ES2653769B1 - ASSEMBLY MODULAR SHOCK AND ASSEMBLY PROCEDURE - Google Patents

Abstract

Adjustable modular pacifier formed by a nipple (1) that incorporates a foot-like flange (6), a fixing washer (2) formed by a base (9) with a through hole (10), and two anchor legs ( 11), a platelet (3) having a clamping hole (14) with an inner flange (15) lowered for the settlement of the fixing washer (2), which crosses the platelet (3) and a cap (4) , with a hollow and hollow geometry with a trunk (17), to be inserted in the foot of the nipple (6), and some windows (18) for fixing the anchor legs (11) and an open ring (5) that incorporates a fixing harpoon (19) at each of the ends, for fixing the anchor legs (11) through the corresponding windows (18) of the cap (4). The invention also describes the assembly of the components.

Description

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ASSEMBLY MODULAR SHOCK AND ASSEMBLY PROCEDURE

DESCRIPTION

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pacifier formed by components that are assembled only by mechanical means and can be assembled by a user by selecting the different parts that comprise it.

The invention also describes the method of mounting the pacifier.

Find special application in the field of baby pacifiers industry.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE RESOLVED AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the current state of the art a multitude of pacifiers are known in very varied forms and with different applications.

A way of developing pacifiers has been directed towards the development of models that incorporate new functionalities. An example is document U201530165, which describes a pacifier that incorporates a menthol inhaler for situations in which the baby is clogged or has a hard time breathing.

Another way of development has been focused on the design of the components, so that pacifiers have been developed with geometries that make the pacifier more attractive to the user either by the design of the nipple, the color-based design of the components or silkscreen-based ornaments or the more ergonomic design of the components.

One of the great limitations when designing a pacifier is in terms of existing sanitary regulations, increasingly restrictive mainly due to the fact that it is a product that is introduced into the mouth, formed by a soft material that can be swallowed and produce asphyxiation and that contains several components that must be joined. In addition, we must bear in mind that the user of the product is usually babies or children of very reduced age who are not aware of the possible problems that the product may cause.

For this reason, the existing regulations are very restrictive when using components

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that they were not sufficiently secured in their union. Being a product made up of small parts, the disassembly of any of its components could cause significant damage.

On the other hand, the existing regulations are also very strict regarding the process of joining the components that form the pacifier. In this way, there is a strict ban on the use of glue and applicable chemicals that may come into contact with the user.

With these premises, a current pacifier is made up of the smallest possible parts that are joined by ultrasonic welding procedures or similar, where no glues or similar chemical components are applied and where the design is focused on the irreversible fixation of the different components by the ultrasonic welding itself.

This procedure creates a series of drawbacks such as, for example, that the design is very limited and the subsequent realization of ornaments or decoration processes is extremely expensive, because the pacifier components themselves interfere with the decoration process.

The present invention describes a pacifier in which its components are assembled only by mechanical means so that, on the one hand, the manufacturer can decorate the different pacifier components by printing, screen printing or decorating processes before being assembled and, on the other On the other hand, you can supply the completely dismantled pacifier to the points of sale, so that the buyer can select the different pieces to assemble a pacifier to their liking, choosing the pieces according to the color or the ornaments previously incorporated to create a pacifier more or less colorful or only for the pieces that the user can decorate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes an assembled modular pacifier that is formed by an open ring, a hood, a platelet and a nipple, with a foot-like flange, which crosses the platelet.

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The pacifier incorporates, in addition, a fixing washer formed by a base with a through hole and two anchoring legs for its fixation in the platelet. The washer can incorporate at least one recess to adjust the positioning of other components in the assembly.

The plate has a fastening hole with dimensions corresponding to the base of the washer and an internal flange lowered for settlement. The inner flange is configured in two sections, leaving two free spaces for the location of two anchor legs. In the inner flange, moreover, at least one shoulder can be configured for the settlement of the washer recesses.

The hood has a domed and hollow geometry with a trunk designed to be positioned inside the teat foot. It also incorporates windows for fixing the corresponding anchoring feet of the washer.

The open ring incorporates a fixing harpoon at each of the ends, for fixing the anchoring legs through the corresponding hood windows.

The anchor legs have a geometric configuration in correspondence with the windows, where they settle once assembled.

To ensure that there is only a single way to assemble the different pacifier components, the parts involved incorporate an asymmetry that prevents another position from being mounted. For this, for example, the cross section of the neck of the nipple is asymmetric, as are the components of the pieces that are mounted on it, such as the through hole of the fixing washer and the trunk of the cap. Finally, to achieve the unique positioning of the fixing washer with respect to the rest of the pacifier, it is sufficient that at least one element of the fixing washer has an asymmetrical configuration with respect to an axis of the base, such as the contour of the base or an entree.

The invention also describes the process of assembling a pacifier defined by the preceding claims, which comprises the following phases:

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a) Mount the nipple in the fixing washer, inserting the nipple foot into the through hole of the fixing washer;

b) Mount the platelet by inserting the anchoring feet of the fixing washer through the fixing hole of the platelet until the base of the fixing washer is seated on the inner flange of the platelet;

c) Mount the hood by inserting the trunk inside the nipple and the anchor legs in the windows;

d) Fit the open ring by inserting the end fixing harpoons into the holes of the anchoring legs through the hood windows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

To complete the invention that is being described and in order to help a better understanding of the features of the invention, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a set of drawings is attached where, for illustrative purposes and not limiting, the following figures have been represented:

- Figure 1 represents a top perspective view of the pacifier of the assembled invention.

- Figure 2 represents a bottom perspective view of the pacifier of the assembled invention.

- Figure 3 represents a front view of the pacifier with several exploded parts.

- Figure 4 represents a side view of the pacifier with several exploded parts.

- Figure 5 represents a side view of the mounted pacifier.

- Figure 6 represents a sectional side view of the pacifier mounted with an enlargement showing the way of mounting the nipple in the body of the pacifier.

- Figure 7 represents a front view of the mounted pacifier.

- Figure 8 represents a sectional front view of the pacifier mounted with an enlargement showing the anchoring system of the ring on the pacifier.

- Figure 9 represents an exploded top perspective view of the washer and the plate showing the unseen parts of the components.

- Figure 10 represents an exploded bottom perspective view of the washer and the plate showing the parts seen of the components.

The following is a list of the references used in the figures:

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1. Teat

2. Fixing washer.

3. Platelet.

4. Hood.

5. Open ring.

6. Foot of the nipple.

7. Head of the nipple.

8. Nipple neck.

9. Base of the washer.

10. Through hole.

11. Anchor legs.

12. Ribs.

13. Starters.

14. Clamping hole.

15. Inner flange.

16. Highlight.

17. trunk.

18. Window.

19. Fixing harpoon.

20. Drill.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pacifier that can be assembled by a user at will, being able to choose the pieces defined by colors or by a specific decoration.

The pacifier of the invention has the particularity of not including any phase in the assembly process that incorporates glue or welding. This allows, on the one hand, that there is no problem in terms of health and, on the other hand, that they can be easily decorated, since the printing process can be done before the pacifier is assembled.

As can be seen in figures 1, 2, 5 and 7, where different views of the mounted pacifier are represented, the pacifier is composed of five pieces: a nipple (1), a fixing washer (2), a platelet (3) , a hood (4) and an open ring (5).

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Due to the problems that a defective product can cause and, also due to strict legal regulations, the pacifier assembly process must imply total security when having the finished product. For this reason, all the components that make up the pacifier have been designed so that the assembly must follow a few steps with a sequential order that has no alternative options and in which each component can be assembled in a single way, so that a piece cannot be assembled wrongly.

To proceed to assemble the pacifier, the first step is to mount the teat on the fixing washer (2).

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the nipple (1) is formed by a hollow silicone body formed by a head (7) and a foot (6) joined by a neck (8) of oblong section. The foot (6) consists of an exaggerated widening of the neck flange (8) and its function is to act as a teat fixing element (1) in the pacifier.

The fixing washer (2) can also be seen in figures 3 and 4 with the nipple (1) already mounted and, more clearly in figures 9 and 10 independent. It is formed by a base (9) of elliptical section, with a determined thickness, which has a centered through hole (10), of the same geometry as the section of the teat neck (8), in this case, oblong. Of the two faces of the base (9), one is the face seen, which will be visible to the user after assembly. The other side of the base (9) is the hidden face, and is not visible after the pacifier assembly. This face incorporates the fixing elements, such as the anchoring legs (11), elements that provide structural rigidity to the piece, such as the ribs (12) and elements to prevent incorrect assembly, such as the recesses (13).

To proceed with the assembly, the nipple (1) is introduced through the through hole (10) of the fixing washer (2). The dimensions of the foot of the nipple (6) are considerably greater than those of the through hole (10), so that it acts as a retaining element, as mentioned, so that the assembly of the nipple (1) is done in a way forced. This does not imply any difficulty at the time of assembly, since the teat (1) is made of silicone, a very soft and easy to handle material.

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The neck of the nipple (8) sits in the through hole (10) of the washer (2), so both components must have a section that is in correspondence. Both the neck of the nipple (8) and the through hole (10), where it sits, have been conceived with a symmetrical cross section, so that its position in this regard is indifferent. However, in the assembly, the face of the fixing washer (2) must remain on the same side as the head of the nipple (7), this position being essential. To complete the assembly, the foot of the nipple (6) must be abutted with the washer (2), so that the washer (2) is not loose on the neck of the nipple (8). In any case, if the assembly of the nipple (1) was done in the wrong way, the next component could not be mounted, so the user can quickly realize the error.

The third piece to assemble is the plate (3). The plate (3) is the part with the largest surface of the pacifier and is the one that prevents the pacifier from entering the user's mouth. In a preferred embodiment, it has elliptical section geometry with a cut in the areas of the major bases of the elliptical geometry so as not to interfere with the user's nose area. A view of the platelet can be seen in Figures 9 and 10, where it is shown, respectively, the hidden face and the view face of the platelet (3). The platelet (3) that has been represented in the figures incorporates a single cut in the major bases instead of two, losing symmetry but without losing clarity.

It can be seen that the plate (3) incorporates a clamping hole (14) and two inner flanges (15) lowered in height with respect to the visible face of the platelet (3) but protruding from the other side of the platelet ( 3) to form ribs that provide structural rigidity to the platelet (3).

The second step to mount the pacifier is to mount the plate (3) in the assembly formed by the nipple (1) and the fixing washer (2).

As mentioned, in the assembly of the plate (3) the user will notice if he has mounted the teat (1) on the washer (2) in an erroneous way since, if the anchoring legs (11) are on the side from the head of the nipple (7), you cannot mount the plate (3).

To mount the plate (3), the anchoring legs (11) of the washer (2) are introduced through the fixing hole (14). The dimensions of the clamping hole (14) are very similar to those

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of the base of the washer (9) and the recess in height of the inner flanges (15) is similar to the thickness of the base of the washer (9), so that a correct settlement occurs and the two pieces (2, 3) Flush. On the other hand, the outer dimension between the two anchoring legs (11) of the washer (2) is greater than the largest dimension of the clamping hole (14) of the platelet (3), so that to introduce the legs of anchor (11) on the platelet (3) must be exerted pressure. This detail is important, so that accidental disassembly is difficult.

The reason why instead of having a single inner flange (15) perimeter instead of two inner flanges (15) is that there must be free areas through which the anchor legs (11) pass.

Each of the inner flanges (15) incorporates a projection (16) that, in the assembly, seats in the recesses (13) of the fixing washer (2), providing stability to the assembly. The projections (16) have a complementary geometry to the recesses (13), so that they fit tightly.

The fourth piece to assemble is the hood (4). The hood (4) is a piece with geometry in the form of a hollow semi-ellipsoid of a certain thickness, truncated by a plane and incorporating windows (18). The hood (4) internally incorporates a trunk (17) centered, as a base, section in correspondence with the inside section of the teat neck (8), that is, oblong.

The third step in the assembly of the pacifier consists of the assembly of the hood (4). For this, the trunk (17) is introduced inside the foot of the nipple (6), causing immobilization of the nipple (1). This detail can be seen enlarged in figure 6. In addition, the anchoring legs (11) of the washer (2) are fixed in the windows (18). For this, the anchoring legs (11) have a geometry with a cross-section in an arrow-shaped direction and with a cross-section in a perpendicular direction of circular geometry that corresponds to the geometry of the window (18) of the hood (4) to fit in it. This assembly can be intuited in figure 3 and is already done in figure 8, where the enlarged detail is shown.

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Fixing the anchor legs (11) in the cap (4) creates a stable and mechanically locked assembly that configures a single piece.

The last piece that configures the pacifier of the invention is an open ring (5). The open ring (5) has a "C" shape and incorporates a fixing harpoon (19) at each of its ends for irreversible mounting.

For the fixation of the open ring (5) in the pacifier it has been considered to provide extra safety to the product, so that it incorporates a second mechanical blockage of the parts that comprise it. In this way, the circular configuration of the anchoring legs (11) incorporates a hole (20) so that the fixing harpoons (19) can be anchored in the anchoring legs (11). As can be seen in figure 3, due to the dimensional interference of the pieces, the open ring (5) must have an elasticity that allows its ends to be opened to be inserted into the windows (18) of the cap (4 ).

In the preferred embodiment described, the pacifier has a symmetry in which it is indifferent that the nipple (1) is mounted in one direction or in the symmetrical one with respect to the washer (2) and also the assembly with respect to to the platelet (3).

However, the shape of the nipple (1) is not symmetrical and predisposes a pacifier position in the user's mouth. This position can affect other elements of the pacifier, such as the platelet (3), which can have a single cut that defines the position of the nose and the decoration that has been made both on the platelet (3) and on the washer fixation. In these situations, the assembly can be carried out in an erroneous way, so an embodiment has been foreseen in which the symmetry of the affected parts is eliminated.

In this way, an embodiment is provided in which there is a single mounting solution for all parts, without it being possible to place a piece in two different ways.

The cross section of the teat neck (7) is no longer symmetrical, having a configuration in accordance with the through hole (10) of the fixing washer (2) and with the cross section of the trunk (17) of the cap ( 4), which fits into it.

On the other hand, achieving a single way of fixing the platelet (3) to the fixing washer (2) is done with a geometric design that breaks the symmetry. One way to achieve this is through the configuration of the recesses (13) and projections (16) that define the mounting position of the two pieces. To break the symmetry, it is enough that the 5 incoming are not symmetrical with respect to an axis of symmetry of the base (9), either in number, in shape, in position or in a combination of the previous ones, having the protrusions located in correspondence

Another way to achieve this can be by giving an asymmetric geometry to the perimeter of the

10 base of the fixing washer (2) and the contour of the fixing hole (14).

With these proposed configurations a pacifier is achieved with which it is ensured that there is only one way to assemble its components.

15 In the description of the components and the pacifier assembly, it can be seen that the assembly process can be carried out without the need for any tools and that, therefore, the pieces can come pre-designed with recordings or ornaments that are not considered what will be damaged once the complete pacifier assembly is done.

It should be noted that the present invention should not be limited to the embodiment described herein. Other configurations can be made by those skilled in the art in view of the present description. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.

Claims (6)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 1. - Assembled modular pacifier formed by an open ring (5), a hood (4), with a hollow and domed geometry, a platelet (3) and a nipple (1) that crosses the platelet (3) and incorporates a flange as a foot (6), characterized in that it comprises a fixing washer (2) formed by a base (9) with a through hole (10), and two anchoring legs (11), where: - the plate (3) has a clamping hole (14) with an inner flange (15) lowered for the fixing of the fixing washer (2), - the hood (4) comprises a trunk (17) intended to be positioned inside the foot of the nipple (6) and windows (18) for fixing the corresponding anchor legs (11) of the washer (2) ), - the open ring (5) incorporates a fixing harpoon (19) at each of the ends, for fixing the anchor legs (11) through the corresponding windows (18) of the cap (4), where: - the anchoring legs (11) have a geometric configuration in correspondence with the windows (18), where they settle once assembled, - the fixing hole (14) has dimensions corresponding to the base (9) of the washer (2). 2. - Adjustable modular pacifier according to claim 1, characterized in that the inner flange (15) is configured in two sections, leaving two free spaces for the location of two anchor legs (11). 3. - Assembled modular pacifier according to claim 1, characterized in that the fixing washer (2) comprises at least one recess (13) for the settlement of at least one shoulder (16) configured in the inner flange (15) of the platelet (3). 4. - Assembly modular pacifier, according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that: - the cross section of the teat neck (8) is asymmetric and corresponds to the through hole (10) of the fixing washer (2) and the trunk (17) of the cap (4), and - at least one element of the fixing washer (2) has a configuration 5 asymmetric with respect to an axis of the base (9). 5. - Assembled modular pacifier according to claim 4, characterized in that an element of the fixing washer (2) with asymmetric configuration is to be selected between the contour of the base (9) and an inlet (13). 10 6. - Assembly process of a pacifier defined by the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises the following phases: fifteen twenty a) Mount the nipple (1) in the fixing washer (2), inserting the nipple foot (8) into the through hole (10) of the fixing washer (2); b) Mount the platelet (3) by inserting the anchoring legs (11) of the fixing washer (2) through the fixing hole (14) of the platelet (3) until the base (9) of the fixing washer is seated (2) on the inner flange (15) of the platelet (3); c) Mount the hood (4) by inserting the trunk (17) inside the nipple (1) and the anchoring legs (11) in the windows (18); d) Mount the open ring (5) by inserting the fixing harpoons (19) of the ends into the holes of the anchoring legs (11) through the windows (18) of the cap (4).