Receptacles – Container attachment or adjunct – Container holder
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-24
2001-12-04
Castellano, Stephen (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Container attachment or adjunct
Container holder
C220S758000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325237
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates generally to a device for assisting in holding a bottle, and more specifically to a device for attaching gloves such as mittens to a bottle to permit the bottle to be held in place by the user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many attempts have been made to resolve the familiar problem in which a baby's hands are too small to properly hold a bottle. Among adults, it may also be the case that due to various physical disabilities, it may be difficult to properly hold a bottle, especially one that may be filled with liquid. One known approach has been to fasten various handles to the bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,043 to Wingo discloses a two-handle collar wherein the handles are of a size and arranged at an angle to facilitate holding of the bottle by the small hands of an infant. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,017 to Ennis provides a pair of handles at either end of an elastic band wherein the band is designed to be stretched around the circumference of a bottle thereby securing the two handles to the outside of the bottle, making it easier for small or disabled hands to hold.
Although the prior art facilitates the use of a bottle by adapting the means for gripping it, the bottle may still be difficult to hold. Regardless of its shape, angle and design, any handle must still be gripped by its user in order to be effective. In the case of an infant, a baby's hands may not be sufficiently strong or the baby may not yet have developed sufficient manual dexterity to grip the handles of the bottle for an extended period of time. The result is that even those bottles equipped as known in the prior art are likely to be dropped frequently, frustrating attempts to train the baby to feed itself. Similarly, an invalid may not be able to hold a handle at all depending on the nature of the disability.
As a result, there still remains a need for a device to make a bottle easier to hold for an infant and for those with a wide range of disabilities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention discloses a bottle holder in which at least one glove is attached to a fastening means which is adapted to receive and hold a bottle. Thus, the bottle holder functions to hold the bottle and glove in place relative to one another enabling the wearer of the glove easily to hold the bottle.
In a first embodiment of the present invention a single glove such as a mitten is connected to the attachment means, which may be an annular flexible band. In this embodiment the annular band has sufficient resiliency to expand to except a bottle and to removably hold itself and the attached mitten in place relative to it. A single hand inserted into the mitten is sufficient to hold the bottle in place relative to the hand.
In a second embodiment a pair of gloves or mittens is attached to the annular band in approximately opposing positions. When the annular band is disposed about a bottle in a manner similar to the first embodiment, the invention permits two hands to be inserted into the gloves to secure the bottle.
In a third embodiment, gloves are integrated with a bottle such that the gloves are connected directly to the bottle or are an integral part thereof.
Because the gloves tend to hold the hands in place without a need to grip a handle, and because the gloves may be oriented to permit the hand to assume a normal relaxed orientation, a relatively heavy bottle filled with liquid may be held with ease for extended periods by those who may need assistance in the holding of a bottle.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 289721 (1987-05-01), Havis
patent: D. 414687 (1999-10-01), Rivera
patent: 1640004 (1927-08-01), Lundblad
patent: 2637515 (1953-05-01), Walsh
patent: 2789002 (1957-04-01), Nicholas
patent: 3718360 (1973-02-01), Knutzen
patent: 4414692 (1983-11-01), Dzierson et al.
patent: 4557392 (1985-12-01), Ryan et al.
patent: 4941579 (1990-07-01), Lee
patent: 4943017 (1990-07-01), Ennis
patent: 5072843 (1991-12-01), James
patent: 5480043 (1996-01-01), Wingo
patent: 5671864 (1997-09-01), Caruthers
patent: 6000058 (1999-12-01), Iselin
Amster Rothstein & Ebenstein
Castellano Stephen
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