to generally conform to the intended wearer's hand 20 with the desired configuration of affected members 40 to prevent the wearer from sucking on the affected digits 38. For some wearer's this will be a thumb 28 configuration, such as shown in
While there are shown and described herein specific forms of the invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited, but is susceptible to various modifications and rearrangements in design and materials without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, it should be noted that the present invention is subject to various modification with regard to any dimensional relationships set forth herein and modifications in assembly, materials, size, shape and use. For instance, there are numerous components described herein that can be replaced with equivalent functioning components to accomplish the objectives of the present invention.
