Bottles and jars – Nursing bottles and nipples – With vent or valve for air
Patent
1992-10-20
1994-08-23
Shoap, Allan N.
Bottles and jars
Nursing bottles and nipples
With vent or valve for air
220373, A61J 904
Patent
active
053399714
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a feeding bottle comprising a bottle body provided with micropore air inlet opening means in its bottom region, which enable the inflow of ambient air, yet impede the leakage of a liquid bottle content.
UNDERLYING PRIOR ART
Feeding bottles of this type serve to administer liquid food, such as tea or pap, to babies and infants, and, for this purpose, they comprise a nipple in their ready-for-use state, which is clamped to the bottle neck, for instance, by means of a screw cap. When using such feeding bottles, the problem arises that a negative pressure forms within the bottle during sucking of the content through the nipple, which frequently impairs the drinking procedure to a major extent. For pressure compensation, the continuous entry of air into the bottle interior must, therefore, be ensured, which, as a rule, is effected by interrupting the drinking procedure such that air can get into the bottle interior through the nipple. It goes without saying that the intake of food is thereby disturbed. Consequently, solutions have already been suggested (cf. e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,650,270, 2,959,314, FR-A-2,446,632), according to which air is to be fed to the bottle interior in the region of the nipple or bottle neck, for instance, via baffles or via sort of flap valves. However, such configurations are rather complex and, moreover, involve cleansing problems. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that the compensation air is supplied in the immediate vicinity of the nipple, which may result in air being swallowed during drinking, which is disadvantageous. Other solutions to this problem (cf., e.g., EP-A-9 460 or CH-A-439 585) aimed at providing a readily sliding piston or a bag in the feeding bottle to separate the liquid volume from an air volume, which, in turn, communicates with the atmosphere such that compensation air can pass into it. However, the insertion of such a more or less complex structural part also is disadvantageous, rendering handling and perfect cleaning difficult. The aforementioned disadvantages also apply to the feeding bottle according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,577, on whose bottom a screw plug including a screw cap is provided, by which a bottom plate is mounted, which closes the otherwise open bottle bottom and includes several one-way spear valves enabling the entry of compensation air.
Finally, a feeding bottle of the initially described type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,207, in which also a screw cap is fastened to the lower end of the feeding bottle in order to fix a membrane provided with micropores as a bottom plate to the lower, open bottle body by this screw cap. This microporous membrane in respect of its pores is designed so as to prevent the leakage of liquid, yet to allow for the entry of air. The membrane, in particular, is enclosed between two grid plates that constitute supporting elements, and the thus formed air inlet device, hence is relatively complex and expensive, involving the disadvantage of difficult cleaning. Moreover, the threaded configuration including the screw cap implies an important additional structural expenditure such that a feeding bottle of this type hardly can be produced in an economic manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the invention to provide a feeding bottle of the initially described type, which allows for pressure compensation during drinking as indicated, without requiring additional components, thus being simple in terms of manufacture and use.
In accordance with the invention, the feeding bottle of the initially described type is characterized in that the micropores are provided directly in the bottle body, in the region of its bottom, and the bottom is designed in one piece with the remaining bottle body. With such feeding bottles, the disadvantages of the known solutions are avoided, and the intake of air for pressure compensation is ensured through the micropores in the bottom region in a constructionally simple manner while retaining a uniform stable bottle body com
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patent: 4865207 (1989-09-01), Joyner et al.
Mam Babyartikel Gesellschaft m.b.H.
McDonald Chris
Shoap Allan N.
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