Stoves and furnaces – Heaters – Chemical
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-28
2001-05-22
Yeung, James C. (Department: 3743)
Stoves and furnaces
Heaters
Chemical
C126S263080, C126S263090, C215S011100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234165
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a self-contained baby bottle warmer that generates heat via an exothermic reaction actuated by insertion of the baby bottle.
2. Description of Related Art
In many instances it can be difficult and inconvenient to locate a suitable heat source to warm food for eating or beverages for drinking. A variety of configurations have been disclosed that utilize heat generated by an exothermic reaction between a liquid and a chemical for the purpose of heating food. For example Semaan, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,769 issued Apr. 25, 1989, discloses a water-containing ampule and a quantity of calcium oxide situated within a resilient housing disposed within an insulating envelope that has a cover. Semann discloses means to cause a rod to come into crushing contact with the glass ampule so that the water within the ampule is distributed in vigorously reactive contact with the calcium oxide, thereby heating the food. Other examples of self-contained heating apparatus are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,761, 5,220,99, 4,809,673 5,355,869, 5,465,707 and 4,510,919.
An exothermic reaction that provides an alternative to calcium oxide is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,190 to Kuhn et al., which discloses a heater material for use in heating food. The heat pad includes a composite material consisting of a supercorroding metallic alloy power disbursed throughout a porous polyethylene matrix. The heat pad is activated with a suitable electrolyte fluid.
Unfortunately, an exothermic reaction-based warmer has not been developed in a form suitable for heating baby bottles. Convenience and time savings are both very important for time-starved parents, and it would be useful to provide a baby bottle warmer that is portable, convenient to use, simple, and lightweight. Currently there are baby bottle warmers on the market that utilize various types of electrical energy sources to warm a baby bottle for infants. One bottle warmer connects to a car's battery to provide energy, using an adapter connected to the car's cigarette lighter to provide heat to warm a baby bottle. Another version of baby bottle warmer connects to a standard household electrical outlet.
One disadvantage of an electrically-heated baby bottle warmer is related to the requirement to first find an electrical source and then connect the warmer to the source with the proper adapter. This requires a parent who already is loaded down with baby gear to carry around unwieldy cords, cables and adapters in order to ensure that the baby's bottle will be warmed wherever the need arises. In some locations, even finding a suitable source of electrical energy can be difficult outside of the house; for example in grocery stores, restaurants, and at picnics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to overcome the limitations of prior art baby bottle warmers, and provide a baby bottle warmer that is portable, convenient to use, simple, and lightweight, the present invention provides a method and apparatus that utilizes an exothermic reaction to generate heated gas that warms a baby bottle. In one embodiment, when a baby bottle is inserted into the bottle warmer, a solution release mechanism releases a saline solution onto a magnesium wafer that starts an exothermic reaction. This exothermic reaction creates a safe, non-toxic heated gas that warms the bottle.
A baby bottle warmer that generates an exothermic reaction to heat a baby bottle with a heated gas comprises a heating vessel for holding the baby bottle and a vessel top that removably attaches to an upper section of the heating vessel. A solution release mechanism is situated in a lower section of the heating vessel, comprising a solution container having an activating liquid disposed therein, and a device for puncturing the solution container responsive to pressure supplied by insertion of the baby bottle into the lower section of the heating vessel. A heating element is situated below the solution release mechanism, the heating element comprising a material for exothermically reacting with the activating liquid to generate the heated gas. In some embodiments the solution release mechanism comprises a lower unit, an upper unit, and a puncturing device coupled to at least one of the lower and upper units. The solution container is situated between the upper and lower units, so that the solution container is punctured by the puncturing device responsive to pressure supplied by insertion of the baby bottle.
Some embodiments of the baby bottle warmer comprise a system for spacing apart the lower and upper units, which is useful for storage and/or travel. Upon insertion of the baby bottle and corresponding application of pressure to the upper unit, the system disengages, thereby allowing the upper and lower units to move together. In one such embodiment the lower unit includes a plurality of alignment pins and the upper unit includes a plurality of alignment holes formed to receive the alignment pins. The alignment pins each have an indented ring and the alignment holes have an inner flange that engages the alignment rings such that the upper and lower units are initially spaced apart to avoid unintended puncture of the solution container, and upon application of downward pressure to the release mechanism, the indented ring and inner flange disengage and the alignment pins move axially within the alignment holes, and the puncturing device punctures the solution container and releases the activating liquid into contact with the heating element to generate heated gas in an exothermic reaction.
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Creighton Kevin A.
Grantham Mark B.
Wiese Paul J.
Law Offices of James D. McFarland
Yeung James C.
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