Nursing bottle

2,394,722

Feb. 12, 1946.

M. SLOANE

NURSING BOTTLE

Filed Sept. 21, 1943

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— ·Λ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS

Patented Feb. 12, 1946

2,394,722

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,394,722

NURSING BOTTLE

Milton Sloane, Hartford, Conn.

Application September 21,1943, Serial No. 503,177

Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved . nursing bottle.

The principal objects of my invention are to produce a nursing bottle in which the formation of a partial vacuum is prevented, and which can be made cheaply in large-scale production.

Another object is to produce a bottle which can be used with a nipple of ordinary construction.

Other objects of my invention will be stated in the annexed description and drawing, which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof.

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation, partially in vertical section, of the improved bottle and cap and valve;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the valve-member which is provided at the bottom of the bottle, at the top or inner face of the bottom cap;

Fig. 3 is a vertical elevation, partially in vertical section, of a second embodiment;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the bottom part of the bottle of Fig. 3, with the bottom cap detached from the bottom of the bottle;

Fig. 5 is a section of the bottom cap; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of another embodiment.

The bottle I may be of any type or shape. In Fig. 1, the longitudinal wall of said bottle is externally threaded at its rear or open bottom end 8a. Cap 2 is made of rubber or any other resilient or non-resilient material. It is preferably made of material which is resilient and flexible and extensible. Cap 2 is screwed on bottom end 8a, to provide a liquid-tight and air-tight closure. Valve 4 is made of rubber or other resilient and flexible and extensible material. The bottom wall 5b of valve 4 is fixed to the adjacent annular wall of cap 2, in any suitable airtight and liquid-tight manner, by cement or otherwise. Valve 4 may be vulcanized integrally with cap 2. Valve 4 and cap 2 have the common bore 3. A slitting tool is forced upwardly through bore 3 to slit an opening 41 which is normally closed by the resilient lips 5 and 5a, which normally press against each other, to provide a valve-lip construction which normally closes slit opening 41.

As shown in Fig. 1, said lips 5 and 5a are provided at the tip of the hollow valve-body. Said lips 5 and 5a are thinner than the wall of said hollow valve-body. By thus transversely cutting the valve-body at its tip to provide said lips 5 and 5α, I produce a valve which delicately responds to a slight lowering in the internal pressure of the bottle-body. The body of the cap 2 is planar, so that the entire body of said cap (CI. 215—11) can yield between the internal face of the longitudinal wall of the bottle.

A nipple is put on neck 2 of bottle I, and said bottle is used in the ordinary manner. When in use, the bottle may be held horizontally or in an inclined position, so that slit 4f is spaced from the milk or other liquid in said bottle. When a partial vacuum is created in the interior of the bottle I, the valve-lips 5 and 5a separate slightly but sufficiently, so that air can enter the interior of the bottle through slit opening 41. Said valvelips 5 and 5a form a one-way inlet valve device. Hence, no milk or other liquid can leak out through valve opening 41. It is desirable to form the opening 41 by a slitting operation, after the valve-body has been formed and otherwise completed, so that the natural resilience of the lips 5 and 5a will normally close the inlet opening 41.

In the second embodiment of Figs. 3-5, the bottle la has a bottom or rear portion 8 whose longitudinal wall has no external thread. The rear end of said rear portion 8 has a flange. Cap 2a fits frictionally upon the rear end of bottle la, to provide an air-tight and liquid-tight closure. The cap 2a has an integral wall 40, which is slitted, after said cap 2a has been finished, to provide slit opening 41. Cap 2a can also be made of resilient and flexible and extensible vulcanized rubber.

Fig. 6 shows a valve body 4a, which has a hollow extension 6, which can fit frictionally in the bore 3 of cap 2. The valve 4a which is shown in Fig. 6, can also be made of resilient and flexible and extensible rubber, as in the previous embodiments, and the slit 41 is also preferably formed after said valve 4a has been shaped and vulcanized and otherwise fully completed.

For large scale production, it is desirable to provide a bottle which has no rear end-wall, so that said bottle is wholly open at its rear end.

The cap 2 or 2a can be readily removed and replaced, thus facilitating the cleansing and sterilization of the bottle.

In each embodiment, the removable cap has a forward projection, at whose front or upper end the valve is located.

Numerous changes and omissions can be made from the embodiments specifically illustrated herein, without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is not necessarily limited to a slit-opening, although this is preferred.