# US 12,178,967 B2 · Therapeutic or play device and method of use > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,178,967 B2 - Document ID: US12178967B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/490,471 - Filed: 2018-02-28 - Published: 2020-08-20 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2017-03-03 - Applicants: Dimitra Baveas - Inventors: Dimitra Baveas - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12178967B2 ## CPC - A61F 5/37: Restraining devices for the body or for body parts; Restraining shirts - A61M 21/0094: {Isolation chambers used therewith, i.e. for isolating individuals from external stimuli (other treatment rooms or enclosures A61G10/00)} - A61F 5/3776: {by means of a blanket or belts (to chairs only A61F5/3792)} - A61M 2021/0022: {by the tactile sense, e.g. vibrations} - A61M 2021/0027: {by the hearing sense} - A61M 2021/0044: {by the sight sense} - A61M 2205/0216: Materials providing elastic properties, e.g. for facilitating deformation and avoid breaking - A61F: FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS (dental prosthetics A61C) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} ## Abstract A therapeutic or play device that provides a user with a sense of spatial orientation and/or sensory feedback or input such as people with autism/sensory processing disorders. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A therapeutic or play assembly comprising a therapeutic or play device and a planar base, the therapeutic or play device including a substantially planar, multidirectional resilient, flexible sheet of material with a pair of attachment mechanisms, and wherein the pair of attachment mechanisms extend continuously along an entirety of each of a pair of opposed parallel side edges respectively to allow the sheet of material to be attached relative to a surface of the planar base at two spaced apart connection points to form a restricting or confining volume with an entry and an exit at opposed ends of the sheet of material with a resistance applied across the entry and the exit perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of each of the pair of attachment mechanisms, the entry and the exit are elastically deformable requiring at least partial deformation of the sheet of material for entry and exit and wherein the resistance applied is variable across the sheet of material based on a distance between the two spaced apart connection points, wherein at least a portion of an underside of the sheet of material is provided in a different configuration to provide different sensory effect in the form of touch on the underside, wherein one or more materials of construction of the sheet of material are chosen to provide a particular sensory effect in the form of touch, and wherein each of the pair of attachment mechanisms is a hook portion; and the surface of the planar base comprises loop portions reciprocal to the hook portion; wherein, when the therapeutic or play device is attached to the planar base, the pair of attachment mechanisms and the sheet of material are substantially in the same plane. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet of material is formed from a 20:80 blend of spandex and nylon. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the planar base is provided to be anchored to a surface and relative to which the sheet of material is attached. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more shaped entryway portions are provided at an entry/exit of the device in order to hold the entry/exit open for access. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, further including one or more holes in the sheet of material. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, further including one or more pockets onto the sheet of material in order to allow a user to locate items of educational or intrinsic value. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, further including one or more lights or luminescent portions. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 1, further including a cover used over each of the pair of attachment mechanisms to releasably cover each of the pair of attachment mechanisms. ### Claim 9 A method of using a therapeutic or play device, the therapeutic or play device including a substantially planar, multidirectional resilient, flexible sheet of material with a pair of attachment mechanisms extending continuously along an entirety of each of a pair of opposed parallel side edges respectively, the method comprising: attaching the sheet of material relative to a surface provided by a planar base having loop portions at two spaced apart connection points to form a restricting or confining volume with an entry and an exit at opposed ends of the sheet of material with a resistance applied across the entry and the exit perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of each of the pair of attachment mechanisms, the entry and the exit are elastically deformable requiring at least partial deformation of the sheet of material for entry and exit and wherein the resistance applied is variable across the sheet of material based on a distance between the two spaced apart connection points, wherein at least a portion of an underside of the sheet of material is provided in a different configuration in order to provide different sensory effect in the form of touch on the underside, and wherein one or more materials of construction of the sheet of material are chosen to provide a particular sensory effect in the form of touch, and wherein each of the pair of attachment mechanisms a hook portion, wherein, when the therapeutic or play device is attached to the planar base, the pair of attachment mechanisms and the sheet of material are substantially in the same plane. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of using a therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the pair of attachment mechanisms are provided to allow the device to assume other configurations including a tube, open on both ends. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of using a therapeutic or play device as claimed in claim 9, wherein more than one therapeutic or play device is attached relative to one another. ### Claim 12 A therapeutic or play assembly comprising a therapeutic or play device and a planar base, the therapeutic or play device including a substantially planar, multidirectional resilient, flexible sheet of material with a pair of attachment mechanisms, and wherein the pair of attachment mechanisms extend continuously along an entirety of each of a pair of opposed parallel side edges respectively to allow the sheet of material to be attached relative to a surface of the planar base at two spaced apart connection points to form a restricting or confining volume with an entry and an exit at opposed ends of the sheet of material with a resistance applied across the entry and the exit perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of each of the pair of attachment mechanisms, the entry and the exit are elastically deformable requiring at least partial deformation of the sheet of material for entry and exit and wherein the resistance applied is variable across the sheet of material based on a distance between the two spaced apart connection points, wherein at least a portion of an underside of the sheet of material is provided in a different configuration to provide different sensory effect in the form of touch on the underside, wherein one or more materials of construction of the sheet of material are chosen to provide a particular sensory effect in the form of touch, and wherein each of the pair of attachment mechanisms is a hook portion; and the surface of the planar base comprises loop portions reciprocal to the hook portion, and wherein the planar base is entirely planar; wherein, when the therapeutic or play device is attached to the planar base, the pair of attachment mechanisms and the sheet of material are substantially in the same plane.