JP2011036356A - Nipple for feeding bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nipple for feeding bottles having advantages of the conventional nipple, allowing a user to suckle a baby regardless of its location and having an elongation characteristic approximate to the characteristic of the mother's nipples. <P>SOLUTION: This nipple for feeding bottles includes: a hollow dome-like trunk section which has a flange-like base to be connected to a feeding bottle, at its lower face; a bellows-like extensible trunk section which is consecutively provided from the trunk section and has a uniform thickness; and a nipple section which is consecutively provided from the extensible trunk section and has a suckling opening at its tip end. The extensible trunk section is formed with: a plurality of concentric and ring-shaped projections whose diameters become smaller as their going upward, at its outside circumferential face; and recesses which are so configured that the inside faces corresponding to the respective projections have a same wall thickness at any part; so as to have the bellows structure whose both outside and inside faces consist of the smooth and wavelike shapes and which is tapered and has the uniform thickness. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a nipple for a baby bottle that is used by being attached to a baby bottle when breast feeding an infant or the like.

  The nipple for a baby bottle is attached to the baby bottle through an appropriate cap, and is used for allowing an infant to drink milk or the like contained in the baby bottle. The conventional nipple for baby bottles is a hollow dome-shaped and is attached to the opening of the baby bottle, as can be seen from the cross-sectional views presented in FIG. 12 of Patent Document 1 and FIG. 9 of Patent Document 2, for example. It is comprised from the trunk | drum which has a bowl-shaped base part in a lower end, and the nipple part provided in the front-end | tip of this trunk | drum and having a milking opening. And the inner surface and outer surface of the trunk | drum are smooth and are shape | molded by the substantially uniform thickness.

  In addition, since a material that requires moderate elongation, withstands hot water disinfection, and does not elute harmful substances is required, most of them are made of natural rubber or silicon rubber. And as the molding method, methods such as compression molding and injection molding are used.

  In the case of this type of nipple using silicone rubber, it is necessary to give a certain strength to make it difficult to be crushed by the negative pressure at the time of breastfeeding, but if the thickness is simply increased and the rigidity is increased, the rigidity of the whole nipple will be increased. It becomes higher and the baby needs physical strength when drinking milk. From this point of view, for example, in Patent Document 1 relating to a patent owned by the present applicant, a spiral concavo-convex portion is provided on the inner peripheral surface of a baby bottle nipple, and the convex portion is formed in a helical spring shape. It is designed to improve the stretch characteristics of the mother and to have a stretch similar to that of the mother's nipple.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, from the viewpoint of providing an artificial nipple that approximates a mother's nipple, when the user holds the artificial nipple out of the nipple and / or nipple torso, the user's tongue A thin portion that is easier to extend than the other portions is provided in the portion that comes into contact with the thin portion, and this thin portion is formed along a longitudinal direction of the artificial nipple through a rigid portion that is thicker than the thin portion. The thickness of the wall surface of the portion of the nipple and / or nipple torso that is formed at a distance from the abutment portion of the nipple and / or nipple torso when the artificial nipple is held by the user. Prosthetic nipples that are thicker than the wall thickness of the part that comes into contact with the tongue.

Japanese Patent No. 3209271 Japanese Patent No. 4233075

  The nipple for baby bottles described in each of the above-mentioned documents can obtain an appropriate elongation at the time of breastfeeding due to its configuration, and allows the infant to drink milk. Since the thickness of the nipple is different on the side that contacts the tongue, it is necessary to breastfeed while considering the direction so that the thick part abuts the sucking cavity when breastfeeding, and it is difficult to always breastfeed at a fixed position The problem that it is is left.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a nipple for a baby bottle that has the above-mentioned advantages of the conventional nipple and is capable of breastfeeding regardless of its position and has an elongation characteristic similar to that of a mother's nipple. It is.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a nipple for a baby bottle, a hollow dome-shaped body having a bowl-shaped base part connected to the baby bottle on the lower surface, and a uniform provided continuously on the body. A means was adopted in which a bellows-like elongated trunk having a thickness and a papilla provided continuously with the elongated trunk and having a milk-absorbing opening at the tip portion were adopted.

  In addition, the elongated body portion has a plurality of ring-shaped ridges that are concentric on the outer circumferential surface and have a diameter that decreases toward the top, and the inner side surface corresponding to each of the ridges is any portion. The concave stripes were formed so as to have the same wall thickness, and a bellows structure having a tapered and uniform thickness in which both the outer side surface and the inner side surface had a smooth corrugated shape was adopted.

  The baby bottle nipple with such a configuration has an elongated bellows structure with a uniform thickness depending on the force of the peristaltic motion applied by the tongue when the infant sucks and sucks while holding the nipple. It expands or contracts to reproduce the same movement as the mother's actual nipple.

  And the means of providing a ventilation hole in the said base part was employ | adopted.

  As a result, even when the inside becomes negative pressure, the outside air is introduced to maintain the balance of pressure and to prevent the nipple from collapsing.

  Moreover, the means of integrally molding the whole with silicon rubber was adopted.

  The baby bottle nipple according to the above configuration is provided with a bellows-like elongated body having a uniform thickness composed of a plurality of protrusions, so that it has an appropriate elasticity corresponding to the peristaltic movement of the infant's tongue. The bellows structure itself can be expanded or contracted. Therefore, since it moves almost the same as the mother's actual nipple, breast feeding can be performed without making the infant feel uncomfortable. That is, it has become possible to provide a nipple having an elongation characteristic very close to that of a mother's nipple.

  Further, since the bellows-like elongated body is provided evenly along the outer peripheral surface, the upper side and the lower side extend according to the respective forces even when sandwiched between the upper palate and the tongue of the infant. It is possible. Therefore, the peristaltic movement of the tongue appropriately responded to forces from various directions, such as pulling and crushing, and was able to reproduce movements similar to those of the mother's nipple. Further, since the bellows structure has a uniform thickness, there is no thin portion, and the thin portion does not break due to pulling as in the conventional case. Furthermore, since there is no need to breastfeed in accordance with the position where the thick portion abuts against the sucking cavity as in some conventional products, it is possible to breastfeed freely without worrying about alignment.

It is a whole perspective view which shows an example of the teat for baby bottles which concerns on this invention. Similarly, it is a front view. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of a front view. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement of the infant's tongue at the time of breastfeeding, and the deformation | transformation state of a nipple.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a teat for a baby bottle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, 1 is a bowl-shaped base part connected to the opening of the baby bottle, 2 is a hollow dome-like body part that is continuous above the base part 1, and 3 is above the body part 2. The continuous elongate body 4 is a teat that is continuous with the elongate body 3 and has a milk suction opening 5 at the tip, and has a conical shape that tapers in the upper end direction as a whole. Further, the nipple for a baby bottle is integrally formed, for example, by compression molding, injection molding or the like of silicon rubber, and the whole has an appropriate flexibility.

  The bowl-shaped base portion 1 is attached to an opening portion of a baby bottle (not shown) through a cap (not shown). In addition, the base portion 1 is provided with a vent hole 1a penetrating in the vertical direction so that the pressure in the bottle does not change from the outside air when the milk in the baby bottle is reduced by feeding. Yes. The trunk | drum 2 is a hollow dome shape which accommodates drinks, such as milk, in an inner side space part, and is equivalent to a mother's breast. Such a structure is basically the same structure as this conventional teat.

  Next, the elongate body 3 that is continuous with the body 2 is configured with a plurality of ring-shaped protrusions 3a,. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the corresponding inner side surfaces of the protrusions 3 a are actually formed by recesses 3 b,..., And the thickness thereof is the same in any part. In other words, both the outer surface side and the inner surface side have a smoothly continuous corrugated shape and are formed with a uniform thickness, which is a so-called tapered bellows structure. For this reason, the elongated body 3 can be more easily elongated than the other parts without changing the thickness by applying a slight force. That is, the length can be changed by the bellows structure, rather than the thickness being reduced and the length being changed against the elasticity of the material. Therefore, there is no inconvenience that the thin portion is broken. In addition, the number of protrusion 3a, ... is not limited to three illustrated, but is arbitrary.

  The nipple portion 4 is formed with a thin portion 4a at the tip portion, with the top portion being slightly thicker than its periphery, and a milk sucking opening 5 is provided in the thin portion 4a.

  Then, the usage aspect of the nipple for baby bottles of the said structure is demonstrated. In general, when breastfeeding, when an infant's mouth includes a nipple, the infant will swing his / her tongue and press the nipple against the breast cavity on his / her upper palate. At this time, since the pressure on the back side of the oral cavity is almost zero, a suction force due to negative pressure is generated. Then, when the peristaltic movement of the tongue is continued, the milk is ejected from the nipple by the suction force, and the milk can be drunk. Such an action in the oral cavity is performed in substantially the same manner when milk is fed by a baby bottle. It has also been found that when the infant drinks milk or milk in a baby bottle, the vicinity of the nipple is particularly elongated due to the peristaltic movement of the tongue.

  More specifically, referring to FIG. 4, when the nipple according to the present invention is attached to a baby bottle and breast-fed to an infant, as shown in FIG. 4 (1), "capture" that includes the teat 4 of the nipple is added. Do. Next, the tongue (a) is peristally moved, and as shown in FIG. 2 (2), “sucking” is performed in which the nipple 4 is pressed against the sucking cavity (b) in the upper palate of the self. At this time, the length slightly extends from the nipple 4 to the extension body 3, but the side pressed against the sucking cavity (b) extends more greatly. Further, when the tongue (a) is peristally moved and the tongue (a) is squeezed as shown in FIG. 3 (3), the milk is sucked by the negative pressure on the back side (c) of the oral cavity. From the breast-feeding opening 5. That is, “sucking” is performed. At this time, the nipple 4 and the extension body 3 are extended to the maximum. Finally, as shown in FIG. 4 (4), the pressure on the tongue (a) is relaxed and “swallowing” is performed to swallow the ejected milk. At this time, the extension of the nipple 4 and the elongated body 3 is slightly reduced. In this way, after (1) “capturing”, (2) “sucking”, (3) “sucking”, and (4) “swallowing” operations, the infant can remove the milk in the baby bottle. I can drink.

  As described above, during the repetitive operation, the nipple 4 and the extension body 3 are repeatedly expanded or contracted according to the peristaltic movement of the tongue. Since the nipple for baby bottles according to the present invention is provided with the bellows-like elongated body 3 composed of a plurality of protrusions 3a, it can be elongated or axially with appropriate elasticity corresponding to the peristaltic movement of the tongue. Reduction is possible. Therefore, since the infant operates almost the same as the mother's nipple, breast feeding can be performed without causing a sense of incongruity. That is, according to the structure of the nipple according to the present invention, a nipple having an elongation characteristic very close to that of a mother's nipple can be provided.

  In addition, it effectively responds to side forces. That is, since the nipple is sandwiched between the upper palate and the tongue, the direction of the acting force is different between the side contacting the upper palate and the side contacting the tongue, and the side contacting the tongue is particularly pulled or crushed by the peristaltic movement of the tongue. Forces from various directions are applied. In response to this force, the bellows-like elongated body 3 composed of a plurality of protrusions 3a easily deforms or exhibits a restoring force, for example, the side that contacts the upper palate is greatly elongated, and conversely contacts the tongue. The side can reproduce almost the same movement as the mother's nipple, with little extension or contraction. Therefore, it is possible to breastfeed without giving the infant an unnecessary discomfort. Moreover, since there is no thin part with a uniform thickness, the thin part does not break due to pulling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base part 1a Vent hole 2 Trunk part 3 Elongation trunk | drum 3a Projection 3b Groove 4 Nipple 4a Thin part 5 Milking opening

Claims (4)

  A hollow dome-shaped body having a bowl-shaped base part connected to the baby bottle on the lower surface, a bellows-like elongated body having a uniform thickness continuously provided on the body, and continuous with the elongated body A nipple for a baby bottle characterized by comprising a nipple having a sucking opening at a tip portion.   The elongated body is formed on the outer peripheral surface with a plurality of ring-shaped ridges that are concentric and decrease in diameter toward the upper side, and the inner side surface corresponding to each of the ridges is thick at any part. 2. The teat for baby bottles according to claim 1, wherein the ridges are formed so that they are the same, and the outer side surface and the inner side surface have a tapered and uniform thickness having a smooth corrugated shape.   The nipple for a baby bottle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the base portion has a vent hole.   The nipple for a baby bottle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the whole is integrally formed of silicon rubber.

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