This invention relates to playthings in general, and more particularly relates to a doll apparatus that is constructed to simulate motion of babies during the process of natural birth.
Many teaching aids and toys have been devised to simulate the birth of babies, both human and animal. In particular, [French patent publication No. 2 554 360 ] discloses a manually operated pusher to move a fetal doll shaped as a human along a birth canal and deliver same through an exit at one end of the canal. In [U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,649, ] issued Dec. 9, 1980 to A. E. Goldfarb and E. Dantzer for Toy Animal Figures Representing Parent Animal and Offspring, a continuous conveyor belt is used to simulate delivery of a fetal doll in the shape of a foal. The birthing simulations achieved through operation of the devices disclosed in the aforesaid French Pat. No. 2 554 360 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,649 do not approach actual delivery conditions in that consideration is not given to the characteristic motion for a baby during delivery thereof. That is, the motion of a baby during delivery is relatively slow and pulsates at a low rate. Such motion may be termed chugging along.
Simulation of this chugging or pulsating characteristic is addressed in the prior art by [U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,486 ] which issued July 9, 1974 to C. F. knapp and G. S. Zeades for A Dynamic Childbirth Simulator For Teaching Maternity Patient Care. According to such U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,468, the slow pulsating motion of delivery is simulated by precisely controlling delivery of pressurized air to a bladder system. Air pressure is varied by a relatively expensive electronic controller and the bladder is a relatively complicated structure, making the overall cost so high that use of those teachings found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,486 is restricted essentially to expensive apparatus used for giving instructions to nurses and doctors.