In the art of interfacing users with bottles to facilitate drinking there are many options. The simplest is the use of the bottle opening when the cap is removed. This simplest option, however, is not always fully effective. Consider infants and children who have not developed the necessary motor skills to drink from a bottle. Consider adult users who are otherwise using their eyes and hands. This invention is focused on the needs of these users. This invention provides alternatives to the simplest option and the other options that are currently available in the marketplace.
The specific problems with prior art solutions is the difficulty with cleaning the products and the higher skill levels that are required to use the open bottle. Prior art solutions include patented options such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,166, which discloses a container cap with two openings. U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,626 discloses a spill proof cap. U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,546 discloses a switch cap for drinking a bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 7,481,324 discloses a nipple adapter for beverage bottles. Each of these examples results in a design having internal corners that trap molecules of the liquid and result in mildewing inside the device. Particularly in the case of children, it is entirely unacceptable for a nipple or spout to harbor mildew.
The mildew problem with prior art bottle spouts and adapters is specifically overcome in a number of ways including the use of designs that eliminate the hidden internal corners; particularly during cleaning. Ease of use is increased by using spouts and adapters. This functionality is further enabled by the use of materials that increase flexibility and sealing ability.
The present invention is a bottle spout assembly, and has two central aspects that are presented in a variety of embodiments. The first aspect disclosed herein relates to the details necessary for the invention to fit onto standard bottle openings. The second aspect disclosed herein relates to the details necessary for the invention to be hygienic—meaning readily cleaned and resistant to the growth of mold, mildew and similar. These two aspects are “embodied” in a number of examples.
The size of the bottle spout herein disclosed is specific to its application. The present invention includes adapters and spouts that are designed to work with standard sized plastic drink bottles. The invention utilizes details that attach to the bottle, seal the attachment point, introduce an opening for a flow, provide one or more of a drinking detail, and provide a flow control detail to reduce spillage. Such bottes having an approximately 28 mm opening, often found on plastic containers such as:
Though the invention can be sized to fit other bottle openings.
The size of the spout and the size of the standard bottle opening permit a high flow. This device has a user-focus on children's and on adult exercise. These users require a controlled flow. An exemplary embodiment of flow control that can be used in this spout is a duckbill valve, a second example is a single linear slit cut through an adapter, a third example uses double and crosscut linear slits cut through an adapter, a fourth example uses molded details around slits to further control flow; and a fifth example uses multiple linear slits.
The fit of the spout to the bottle is also a key feature of the invention. That is, the spout must fit the opening in a usable but robust manner. The spout is usable in that it can be pressed or screwed onto the bottle opening manually. The force to press on should be ergonomically appropriate, such that an adult can press it on firmly, a child is not readily able to remove it and it maintains its hold on the bottle opening during use. A second embodiment uses an internally threaded body that is screwed onto the bottle opening by a user, as is familiar in the art.
Hygienic is the second aspect of the bottle spout herein disclosed, and there are two features that enable this aspect. That includes the shape of the spout and the selection of materials. Functionally, the preventing unwanted growth such as mold and mildew is accommodated with materials. Being a drinking device, particularly for use with children, reducing mildew is an important design feature.
The shape of the spout specifically requires that all internal corners have a large radius. Injection molding typically requires a corner of a molded product to be limited to 0.25T to 0.6 T (T=Thickness, of the material in the general location of the corner or edge). This standard achieves a repeatable, good quality release from the mold and assures adequate flow of the molding material to all parts of the product. The exemplary embodiments herein disclosed require all internal corners to have a radius greater than what is required by injection molding quality standards, since that value is a variable based on the Thickness of materials used, in this disclosure 0.75T is used as an exemplary value.
In this disclosure, the invention is enabled in a variety of embodiments. To discuss enablement details of each embodiment, nonlimiting examples are provided. Each of the embodiments of the invention disclosed herein can be screwed onto a threaded bottle opening. Some can be manually pressed over the threads. Either will have details to retain to the embodiment to the bottle opening that are either interference fits or threaded.
In this disclosure certain terms are used with specific meanings. Adapters are devices that fit over the top of a bottle, and then receive a spout. Adapters can be used without the spout by squeezing the bottle. Adapters physically secure to the bottle opening and can be threaded or secured with an interference fit. Spouts physically contact the user's mouth and are any of the type including but not limited to flip up spouts, straws, bottle nipples, baby nipples, wide spouts, twist to open spouts, and others having a generally hollow design that allows fluid to pass from the bottle and generally to the user. Adapters and spouts also generally include the use of flow controls such as slits in a flexible stopper or one way valves to restrict flow out of the bottle until such a valve is deliberately opened by the user.
In some embodiments, an invertible nipple is discussed. The invertible nipple uses a flexible material such as rubber or a soft polymer. A detail of the nipple is that when the nipple is inverted, any sharp corners that are made by the nipple in an extended position are exposed by the inversion; furthermore, sharp corners are not created by the inversion such that the internal surface of the device is more readily cleaned.
In an embodiment, the materials used in the device are made with materials impregnated with substances that reduce the propensity to grow contaminants. As an example these substances include antimicrobial, antibacterial, and disinfecting substances.
In an embodiment, the adapter and spout are designed to reuse the cap. The invention is screwed onto the bottle opening. As an example, the invention includes a nipple made of flexible material that is designed to have two functional states; a rigid plastic section having internal threads to fit on a bottle and external threads to receive the original bottle cap. The nipple is intended to hold its position in each of the two functional states. Those states are herein referred to as the extended state and the retracted state.
In an embodiment, the adapter and spout have a vaned structure similar to a wine stopper. The invention is manually pressed into the bottle opening. The invention includes at least one vane made of a flexible material. As an example, the entire structure is made of one material, and the flexible vane is made with a thinner use of the one material. In a second example, two materials are used. The body of this embodiment has a hollow neck and a valve. As an example, a spout is formed at the top of the embodiment; below the spout is a standoff section to limit travel into the bottle; a flow control valve is located inside the body; and a detail uses a vent tube attached to the bottom of the body to make an air connection between the inside of the body and the bottom area of the bottle.
In an embodiment, a cap adapter is used. The cap adapter screws or is manually pressed onto the open bottle. The cap adapter has a generally rigid polymeric body that is similar to the original bottle cap, having a similar size and shape with internal threads. The cap adapter has a flexible section in the portion that covers the bottle opening. As an example, the flexible section is round; the flexible section incorporates the flow control when used without an adapter; the flexible section receives the adapter when an adapter is used; the adapters have an extended drink tube that is pushed through the flexible section; and the drink tube is perforated to allow the bottle to be completely emptied.
In an embodiment, the adapter and spout include a nipple made of one flexible material and is designed to have three functional states (orientations, configurations, or positions). The invention is pressed onto the bottle opening. The invention is intended to hold its position in each of the functional states. The user is to change states by pushing on the nipple tip in a direction toward the bottom of the invention. The invention cycles from an expanded position, to a collapsed position and then to an inverted position.
In the expanded state, the invention can be pushed or threaded onto a bottle opening. The flexible material seals the invention to the bottle opening. In the expanded state, the invention is ready for a user to drink through it. In the expanded state, the nipple is extended.
In the collapsed state, the invention is collapsed into a disc shape. The collapsed state is intended to provide packing efficiency when many units of the invention are desired.
The third state is the inverted state. The inverted device is ready for cleaning, having been turned inside out, thus exposing any internal corners to the outside. In the inverted state, the nipple is extended again but is now inside out.
In an embodiment, a resilient balloon adapter is disclosed. The embodiment is made of a flexible material such as rubber or a polymer. As an example, the adapter is screwed or pressed onto the bottle opening; the material incorporates the flow control; the flow control allows use with or without an adapter; and the flow control receives the adapter as in other embodiments.
Drawings of the various embodiments is included with this specification to provide an exemplary description.
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