EP0382631B1 - Variable delivery teat - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/FR90/00123 Sec. 371 Date Oct. 9, 1990 Sec. 102(e) Date Oct. 9, 1990 PCT Filed Feb. 8, 1990 PCT Pub. No. WO90/09161 PCT Pub. Date Aug. 23, 1990.The variable-flow feeder (1) of the invention is meant to be fitted in particular onto a milk bottle and comprises at the end of its nipple (2) a slit (3) with two arms (3a, 3b) subtending between them an angle, and is characterized in that the angle subtended by the two arms of the slit (3) is an obtuse angle GAMMA between 165 DEG and 95 DEG of which the vertex lies on the feeder axis, in that the lengths l1 and l2 (l1>l2) of the slit arms form such a ratio l1/l2 that it falls between a value of 1 and delta , the value of delta increasing from 1 to 10, preferably from 1 to 4.5, when the angle GAMMA decreases from 165 DEG to 95 DEG , said arms of the slit (3) being determined by cutting lines which do not remove material and issuing at their non-adjacent ends into a hole (4b, 4c) of small cross-section.

Description

The present invention relates to a variable flow nipple, intended to fit on a bottle and comprising at its end an orifice for letting the infant's food pass, said orifice being constituted by a slot comprising two branches forming an angle between them.

The teats in known manner consist of a fixing ring on the bottle, a body and a nipple, which is subjected to the sucking movements of the infant. It has been proposed to pierce, at the top of the nipple, one or more slots. It is known from patent FR 2 052 206 to practice a slit, straight or not, comprising, at at least one of its ends, a hole drilled through the wall of the teat. It is also known from US Pat. No. 2,805,663 that the slot may have the shape of a V, the angle formed by the branches of the V being approximately 60 °.

The nipple of the teat may, in known manner, have at its end a substantially spherical convex shape: the slot is then formed in this convex end. It has been proposed in FR-A 2 417 978 to provide the feed slot on a concave curved surface or even on a substantially flat surface disposed at the end of the nipple. In the case where this surface is concave, the slot is arranged in the bottom of the cavity.

Furthermore, it is common practice to place on the body of the teat, markers having a determined position relative to the slot (s), so as to be able to adjust, by rotation of the bottle around its axis. , the position of the slit, in relation to the median plane of the child's head. The aim of this adjustment is to ensure the modification of the teat flow rate by a more or less large opening of the slit during suction movements of the infant's lips. These marks are traditionally three in number and are arranged so that the mark I corresponds to the minimum flow rate of the bottle, the mark III at the maximum flow rate and the mark II at an intermediate flow rate; for a teat with a rectilinear slit, the mark I and the mark III are defined, at the periphery of the teat, with an angular difference of 90 ° and the mark II is located on the teat in the bisector plane of the dihedron defined by the nipple axis and marks I and III, on the side the further from landmarks I and III.

In the bottles used until now, the evolution of the flow rate of the bottle between its different positions is not satisfactory. For example, in the case of the teat with V-shaped slot described in US-A-2 805 663, the flow rate of the bottle is practically the same regardless of the position of the bottle; the user therefore must change the teat if she wishes to modify the flow rate. In the case of the slot described in patent FR-A-2 052 206, the flow rate of the bottle in position I and III is different, but the flow rate in position II does not differ significantly from the flow rate in position I; under these conditions, the user goes directly from position I to position III and does not use position II (see Figure 4).

Consequently, a nipple is sought which makes it possible to obtain a progression as linear as possible around each of positions I, II and III so as to be able, for the same nipple, to modify the flow rate, if necessary, during feeding; moreover, it is desired that the difference between the maximum and minimum flow rates is sufficient to be able to use the same teat for different foods and different infants.

The present invention relates to a variable flow nipple to solve this problem.

The present invention relates to a variable flow nipple intended to fit on a bottle, comprising at the end of its nipple, a slot having two branches forming an angle between them, characterized in that the angle of the two branches of the slot is an obtuse angle Γ between 165 and 95 ° whose apex is on the axis of the nipple, that the branches of the slot have lengths l₁ and l₂ (with l₁> l₂) such that ratio l₁ / l₂ is between 1 and δ, the value of δ increasing from 1 to 10, preferably from 1 to 4.5, when the value of the angle Γ decreases from 165 to 95 °, said branches of the slot being constituted by cutting lines without removal of material emerging at their non-adjacent ends in a hole of small section.

Preferably the slot also has at its corner apex a hole of small cross section; the end of the nipple of the pacifier is convex.

The branches of the slot preferably have a length between 0.4 and 4 mm. The holes may be circular and preferably have a diameter of between 0.15 and 0.25 mm.

The crushing of the nipple of the nipple during the feeding of the child takes place in the median plane of the head of the child. One adopts, as the reference position of the teat, that in which the reference I of the teat is in this median plane, the branch of greatest length of the slot being formed in the plane passing through the reference III; we locate angularly by an angle ϑ the position of the teat relative to this reference. Tests have shown that, when the angle Γ is close to 180 °, the flow rate varies little in the vicinity of position I (ϑ = 0 or 180 °) when the bottle is turned, that is to say that the curve giving the flow as a function of ϑ has a flat part in the vicinity of position I. When the angel Γ is 165 °, this flat part has practically disappeared and the flow in position II is practically close to the average of flow rates in positions I and III.

Furthermore, when the angle Γ continues to decrease, the maximum flow decreases and the minimum flow increases; when the angle Γ reaches 90 ° as is the case for the nipple of GB-2 066 795, the difference between the maximum flow and the minimum flow is very small, which is unfavorable.

With an angular slot making an angle Γ according to the invention, the flow rate of the teat is made to vary substantially linearly when it is rotated in one direction or the other from a value of ϑ corresponding to 0 ° , 45 ° or 90 ° (position of the teat on minimum flow I, intermediate II or maximum III), while keeping a significant difference in flow between the maximum flow and the minimum flow. The maximum flow rate is then sufficient for the bottle to be used for porridge or mashed vegetables.

In addition, it should be noted that with the angular slot according to the invention, the flow rate of the bottle, when the nipple is not crushed, is negligible.

The description below of a bottle nipple according to the invention, given by way of illustration and not limitation, as well as the appended drawing will allow a better understanding of the invention.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une tétine selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 représente la tétine de la figure 1 vue par en-dessous ;
• la figure 3 représente un agrandissement du mamelon de la figure 2 ;
• les figures 4 à 11 sont des courbes donnant le débit de la tétine en fonction de l'angle ϑ de rotation de la tétine par rapport à la position de référence ci-dessus définie.

In the attached drawing:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pacifier according to the invention;
• Figure 2 shows the teat of Figure 1 seen from below;
• Figure 3 shows an enlargement of the nipple of Figure 2;
• Figures 4 to 11 are curves giving the flow of the teat as a function of the angle ϑ of rotation of the teat relative to the reference position defined above.

Referring to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the teat according to the invention has been designated by 1; this teat has an axis of symmetry; it comprises a nipple 2, a body more or less in the shape of a bell 5 and a rim 6 for its attachment to the bottle.

The surface of the end of the nipple 2 is convex and has the shape of a spherical cap; there was made by cutting without removing material a slot 3 having two branches 3 a and 3 b forming between them an angle Γ, the complementary angle being designated by α. The top of the angle is located on the axis of the nipple. The slot 3 is provided with three circular holes 4 a , 4 b , 4 c ; the hole 4 a is located at the top of the slot and has the same axis as the teat; the holes 4 b and 4 c are drilled at the opposite ends of the branches 3 a and 3 b respectively, of the angular slot. The branches 3 a , 3 b have length l₁ and l₂ (l₁> l₂) respectively.

At the lower part of the body 5 of the teat are placed three marks I, II and III. The marks I and III are in perpendicular planes; the reference III is in the plane of the branch 3 a on the side where the hole 4 b is located; the reference I is inside the obtuse angle Γ formed by the two branches of the slot. Mark II is 135 ° from marks I and III. When the marker I is placed under the infant's nose who is going to use the teat, the suction movement is carried out without there being a large opening in the slot 3, that is to say that obtains the minimum teat flow rate; when, on the contrary, the reference mark III is placed under the infant's nose by rotation of the bottle around its axis, the maximum flow rate is obtained due to the spacing of the lips of the slot 3; if mark II is placed under the infant's nose, the feed rate is close to the average between the flow at reference I and the flow at reference III.

When the suction movement of an infant's aspiration is stopped, the air enters through the holes 4 a , 4 b , 4 c and cancels the depression which has been created inside the bottle. In addition, the holes 4 a , 4 b and 4 c prevent the length of the branches of the slot 3 from changing during use.

The comparative examples given below will also allow a better understanding of the invention.

The tests were carried out according to the protocol described below. The teat is mounted on a bottle, which is placed vertically on a support, teat at the bottom. The bottom of the bottle is open, which allows to apply on the water it contains, an air pressure of 4kPa, which corresponds to the suction exerted by the child. To reproduce the conditions of use, the nipple is crushed, along the crushing axis AE, in jaws 7 mm apart, which represent the child's jaws: we measure the amount of water flowing for 30 seconds and the flow rates are expressed in cm³ / min.

The marks I, II, III are positioned on the teat as indicated during the previous description of Figures 1 to 3.

At the start, the diametral plane of the teat, which contains the reference I, passes through the crushing axis AE of the teat. Then rotate the jaws relative to the bottle by an angle ϑ of 10 ° to 10 ° in the direction of the arrow f (see Figure 2), and measure the flow rate of the bottle for the different angles ϑ. The curves of FIGS. 4 to 11 are obtained. Each point of the curve corresponds to the average of measurements carried out on five identical teats, the measurement being repeated twice on each teat.

The curve of Figure 4 was established with a 2.8mm straight slot nipple with a 0.20mm diameter hole at each end. This curve is given for comparison: it corresponds to a nipple with an angular slot for which Γ = 180 ° and l₁ = l₂ = 1.4 mm. The nipple tested is part of the state of the art (FR-2 052206). We see that in the vicinity of the reference I, the flow rate practically does not increase when the angle ϑ increases. The value of the flow rate for ϑ = 0 (mark I on AE) is 20 cm³ / min; for ϑ = 135 ° (position II on AE) it is 94.5 cm³ / min and for ϑ = 270 ° (reference III on AE), it is 281 cm³ / min. The flow in position II is therefore not very different from that in position I, which is not satisfactory.

The curve in FIG. 5 has been plotted for a nipple comprising a 3.6 mm rectilinear slot comprising three holes of 0.20 mm in diameter, one at each end of the slot and one in the middle. Figure 5 is therefore also provided for comparison; it corresponds to a nipple with an angular slot for which ϑ = 180 ° and l₁ = l₂ = 1.8 mm. The value of the flow for ϑ = 0 is 15 cm³ / min, for ϑ = 135 ° of 101.5 cm³ / min and for ϑ = 270 ° of 376 cm³ / min. It can be seen that the curve is less flattened in the vicinity of position I than the curve in FIG. 4, but the flow in position II is still far from being the arithmetic mean of the flows in position I and III. Consequently, the remedy for the defect in the prior art is not provided by the implementation of a third hole in the center of the slot.

The curve of FIG. 6 has been drawn for a teat having an angular slot according to the invention with Γ = 165 °, three holes of 0.20 mm in diameter at the ends and in the middle of the slot, and l₁ = l₂ = 1 , 8 mm. It can be seen that the positions ϑ = 0 and ϑ = 270 ° do not correspond exactly to the minimum and maximum values of the flow rate, but are offset by approximately 10 ° relative to these. Position I ′ of the minimum corresponds to ϑ = 10 ° and position III ′ of the maximum corresponds to ϑ = 280 °. The intermediate position, called position II ′, therefore corresponds to ϑ = 145 °.

It is quite obvious that, in practice, we would place on the teat the marks I, II and III at the location of positions I ′, II ′ and III ′. The flow for ϑ = 10 ° is 12 cm³ / min, for ϑ = 145 ° of 185 cm³ / min and for ϑ = 280 ° of 350 cm³ / min. It can therefore be seen that the flow rate in position II ′ is relatively close to the average of the flow rates in position I ′ and III ′. On the other hand, we see on the curve that if we shift from position I ′, by turning the bottle for example from 10 to 20 ° in one direction or the other, the flow rate increases fairly linearly: we can therefore significantly modify the flow rate by slightly modifying the position of the bottle. Similarly, the flow rate of the bottle can be linearly decreased by shifting it in one direction or the other from position III ′ or position II ′.

The curve of FIG. 7 has been plotted for a teat having an angular slot according to the invention for which Γ = 135 °, l₁ = l₂ = 1.8 mm and comprising three holes as for the teat of FIG. 6. It can be seen that the minimum and maximum values do not correspond to the coincidence of AE on the marks I, II, III but are offset from them by 20 °. The flow rate for position I ′ (ϑ = 20 °) is 16 cm³ / min, for position II ′ (ϑ = 155 °) is 196 cm³ / min, and for position III ′ (ϑ = 290 °) is 351 cm³ / min. The flow in position II ′ is fairly close to the average of the flow in position I ′ and III ′. We also see on the curves that we can vary linearly the teat flow rates by rotating the bottle less than 45 ° around the three positions I ′, II ′, III ′.

The curve of FIG. 8 has been drawn for a teat having an angular slot according to the invention for which Γ = 105 °, l _{1 =} l₂ = 1.8 mm with three holes as for the test in FIG. 7. We see that the minimum (position I ′) and maximum (position III ′) values of the flow are offset by approximately 40 ° with respect to the marks I and III. The flow in position I ′ (ϑ = 40 °) is 22 cm³ / min, in position II ′ (ϑ = 175 °) of 181 cm³ / min and in position III ′ (ϑ = 310 °) of 277 cm³ / min .

We can, moreover, note on curves 6 to 8 that the maximum flow rate in position III ′ varies, all conditions being equal, from 356 cm³ / min for Γ = 165 ° to 277 cm³ / min for Γ = 105 °. The maximum value of the flow decreases when the angle Γ decreases.

The curve in FIG. 11 has been drawn for a nipple having an angular slot for which Γ = 105 °, l₁ = 1.8 mm and l₂ = 0.4 mm. The results obtained are satisfactory.

The curve in FIG. 9 has been drawn for a nipple outside the invention having a V-shaped slot for which Γ = 90 ° and l₁ = l₂ = 1.8 mm. We see on the curve that the minimum flow is too high and that the difference between the minimum flow and the maximum flow is too small.

The curve of FIG. 10 has been drawn for a nipple outside the invention, having a V-shaped slot for which Γ = 45 ° and l₁ = l₂ = 1.8 mm. We see that the curve is no longer regular and no longer has a minimum or a net maximum.

Claims (5)

1. A variable delivery teat (l) designed to be fitted on a feeding bottle, comprising a slot (3) having two arms (3a, 3b) forming an angle between one another at the end of its nipple (2), characterized in that the angle of the two arms of the slot (3) is an obtuse angle Γ of between 165 and 95° whose apex lies in the axis of the teat, in that the arms of the slot have lengths l₁ and l₂ (where l₁ > l₂) such that the ratio l₁/l₂ is between 1 and δ, the value of δ increasing from 1 to 10, preferably from 1 to 4.5, when the value of the angle Γ decreases from 165 to 95°, the arms of the slot (3) being formed by cut lines with no removal of material terminating at their non-adjacent ends in a hole of small section (4b, 4c).

2. A teat as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the slot (3) also comprises a hole of small section (4a) at its angular apex.

3. A teat as claimed in one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the arms (3a, 3b) of the slot have a length of between 0.4 and 4 mm.

4. A teat as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the holes (4a, 4b, 4c) have a diameter of between 0.15 and 0.25 mm.

5. A teat as claimed in one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the end of its nipple (2) is convex.

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