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US 5,474,093 AGranted
Thumb sucker training device
OwnerMonte C. Pettietinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for retraining thumb suckers has a glove fitted to the digit with an external cover having a hard shape which impairs the normal gratification derived and an inherently unpleasant taste to displace the normally pleasant associations upon which the habit is based. Straps encircle the wrist and a lockable buckle resists all but destructive removal of the device.
Claims1
A method for training a subject habituated to sucking a digit of the hand comprising the steps of:
- providing a material consisting primarily of aluminum which reacts when exposed to saliva;
- shaping the material in a hard shape to cover the habitually sucked digit;
- covering said habitually sucked digit with said hard shape;
- impairing oral gratification to the subject through contact with said hard shape when said digit is inserted in the mouth;
- inducing an unpleasant taste by the reaction of saliva with aluminum when said digit is sucked;
- and
- repeating the steps of impairing and inducing whenever the subject is moved to so insert and suck said digit.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.