Nursing bottle

May 19, 1959

2,887,239

J. A. REED ET AL

NURSING BOTTLE

Filed March 21, 1958

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United States Patent Office

2,887,239

Patented May 19, 1959 closes the bottom open end of the body 10 with a portion of the sleeve 20 on the side nearest the body open bottom embracingly receiving the portion of the body 10 adjacent the open bottom.

Detachable cooperating means, embodying threads 24, are carried on the portion of the body 10 adjacent the open bottom and on the portion of the sleeve 20 on the side nearest the body open bottom for removably seeming the closure 18 to the open bottom of the body 10.

A vertically extending bore 26 extends through a boss 28, making the boss 28 hollow and open-ended, the boss 28 extending through the midportion of the plate member 22. The open end of the boss 28 adjacent the open bottom of the body 10 is flat and cut away about the midΐδ portion to provide a recess 30. A flat resilient valve ring 32 normally extends about the boss flat end and closes the recess 30 with the portion of the ring 32 adjacent the outer periphery in tight fitting engagement, as at 34 in Figure 3, with the flat upper end of the boss 28.

A resilient mounting member in the form of an inverted cup 36 projects perpendicularly from and is formed integrally with the interior periphery of the valve ring 32. An extension 38 projects vertically from the midportion of the bottom 40 of the cup 36 and forms a means by 25 which the cup 36 is positioned so that the outer portion of the ring periphery is in seating engagement with the. upper flat open end of the boss 28 exteriorly of the recess 30.

A hollow head 42 encompasses and bears against the 30 cup 36 with the upper inner face of the head 42 in abutting engagement with the portion of the bottom 40 of the cup 36 exteriorly of the extension 38, there being provided a bore 44 in the bottom of the cup-shaped head 42 receiving loosely therethrough the extension 38.

The head 42 has a depending skirt 46 circumposed about the upper end portion of the boss 28 with a cooperating inwardly directed bead 48 received in a complementally-shaped groove 50 provided in the upper end portion of the boss 28.

The periphery of the skirt 46 is provided with a plurality of spaced openings 52, as shown in Figure 2.

The lower end portion of the sleeve 20 is also provided with a plurality of spaced openings 52.

A filter element 56 is provided by the present inven45 tion and is insertable into the bore 26 to a position in which it extends over the recess 30 so as to filter pollen and dust from any air drawn into the interior of the body 10 through the bore 26. A plug 58 is provided for closing the bore 26 after the body 10 has been filled with a 50 liquid to be dispensed through the nipple 14 and when it is desirable to heat the contents of the bottle 10.

In use, the body 10 is filled with a liquid for feeding to an infant and the contents of the body 10 are heated in a receptacle containing warm or hot water with the 55 plug 58 inserted in the bore 26. The opening 54 in the lower end portion of the skirt 20 permits the circulation of the warm water under the plate member 22 and prevents the formation of or entrapment of bubbles in the heated water which might upset the body 10 in the 60 receptacle.

When the contents of the body 10 have been heated to the desired temperature, the body 10 is removed from the heating receptacle and the plug 58 removed from the bore 26, with or without the insertion of.the.:filter ele65 ment 56 in the bo-re 26, as desired. With the cover 16 removed, the body 10 inverted, and the infant to be fed sucking on the nipple 14, the contents of the body 10 will be fully dispensed through the nipple 14 and at least a portion of the outer peripheral portion of the ring 70 32 will be moved from the tight-seating engagement position with respect to the open end of the bore 28, in which position it closes the recess 30, to a position out

2,887,239

NURSING BOTTLE

John A. Reed, Garden Grove, and Harry D. Walters, Anaheim, Calif.

Application March 21, 1958, Serial No. 722,899

Claims. (Cl. 215—11)

The present invention relates to nursing bottles.

An object of the present invention is to provide a nursing bottle which lends itself to the even flow of liquid therefrom when feeding a liquid to an infant, obviating, as with nursing bottles presently in use, the frequent formation of a partial vacuum in a nursing bottle and stoppage of flow of the liquid therefrom when an infant sucks the nipple of the bottle to withdraw the contents of the bottle, and the subsequent flooding or partial flooding of the infant’s mouth with the liquid when the infant stops sucking for an instant and allows air to enter the bottle through the nipple breaking the vacuum or partial vacuum therein.

Another object of the present invention is to provide in a nursing bottle, a valve structure which may be completely removed from the bottle for sterilization and cleaning, such structure being simple in design, sturdily constructed, and economically feasible.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a nursing bottle which, when filled with a liquid to be dispensed, may be stood in an erect position within a container of heated water for the application of heat to the contents of such bottle, and one having means ensuring the optimum distribution of the heat over the lower portion of such bottle.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the nursing bottle according to the present invention, showing a further element and cork or plug removed therefrom;

Figure 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2—2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3—3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a partial elevational view of the lower end of the bottle shown in Figure 1 with a portion of the side broken away;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the valve element in the vacuum-release position; and

Figure 6 is a view in section, taken on the line 6—6 of Figure 5.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the nursing bottle according to the present invention comprises a hollow elongated body 10 having a tapering portion adjacent its open top and an open bottom. A detachable annular cap 12, having a flexible nipple 14 extending therethrough, closes the open top of the body 10 and a protective covering 16 extends over the nipple 14, as shown in Figure 1, the nipple 14 being shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.

The present invention provides a detachable closure 18 comprising a sleeve 20 and a plate member 22 within and extending transversely across the interior of the sleeve 20 intermediate the ends thereof. The closure 18 is arranged so that the plate member 22 bridges and

2,887,239 ' 3 of tight-seating engagement opening the recess 30, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, permitting air to enter through the bore 26, through the recess 30 and outwardly through the openings in the skirt 46 of the head 42. This admission of the air into the body 10 through the bore 26 relieves the greater part of the vacuum which is formed within the body 10 by the draining of the liquid through the nipple 14, a very small balance of the vacuum remaining due to the resiliency of the outer peripheral portion of the ring 32.

It will be found that in using the nursing bottle of the present invention the infant being fed will receive the liquid to be dispensed through the nipple 14 in a steady, even flow without the necessity of excess sucking action on the nipple 14 and without the sudden surging of the liquid from the nipple 14 upon cessation of the sucking action by the infant and release of the nipple 14 to permit air to enter the partially evacuated body 10.

Longitudinally extending ribs 60, four in number, are arranged in spaced relation about the body 10 and serve to prevent the body 10 from rolling when on its side on a flat surface and also as a means to comfortably grip the body 10. The exterior surface of the closure 18 is provided with serrations 62 to provide hand grip means.