Education and demonstration – Psychology – Behavior or performance display
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-13
2003-03-25
Cheng, Joe H. (Department: 3713)
Education and demonstration
Psychology
Behavior or performance display
C434S262000, C446S297000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06537074
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention broadly relates to the field of simulated child care. More specifically, the invention relates to infant simulators used in educational programs for educating prospective parents about the realities of parenthood, assisting in the education and training of personnel entering the child-care profession, and assisting in the continuing education of persons working in the child-care profession.
BACKGROUND
Teen-age pregnancy is an ever increasing problem. Teen-age parents, surveyed as to why they elected to have a baby, gave such reasons as “babies are so cute,” “I wanted attention,” and “I needed someone to love and love me back.” Such romantic feelings toward having a baby almost never include an understanding of the responsibilities imposed by a baby, including loss of sleep, loss of freedom, the need for constant attention, etc. Attempts to educate teen-agers about the trials and tribulations of caring for an infant and raising a child, using the traditional educational methods of lecture and readings, are rarely successful.
Some resourceful educators, realizing that traditional educational methods are inadequate, have attempted to demonstrate the care requirements of an infant by requiring students to carry a sack of flour, an egg or a plant for several days. While somewhat exemplary of the care requirements of an infant, such programs do not fairly represent the care requirements of an actual infant and have proven to be of limited success.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,190,038 issued to Kardon, 3,490,170 issued to Wolf, 3,514,899 issued to Bonanno et al., 4,115,948 issued to Burks and 5,094,644 issued to Kelley describe dolls that will wet a diaper after being fed from a bottle. The dolls described in Kardon and Wolf each include electrical circuitry capable of initiating crying when a diaper on the doll is sufficiently wetted after being fed from a bottle, and terminating such crying upon removal of the wetted diaper. Similarly, the doll described in Bonanno et al. further includes electrical circuitry capable of initiating crying when the doll is diapered and a bottle is removed from the mouth of the doll, and terminating such crying by removing the diaper from the doll. Such dolls are not useful for educating students about the trials and tribulations of caring for an infant as the feeding and wetting cycle, with or without crying, is under control of the user. The student, unless under constant supervision by an educator, can feed and change the doll on a schedule selected by the student. In addition, the dolls do not accurately simulate the care requirements of an actual infant in that the student is not instructed by the doll to replace the wetted diaper with a dry diaper to terminate crying.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,338 issued to Wexler discloses a doll which emits a crying sound when a manually operated switch is actuated. The user must then determine which of several switches, labeled with such actions as feeding, diaper changing or back patting, will turn off the crying sound. While interesting as a plaything, this doll suffers from the same drawback as the “feed and wet” dolls in that activation of crying is under control of the user. The student, unless under constant supervision by an educator, can activate crying on a schedule selected by the student.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,911 issued to Klose et al. discloses a doll which can operate in two different modes. In a first mode, the doll emits different sounds based upon which of several switches, located at various positions on the body of the doll, is actuated (e.g., actuation of the mouth switch produced “yum-yum,” while actuation of the back switch produces “aahh”). In a second mode the doll emits a sound and the user must then determine which of the switches will turn off the crying sound and produce a satisfaction signal, such as “mommy.” The user can deactivate the doll by pressing a specified switch on the doll or simply failing to activate the proper switch within a given time period. Again, while interesting as a plaything, this doll suffers from the same drawback as the “feed and wet” dolls in that activation and deactivation of the doll is under control of the user. The student, unless under constant supervision by an educator, can activate and deactivate the doll on a schedule selected by the student.
A particularly useful infant simulator system for use in educating students about the care requirements of an infant is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,388 issued to Jurmain et al. and assigned to the assignee of this application. The patent discloses an infant simulator capable of crying at intervals, with the crying continuing until a quieting key is inserted into the infant simulator and continuously held in position against a biasing means for a defined time period. The crying schedule may be changed to simulate either a healthy or a sick infant. A trembler may be included to cause the infant to shake at intervals for purposes of simulating a drug-dependent infant. The infant simulator can also include indicators showing rough handling, improper positioning and the detection of a loud sound. The quieting key may include a means for securing the key to an assigned individual.
While the infant simulator described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,388 and sold under the trademark BABY THINK IT OVER® has proven extremely useful as an educational tool, a continuing need exists for an improved infant simulator capable of realistically demonstrating the variety of needs and care requirements of an infant, as well as the positive aspects of caring for and loving an infant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The infant simulator includes a variety of features designed to emulate the care requirements of an infant. The infant simulator can be designed and programmed with any combination of the described features, including the ability the selectively activate and deactivate individual features for each assignment period. The infant simulator is equipped to record the quality of care and responsiveness of a person caring for the infant simulator and/or signal the person caring for the infant simulator when care is required.
The features can be conveniently grouped into the categories of (i) environmental condition sensors, (ii) episodic events, and (iii) ancillary features.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
Temperature Sensor
Infants should not be exposed to temperature extremes. The infant simulator can be equipped with a temperature sensor capable of sensing the environmental temperatures to which the infant simulator is exposed.
In a first embodiment, the infant simulator is further equipped with a system for recording the sensed temperature. In a second embodiment, the infant simulator is further equipped with a system for generating a perceptible thermal exposure signal when the sensed temperature falls above or below a defined acceptable temperature range. A preferred embodiment combines both the recording and signaling systems so that the person caring for the infant simulator is advised when the environmental temperature has reached an unacceptable level and the recorded information can be reviewed by a teacher or administrator upon completion of the assignment.
Compression Sensor
Infants must be handled with care at all times and should never be squeezed. One of the more prevalent abuses results when a frustrated care provider squeezes the infant, usually the infants arm, leg or head. The infant simulator can be equipped with a compression sensor capable of sensing compression of the infant simulator.
In a first embodiment, the infant simulator is further equipped with a system for recording the sensed compression. In a second embodiment, the infant simulator is further equipped with a system for generating a perceptible distress signal when compression is sensed. A preferred embodiment combines both the recording and signaling systems so that the person caring for the infant simulator is immediately notified that they have injured the infant simulator and the recorded information can be reviewed by a teacher or a
Jurmain Mary M.
Jurmain Richard N.
Oium Sheila R.
BTIO Educational Products, Inc.
Cheng Joe H.
Sherrill Law Offices PLLC
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