“Crying babies are the source of great frustration for adults, particularly for their parents. Because they cannot speak, infants cry as their primary means of communication and they do it with great frequency. Babies cry as a means to communicate that they are in pain, unhappy, tired, hungry or generally in need of attention. Sometimes babies cry to block external stimuli in an attempt to calm down. Regardless of the reason, crying is disturbing and gets the attention of those within earshot.”
explain Californian inventors Richard Shane and Chris Tacklind in their newly issued patent Infant Soothing Device Having an Actuator, which is, in a nutshell:
“A device to assuage distressed infants via an adjustable vertical motion combined with an adjustable orientation.”
[…]
“In an embodiment of the invention, the device utilizes springs to assist the motion generated by the motor, thereby reducing the power requirements of the motor. In other embodiments of the invention, different types of devices are used to enable the motion of the invention, such as air bellows, pneumatic pumps, hydraulic or magnetic devices and the like.”
Also see: (somewhat related) ‘I was not a lab rat’ by Deborah Skinner Buzan (daughter of Burrhus Frederic Skinner)
“Call it what you will, the ‘aircrib’ ,’baby box’, ‘heir conditioner’ (not my father’s term) was a wonderful alternative to the cage-like cot.”