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US 9,308,463 B2Granted
Suction cup teether toy
OwnerRoss E. Bartelsinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a new type of suction cup toy for children and associated methods of use thereof, and, more particularly, to a teether, a play toy, a construction toy, and/or a combination teether and toy.
Claims19
A suction cup toy adapted to removably attach to a nonporous surface and adapted for easy removal from the surface once attached, the suction cup toy comprising:
- a substantially planar sheet comprising a flexible, chewable material having a front side, a back side opposite the front side, and a perimeter section;
- a first array of suction cups disposed on either of the front side or the back side, wherein each suction cup in the first array extends perpendicularly away from the sheet and is adapted to removably attach to the surface;
- and
- a means for holding the toy so as to detach the suction cups of the first array from the surface, wherein the means is selected from a group consisting of:
- a lip on the perimeter surface of the planar sheet wherein the lip protrudes perpendicular to the sheet and extends a distance away from both the front side and the back side;
- a first textured portion disposed on the back side with a first protrusion extending away from the back side and a second textured portion disposed on the front side opposite the first textured portion with a second protrusion extending away from the front side;
- a passageway extending through the sheet from the back side to the front side, wherein the passageway is adapted to allow a child to grasp and place a lifting force on the toy;
- and
- a portion of the first array wherein a distance between adjacent ones of the suction cups in the portion of the first array is increased so as to allow a child to insert one or more fingers between the adjacent ones of the suction cups;
- wherein the surface further comprises two or more holes extending through the sheet from the back side to the front side that are adapted to allow the passage of air.
7 more elements
A suction cup toy adapted to removably attach to a nonporous surface and adapted for easy removal from the surface once attached, the toy comprising:
- a tube comprising a flexible, chewable material having a surface comprising a front section, a back section opposite the front section, an exterior section, and an interior section opposite the exterior section, wherein the front section and back section are substantially orthogonal to the exterior section and the interior section and the tube is toroidal;
- a first array of suction cups disposed on the back section, wherein each suction cup in the first array extends perpendicularly away from the back section and is adapted to removably attach to the surface;
- a second array of suction cups disposed on the front section, wherein each suction cup in the second array extends perpendicularly away from the front section and is adapted to removably attach to the surface;
- and
- a third array of suction cups disposed on the exterior section, wherein each suction cup in the third array extends perpendicularly away from the exterior section and is adapted to removably attach to the surface;
- wherein the suction cups in the first array are of substantially equivalent dimensions to the suction cups in the second array and the number of suction cups in the first array is greater than the number of suction cups in the second array, such that the force required to remove the first array from the surface is greater than the force required to remove the second array from the surface.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.