WO1993009754A1

WO1993009754A1 - Improvements relating to infant feeding devices

Info

Publication number: WO1993009754A1
Application number: PCT/GB1992/001773
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matthew J. Cadbury
Original assignee: Cadbury Matthew J
Priority date: 1991-11-23
Filing date: 1992-09-28
Publication date: 1993-05-27
Also published as: GB2266087A; GB9312799D0; GB9124950D0; GB2266087B; AU2665892A

Abstract

An infant feeding container comprising a pre-sterilized pack having a container body (12) pre-filled under sterile conditions with milk. and a sterilized teat (20) which is maintained in sterile condition by a removable cover (16). When the container (12) is to be used it is simply a matter of removing the sterile cover followed by making a feeding hole in the teat (20), preferably by removing a nipple (26) in the top of the teat (20) by tearing it away with the fingers. The container body (12) and cover (16) are formed in a single sleeve (10) with the teat (20) treated therein and the pack includes an outer casing (30) of a rigid sheet material such as cardboard which has an end (34) adapted to be torn away to expose the cover (16).

Description

Improvements Relating to Infant Feeding Devices

This invention relates to infant feeding devices, and in particular relates to the provision of a means for the convenient and simple administering of liquid, usually baby milk, to an infant.

As is well known, from its birth until it is able to take solid foods, and even sometimes for a period thereafter, an infant is usually fed on baby milk. This milk may be supplied by the mother via breast feeding, or more usually is dispensed from an infant's bottle provided with a teat to simulate the mother's nipple on which the baby can suck as it draws milk from the bottle. The teat is provided with an aperture, and the baby squeezes same with its jaws and sucks at the same time in order to obtain dispensing of the milk, and upon release of the teat it recovers from the squeezed condition, drawing in air to replace the extracted milk. The baby naturally repeats the opening and closing movement of the jaws in order to continue the extraction of the milk from the bottle until it is satisfied.

Conventional bottles are of rigid plastics material or glass containers, and the teats are of a rubber material dimensioned so as to be screwed, clamped or stretched onto the bottle mouth. Teats and bottles must be sterilized usually by immersing in boiling water, between baby feeds.

Cleaning and sterilization of the bottles and teats is a chore, and can be particularly irritating if as is usual in the case of very young children, feeds have to be prepared and administered during the night.

Pre sterilized and disposable components for infant feeding for the dispensing of baby milk, have been proposed, and in one such arrangement a feed can be administered by using two sealed and internally sterilized packages , one of which houses a teat, and the other of which comprises an assembly contained in a shrink wrap cover, the assembly comprising a collar to which is sealingly attached the mouth of a flexible bag and a retention ring, these components of course being pre sterilized.

When the two packages have been opened, the flexible bag is filled with the quantity of baby milk and then the teat and closure ring are snapped into sealing engagement with the collar, so that a dispensing assembly is created. For the dispensing of the milk, the user has to acquire a rigid plastics material sleeve to the end of which the collar fits with the filled plastic bag inside the sleeve. The sleeve serves as a holding device by which the dispenser can be manipulated, and the sleeve also has markings to indicate the quantity of feed in the plastic bag at different positionss throughout the length of the bag so that the person dispensing the feed can measure the amount consumed by the infant.

This form of pre sterilized dispenser has not met with great success, because on the one hand it is expensive, and on the other hand it still requires a number of operations in order to prepare a feed for the infant.

Other pre-sterilized baby feed packs are disclosed in European Patent Application No 0276102 and US Patent No 2628906 which comprise flexible bodies containing the baby feedstuff and covered sterilized teats, but these do not provide for the effective handling and transportation of the packs .

The present invention seeks in its preferred configuration to provide an improved form of pre-sterilized baby feed pack.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a pre-sterilized infant feed pack comprising a container body including liquid feed material, a teat operatively positioned in relation to the body so that the infant can consume the feed material through the teat, and a cover sealingly covering the exterior of the teat to maintain the sterility thereof until the pack is ready for use and the cover is removed, opened, torn away or otherwise influenced to expose the teat for insertion in the infants mouth, and wherein the container body is of flexible sheet material, characterised by an outer casing housing the container body to provide support therefor.

In the preferred case, the said container body comprises a sleeve of flexible synthetic plastics material which can collapse as the feed material is consumed. By this means, it might be noted, no air is drawn into the container body as the baby feeds, the collapsing of the bag compensating for the extraction of the feed liquid. Accordingly, it is the case that the infant will not be drawing air into its mouth as feeding takes place, and therefore the child will not suffer from or will suffer less from "wind" symptons which infants develop when bottle feeding.

The said cover preferably also is of synthetic plastics material, and may in fact be integral with the container body, the cover being adapted to be torn away from the remainder of the pack to expose the teat. To assist this tearing away the cover may be provided with a tear strip of conventional design.

In one embodiment, the cover and disposable body are defined in a single sleeve of thermoplastics material, and the pack is assembled by sealing one end of the sleeve, followed by the insertion of the teat and the sealing of the edge of same to the inside of the sleeve, either by heat sealing or by the use of an external ring. The insertion and sealing of the teat is followed by the filling of the body with the liquid feed material and finally the end of the sleeve is sealed to trap the package contents in the container body.

The teat may be provided with an aperture which is closed by a sterile patch which is removed before feeding takes place, or preferably the teat has a nipple which is removed or severed before feeding commences. The nipple may be provided with a peripheral line of weakening to ensure that it will be readily and predictably broken away from the remainder of the teat, or it may simply be designed to be severed by the use of scissors or some other cutting device.

The external casing may be a supporting carton to facilitate transportation in storage of the pack, and indeed also to provide a means for holding the pack whilst dispensing is taking place. In this connection, a portion of the carton may be adapted to be torn away, the carton being provided with a tear strip or lines of weakening for this purpose, and when that portion is torn away, the cover is exposed, which can be opened or removed in order finally to expose the teat.

The present invention approaches the problem of providing infant feeds in a novel manner in that entire feeds and their packaging are sold as a single unit. The mother therefore does not have the requirement of making up feeds, sterilizing bottles and teats, and maintaining ancillary equipment needed for these purposes. It is simply a matter of purchasing the appropriate number of packs from the local supermarket or pharmacy. It is possible to use these packs on a selective basis, for example for night feeds only so that the packs may be used in conjunction with the more conventional methods .

If the liquid contents and the pack are to be heated, which is not always necessary, the pack may simply be placed adjacent a heat source such as a central heating radiator.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pack according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and the figure also shows a supporting outer carton;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the teat shown in Fig. 2, but to an enlarged scale; and

Figs. 4 - 7 are views showing how the pack is manufactured;

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1 a pack 10 which provides a dispenser for a baby feed, comprises a flexible containe body 12 sealed at the lower end thereof as shown by reference 14, and at the upper end the body 12 is integral with a cover portion 16 which is also of flexible plastics material, and the cover portion is sealed at 18.

Body 12 and cover portion 16 suitably are formed from a sleeve of synthetic plastics material which is flexible in nature, and inside the sleeve is an infant's feeding teat 20 comprising a teat portion 22 and a collar 24. The collar 24 is sealed to the interior of the flexible sleeve, and the teat portion 22 is provided with a nipple 26 the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter. The collar 24 may not be necesary. It may be possible with the correct materials, that the body 12/16 can be sealed directly to the teat 22 or a clamping arrangement using an external collar only may be used.

The container body 12 is filled with the infant's feed material 28, typically baby milk, and the cover portion 16 maintains the exterior of the teat 20 in sterile condition. Whilst fresh milk can be used with the pack of the invention the "long life" milk will be more usual.

It will be understood therefore that the pack is in effect a flexible elongated package provided with an infant's teat in the inside, splitting the package into the body portion 12 which contains the feed, and a top portion in which the exterior of the teat 20 is contained in sterile condition.

When the pack is manufactured as will be explained with reference to Figs. 4 - 7, the feed 28 is inserted under sterile conditions, and the seal 14 is made to trap the feed 28. The feed 28 will be therefore maintained in sterile condition until consumption takes place. The teat 20 will also be maintained sterile by means of the cover portion 16.

The pack thus far described will tend to be somewhat flexible and unstable, and therefore it is inserted into an outer supporting casing such as the cardboard container 30 shown in Fig. 1. The cardboard container 30 may be provided with cutouts in its walls in the region on the collar 24, so that the collar 24 can project through the cut-outs to maintain the pack stably in position inside the container. Other positioning and retaining means may be adopted if required. The arrangement is shown in sectional elevation in Fig. 2, and it will be seen that the baby feed 28 fills the container body 12 and the inside of the teat 20.

Fig. 3 shows the teat portion 22 and the nipple 26 in enlarged section. It will be understood that the teat 20 is constructed so that it is indeed flexible and springy. A rubber type material will most likely be adopted.

As shown in Fig. 3, the nipple 26 is hollow, and on its outer wall it is provided with a circumferential nick or groove 32 to enable the portion of the nipple 26 above the groove 32 readily to be broken away from the remainder of the teat when the baby is to be fed.

It is believed that from the foregoing description, the use of the pack will be understood. The pack is purchased from a supermarket or the like with the container body thereof already charged with the infant's feed. When the infant is to be fed, the pack 10 can be heated. To do this it may be necessary to remove it from the container casing 30. Heating may be effected by immersing the pack in hot water or for example by previously placing it adjacent a heat source such as a central heating radiator. It should be stressed that the feed 28 is sterile and therefore heating in this way is quite acceptable. It is also to be repeated that the teat 20 is maintained completely sterile by the cover portion 16 which seals the teat until it is ready to be used.

When the feed is required, the cover portion 16 is removed and to this end it may be provided with a line of weakening or a tear strip 34 as shown in Fig. 2 which can be torn in order to enable the cover portion 16 to be removed and the teat 20 to be exposed. When it is so exposed, the portion of the nipple above the nick 32 is removed, for example by hand or by scissors or the like as long as the cutting device is sterile and then the pack is ready for use. When the infant feeds from the pack, the container body 12 will simply collapse as the contents are consumed, and there is no requirement for air to feed back into the container body which is necessary in the case of a rigid container body. It is believed that this should avoid or mitigate the child experiencing discomfort through the intake of air resulting in what is referred to as "wind".

It will be appreciated that the materials which are used for the pack will be of a type which are of acceptable quality for this application i.e. they should be non-toxic.

Figs. 4 - 7 illustrate in a sequence the steps involved in the production of the pack shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 4, a tube T of flexible synthetic plastics material is sealed at its lower end to provide the seal 18. In the next stage as shown in Fig. 5, the teat 20 is introduced from the open top of the flexible plastics sleeve and its collar 24 is sealed to the inside of the bag. As an alternative an external gripping collar may be arranged to clamp the bag between the collar 24 and the external collar, in order to provide the necessary seal.

In the next stage as shown in Fig. 6, the container body contents 28 are charged into the open top of the bag through a feed tube 36, and when the charging has been completed, the top end of the sleeve is sealed to provide the seal 14. All of this processing is carried out under conditions of complete sterility to ensure that the contents remain suitable for consumption by the infant, and also so that the exterior of the teat 20 is maintained completely sterile until the cover 16 is removed as described hereinbefore.

Any suitable arrangement may be adopted for the top nipple 26 of the teat. The teat in fact need not have a nipple and it may be that the aperture is provided therein by the parent by using an appropriately sterilized piercing tool.

The method of construction as described in relation to Figs. 4 - 7 is only one example, and of course many other methods may well be possible. For example when heat sealing the collar 24 to the sleeve T, the sleeve may be caused to wrap round the edge of the collar 24 to facilitate the heat sealing operation.

Claims

1. A pre-sterilized infant feed pack comprising a container body (12) including liquid feed material (28), a teat (20) operatively positioned in relation to the body (12) so that the infant can consume the feed material (28) through the teat (20), and a cover (16) sealingly covering the exterior of the teat (20) to maintain the sterility thereof until the pack is ready for use and the cover (16) is removed, opened, torn away or otherwise influenced to expose the teat (20) for insertion in the infants mouth, and wherein the container body (12) is of flexible sheet material, characterised by an outer casing (30) housing the container body (12) to provide support therefor.

2. A pack according to Claim 1, characterised in that the casing (30) also houses the teat (20) and the cover (16) and has a portion (34) adapted to be removed to expose the cover (16).

3. A pack according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the casing (30) is of cardboard.

4. A pack according to any of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the container body ( 12 ) and the cover are formed integrally and are defined by a sleeve (10) of synthetic plastics material sealed at the ends.

5. A pack according to Claim 4, characterised in that the pack is assembled by sealing one end (18) of the sleeve (10), followed by the insertion of the teat (20) and the sealing of the edge of the teat (20) to the inside of the sleeve (10), either by heat sealing or by the use of an external ring, followed by the filling of the body (12) with the liquid feed material (28), and sealing of the other end (14) of the sleeve (10) to wrap the pack contents in the container body (12).