Patent attributes
A combination soother-toy device includes a soothing device such as a pacifier, a toy such as a plush animal character, and a coupling that removably attaches them together. In some embodiments, the coupling includes a transverse tab and a transverse opening that couple and decouple by a transverse motion. In this way, the axial pulling motion and forces that babies often apply to the toy when holding the pacifier in its mouth do not cause the components to separate. In some embodiments, the tab (transverse or not) is retained on the toy by a primary attachment such as stitching and a secondary retainer for redundancy as a safety feature. For example, the secondary retainer can be a tether attaching the tab extension arm to the toy, or wings extending from the tab extension arm laterally beyond the toy opening through which the extension arm extends.
