Bottles and jars – Nursing bottles and nipples – With cover
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-05
2001-06-12
Garbe, Stephen P. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Nursing bottles and nipples
With cover
C220S004210, C220S004260, C215S011100, C215S011300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244452
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to disposable feeding systems, and, more particularly, to a holder for use in such systems, especially those adapted for use by infants.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Due largely to the inconvenience associated with the need to wash and/or sterilize conventional, reusable, nurser bottles (i.e., nurser bottles having a body which comes into direct contact with milk or some other liquid nutriment), infant feeding systems have been developed that make use of a presterilized and disposable liner, which is removably supported within a tubular holder (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,542). At the conclusion of a feeding session, the used liner can be removed from the holder and replaced with a new liner. Because the milk or other liquid nutriment never comes into contact with the holder itself, there is no need to wash and/or sterilize the holder before it is reused. Accordingly, liner-type or disposable infant feeding systems have become very popular in today's mobile society in which the feeding of infants often takes place in vehicles or in other places where washing and/or sterilization facilities may not be readily available.
Over the years, the infant feeding field has recognized and developed numerous additional convenience features for infant feeding systems in general. For instance, it has been long recognized that infants should be fed in an upright or semi-upright position (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,867). The American Academy of Pediatrics has, in fact, recommended that infants be fed in a semi-upright position.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,867 discloses a baby bottle having a rigid body which is angled or bent to promote the feeding of a baby in the desired upright or semi-upright position. This patent also recognizes that the baby bottle disclosed therein can be equipped with grips designed to insure that the bottle is properly positioned relative to the user and the baby. Such angled or bent baby bottles are not, however, adapted for use in a liner-type feeding system because they do not include means, such as access openings, for permitting air to be expelled from an associated liner as is customary with liner-type feeding systems (see, for example, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,542).
In the past, efforts have been made to provide liner-type feeding systems with the ability to be arranged in a substantially linear or straight position, which facilitates the insertion and/or filling of the associated liner, and then bent into an angled position, which promotes the feeding of an infant in the desired upright or semi-upright position (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,556 and British Patent Publication No. 2 109 247 A). As presently understood, these efforts involve the use of bellows to achieve the flexibility required to permit the bottles or holders to be bent between the two positions described above. The use of bellows is, however, disadvantageous for a number of reasons. First, because the bellows create a number of crevices and accordion-like pleats in the internal and external surfaces of the bottles and holders that employ them, cleaning of the bottles and holders is complicated. Second, the bellows also deter the provision of the grips which, as described above, are designed to ensure that the bottle or holder is properly positioned relative to the user and the infant. Third, when used in conjunction with a holder of a liner-type feeding system, the bellows offer a potential pinch point for the liner. Last, but not least, the bellows are plainly visible; and, as such, they detract from the overall aesthetic appearance of the bottles or holders that employ them.
In the foregoing circumstances, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a disposable feeding system which combines the convenience features of conventional disposable feeding systems with other features that have proven to be advantageous in this field, such as the ability to promote a user to feed an infant in a semi-upright position and the ability to expel air from the system throughout the feeding process. Another objective is to provide an ergonomic feeding benefit to the person (e.g., nurser) who uses the present invention. These and other objectives will be apparent from the following description of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems and shortcomings of the prior art discussed above are overcome by the present invention, which relates to a new and improved holder for use in disposable feeding systems. Briefly, the holder includes a first rigid body section, having a longitudinal axis and a pair of open ends, and a second rigid body section, having a longitudinal axis and a pair of open ends. The body sections are connected in end-to-end fashion such that they are movable relative to each other between a first position, in which their longitudinal axes are in substantial coaxial alignment with each other, and a second position, in which their longitudinal axes are substantially out of coaxial alignment with each other and in which their interconnected ends are in an abutting relationship with each other. In the first position, the holder is substantially straight to thereby facilitate the insertion and/or filling of a removable liner. In the second position, the holder is bent to an extent which promotes the feeding of an infant in a semi-upright position. Detents may be provided for releasably retaining the holder in either or both positions.
In one embodiment, the body sections are snap fitted together, with their interconnected ends being slidably and rotatably engaged to permit the quick and easy transformation of the holder from its straight, or upright, position to its bent, or angled, position and vice versa. The use of a snap-fit type of connection is beneficial because it is hidden from a user's view and, as a result, does not detract from the overall aesthetic appearance of the holder. Inasmuch as a snap-fit type of connection does not consume a lot of space, it allows the holder to be provided with access openings, in both of the body sections, as well as with finger grips or guides. It also provides a preferred engagement which orients the holder in a position such that an infant can be naturally fed in the recommended semi-upright feeding position and, as such, the person feeding the infant will be doing this in an ergonomically correct position.
In other embodiments, the body sections are pivotally connected, frictionally connected, or rigidly connected to each other. The pivotal connection can be accomplished by, for example, a living hinge or a ball and socket type of joint. When the body sections are connected in a rigid manner or by way of a living hinge, they form a holder having a one-piece or unitary body, as compared with the two-piece bodies of the other embodiments. The frictional connection can be accomplished by, for example, interacting ramping lugs and friction lugs.
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Dowd Paul
Morano Emanual Peter
Shaw Robert W.
Telofski Lorena S.
Trojanowski Alan G.
Garbe Stephen P.
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc.
Mai Tri M.
Mangini Michele G.
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