WO2000074628A1

WO2000074628A1 - Liquid feed bottle

Info

Publication number: WO2000074628A1
Application number: PCT/GB2000/002166
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ian Michael Daines Gaylor; Christopher John Andrew Barnardo
Original assignee: Cambridge Consultants Limited
Priority date: 1999-06-05
Filing date: 2000-06-05
Publication date: 2000-12-14
Also published as: AU5094200A

Abstract

A bottle has a body which holds a liquid (3) for internal consumption by a young mammal. The body has a container portion (1) and a teat (2) with an outlet orifice. A cap (4) covers and protects the teat (2). An internal surface of the cap (4) has formations (15) defining passages which allow a sterilising agent to reach crevices in the region where the cap (4), teat (2) and/or container portion (1) adjoin, in order to kill any germs in the crevices.

Description

TITLE: LIQUID FEED BOTTLE

This invention relates to liquid feed bottles and concerns an improvement in or development of the liquid feed bottle disclosed in the applicants' published patent specifications WO 96/27361 and WO 99/03442.

The bottles disclosed in WO 96/27361 and WO 99/03442 each have a body comprising a container portion bonded to a teat or spout having an orifice. The body holds a liquid (such as milk) and a cap is bonded to the body and protects the teat or spout. A cap portion is initially detachable from the body by pulling and removing a tear strip, the released cap portion being engagable with the body with a snap action fit, thereby enabling the cap portion to be repeatedly attached to and removed from the body. In the manufacture of such a filled bottle, the bottle and its liquid contents are placed in a retort and sterilised by a sterilising agent, usually super-heated steam. It has been realised that the bottle has certain crevices which may not ieceive sufficient exposure to the sterilising agent for sterilisation of these crevices to occur, and the invention aims to tackle this possible problem.

According to the invention there is provided a bottle holding a liquid for internal consumption by a young mammal, the bottle comprising a body which holds the liquid and which has a container portion and a teat or spout with an outlet orifice, and a cap which covers and protects the teat or spout, characterised in that the internal surface of the cap has formations defining passages which allow a sterilising agent to reach crevices in the region where the cap, teat or spout and/or container portion adjoin, in order to kill any germs in the crevices.

The formations may be channels formed in the internal surface of the cap, the channels allowing the sterilising agent to pass between the internal wall of the cap portion and the external wall of the teat, whereby the sterilising agent can reach the crevices. Alternatively, the formations may be ridges on the internal surface of the cap, the passages being formed between adjacent ridges.

The cap may be bonded or sealed to the body around a peripheral flange which preferably occupies a radial plane in relation to the central longitudinal axis of the bottle. In a preferred embodiment an edge flange of the cap is ultrasonically welded to a shoulder of the body, an out-turned peripheral lip of the teat being trapped or held in position between the container portion and the cap. The invention enables the sterilising agent, typically super-heated steam generated in a retort stage, to reach the crevices in this region so as to prevent this region harbouring germs.

The cap may have a tear strip to enable a cap portion to be initially detachable from the body, and the released cap portion may optionally have a formation engageable with a formation on the body with a snap action press fit, thereby enabling the cap poπion to be repeatedly attached to and removed from the body.

The bottle may be surrounded by an enclosure which is substantially gas impermeable and which encloses, in an intervening space between the body and the enclosure, a protective gas, so that the liquid is protected by at least three barriers, namely a mechanical barrier provided by the body, a gaseous barrier provided by the protective gas and a moisture and oxygen barrier provided by the enclosure.

A liquid feed bottle according to the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a bottle according to the invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 1 ,

Figure 3 is a cut-away view showing the internal surface of a cap of the bottle of Figures 1 and 2, Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line IV-IV of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 4 but showing a modification; and

Figure 6 illustrates a container assembly including the liquid feed bottle surrounded by an enclosure.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the bottle comprises a body comprising a plastics container portion 1 and a teat 2 which together enclose a volume of sterilised liquid milk 3 for feeding to a baby, for example in a maternity unit of a hospital or by a mother after she has left hospital with a new baby. The bottle could alternatively hold water or fruit juice.

At its top, the teat has an orifice (not shown) and the outer surface of the teat 2 is protected by a plastics cap 4. When the bottle is supplied to the hospital, the cap 4 is sealed to the body so as to enclose the teat 2 and the milk 3 in a sterile environment. As best shown in Figure 2, the teat 2 has an out- turned lip 5 which is trapped between an inturned flange 6 of the container portion 1 and a radially projecting flange 7 of the cap 4, this radially projecting flange 7 terminating in a downturned edge 8 which overlaps an out-turned fold 9 of the container portion 1. The composite flange thus formed is sealed by means of an ultrasonic weld in the region depicted at 10 in Figure 2.

A tear strip 12, defined between two encircling lines of weakness 13, extends around the cap 4. When this tear strip 12 is torn away, the resulting cap portion 14 can be removed from the teat 2 for access to the teat orifice, for feeding a baby. The released cap portion 14 has a ridge engageable with a cooperating formation on the body with a snap action press fit, enabling the cap portion 14 to be repeatedly attached to and removed from the body. When attached to the body, the cap portion 14 engages and effectively closes the teat orifice.

In the flange region sealed by the ultrasonic weld 10, crevices are formed between the meeting surfaces, notably between the cap 4 and the teat 2, but also between the teat 2 and the container portion 1 and between the cap 4 and the container portion 1. In accordance with the invention, the internal surface of the cap 4 has a number of channels 15, each channel 15 extending from the upper end of the cap to the lower flangelike region of the cap, as shown in Figure 3. During heating of the bottle and contents in a retort stage of manufacture, super-heated steam at 121 °C is generated inside the bottle and passes through the teat orifice to reach the channels 15. The channels 15 conduct the super-heated steam to the crevices in order to provide effective sterilisation of these crevices where germs might otherwise be harboured. Instead of the channels 15, the internal surface of the cap 4 may have ridges 16 (Figure 5), the spaces between adjacent ridges defining passages which again serve the function of conducting super-heated steam to the crevices in the retort stage of the manufacturing process.

In Figure 6, an enclosure 11 surrounds the bottle, the intervening volume 17 between the bottle and the enclosure being occupied by an inert gas, such as nitrogen. The enclosure 11 is formed by a flexible laminated plastics film which is gas-impermeable and heat sealed around a peripheral seal 18 so as to enclose the volume 17 and the bottle therewithin. The milk 3 is protected and enclosed by three barriers: a mechanical barrier provided by the plastics bottle; a gaseous barrier provided by the protective nitrogen in the intervening volume 17; and a gas-proof barrier provided by the enclosure 11 which prevents the ingress of moisture or oxygen.

Claims

1. A bottle holding a liquid for internal consumption by a young mammal, the bottle having a body which holds the liquid and which has a container portion and a teat or spout with an outlet orifice, and a cap which covers and protects the teat or spout, characterised in that the internal surface of the cap has formations defining passages which allow a sterilising agent to reach crevices in the region where the cap, teat or spout and/or container portion adjoin, in order to kill any germs in the crevices.

2. A bottle according to claim 1, wherein the formations are channels formed in the internal surface of the cap, the channels allowing the sterilising agent to pass between the internal wall of the cap portion and the external wall of the teat, whereby the sterilising agent can reach the crevices.

3. A bottle according to claim 1, wherein the formations are ridges on the internal surface of the cap, the passages being formed between adjacent ridges.

4. A bottle according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cap is bonded or sealed to the body around a peripheral flange.

5. A bottle according to claim 4, wherein the peripheral flange occupies a radial plane in relation to the central longitudinal axis of the bottle.

6. A bottle according to claim 4 or 5, wherein an edge flange of the cap is ultrasonically welded to a shoulder of the body, an out-turned peripheral lip of the teat being trapped and held in position between the container portion and the cap.

7. A bottle according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cap has a tear strip to enable a cap portion to be initially detachable from the body.

8. A bottle according to claim 7, wherein the released cap portion has a formation engageable with a formation on the body with a snap action press fit, thereby enabling the cap portion to be repeatedly attached to and removed from the body.

9. A container assembly comprising a bottle according to any of the preceding claims in combination with an enclosure surrounding the body, wherein the enclosure is substantially gas impermeable and encloses, in an intervening space between the body and the enclosure, a protective gas, so that the liquid is protected by at least three barriers, namely a mechanical barrier provided by the body, a gaseous barrier provided by the protective gas and a moisture and oxygen barrier provided by the enclosure.

10. A container assembly according to claim 9, wherein the gas is an inert gas such as nitrogen.

11. A container assembly according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the enclosure is a flexible plastics film.