GB2524971A - Infant clothing incorporating a teething surface - Google Patents

Abstract

An article of infants clothing incorporates a teething surface 50 provided on the surface of one end of an arm 10 of the clothing. The end of the sleeve is configured such that a fold 60 in the cuff 30 allows the end of the sleeve to be folded back upon itself causing the teething surface 50 to be hidden from view and inaccessible by the infant. The cuff may include an attachment means enabling it to be secured in the folded position. The teething surface 50 may be elastomeric, and may comprise rubber, silicon or plastic materials.

Description

Infant clothing incorporating a teething surface The present invention relates generally to an article of infant clothing incorporating a teething surface, and finds particular, although not exclusive, utility in providing an alternative to teething rings.

Teething rings and other shaped products (known generically as "teethers") for teething have long been known. One of the problems with them is that often get dropped, thus potentially becoming dirty, and/or get lost. Although it is possible to attach teethers to other items such as push chairs, and cots, these are. often not near located in the place where the infant isat the time of need.

it would therefore be advantageous to have a teether which was available to an infant more readily.

In one aspect, the invention provides an article of infants clothing incorporating a teething surface provided on the surface of one end of an arm of the clothing, the end 1 5 of the arm of the clothing being conflgured such that in a first position the teething surface is outennost and accessible by the infant, and in a second position the teething surface is at least partially hidden from view and inaccessible by the infant.

file teething surface rriay be completely hidden frorri view whcri time end of the arm is in the second position.

The arm may be configured such that the second position is obtainable by folding at least a portion of the end of the arm over at least another immediately adjacent portion. in one embodiment, the article of clothing may include at least one arm which has a length longer than necessary when unfolded. the distal end may be folded over the immediately proximal portion, in the manner of a double cuff The teething surface may he located within the double cuff such that it is completely, or at least partially, hidden from view on the inside of the folded cuff.

When in the first position the distal end of the end of the arm may he conhgured to extend over the infant's hand such that it is readily available to the infant to place in its nouth for the purpose of teething.

In this way, an adult may fold-out the end of the ann when the infant is teething. When the adult wants the infant to stop teething on the teething surface, for instance at meal times, the teething surface can he wiped clean with a sierilising material and then the end of the arm can he folded Ix:ick over the teething surfiice to hide it from view. The teething surface is then ready for the next use.

The ar-tide may be considered to be a teething mitten.

The teething surface may be a sheet of materiaL In this regard the sheet may be laminar. Tt may he homogenous. Tt may be sohd. Tt may be unbroken. It may be continuous \vith no holes. It may be non-woven. It may include at least one hole. It may be uniform.

The teething surface may be clastomeric. Tt may be at least partially elastomeric.

The teething surface may comprise any one or more of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, silicone, silicone rubber, and plastics.

the item of clothing may be a onesie. In this regard a onesie may be defined as an article of clothing which includes continuous connected portions which extend around the wearer's torso, arms and legs.

The item of clothing may he a shirt. Tt may he a "T" shirt. Tt may be a long or short sleeved "T" shirt. It may be an article of clothing which includes long sleeves.

The item of clothing may he an infant hodysuit. The item of clothing may be an infant sweatshirt. the item of clothing may be an infant jacket.

I'he itcmri of teething surface may liave a thicknicss iii the rangc 1 to 5nrimn.

Tjowever, other ranges ofthicknessare contemplated such as 1 to 8mm.

The teething surface may not be uniform in thickness having relatively thin and thick portions.

The above and other characteristics, featuresand advantages of the present invention \vill become apparent from the follo\ving detailed description, taken in conjunction xvith the accompanying dra\vings, which illusirate, by xvay of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attacl ed drawings.

Figure 1 is a view of a portion of an article of clothing with the end of the arm folded over; and Figure 2 is a view of the portion of clothing of Figure 1 with the end of the arm folded-out such that the teething surfhcc is visible and accessible.

the present invention will he described with respect to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic- are non-limiting. Each drawing may not include all of the features of the invention and therefore should not necessarily he considered to be an embodiment of the invention. Tn the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing beveen similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. it is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.

Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. it is to he understood that the tenns so used are interchangeable under 1 5 appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

it is to be noticed that the term "comprising", used in the claims, should not be interpreted as bcirig rcstncted to tlie means listed tliercaftcr; it docs riot exclude oilier elements or steps. it is thus to he interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or componen, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression "a device comprising means A and B" should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. it means that \vith respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B. Reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" or "an aspect" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect is included in at least one embodiment or aspect of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment", "in an embodiment", or "in an aspect" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or aspect, but may refer to different embodiments or aspects. lurthermore. the particular features, structures or characteristics of any embodiment or aspect of the invention may he combined in any suitable nt:ulner, as would he apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this

disclosure, in one or more embodiments or aspects.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more. of the. various inventive aspec. this method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Moreover, the description of any individual dra\ving or aspect should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in fewer than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embc'diments described herein include some features 1 5 included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. IJor example, in the following claims, any of the claimed ernbodirucrits cart bc uscd in ally corribination.

Tn the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth.

However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instinces, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detuil in order not to obscure an understanding of

this description.

In the discussion of the invention, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper or lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter, coupled with an indication that one of said values is more highly preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying bertveen the more preferred arid the less preferred of said alternatives, is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each value lying between said less preferred value and said intermediate value.

The use of the term "at least one" may mean only one in certain circumstances.

the principles of the invention will now be described by a detailed description of at least one drawing relating to exemplary features of the invention. It is clear that other arrangements can he conhgured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the underlying concept or technical teaching of the invention, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Tn Figure 1, a sleeve 10 of an item of clothing is shown. Atone end a cuff 30 is shown folded-over such that the wearer's hand 40 is visible poking out of the end of the sleeve 10. the e.xtreme distal end of the cuff 30 is referenced "60".

in Figure 2, the cuff 30 has been unfolded such that the inside of the cuff 30 is visible and accessible. The inside of the cuff 30 in this instance entirely comprises a sheet of teething material 50. However, the teething material 50 may be smaller than TO the \vhole of the area of the inside of the cuff and may only occupy a portion of the inside of the cuff 30.

The fold 60 is visible on the teething surface SO which indicates the portion of the cuff which was the extreme distal end, when folded-out, as shown in Figure 1.

The teething material 50 may be attached to the material of the sleeve 10 such that the material of the sleeve is a backing layer. ltcniatively the teething material may comprise an entire p°° of the sleeve without a backing layer. A combination of the tvo may also be possible.

\Vith the sleeve unfolded as shown in Figure 2 the wearer's hand 40 is riot visible. T Towever, in one embodiment, the cuff, when unfolded, may riot cover all of the hand of the wearer such that at least a portion of the hand is visible and not covered by the cuff 30.

The article of clothing may include attachment means for securing the cuff in the folded state such that the teething material is inaccessible. For instance, any of poppers, hook and loop material, and buttons may he used.

Tn one embodiment, the teething portion may he retro-fittahie to an existing item of clothing. in tIns case the teething portion may include attachment means for attaching it to the sleeve of an existing item of clothing. The attachment means may be any of a strap, zip, poppers, hook and loop material, buttons, etc.

Claims (10)

1. (:LAIMS 1. An article of infant clothing incorporating a teething surface provided on the surface of one end of an arm of the clothing, the end of the arm of the clothing being configured such that in a first position the teething surface is outermost and accessible by the. infant, and in a second position the teething surface is at least partially hidden from view and inaccessible by the infant.
2. 2. the article of clothing according to claim 1, wherein the arm is configured such that the second position is obttinable by folding at least a portion of the end of the arm over at least another immediately adjacent portion.
3. 3. The article of clothing according to either one of claims I and 2, wherein the teething surface is a sheet of material.
4. 4. The article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the teething surface is elastomeric.
5. 5. The article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the teething surface comprises any one or more of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, silicone, silicone rubber, and plastics.
6. 6. the article of clothing according to any preceding claim. wherein the item of clothing is a onesie.
7. 7. The article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the item of clothing is a shirt.
8. 8. The article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the item of clothing is an infant bodysnit.
9. 9. The article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the item of clothing is an infant sweatshirt.
10. 10. The article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the item of clothing is an infant jacket.ii the article of clothing according to any preceding claim, wherein the item of teething surface has a thickness in the range I to 5mm.12. An article of infant clothing substantially as hcreinbcfore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 0