US 6,601,720 B2Granted

Nursing bottle

AssigneeGerber Products Company

InventorsBrenda J. Meyers, David C. Brown, Mark P. Slaven

Life of this patent

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Abstract

The invention is an improved nursing bottle, providing a new valve within its bottom structure. A flexible disk is disposed within the bottom end cap of the nursing bottle, clamped at its periphery to the periphery of the base when the bottle is assembled. The disk has a ring of slits near its periphery which are closed when pressure inside the bottle equals ambient pressure. The slits are further sealed by contact with the base. Holes, which are sealed closed by contact with the disk, are provided in the base within a central portion which does not contact the slits in the disk. When pressure within the bottle drops, the disk bows upwardly in its center, opening the valve and allowing air to enter the bottle. When pressure within the bottle increases, the valve again closes.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A nursing bottle comprising:

a tubular flexible shell having a lower end and an upper end;
a bottom end cap removably engaged with the lower end, the bottom end cap having a plurality of holes therethrough;
a top end cap removably engaged with the upper end, said top end cap capable of receiving a nipple;
a bag disposed within the shell, defining an open volume between the shell and the bag, the bag being open to the nipple when the nipple is installed;
and
a resiliently flexible flat disk having a plurality of slits therethrough, the slits being closed to airflow when pressure inside the bottle is greater than ambient pressure, the slits being open to airflow when pressure inside the bottle is less than ambient pressure, and the disk being disposed within the bottom end cap such that the disk is secured between a base of the bottom end cap and the shell;
wherein the slits directly contact the base when the disk is in a relaxed state.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/180,283Filed 26 Jun 2002 · continuation in part
Priority: 28 Sep 2000
Published: US 2003/0024895 A16 Feb 2003
Granted: 5 Aug 2003
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

A61J 9/001
Feeding-bottles in general: with inner liners
A61J 9/04
Feeding-bottles in general: with means for supplying air
A61J 11/04
Teats: with means for fastening to bottles
A61J
Containers specially adapted for medical or pharmaceutical purposes

Family

Application09/670,903Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 28 Sep 2000
US 2003/0024895 A1Pre-grant publication · published 6 Feb 2003
US 6,446,822 B1Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 6,601,720 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.