Patent Application
20080308565
The present invention relates to a leak prevention device for use on baby bottles and child drink cups. More particularly, the invention relates to a device which prevents liquid from leaking from a baby bottle and child's drink cup by allowing the beverage container to be maintained at a permanent angle when tipped over.
The need for baby bottles and child drink cups to maintain their liquid contents exists to provide nutrients and satisfaction to the infant.
In the past, bottles and child drink cups which were designed to prevent liquids from escaping were limited to cumbersome attachments in the lids themselves or by bottles designed not to leak but still allowed the fluid inside to escape over a period of time through the nipple and/or drink spout causing not only waste of nutritious liquids, but staining and discoloration of surface material beneath and surrounding the area where the bottle or drink cup had tipped over and was left to lie on its side. Furthermore, when children are put to bed with a bottle or cup and do not finish the liquid inside before falling asleep, the bottle or cup is left to tip over and remain on its side resulting in time consuming and inconvenient bedding changes in the middle of the night by the parent/caregiver, disrupted sleep patterns of both the parent and child, and the potential for skin rashes to develop where liquid that leaked from the bottle or cup came into contact with the child's skin surface and remained until the child woke from sleep.
Prior art leak prevention devices are limited to the manner in which the lid or nipple of the bottle is designed which is to prevent leaking of liquid from a bottle or drink cup that is quickly returned to its upright position by the physical action of the parent/caregiver and child. However, as it is not possible for a parent/caregiver or child to consistently return a bottle or drink cup to the upright position quickly enough to prevent the liquid contents from leaking, these devices have not been completely effective. In addition, bottles and drink cups that are designed to prevent leaking often require careful cleaning with bleach or alternative chemical to remove bacteria, residue and prevent mold growth inside the bottle nipple, leak-proof apparatus or spout of the drink cup which if not done timely will result in extensive, tedious washing by the parent/caregiver, separation and/or loss of the leak proof apparatus or the need to discard the bottle nipple or drink cup leak proof apparatus due to mold or residue unable to be removed by cleaning.
In these respects, the leak prevention device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a device which when attached to a baby bottle and child's drink cup will effectively prevent leaking of its liquid contents.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of leak proof baby bottles and child drink cups now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new, simplified leak prevention device which can be utilized for providing leak prevention for baby bottles and child drink cups.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and simplified leak prevention device which has none of the disadvantages of the prior art. To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a ring shaped, circular device including a uniformly creviced edge along its perimeter and a smaller circular center opening for use as an attachment to a baby bottle and/or child's drink cup. A generally resilient rubber material is disposed along the entire outer surface thereby allowing for a rigid flexibility for fitting the device securely onto the baby bottle and child drink cup which when positioned between the top and bottom of the baby bottle and child drink cup will effectively prevent leakage by allowing the beverage container to be maintained at a permanent angle when tipped over.
There has thus been outlined the more important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description that follows may be more fully understood. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and it is to be understood that the phraseology terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as the basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the purpose of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and simplified leak prevention device which has none of the disadvantages of the leak proof baby bottles and child drink cups mentioned heretofore and has, as well, novel features that result in a unique, simple leak prevention device which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or implied by any of the prior art leak prevention apparatuses either alone or in combination thereof.
It is also another object of the present invention to provide a new, simplified leak prevention device which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is also another object of the present invention to provide a new, simplified leak prevention device which can be easily cleaned and maintained,
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new, simplified leak prevention device which is universal in nature insofar as it can be used on a variety of baby bottles and child drink cups on the market currently as well as those purchased in previous years by the consumer.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and simplified leak prevention device for use on baby bottles and child drink cups which is susceptible to a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor and which accordingly is then susceptible to low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a leak prevention device economically available to the buying public.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new, simplified leak prevention device, that when fitted over a baby bottle and child's drink cup can prevent the escape of liquid contained therein by permanently maintaining the container at an angle when tipped over.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the claims.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular, to
More specifically, it will be noted in
As best illustrated in
In use in
Other optional embodiments of the invention include that the leak prevention device may take the form where one or more shapes, including triangular and octagonal, define the outer edge for aesthetic purposes.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of the invention.
