GB2325219A

GB2325219A - Prefilled, disposable baby's bottle.

Info

Publication number: GB2325219A
Application number: GB9709726A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graeme Neillie
Original assignee: Gleneagles Spring Waters Co Ltd
Current assignee: Gleneagles Spring Waters Co Ltd
Priority date: 1997-05-13
Filing date: 1997-05-13
Publication date: 1998-11-18
Also published as: GB9709726D0

Abstract

A prefilled baby's bottle comprises a body 1 with a threaded neck 1a, a teat 4 attached to the neck and a protective cap 5 covering the teat. The bottle is intended to be filled with sterile spring water. The neck of the bottle may be narrower than conventional babies' bottle necks being a normal bottle size of 28mm. A tamper evident seal 8, e.g. of PVC shrink sleeve, may be provided between the bottle and the cap. In manufacturing the prefilled bottle, particular attention is paid to sterilisation. The bottle and teat are subjected to an antibacterial treatment which might include rinsing with ozonated water and exposure to ultra violet light. The spring water is preferably sterilised by bubbling ozone through it.

Description

Beverage Container The present invention relates disposable bottles of beverage, particularly bottles of mineral or spring water.

In recent years, there has been a massive increase in the market for bottled mineral or spring water and flavoured spring water drinks. There is now a vast range of bottled waters available, including a number of handy sized, plastic, disposable bottles with standard screw-top closures.

Recent research has shown that there is a demand for bottled water, which is suitably low in mineral content, for babies, in the infant feeding market. This research also highlighted that mothers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of giving babies healthy foods and drinks and of cutting back on artificially sweetened products, whenever possible.

Although people questioned realised the importance of including water in their baby's diet, lack of time and/or convenience of place meant that ready-made drinks were often chosen over water.

For bottle-fed babies, it is extremely important that all liquid and baby contacting parts of the bottle are sterile prior to use.

The present invention aims to meet the needs identified by this research, and according to one aspect provides a pre-filled bottle of beverage having a neck provided with an outer screw thread and a removable closure screw-fastened onto the neck, wherein the closure comprises a teat assembly comprising a teat, means for attaching the teat to the neck of the bottle, and a removable protective cap covering the teat.

The bottle is preferably filled with a spring water or spring water based beverage.

The bottle is preferably moulded from a preform and preferably has a standard 28 mm diameter neck. This enables standard bottle machinery to be used. It is not necessary to use special machinery for the filling and packaging processes or for conveying the bottles between the blowing stage and the rinsing and filling stages.

This also leads to another advantage. Disposable baby's bottles have a wide neck, to allow, for example, infant formula milk to be reconstituted in the bottle. The bottle of the present invention is not suitable for reconstitution of infant formula milk due to the material used. The use of a standard, narrow neck deters people from trying to use the bottle for this purpose.

In view of the importance of the product being sterile, as it is intended for use for small babies, the use of a frangible tamper-proof seal is preferred. Thus, the bottle preferably has a seal, for example a PVC shrink sleeve provided between the bottle and the closure. If this seal is broken, this indicates that the bottle has been opened and the contents may no longer be sterile.

A container with a broken seal should not be used.

All of the components of the bottle, and the contents, are preferably subjected to an anti-bacterial treatment during manufacture.

The teat is preferably attached to the neck of the bottle by means of a threaded retaining ring, having an inner thread corresponding to the outer thread of the neck of the bottle.

The protective cap is preferably in the form of a dome which fits over the teat and engages with the retaining ring, e.g. by means of a clip arrangement or a small thread, so as to cover the entire teat.

To prevent leaks, the protective cap may be provided with a number of inner guide fins which are arranged around the inner walls of the dome to surround the teat and maintain it in an upright position.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a sterile, pre-filled baby's bottle containing spring water, the method comprising forming a bottle from a plastic preform, the bottle being formed with a neck having an outer thread; forming a teat assembly comprising a teat, means for attaching the teat to the neck of the bottle, and a removable protective cap covering the teat; subjecting the bottle and the teat assembly to an antibacterial treatment; filling the bottle with sterile spring water; applying the teat assembly to the bottle neck; and applying a tamper-evident frangible seal between the teat assembly and the bottle neck.

Preferably the bottles are rinsed using ozonated water and are then treated using ultra violet light.

The components of the teat assembly are preferably assembled, then double-wrapped and then sterilised before transfer to a clean room.

The water, bottle and teat assembly are preferably brought together and sealed in a bottling room.

Preferably large volumes of air, filtered to remove micro-organisms are pumped into the bottling room to pressurise the room to ensure a flow of air to the outside which removes any particulate matter.

All of the equipment in the bottling room is preferably sterilised using steam.

The water is preferably subjected to a sterilising process involving bubbling ozone into the water.

Thus, there is provided a spring water for babies, packaged such that it is ready to drink without boiling, and provided with a teat so that it is self-contained.

Preferred embodiments of this invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a first view of a bottle according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional, side view of the bottle of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the bottle of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a partly cut-away cross-section of a preferred teat assembly of the bottle of Fig. 1.

The main body of the bottle is a pre-formed plastic bottle 1, which is preferably transparent. The bottle is preferably manufactured from recyclable PET plastic, providing a bottle which is light to carry and easy to hold.

The preferred bottle is blow-moulded into a shape similar to a standard baby's feeding bottle. The preferred shape is cylindrical and tapers slightly from a closed, flat base towards the neck and then tapering more sharply to a neck portion la.

The bottle is preferably a 250 ml PET bottle. The neck la is preferably provided with an outer thread and is preferably a standard 28 mm soft drinks bottle neck.

This enables standard machines to be used in the filling and packaging of the product.

A radially extending abutment ring ib is provided around the bottom of the neck, below the threaded portion.

The bottle 1 is further provided with a unique closure assembly 2 comprising a teat 4, a retaining ring 3 and a closure cap 5.

The teat 4 is preferably made of thermoplastic rubber, preferably a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved thermoplastic elastomer rubber, and has been developed in line with modern established teat design. It has a bulb portion 17, in the end of which is provided a small dispensing hole through which the beverage may be sucked. The teat preferably provides delivery at a medium rate of flow, suitable for babies of 4 months and upwards. The teat also has a base 18 with a radially outwardly extending flange 19. The preferred construction of the teat will be described in more detail below.

The teat is fitted to the neck of the bottle and is held in place by a retaining ring 3.

The retaining ring has a hollow cylindrical body, having an inner diameter corresponding essentially to the outer diameter of the neck of the bottle. A screw thread 14, corresponding to the outer thread on the neck la of the bottle, is provided on the inside of the retaining ring 3. The top part of the ring has an inwardly extending flange 15.

In use, the teat 4 is pushed through the cylindrical retaining ring 3 such that the bulb 17 protrudes out through the top of the ring 3 and the base flange 19 of the teat engages behind the flange 15 of the retaining ring.

The retaining ring 3 with the teat 4 in place is then screwed onto the neck la of the bottle 1 until the base of the ring abuts against the abutment ring ib and the teat and retaining ring are securely held in place on the neck of the bottle. An inner ring extension 6 extends upwards from the top of the retaining ring and has a smaller diameter than that of the retaining ring.

The closure arrangement also includes a cover cap 5 which protects the teat before use and, for a limited time between uses.

The cover cap 5 is in the form of a dome, adapted to fit over the teat 4 and to seal the teat hole. The base of the dome is provided with an inner thread or clip which engages with an outer thread or clip on the upwardly extending ring extension 6 on the top of retaining cap, to securely hold the cover cap 5 in place.

A number of inwardly extending guiding fins 7 may be formed on the inside of the cover cap 5. These are arranged to support the teat 4 in a straight, upright, centered position when the cover cap is 5 in place.

This prevents the teat from being bent sideways and reduces the possibility of leaks from the cap and damage to the teat.

The bottle 1 is preferably provided as a pre-filled, ready-to-use package. During manufacture, the bottle 1 is filled with natural spring water, after which the sterilised teat 4 and retainer ring 3 assembly are screwed into place onto the neck of the bottle. The teat 4, retaining ring 3 and cover cap 5 are fully assembled together and sterilised and the teat assembly is then screwed into place on the top of the bottle.

The manufacturing process will be described in more detail below.

To ensure complete sterilisation and safety, a protective, frangible seal, preferably a PVC shrink-fit sleeve 8 is provided between the retaining ring 3 and the neck of the bottle as a tamper-proof device.

The filled bottle is then sold as a complete, sealed, sterile package.

In use, the tamper-evident sleeve 8 is removed by tearing and the cover cap 5 is unscrewed or unclipped to reveal the teat 4. The cap may be replaced after part of the contents have been drunk, to allow use at a later feed. However, no more than six hours should be left between opening the seal and drinking the contents.

Another feature of this bottle, which has a standard bottle neck, means that the teat assembly 2 may be easily unscrewed and the contents transferred to a cup or a beaker e.g. for older children or adults.

The water contained in the bottle is extremely pure and all of the components of the bottle are completely sterilised. There is no need for a mother to boil the water prior to feeding the baby.

When the bottle is finished, the entire package can be thrown away.

The teat assembly is now described in more detail.

In a preferred arrangement, a novel interlocking arrangement for the teat is provided which ensures that the teat remains firmly anchored to the bottle.

In use with the retaining ring 3 fully tightened, the teat flange 15 is trapped both radially and axially between portions of the neck and retaining ring 3.

This arrangement provides a secure fastening of the teat to the bottle and ensures that the baby cannot pull the teat off and be in danger of swallowing it. This may be achieved within the radial size constraints imposed by standard preforms for threaded bottle necks and tops.

The ring 3 has a cylindrical wall with an inner thread 14 corresponding to the threaded portion on the neck la of the bottle. One end of the wall has a radially inwardly extending flange 15 around a central teat aperture 16.

The teat 4 has a bulb portion 17 and a base 18 with a radially outwardly extending flange 19. The teat 4 protrudes through the aperture 16 and is restrained by the flange 19 of the teat abutting against the flange 15 of the ring 3.

The teat flange 15 is gripped both axially and radially between the retaining ring 3 and bottle neck la.

The preferred manufacturing process will now be described in more detail.

In the preferred process, natural spring water is extracted and transferred from the spring to the bottling plant by hygienic pumps and pipes, minimising the chance of contamination. The water is then filtered through pharmaceutical grade filters to ensure microbiological cleanliness.

The bottles are originally supplied as PET preforms and are blown into bottles just before they are filled and sealed, thus minimising the chance of contamination.

The bottles are rinsed using ozonated water and are then treated using ultraviolet light which kills any remaining bacteria on the outside of the bottles.

The assembled teat units are double wrapped in polythene bags and then subjected to gamma irradiation, which is the standard sterilisation method for such a unit. The outer bag is opened and the sterile inner bag and contents are passed into the clean room. The teat arrangement is then applied mechanically, using modern capping technology.

The bottling room is operated using pharmaceutical principles. Large volumes of air, filtered to remove micro-organisms, are pumped into the room.

This pressurises the room ensuring a flow of air to the outside, which provides a flushing action to remove any particulate matter. Thus, the bottling room attains the highest level of hygiene, comparable to conditions in a hospital operating theatre.

All of the equipment is sterilised using steam.

In the room, the water, bottles and teat assemblies are brought together and sealed.

Immediately prior to filling, ozone is bubbled into the water. This provides a powerful anti-bacterial action to further guarantee the product's suitability for a young infant.

The ozone dissociates back to oxygen after a few hours having sterilised the water, bottle and teat for the second time. Because the container has been sealed, any bacterial infiltration is impossible.

A tamper-evident frangible seal is applied to the bottle as a further safety measure.

Only authorised staff, wearing a complete set of pharmaceutical standard clothing, are permitted into the bottling room.

The entire process is a unique process which has been named "The Purity Protection Process ' ".

Quality systems are employed to ensure product safety and quality. These include hazard and critical control point (HACCP) which is a method of analysing processes and predicting where then can go wrong and what important indicators should be measured and controlled; and ISO 9002 which is currently being introduced.

Claims

1. A pre-filled bottle of beverage having a neck provided with an outer screw thread and a removable closure screw-fastened onto the neck, wherein the closure comprises a teat assembly comprising a teat, means for attaching the teat to the neck of the bottle, and a removable protective cap covering the teat.

2. A bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottle is filled with a spring water or spring water based beverage.

3. A bottle as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the bottle is moulded from a preform and has a standard 28 mm diameter neck.

4. A bottle as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein a seal is provided between the bottle neck and the closure.

5. A bottle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the seal is a PVC shrink sleeve.

6. A bottle as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the teat is attached to the neck of the bottle by means of a threaded retaining ring, having an inner thread corresponding to the outer thread of the neck of the bottle.

7. A bottle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the protective cap is in the form of a dome which fits over the teat and engages with the retaining ring, so as to cover the entire teat.

8. A method of manufacturing a sterile, pre-filled baby's bottle containing spring water, the method comprising forming a bottle from a plastic preform, the bottle being formed with a neck having an outer thread; forming a teat assembly comprising a teat, means for attaching the teat to the neck of the bottle, and a removable protective cap covering the teat; subjecting the bottle and the teat assembly to an antibacterial treatment; filling the bottle with sterile spring water; applying the teat assembly to the bottle neck; and applying a tamper-evident frangible seal between the teat assembly and the bottle neck.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the bottle is rinsed using ozonated water and then treated using ultra violet light.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the components of the teat assembly are assembled, then double-wrapped and then sterilised before transfer to a clean room.

11. The method of claims 8, 9 or 10, wherein the spring water, bottle and teat assembly are brought together and sealed in a bottling room.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein large volumes of air, filtered to remove micro-organisms are pumped into the bottling room to pressurise the room to ensure a flow of air to the outside which removes any particulate matter.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the spring water is preferably subjected to a sterilising process involving bubbling ozone into the spring water.

14. A bottle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

15. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.