Patent Application
20200390657
The present invention generally pertains to a system and method for adapting a conventional feeding bottle to so that pressure within the bottle remains substantially the same as pressure outside the bottle as fluid is withdrawn from the bottle.
Bottle-feeding is commonly used with babies, as means of providing formula milk to replace breastfeeding, as a means of providing an infant with its mother's milk when the mother is not present, and as a means of providing the infant with liquids other than mothers' milk, such as water or juice.
However, as liquid is withdrawn from the bottle, either air must enter the bottle or the bottle must collapse in order to maintain equilibrium pressure between the inside and the outside of the bottle since the larger the pressure differential between the inside and the outside of the bottle, the more difficult the removal of liquid from the bottle. Typically, air will enter the bottle via the nipple, from the baby's mouth. However, this can result in the baby swallowing air, which can lead to a “gassy” baby, spit-up, colic, and ear infections.
Swallowing of air can be prevented by venting the bottle or by having a collapsible bottle.
The Joovy® BOOB™ uses a venting ring, the CleanFlow™ Vent, that goes onto the opening of the bottle before you screw on the nipple. The vent ring has four equally-spaced holes in a silicone sleeve that fits into the bottle. The silicone sleeve is integral with a hard plastic top that sits on the lid of the bottle. The CleanFlow Vent is notched to fit perfectly in the Boob Baby Bottle's wide neck, which eliminates over and under tightening, reducing leaks and maintaining consistent flow rates.
However, the vent ring will only fit into the Joovy BOOB bottle.
Dr. Brown's® bottles have an air vent that redirects air bubbles from the nipple to the back of the bottle as a baby feeds. But liquid can exit the bottle through the vent if the bottle is not handled properly. The Doctor Brown bottle also has two extra parts, which can be fussy to clean and which take extra time to fit together and to fir into the bottle. The Comotomo® bottle and the Minbie® Newborn BPA-free Baby Bottle have two small vents positioned at the base of the nipple. The Tommee Tippee® has a single vent on the nipple. In some cases, a vent can be covered by the cheek, lips, or chin, reducing the effectiveness of the venting system or, in the case of the Tommee Tippee, preventing venting entirely.
The Philips® Avent™ has twin valves, venting through tiny slits at the very far edges of the nipple.
The MAM® anti-colic baby feeding bottle has a vent on the base. The bottle separates into nipple, nipple ring, bottle, and vented base. The base screws onto the bottom, then you place the nipple onto the top of the bottle, and then screw on the nipple ring.
Other baby feeding bottles with vent on the base include the Playtex® Ventaire™ Baby Bottles.
The Munchkin® LATCH™ Baby Bottle also vented via the bottom of the bottle, with a valve instead of a vent.
The Flipsi® Natural Silicone Baby bottle has a silicone cup-like reservoir that is filled with milk and placed into the bottle, after which, the nipple is screwed on. The silicone sits over the top edge of the bottle, so when the nipple cap is screwed on a very nice seal is formed. The flexible silicone is highly conformable, making it shrink in size to accommodate the decreasing amount of milk in the bottle.
The BIBIGO© bottle is has bellows-style sides, so that it is collapsible, reducing in size as liquid is removed from the bottle, the bottle size adjusting automatically to the volume of liquid left. Reducing the amount of air in the bottle, reduces the amount of air swallowed which provides effective and proactive colic relief.
It is therefore a long felt need to provide a venting means which is simple to use, vents reliably, does not block, does not leak and which is not limited to a single brand of bottle.
It is an object of the present invention to disclose a system for adapting a conventional feeding bottle to so that pressure within the bottle remains substantially the same as pressure outside the bottle as fluid is withdrawn from the bottle.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose an adaptor for a feeding bottle, comprising:
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said aperture is selected from of a group consisting of: a slit ending at said bottom edge of said cylindrical portion, a slit-shaped hole, and any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said angle θ is less than 20°.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said angle φ is in a range between 10 degrees and 80 degrees.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said angle ρ is in a range between 10 degrees and 80 degrees.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said at least one aperture is either a slit or a hole.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said at least one slot is either a slit or a hole.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said at least one slot has a width selected from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the outside, wider at the bottom than the top on the outside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said at least one slot has a width selected from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the inside, wider at the bottom than the top on the inside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the inside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said at least one aperture has a width selected from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the outside, wider at the bottom than the top on the outside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said at least one aperture has a width selected from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the inside, wider at the bottom than the top on the inside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the inside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said adaptor comprises hydrophobic material.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the as described above, wherein said aperture has a width of less than 0.2 mm.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose a method for enabling feeding from a feeding bottle with a nipple, comprising steps of:
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting said aperture from of a group consisting of: a slit ending at said bottom edge of said cylindrical portion, a slit-shaped hole, and any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting said angle θ to be less than 20°.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting said angle φ to be in a range between 10 degrees and 80 degrees.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting said angle ρ to be in a range between 10 degrees and 80 degrees.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting said at least one aperture to be either a slit or a hole.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting said at least one slot to be either a slit or a hole.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting a width of said at least one slot from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the outside, wider at the bottom than the top on the outside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting a width of said at least one slot from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the inside, wider at the bottom than the top on the inside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the inside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting a width of said at least one aperture from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the outside, wider at the bottom than the top on the outside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting a width of said at least one aperture from a group consisting of: wider at the top than the bottom on the inside, wider at the bottom than the top on the inside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the inside.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of comprising said adaptor of hydrophobic material.
It is another object of the present invention to disclose the method as described above, additionally comprising a step of selecting a width of said at least one said aperture to be less than 0.2 mm.
In order to better understand the invention and its implementation in practice, a plurality of embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein
The following description is provided, alongside all chapters of the present invention, so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make use of said invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out this invention. Various modifications, however, will remain apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined specifically to provide a means and method for adapting a conventional baby feeding bottle to so that pressure within the feeding bottle remains substantially the same as pressure outside the feeding bottle as fluid is withdrawn from the feeding bottle, with the bottle not leaking fluid via the vents.
The term ‘feeding bottle’ or ‘baby feeding bottle’ hereinafter refers to a conventional device for feeding liquids, typically to babies but sometimes used for older persons. The feeding bottle comprises a bottle portion, typically with a screw top, a collar and a nipple. The feeding bottle is assembled for use by placing the nipple on the upper rim of the bottle, placing the collar over the nipple so that the nipple protrudes from a hole in the collar, and fastening the collar securely to the bottle portion. Typically, the collar is screwed onto the bottle. However, the adaptor of the present invention can be used with feeding bottles with other types of fastener, such as a clip fastener.
The term ‘bottle’ or ‘bottle portion’ hereinafter refers to the part of a conventional feeding bottle in which the liquid is held before dispensing via the nipple.
The term ‘slit’ hereinafter refers to an opening which has one side reaching a bottom side of a portion of the device, so that the bottom edges of the sides of the opening are not joined. Fluid can flow inside-to-outside (back-to-front), outside-to-inside (front-to-back) through a slit, and can also flow through the bottom of a slit.
The term ‘hole’ hereinafter refers to an opening which has all four sides joined. No part of the opening reaches the bottom of the portion of the device. Fluid can flow inside-to-outside (back-to-front) or outside-to-inside (front-to-back) through a hole; fluid can not flow through the bottom of a hole.
The term ‘about’ hereinafter refers to a range of plus or minus 10% around the quoted value.
The present invention provides a non-leaking, non-blocking adaptor that can be used with a conventional feeding bottle with conventional nipple of the type typically used to feed babies.
The adaptor allows entry of air into the feeding bottle, while preventing leakage of fluid from the feeding bottle. The adaptor has a simple structure and is easy to clean and easy to sterilize.
There are a large number of devices in the market intended to allow an infant to drink from a feeding bottle while preventing the infant from ingesting air. Ingestion of air can cause health problems for the infant, including spitting up, colic and an increased incidence of ear infections.
The illustration shows liquid (2500A) exiting via the nipple (1100), while air enters (2000B) the feeding bottle (1001) by passing through gaps between the screw threads in the collar (1200) and the screw threads in the bottle (1000), through at least one slot (not shown) on the lower side of the ring (1310) of the adaptor (1300) and then through the at least one aperture (1325) in the cylindrical portion (1320) of the adaptor (1300).
In the schematic of
In this embodiment, the apertures (1325) are slits reaching the base of the cylindrical portion (1320). In some embodiments, at least one of the apertures (1325) is a narrow hole that does not reach the base of the cylindrical portion (1320). In all embodiments, the apertures (1325) make an angle φ with the vertical. The angle φ can be in a range from about 10° to about 80°, preferably in a range from about 20° to about 50°, most preferably, about 30°. The apertures (1325) can have parallel sides, or they can narrow from bottom to top. In some embodiments, the apertures (1325) are triangular in cross-section.
The number of apertures (1325) can be in a range from 1 to about 40. Preferably, the number of apertures (1325) is in a range from about 4 to about 20. More preferably, the number of apertures (1325) is in a range from 6 to 18.
The maximum width of an aperture (1325) is about 0.2 mm A slot can be wider at the top than the bottom on the outside, wider at the bottom than the top on the outside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
A slot can be wider at the top than the bottom on the inside, wider at the bottom than the top on the inside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
An aperture can be wider at the top than the bottom on the outside, wider at the bottom than the top on the outside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
An aperture can be wider at the top than the bottom on the inside, wider at the bottom than the top on the inside, and the same width at the top and the bottom on the outside.
In a typical embodiment, the apertures (1325) do not cut perpendicularly through the cylindrical portion (1320); the sides, which cut through the cylindrical portion (1320), are not perpendicular to the inner (or outer) wall of the cylindrical portion (1320), but subtend an angle ρ, as shown in
In embodiments with the same number of slots as apertures, the apertures can be in any position relative to the slots. More preferably, an aperture is halfway between adjacent slots.
In the embodiments shown, the slots (1315) are equally spaced and the apertures (1325) are equally spaced. In some embodiments, at least one slot (1315) is not equally spaced relative to the other slots (1315). In some embodiments, at least one aperture (1325) is not equally spaced relative to the other apertures (1325).
In the embodiments shown, all slots (1315) are the same size and all apertures (1325) are the same size. In some embodiments, at least one slot (1315) is not the same size as the other slots (1315). In some embodiments, at least one aperture (1325) is not the same size as the other apertures (1325).
In all embodiments, no aperture (1325) is adjacent to a slot (1315).
A path of air (2000B) from the exterior of the adaptor (1300) to the interior of the bottle is illustrated schematically in
In some embodiments, at least one side (1317) of at least one slot (1315) is not perpendicular to the outer face of the ring (1310).
The ring (1310) comprises a rigid biocompatible material such as, but not limited to, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polyphenylsulfone and polypropylene, and the cylindrical portion (1320) comprises a soft, flexible material, preferably silicone.
Preferably, the cylindrical portion (1320) comprises at least one hydrophobic material.
Preferably, the ring (1310) comprises at least one hydrophobic material.
Preferably, the soft flexible material of the cylindrical portion (1320) extends above the base of the ring (1310). In further reference to
The rigid material of the ring (1310) prevents collapse of the slots (1315) when the collar (1200) is screwed into place to retain the adaptor (1300) and the nipple (1100) on the bottle (1000).
The flexible material of the cylindrical portion (1320) enables movement of the edges of the apertures (1325) during feeding, thus preventing blockage of the apertures (1325). A flexible cylindrical portion (1320) also simplifies placing of the adaptor (1300) in position before use and its removal from the bottle (1000) after use.
Angling of the apertures in the through-thickness directions means that the apertures are longer than they would be if they were cut perpendicularly through the cylindrical portion. The longer apertures help minimize the possibility of leakage of fluid through the cylindrical portion, while permitting passage of gas. Using a longer aperture also enables the apertures to be wider, thereby increasing the volume of air that can enter the bottle via the apertures.
The slots communicate, on their outer side, with a space above the screw threads, so that the screw threads can also help minimize the possibility of leakage from the bottle, while still allowing passage of air.
The slots are near the top of the bottle so that, when the bottle is upright for storage it will not leak, as the fluid will be below the level of the slots. This is unlike those of the prior-art bottles with vents or valves at the bottom of the bottle, where, during storage, the weight of the fluid will tend to cause the vent or valve to open.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62862142 | Jun 2019 | US |
