CA2146285A1

CA2146285A1 - Powdered infant formula container attachable to nursing bottle

Info

Publication number: CA2146285A1
Application number: CA 2146285
Authority: CA
Inventors: Sandra Lee Deseron
Original assignee: Sandra Lee Deseron
Current assignee: DESERON SANDRA LEE
Priority date: 1995-04-04
Filing date: 1995-04-04
Publication date: 1996-10-05

Abstract

This application describes a container which provides storage and convenient carrying of a premeasured portion of powdered infant formula, such container being insertable and/or attachable to a liner-type nursing bottle.

Description

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SPECIFICATION
This invention relates to a re-sealable container which is insertable and/or attachable to a liner-type nursing bottle of the well-known type, and provides storage and convenient carrying of a premeasured amount of powdered infant formula.
A great inconvenience of venturing out of the home with an infant is the safe and convenient provision of infant formula.
Currently it is common practice to pre-mix bottles of formula and try to keep them chilled, and then re-heat and use them within a limited time, or to carry extra supplies of sterilized water, powdered formula and measuring apparatus, and then endure ~
the inconvenient and messy task of measuring out and preparing bottles on-the-go. While the latter approach is inconvenient and often impractical, the former carries the likelihood of spoilage of the premixed formula, resulting in waste, shortage of formula, or worst of all consumption of expired formula by the infant.
Two searches each of the Canadian and American patents available at the Canadian Patent Office in Hull have revealed to the applicant no similar prior art relating to the resolution of these problems or to such a container for use as described in this application.
This invention provides a practical solution to the problem by allowing a convenient toting and preparing alternative that is usable with well-known liner-type nursing bottles (i.e. the nursing bottle comprised of a rigid cylindrical shell which ~lG28a Page~2 DESERON

holds a disposable plastic bag-type liner which functions as the liquid formula container.) The powder container described in this invention has a fitting lid, is of a volume to contain one pre-measured portion of well-known powdered infant formula, and is of a size and design to fit into the open-ended bottom of the bottle shell and either press in snugly to engage frictionally, or to snap into place with detents or tabs in the case of bottle shells designed with slots near the bottom, or to snap onto the bottom lip of those such designed bottles.
This size and design of container allows for the liner in the bottle to still be filled in advance with the required amount of water to mix with the container's contents to produce one perfectly measured bottle of infant formula whenever needed.
This provides the convenience of a single, complete, unitary assembly to carry which is altogether the same size as the original bottle, thereby remaining perfectly suited to fit into diaper bag bottle compartments and the like. Furthermore it eliminates the need for messy measuring on the go, and allows advanced filling of the bottles with pre-sterilized water in perfect proportions. Also eliminated are the inconveniences of en route refrigeration and rewarming, as well as the risks of spoilage, waste and shortage, which are the common problems of prepared bottles. This invented container provides a solution to all the inconveniences and risks normally associated with transporting formula, while remaining simple, sanitary and easy to clean.

In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention, IGURE 1 is an exploded view of the embodiment (powdered formula con~iner with snap-on or ~wist-on lid) IGURE 2 is an exploded view of a typical liner-type bottle assembly together with the embodiment as it would press into the bottle shell to engage frictionally IGURE 3 is an exploded partial view of a typical liner-type bottle assembly together with another embodiment having detents or tabs as it would engage with the common bottle shell style with $10ts near the bottom IGURE 4 is an exploded partial view of a typical liner-type bottle assembly together with another embodiment having an extra rim on its lid as it would engage with the common bottle shell style with a bottom lip edge, as well as an alternative design which has clips to clip onto the bottom lip of the same type shell~

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The invention illustrated comprises a container 1 which is of a size and shape as to fit into the bottom opening 3 of a liner-type nursing bottle shell 4, said container being of dimension and capacity to contain one premeasured portion of powdered infant formula, and to insert only deeply enough into bottle shell 4 as to still allow adequate filling of bottle liner bag 5 with water proportionate to appropriate mixing with container's contents; and a snap-on lid 2 which seals container 1 and is wide enough at its edge to prevent the container/lid assembly from sliding completely into the bottle shell 4. An alternative design to the snap-on lid which is also claimed is a threaded, twist-on style design 'A', in which both the container and lid have one or more threads to allow the lid to twist onto the container.
In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the container 1 has detents or tabs 6 which are of a size, shape and location as to fit into ~he slots 7 of a bottle shell 8 which is the type that has such slots, to provide a more secure fit than the frictional engagement employed by the embodiment in Figure 1.
In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the lid 2 has an extra rim 10 that snaps onto lip 11 of bottle shell 12 which is the type with such a bottom lip, while lid still seals container 1 by snapping onto it in rim 9 before attachment to bottle.
In the case of the twist-on lid design A, the lid B would have a rim 13 on its outside edge that would snap onto lip 11 of bottle shell 12 to hold it in place.
An alternative design to the rim 10 or rim 13 that is also claimed is for the lid C to have tags 14 which clip onto the lip 11 of bottle shell 12.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1 A container with lid which is of dimension and shape to contain a portion of powdered infant formula and to fit into the open-ended bottom of a liner-type nursing bottle.

2 A container as defined in claim 1, which has detents or tabs on its side which fit into the slots of a liner-type nursing bottle with slots near the bottom.

3 A container as defined in claim 1, which has detents or tabs on its side which serve to provide a tighter friction-fit.

4 A container as defined in claim 1, whose lid either snaps or twists onto the container and is of a width to prevent the entire container and lid assembly from sliding completely into the shell of a liner-type nursing bottle.

A container as defined in claim 1, whose lid has a rim to enable it to snap onto the lip of a liner-type nursing bottle with a bottom lip.

6 A container as defined in claim 1, which container or whose lid has clip-like tags on it which clip onto the bottom lip of a liner-type nursing bottle with a bottom lip.