Baby’s Wonderful Companion
The Journey to the Birth of a Silicone Teething Ball Toy
In a baby’s world, every toy is an amazing adventure. But not all toys are suitable for babies, or design especially for babies. Our team has been working hard to find the most suitable toys for babies. During a market research, we found that the demand for ball teething toy was on the rise.
How we design it
While struggling to figure out what to do, we were inspired by the adorable Cat Wool Ball. Why not add a rattle ball inside the ball? This will attract baby’s attention and add fun at the same time!
So following the steps of new product development, we started the first draft of the design
1. Firstly, we need to find a suitable rattle ball, which is not an easy task, because we want our rattle ball diameter to be greater than or equal to 5cm, so that even if the ball is taken out alone, there is no risk of accidental swallowing; and we want the ball to be transparent, so that we can see the small particles inside the ball rustling, in order to increase the fun of the toy and attract the attention of the baby.
2. Most of the balls on the market are 5cm~6.5cm in diameter, we hope that our ball is a large size, because most of our customers are in the middle and high-end market, a large size will look more upscale, but also better match with our other products.
3. The silicone ball needs to completely wrap around the plastic ball, so that the plastic ball can’t fall out easily; this means that the opening of the silicone ball can’t be bigger than 4.5cm at least.
The perfect ball come out
Initially we designed a 28mm~30mm opening with a 93mm silicone belly diameter; after a few changes, we confirmed the first version, and it looked great; at this point, the engineers raised a problem, the 28mm opening was too small, and the product was not easy to release the mold. But after a vote, we started to make a prototype mold according to this version; when the prototype came out, our team was very excited because it was as perfect as expected!
It’s perfect characteristics
- It is made of platinum silicone material, BPA-free, safe and reliable.
- 9.5 cm in diameter, moderate size. The plastic rattle inside the ball is not easy to be taken out by the baby, and it fully passes the toy class test without choking risk.
- The gap on the surface of the ball is suitable for baby’s small hands, easy to hold.
- The rattling ball emits a rustling sound that instantly attracts baby’s attention.
- And, unlike some enamel dolls, this product has no cleaning dead space, does not easily harbor bacteria, and has a long service life.
But as the engineer said, because the opening is too small, it is not easy to release the mold, the production efficiency is low, and the scrap rate is high, so in order to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency, and considering the feedback from the market, (would you mind leaving your commend here?), we may consider the second version, please look forward to it!
