Nurser Bottle Construction

Abstract

A disposable plastic container for use with a nursing assembly including a cylindrical holder attached to a nipple adapter which serves to mount and seal the container to the holder; the plastic container including a relatively thin and flexible body portion terminating in a relatively thicker and somewhat less flexible rim portion configured with angularly related wall portions for stacking containers in readily releasable nested package form and with one wall portion to be trapped between the upper periphery of the holder and the overlying adapter.

Description

Nursing containers, which are themselves disposable or which include disposable bag-like containers within a holder, have come into extensive use because of the advantage of minimizing sterilization of formula containers and nursing bottles for reuse. There are various types of such nursing assemblies as where a nipple and flexible bag may be formed integral with one another and pre-filled with sterile formula for dispensing and disposal after each use; or where the open end of a flexible bag is attached in various ways at the open end of a holder and nipple assembly and after dispensing the contents of the bag, it may be discarded and another bag attached for the next feeding. Also, there are stacking rim formations in plastic cups and the like which are relatively stiff as compared to the present flexible bags.

The present invention is concerned with the provision of a disposable plastic container in the nature of a flexible open ended bag which is to be associated with a surrounding holder and nipple adapter assembly for infant feeding of the contents of the bag and a principal object of the invention is to provide such a container with a rim portion which is configured to permit stacking of the containers in package form from which individual containers can be readily removed from the nested stack for association with the holder and nipple assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container substantially of the above type wherein the rim configuration cooperates with the holder for mounting the container therein with the upper end portion of the container complementally shaped for association with at least a part of the container rim portion for this purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a composite nursing assembly with the uppermost part of the container rim formation sealed between the upper end of the holder and the adjacent portion of the adapter.

The above and other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out in the detail description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a plurality of stacked containers in nested package form;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section showing the stacked relationship of a pair of the containers of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section showing the association of a container with the holder and nipple adapter in readiness for feeding;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the upper portion of the holder and the flexing of the container rim portion during association therewith; and

FIG. 5 is a top view showing the flexibility and resiliency of the rim between permissive collapsed position and dotted line restored position.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the container or bag is illustrated as having a tapered body portion 10 and a rim formation 12 around the open upper end thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, the container wall around the rim formation, though flexible to the extent that it may be radially collapsed without fracture by light finger pressure, is thicker than that of the body portion 10 which is of greater flexibility, such that it may be easily folded. The rim formation includes a horizontal flange 14 extending outwardly from the top of the container and merging with a short depending cylindrical wall portion 16 which, in turn, merges with an inwardly extending substantially horizontal wall portion 18 presenting an upwardly facing ledge surface 18a. The inner edge of the wall portion 18 merges with a downwardly and slightly outwardly inclined wall 20 longer than the wall 16 and merging with a second and lower inwardly directed wall 22 presenting an outer downwardly facing shoulder surface 22a. The inner edge of the wall 22 merges with the body wall 10 which has a rounded closed bottom 10a and the entire container is formed by known molding techniques from plastic materials, such as low density polyethylene to result in a flexible and non-brittle container. It is contemplated that the containers will be sold in multi-unit packages from which individual containers are to be removed for use and then discarded. When multiple containers are so packaged the containers will telescope one within another in stacked and nested condition with the shoulder surface 22a of an upper container resting on the ledge surface 18a of the next lower container and with the remaining adjacent wall portions spaced from one another so that individual containers can be easily removed from the packaged stack.

Upon removal of a container from the stack, it is associated with a cylindrical holder 26 of any suitable material having sufficient rigidity for continued reuse and if plastic is used, polypropylene is an example. With reference to FIG. 4, the holder 26 is provided around the upper end thereof with external thread means 28 and with inward shoulder means in the form of an inwardly and upwardly extending wedge-shaped portion 30 terminating in a substantially horizontal inward and upwardly facing shoulder 32 in turn merging with an upstanding lip or finish 34. When a container is assembled with the holder as in FIG. 3, the container flange 14 will overlie the edge of the lip 34 with the shoulder 32 on the holder underlying the outer surface 18b of the container wall portion 18 and with the wedge-shaped surface snugly engaging the outer surface of the container wall portion 20. In such position, there is sufficient support of the container to fill the same with formula or other contents after sterilization, if not previously accomplished, and the adapter 36 is applied to the holder 26 with the internally threaded skirt 38 engaging the thread means 28 on the holder and with the horizontal portion 40 thereof sealingly clamping the container flange 14 against the edge of the lip 34. If the container was not previously filled, such filling may be accomplished through the adapter with its additional support of the container in the holder, and the nipple 42 and clamping ring 44 then applied to the adapter 36. Any form of nipple assembly may be employed and the assembly is ready for feeding. After feeding, the adapter 36 may be loosened and the container withdrawn from the bottom end of the holder for disposal, or the adapter and nipple assembly may be removed from the holder and the container withdrawn from the upper end of the holder for disposal, the flexibility of the rim portion 12 of the container being sufficient for withdrawal in either direction.

Removing a container from a nested stack in the package array may be accomplished by hand or by manipulation of the holder for this purpose. If by hand, the uppermost container may be gripped by the rim portion and pulled away from the nested stack or if the stack is pre-sterilized, the lowermost container may be withdrawn by finger gripping the end 10a thereof. Where the body wall 10 is quite flexible, the finger gripping will pinch the adjacent wall surfaces together for sufficient purchase but where the body wall is of a more rigid nature, a tab portion 10b may be provided on the closed bottom during the molding operation for this purpose. On the other hand, the holder 26 itself may be used for withdrawing a container from the supply stack. Thus, the open end of the stack of containers may be inverted and placed on a support surface, as a table, or the open end may be held in one hand, and the holder grasped in the other hand to force the thread end thereof over the closed end of the stack. The flexibility of the container rim formation 12 permits the wedge surface 30 of the holder to force the wall portion 22 upwardly and inwardly with slight inward bending of the wall 20 (see FIG. 4) and passage thereover to hug the adjacent outer surface of the intermediate inclined wall 20 with the shoulder 32 underlying the surface 18b of the Z-shaped stacking arrangement provided by the container wall portions 18, 20, 22. With the end container thus trapped, reverse movement of the holder will remove that container from the stack in readiness for application of the nipple assembly for further feeding. A container removed from the stack by hand manipulation, may be inserted into the holder at the threaded end thereof and the rim formation 12 will be similarly flexed for association therewith. Likewise, the container can be drawn through the top of the holder with similar resilient deflection thereof for engagement with the holder. The plastic material for the container, that is, both the body 10 and the rim formation 12, is non-brittle so that it may be readily flexed without fracture. Thus, the wall portions 20, 22 of the rim formation may be flexibly deformed themselves by longitudinal and radial resilient deflection for association with the holder and without tendency toward fracture. There is sufficient resiliency for the walls to spring back to normal positions resiliently engaging adjacent holder surfaces and the rim portion, even if collapsed by finger pressure into opposite wall portion engagement (see FIG. 5), will restore itself to annular form. This is to be distinguished from relatively rigid cup-like containers with stacking formations which would tend to fracture if collapsed to this degree. Further, the lateral and axial extent of the wall portions 20 and 22 are such as to permit the indicated bending with inherent restoration to the original positions.

Claims

I claim:

1. In combination with a tube-like holder having external attachment means around the top portion thereof and internal upwardly facing shoulder means below the top peripheral edge thereof, the provision of a plastic bag-like container supported interiorly of the holder and including a flexible and resilient rim portion with a bottom closed flexible body portion pendant therefrom, said rim portion providing a stacking formation for a nested supply of containers and including upper and lower generally horizontal wall portions with a downwardly and outwardly inclined wall portion joining the inner edge of the upper wall portion and the outer edge of the lower wall portion and with a peripheral wall upstanding from the outer edge of the upper wall portion and engaging the inner surface of the top peripheral portion of the holder with the under surface of the upper wall portion supported on the shoulder means of the holder after relative telescopic association of the holder and container causing inward resilient deflection of the inclined wall and lower wall portion and resilient restoration thereof into engagement with the adjacent surface of the holder below the shoulder means trapping the container in the holder.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the upper end of the container is provided with a radially outward flange overlying the top peripheral edge of the holder and wherein there is provided a nipple equipped adapter with a skirt engaged with the attachment means on the holder and with a horizontal portion engaging the container flange to seal the same against the top peripheral edge of the holder.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein the holder is provided with a downwardly and outwardly inclined wedge surface below the shoulder means and with which the inclined wall of the container is in conforming resilient engagement to assist in trapping the container within the holder.

4. A one-piece flexible bag-like container, nestable and transportable in a stacked array of a plurality of said containers from which array one container at a time is readily removable and capable of being locked into a substantially rigid holder having internal shoulder means at one end thereof, said container comprising a rim portion and a bottom closed flexible body portion pendant therefrom, said container being formed from a flexible and resilient plastic material enabling said rim and body portions thereof to be folded with opposite wall portions touching each other without fracturing of said rim and body portions, said rim formation being of a predetermined thickness and said body portion being of substantially lesser thickness throughout the extent thereof, said rim portion including a generally horizontally inward wall portion below the free end thereof and presenting an upwardly facing internal ledge surface, a downwardly and outwardly inclined wall portion joining the inner edge of said inward wall portion with the outer edge of a lower generally horizontal outward wall portion presenting a downwardly facing external shoulder surface, said ledge and shoulder surfaces of said container providing readily separable surface contact and support between said ledge and shoulder surfaces of a plurality of said containers in a stacked array of said containers with adjacent containers of said containers in said stacked array being substantially incapable of being axially interlocked by axial compression of said stacked array, and said rim portion being deflectable to enable said inclined wall portion and said lower generally horizontal outward wall portion to be deflected radially inwardly in interlocking and resiliently interfitting engagement with the internal shoulder of said substantially rigid holder.