TEAT FOR USE WITH A CONTAINER FOR CONTAINING LIQUID

Abstract

A teat (1) comprises a hollow teat body (10) including a deformable hollow mouthpiece (11) and a normally-closed valve (30) arranged at a level of the mouthpiece (11) or a level more downstream, the valve (30) being openable under the influence of suction forces exerted to the mouthpiece (11) by a user of the teat (1) during a liquid intake action. The valve (30) is included in a valve area (32) of a valve body (31) that is configured and arranged to prevent a closed-opened condition of the valve (30) from being changed under the influence of deformation of the mouthpiece (11) inflicted by a user of the teat (1) during a liquid intake action, so that the closed-opened condition of the valve (30) is controllable by means of suction forces exerted to the mouthpiece (11) by a user of the teat (1) during a liquid intake action.

Claims

1. Teat for use with a container for containing liquid, comprising: a hollow teat body including a deformable hollow mouthpiece for a user of the teat to suck on during a liquid intake action for the purpose of displacing liquid in a downstream direction through the teat body and out of the teat through the mouthpiece, and a normally-closed valve arranged at a level of the mouthpiece or a level that is further downstream, the valve being openable under the influence of suction forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action, and the valve being included in a valve area of a valve body that is configured and arranged to prevent a closed-opened condition of the valve from being changed under the influence of deformation of the mouthpiece inflicted by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action, wherein the valve body comprises at least two portions of different stiffness, the valve body being thereby configured to prevent or at least hinder transmittal from a part of the valve body outside of the valve area to the valve area of compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action; and/or wherein the valve body comprises a transitional area and is connected to the mouthpiece through the transitional area, the valve body having a stiffness that is different from a stiffness of the mouthpiece at least at the position of the transitional area, the transitional area being thereby configured to prevent or at least hinder transmittal from the mouthpiece to the valve body of compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action.

2. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is configured and arranged to prevent direct deforming influence on the valve area of compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat to the mouthpiece during a liquid intake action.

3. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the valve body comprises the transitional area, and wherein the transitional area is configured to prevent or at least hinder transmittal from the mouthpiece to the valve body of compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action and wherein the valve body has a stiffness that is different from a stiffness of the mouthpiece, at least at the position of the transitional area.

4. (canceled)

5. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is configured to prevent or at least hinder transmittal from a part of the valve body outside of the valve area to the valve area of compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action, and wherein the valve body comprises at least two portions of different stiffness.

6. Teat according to claim 5, wherein one of the portions includes the valve area.

7. Teat according to claim 1, wherein, at the level of the valve area, space is present between the valve body and an inside surface of the mouthpiece, and wherein, at the level of the valve area, a radial distance (R) between at least a portion of the valve body and the inside surface of the mouthpiece is preferably at least 3 mm.

8. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the valve is located at a level of a top end of the mouthpiece or a level that is further upstream.

9. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece and the valve body constitute an integral entirety.

10. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is hollow and extends in an upstream direction in the mouthpiece from a top end thereof, a volume of the valve body being smaller than 0.1 ml.

11. Teat according to claim 1, wherein the valve body is generally cup-shaped and has a bottom and a wall portion, and wherein the valve body extends in an upstream direction in the mouthpiece from a top end thereof, the bottom of the valve body being located at a most upstream level in the mouthpiece and the valve area being located in the bottom.

12. Teat according to claim 11, wherein the wall portion of the valve body is generally tube-shaped, and wherein, along at least a portion of the valve body, a total of i) an outside radius of the wall portion of the valve body and ii) 1.7 times a wall thickness (W.sub.m) of the mouthpiece at the level where the outside radius of the valve body is considered is smaller than 4 mm.

13. Teat according to claim 11, wherein the wall portion of the valve body is generally tube-shaped, and wherein a ratio between i) an outside radius of the wall portion of the valve body and ii) an inside radius of the mouthpiece at the level of the valve is smaller than 0.54.

14. Teat according to claim 11, wherein the wall portion of the valve body is generally tube-shaped, and wherein a ratio between i) a length (L.sub.v) of the valve body and ii) an outside diameter (D.sub.v) of the wall portion of the valve body is larger than 0.5, preferably larger than 0.7.

15. Assembly comprising a teat according to claim 1 and a container for containing liquid.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the figures, in which equal or similar parts are indicated by the same reference signs, and in which:

[0024] FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows a perspective view of the outside appearance of a teat body of a commonly known teat;

[0025] FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows a sectional view of a mouthpiece of a teat body of a teat according to a practical embodiment of the invention;

[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates how the mouthpiece is deformed under the influence of compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece by a user of the teat during a liquid intake action;

[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates how a number of dimensions of the mouthpiece and a valve body extending in the mouthpiece are measured; and

[0028] FIG. 5 diagrammatically shows basic features of an alternative design of the teat according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0029] FIG. 1 relates to a commonly known teat, and FIGS. 2-5 relate to a teat according to the invention. The features of the commonly known teat as will be discussed in the following are equally applicable to the teat according to the invention, at least to the embodiments shown, unless otherwise indicated.

[0030] In general, the teat 100 is intended to be connected to a container (not shown) which is suitable for containing an amount of liquid to be supplied to a user, which may particularly be an infant although other types of user are not excluded in the context of the invention. Such a container may be of any design and type. For example, the teat 100 may be used in combination with a feeding bottle that is provided with external screw thread at an open side thereof and a connecting ring that is provided with internal screw thread, in which case a portion of the teat 100 can be retained between the connecting ring and the bottle in an interconnected condition of the connecting ring and the bottle that is realized by engagement of the respective screw threads.

[0031] With reference to FIG. 1, it is noted that the teat 100 has at least one aperture 21 for letting out liquid from the teat 100. The at least one aperture 21 can be of any suitable shape and size. Terms such as top and bottom as used in relation to the teat 100 are to be understood so as to be related to a normal flow of liquid through the teat 100, as intended to be supplied to a user of the teat 100, i.e. a flow of liquid in a direction towards to the at least one aperture 21, wherein such direction is logically defined as a downstream direction, wherein an opposite direction is an upstream direction, and wherein “top” is an indication of a level/position that is further downstream, while “bottom” is an indication of a level/position that is further upstream.

[0032] The teat 100 comprises a teat body 10 that is hollow and flexible, and basically has two portions, namely a mouthpiece 11 and a main body 12. The mouthpiece 11 extends from the main body 12, the mouthpiece 11 comprising the at least one aperture 21 as mentioned earlier, in a liquid outlet area 20 at a top end thereof, and the main body 12 comprising a flange-like portion 13 at a bottom end thereof. The main body 12 is integrally formed on the mouthpiece 11 and widens relative to the mouthpiece 11. The mouthpiece 11 constitutes a nipple-like portion of the teat body 10, being a portion of the teat body 10 that is intended to be inserted into the mouth of a user of the teat 100.

[0033] The invention is at the position of the mouthpiece 11, which is deformable under the influence of operational compression forces, i.e. compression forces exerted to the mouthpiece 11 by a user of the teat 100 during a liquid intake action, and which is hollow, as explained in the foregoing. The invention is independent of the features of the main body 12. In general, the invention is independent of whatever design any possible other portion of the teat body 10 than the mouthpiece 11 may have.

[0034] With reference to FIG. 2, particulars of a teat 1 according to a practical embodiment of the invention will now be described. It is noted that in FIG. 2, only the mouthpiece 11 of the teat body 10 of the teat 1 is shown. In the mouthpiece 11, a normally-closed valve 30 is present. In the shown example, the valve 30 is at a recessed position with respect to the top end of the mouthpiece 11. This position of the valve 30 is realized on the basis of the fact that the teat 1 comprises a cup-shaped valve body 31 that is integral with the mouthpiece 11 and that extends in an upstream direction in the mouthpiece 11, thereby constituting a recess in the mouthpiece 11, the valve 30 being arranged in a valve area 32 of the valve body 31 that is located at a bottom 33 of the valve body 31 having a most upstream position. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the valve 30 does not need to be of complex design, but may instead comprise a single slit of linear shape in the bottom 33 of the valve body 31. That does not alter the fact that other embodiments of the valve 30 are possible within the framework of the invention.

[0035] In the configuration as illustrated in FIG. 2 and as described in the foregoing, when the valve 30 is in an opened condition, it is possible for liquid to reach the top end of the mouthpiece 11 and be released from the teat 1 at that position. When the mouthpiece 11 of the teat 1 according to the practical embodiment of the invention is compared to the mouthpiece 11 of the commonly known teat 100, it is found that the teat 1 according to the practical embodiment of the invention comprises a recess in the mouthpiece 11, that a normally-closed valve 30 is arranged in a bottom of the recess, and that the liquid outlet area 20 comprises a single aperture 21 constituted by an open top side of the recess. A reason for having a normally-closed valve 30 in the teat 1 is a desire to avoid a situation in which liquid can be retrieved through the teat 1 in all circumstances in which underpressure is exerted at the outside of the teat 1 and to thereby offer an option to better mimic a natural breast feeding process. A reason for having the valve 30 in a valve body 31 is a desire to avoid a situation in which the valve 30 is under direct deforming influence of operational compression forces and to thereby guarantee that having a sufficient level of underpressure at the outside of the teat 1 can actually be taken as a requirement for realizing an opened condition of the valve 30. According to the invention, this is achieved by having the valve 30 in a valve body 31 that is configured and arranged to prevent a closed-opened condition of the valve from being changed under the influence of operational deformation, i.e. deformation of the mouthpiece 11 inflicted by a user during a liquid intake action.

[0036] Within the framework of the invention, the valve body 31 can be of any suitable design. As mentioned, in the shown example, the valve body 31 is cup-shaped and is arranged so as to extend inwardly in the mouthpiece 11. The bottom 33 of the valve body 31 has the most upstream position and the valve body 31 is open to the top end of the mouthpiece 11. One way of preventing or at least hindering transmittal of operational compression forces from the mouthpiece 11 to the valve body 3 such that the compression forces cannot cause a change in the closed-opened condition of the valve 30 involves having stiffness differences at appropriate positions in the valve body 31. For example, a top section of a wall portion 34 of the valve body 31 constituting a transitional area 35 through which the valve body 31 is connected to the mouthpiece 11 may have a different stiffness than the remainder of the valve body 31. When the wall portion 34 of the valve body 31 connects to the mouthpiece 11 through a relatively weak transitional area 35, or when the wall portion 34 of the valve body 31 connects to the mouthpiece 11 through a relatively strong transitional area 35, it is achieved that deforming forces prevailing in the mouthpiece 11 during a liquid intake action are not transferred to the remainder of the valve body 31, or at most only to a very small extent that is insufficient to put the valve 30 from the closed condition to the opened condition. It is also possible for the bottom 33 and the wall portion 34 of the valve body 30 to be of different stiffness, for example.

[0037] FIG. 3 serves to illustrate what the deformation of the mouthpiece 11 following from operational compression forces may look like, showing an outline of the mouthpiece 11 in a default, unloaded shape at the left side of the figure, and an outline of the mouthpiece 11 in a deformed shape at the right side of the figure.

[0038] The extent to which the mouthpiece 11 is normally deformed may be taken as a basic assumption in determining suitable dimensional features of the entirety of the mouthpiece 11 and the valve body 31 including the valve 30, in addition to or as an alternative to the concept of realizing an effective stiffness difference as mentioned earlier. For example, a minimum radial distance R between at least the bottom 33 of the valve body 31 and an inside surface 14 of the mouthpiece 11 may be defined. In view of what is known in the field of teats designed for feeding infants about how the mouthpiece 11 may be deformed, a suitable value of such minimum radial distance R may be chosen so as to be 3 mm. In this respect, with reference to FIG. 4, it is noted that a non-limiting, practical example of dimensions associated with the undeformed mouthpiece 11 is as follows: maximum outside diameter D.sub.m of the mouthpiece 11 about 14 mm, wall thickness W.sub.m of the mouthpiece 11 about 1.2 mm, outside diameter D.sub.v of the valve body 31 about 3.9 mm, wall thickness W.sub.v of the wall portion 34 of the valve body 31 about 0.5 mm, and length L.sub.v of the valve body 31 about 4 mm.

[0039] Operation of the teat 1 according to the practical embodiment of the invention will now be described, assuming by way of example that a user of the teat 1 is an infant. In use, the teat 1 is connected to a feeding bottle or the like, as explained earlier. In a default condition, the valve 30 is closed, and liquid is prevented to flow out of the teat 1. When it is time for an infant to retrieve liquid from the feeding bottle, the mouthpiece 11 needs to be inserted in his/her mouth. The infant starts a liquid intake action by performing a sucking action and making tongue movements. As soon as the sucking action results in an underpressure of a predefined value higher than a base value needed for keeping the mouthpiece 11 in the mouth, the valve 30 is put from the closed condition to the opened condition, so that liquid is allowed to flow from the feeding bottle to the infant's mouth, through the teat 1. In the process, deformation of the mouthpiece 11 takes place, but this aspect of a liquid intake action does not have any significant influence on the condition of the valve 30. When the infant wants to swallow the liquid, the underpressure is released at least to such an extent that the valve 30 closes. As an advantageous result, the flow of liquid is interrupted as is the case in a natural breast feeding process. When the infant wants to retrieve another quantity of the liquid, he/she acts to increase the value of the underpressure so that the valve 30 is put to the opened condition again. Hence, on the basis using the normally-closed valve 30 and having measures aimed at minimizing/eliminating an influence of operational deformation of the mouthpiece 11 on the closed-opened condition of the valve 30, a stop-go functionality is obtained that is comparable to how a flow of liquid is controlled during breast feeding. Further, the infant is not hindered in any way in performing the natural peristaltic tongue movement, so that the infant's ability to perform such movement is not lost.

[0040] In case the valve body 31 is designed so as to form a recess in the mouthpiece 11, it is not necessary for the valve body 31 to be provided as some kind of tube-like member. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the mouthpiece 11 may come with a simple notch in a top portion thereof, the valve 30 being provided as a linear slit at a bottom of the notch, and the valve body 31 being defined by the walls of the notch.

[0041] It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the scope of the invention is not limited to the examples discussed in the foregoing, but that several amendments and modifications thereof are possible without deviating from the scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such amendments and modifications insofar they come within the scope of the claims or the equivalents thereof. While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the figures and the description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary only, and not restrictive. The invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. The drawings are schematic, wherein details which are not required for understanding the invention may have been omitted, and not necessarily to scale.

[0042] Variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by a person skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the figures, the description and the attached claims. In the claims, the words “comprising” and “including” do not exclude other steps or elements, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0043] Elements and aspects discussed for or in relation with a particular embodiment may be suitably combined with elements and aspects of other embodiments, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Thus, the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0044] The terms “comprise” and “include” as used in this text will be understood by a person skilled in the art as covering the term “consist of”. Hence, the term “comprise” or “include” may in respect of an embodiment mean “consist of”, but may in another embodiment mean “contain/have/be equipped with at least the defined species and optionally one or more other species”.

[0045] Milk is a practical example of liquid that may be taken in by an infant through the teat 1. For the sake of completeness, it is noted that this should not be understood so as to mean that the use of the teat 1 is restricted to this particular type of liquid. Other examples of liquid that may be supplied to a user by means of the teat 1 are water, porridge-like liquid, and medicinal liquid. Further, it is noted that use of the teat 1 according to the invention is not restricted to use by an infant for performing a liquid intake action, even though infants may be the intended users of the teat 1 and the exemplary dimensions of the teat 1 mentioned in the foregoing are related to average anatomical dimensions of the oral cavity and tongue of infants and all particulars of the invention presented in the present text including the claims are applicable to a situation in which the teat 1 is designed for use by infants and in which an assumption is made of normal operational deformation of the mouthpiece 11 associated with such use. The term “infants” is to be understood so as to cover babies and very young children, i.e. children which are normally breast-fed and/or bottle-fed.

[0046] Notable aspects of the invention can be summarized as follows. A teat 1 is designed for use with a container for containing liquid and comprises a hollow teat body 10 including a deformable hollow mouthpiece 11 for a user of the teat 1 to suck on during a liquid intake action for the purpose of displacing liquid in a downstream direction through the teat body 10 and out of the teat 1 through the mouthpiece 11. The teat 1 is further provided with a normally-closed valve 30 arranged at a level that may be a level of a bottom end of the mouthpiece 11 or a level more downstream, the valve 30 being openable under the influence of suction forces exerted to the mouthpiece 11 by a user of the teat 1 during a liquid intake action. The valve 30 is included in a valve area 32 of a valve body 31 that is configured and arranged to prevent a closed-opened condition of the valve 30 from being changed under the influence of deformation of the mouthpiece 11 inflicted by a user of the teat 1 during a liquid intake action. In that way, it is achieved that the closed-opened condition of the valve 30 is controllable by means of suction forces exerted to the mouthpiece 11 by a user of the teat 1 during a liquid intake action, so that a stop-go functionality of the teat 1 is obtained that helps in simulating breast feeding characteristics by means of the teat 1.