Nipple and feeding bottle

Abstract

The present application provides a nipple and a feeding bottle. The nipple comprises: a nipple body (100) and an air inlet valve (200). The nipple body (100) is provided with a cavity (140), and the air inlet valve (200) is embedded in the nipple body (100) and is used for guiding air into the cavity (140); and the hardness of the air inlet valve (200) is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body (100).

Description

pacifiers and bottles

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. CN202422546259.8, filed on October 21, 2024, entitled “A Pacifier and Baby Bottle”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of baby bottle technology, and more particularly to a nipple and a baby bottle. Background Technology

[0003] Baby bottles are a common tool for infants, often used to feed them different drinks, such as milk or warm water. Infants drink by sucking on the nipple of the bottle. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a nipple and a baby bottle to improve the air intake effect of the nipple.

[0005] In a first aspect, a nipple is provided, comprising: a nipple body and an air inlet valve; the nipple body has a cavity, and the air inlet valve is embedded in the nipple body and used to guide air into the cavity; wherein the hardness of the air inlet valve is greater than the hardness of the sidewall of the nipple body.

[0006] In some embodiments, the air intake valve includes a valve disc and a base connected to the valve disc; wherein, the base is provided with an air intake hole, and the valve disc is used to control the opening and closing of the air intake hole; the base is embedded in the nipple body, and the valve disc is inserted into the cavity; the hardness of the base is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body.

[0007] In some embodiments, the base protrudes into the cavity.

[0008] In some embodiments, a mounting hole is provided on the side wall of the nipple body, and the base is embedded in the mounting hole; and on the exposed side of the nipple body, the base is recessed in the mounting hole.

[0009] In some embodiments, the base of the air intake valve and the nipple body are bonded and fixedly connected by an injection molding process.

[0010] In some embodiments, the base includes an inner seat and a support seat nested outside the inner seat; wherein the air inlet is located in the inner seat, and the valve disc is fixedly connected to the inner seat; the hardness of the support seat is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body, and the hardness of the inner seat is less than the hardness of the support seat.

[0011] In some embodiments, the air intake valve has a flat structure, and the flat direction of the air intake valve is along the circumferential direction of the nipple body.

[0012] In some embodiments, the air intake valve is inclined downward relative to the axis of the nipple body, and the angle between the air intake direction and the axis of the nipple body is between 40° and 80°.

[0013] In some embodiments, the nipple body includes a sucking portion and a supporting portion; wherein the thickness of the sidewall of the sucking portion is less than the thickness of the supporting portion; and the air inlet valve is disposed on the supporting portion.

[0014] In some embodiments, the air intake valve is a different color from the nipple body.

[0015] Secondly, a baby bottle is provided, the baby bottle including a bottle body and a nipple as described in any of the above claims, wherein the nipple is sealed to the bottle body.

[0016] In the above embodiments, by using an air inlet valve with a hardness greater than that of the nipple body, the air inlet valve can withstand greater external force. When the nipple body is sucked and deformed, the air inlet valve can still maintain sufficient strength to ensure unobstructed airflow and guarantee the air guiding effect of the nipple. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the nipple provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of the nipple provided in an embodiment of this application from another angle;

[0019] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the nipple provided in the embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 4 is a magnified view of part A in Figure 3;

[0021] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another intake valve provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0022] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the application will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] It should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in one or more embodiments of this specification should have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. The terms "first," "second," and similar words used in one or more embodiments of this specification do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. Terms such as "comprising" or "including" mean that the component or object preceding the word covers the components or objects listed following the word and their equivalents, without excluding other components or objects. Terms such as "connected" or "linked" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. Terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," and "right" are used only to indicate relative positional relationships; when the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0024] To facilitate understanding of the nipple provided in this application embodiment, its application scenario is first described. The nipple provided in this application embodiment is used in baby bottles. Current baby bottles can be used to hold beverages (such as water or milk), but when babies use current nipples, the air inlet valve of the nipple is easily deformed, causing obstructed air intake. Therefore, this application embodiment provides a nipple to improve its performance. A detailed description follows with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0025] The nipple provided in this application is used on a baby bottle. During use, the nipple is fixedly connected to the bottle body, forming a seal. When using the bottle, the baby drinks the beverage contained in the bottle by sucking on the nipple. Additionally, while the baby is sucking on the nipple, air is introduced through the air inlet valve on the nipple to adjust the air pressure inside the bottle, allowing the baby to drink more smoothly. It should be understood that when the nipple is fixedly connected to the bottle body and forms a seal, it can be achieved by fitting the nipple onto the bottle cap, with the cap threaded to the bottle body, and the seal between the nipple and the bottle body is achieved by squeezing the nipple. Of course, besides the example of a cap and bottle body being threadedly connected, other methods can also be used to form a fixed connection, which is not specifically limited in this application embodiment. The specific structure of the nipple is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0026] Referring to Figures 1 and 2, Figure 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of the nipple provided in an embodiment of this application, and Figure 2 shows a structural schematic diagram of the nipple provided in an embodiment of this application from another angle. The nipple provided in this embodiment includes a nipple body 100 and an air inlet valve 200. The nipple body 100 is used for infant sucking. Specifically, the nipple body 100 has a cavity 140 for containing milk and providing a channel for milk flow. When the nipple is engaged with a bottle cap, specifically, the nipple body 100 engages with the bottle cap. Furthermore, the air inlet valve 200 is embedded in the nipple body 100 and is used to guide air into the cavity 140 within the nipple body 100 to regulate the air pressure inside the bottle.

[0027] Specifically, when the air inlet valve 200 is embedded in the nipple body 100, it connects the cavity 140 of the nipple body 100 with the outside air. This air inlet valve 200 is a one-way valve. During use, when the baby sucks on the nipple body 100, causing a decrease in the air pressure inside the bottle, the air inlet valve 200 opens due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the nipple body 100. Outside air then enters the cavity 140 of the nipple body 100 through the air inlet valve 200, thereby increasing the air pressure inside the bottle so that the baby can suckle smoothly. It should be understood that this air inlet valve 200 is an automatic air inlet valve 200, which opens under the action of the pressure difference when the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the bottle reaches a certain value.

[0028] To ensure effective sucking by the infant, the nipple body 100 is generally made of silicone, a material with relatively low hardness (and relatively high elasticity), allowing for greater deformation during sucking. Conversely, the air inlet valve 200, needing to ensure effective air intake, is designed with higher hardness (lower elasticity) to maintain communication between the nipple body 100's cavity 140 and the outside environment even during significant deformation of the nipple body 100. In other words, in this embodiment, the air inlet valve 200 is harder than the nipple body 100, ensuring sufficient structural strength during elastic deformation of the nipple body 100. This prevents the air inlet valve 200 from being affected by the nipple body 100's deformation, thus guaranteeing reliability during air delivery.

[0029] As can be seen from the above description, the nipple provided in this application embodiment adopts an air inlet valve 200 with a hardness greater than that of the nipple body 100, thereby enabling the air inlet valve 200 to withstand greater external force. When the nipple body 100 is sucked and deformed, the air inlet valve 200 can still maintain sufficient strength to ensure the smooth flow of air and guarantee the air guiding effect of the nipple.

[0030] Referring to Figures 3 and 4, Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the nipple provided in this embodiment, and Figure 4 shows a partially enlarged schematic diagram of point A in Figure 3. The air inlet valve 200 provided in this embodiment includes a valve disc 220 and a base 210 connected to the valve disc 220. The base 210 is provided with an air inlet hole 230, and the valve disc 220 is used to control the opening and closing of the air inlet hole 230. Exemplarily, the air inlet hole 230 is an air intake channel connecting the inside and outside of the nipple body 100 to the air inlet valve 200. The valve disc 220 is located outside the base 210 and is used to control the opening and closing of the air inlet hole 230. Exemplarily, when the valve disc 220 is open, the air inlet hole 230 is open, and the air inlet valve 200 can introduce gas into the cavity 140 of the nipple body 100; when the valve disc 220 is closed, the air inlet hole 230 is closed, and the air inlet valve 200 cannot introduce gas into the cavity 140. It should be understood that the structure and working principle of the valve disc 220 provided in the embodiments of this application are similar to the structure and working principle of the valve disc 220 of the air inlet valve 200 of the nipple in the related art, and will not be described in detail in the embodiments of this application.

[0031] When connected to the nipple body 100, the base 210 is embedded in the nipple body 100, and the valve flap 220 is inserted into the cavity 140. That is, when the air inlet valve 200 is fixed to the nipple body 100, a stable fixed connection is formed between the base 210 and the valve body. The valve flap 220 is located inside the base 210 (on the side of the base 210 facing the cavity 140 of the nipple body 100) and extends into the nipple body 100. In addition, when the base 210 is manufactured, the hardness of the base 210 is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body 100. Therefore, when the nipple body 100 is sucked and deformed, the harder base 210 can support the air inlet 230, reducing the possibility of the air inlet 230 being squeezed by the deformation of the nipple body 100. Meanwhile, since the base 210 is a structure connected to the nipple body 100, and the valve disc 220 does not directly contact the nipple body 100 but extends into the cavity 140 of the nipple body 100, the probability of the valve disc 220 being affected is relatively small, ensuring the stability of the opening and closing of the valve disc 220. As can be seen from the above structure, the air intake valve 200 provided in this embodiment ensures the unobstructed flow of the air intake hole 230 through the relatively rigid base 210, and ensures the stability of the opening and closing of the valve disc 220 through the design of the valve disc 220, thereby achieving the reliability of the air intake valve 200 when the nipple is used and ensuring the air guiding effect of the nipple.

[0032] In some embodiments, the base 210 provided in this application protrudes into the cavity 140. For example, referring to FIG4, the length of the base 210 protruding into the cavity 140 is D1. When this protrusion is adopted, the distance between the valve disc 220 and the side wall of the nipple body 100 is greater, thereby reducing the impact of nipple body 100 deformation on the valve disc 220 and improving the reliability of the air intake valve 200. It should be understood that the size of D1 can be set as needed. For example, D1 can be different sizes such as 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, and 4mm, and can be specifically set according to actual needs. This application embodiment does not impose specific limitations.

[0033] In some examples, the inner wall of the cavity 140 that mates with the air intake valve 200 is flat to facilitate the assembly of the air intake valve 200 with the nipple body 100.

[0034] In some embodiments, a mounting hole 150 is provided on the side wall of the nipple body 100, and the base 210 of the air inlet valve 200 is embedded in the mounting hole 150; and on the exposed side of the nipple body 100, the base 210 is recessed in the mounting hole 150. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, a mounting hole 150 is formed on the outer surface of the nipple body 100, which penetrates the side wall of the nipple body 100. When the air inlet valve 200 is assembled, the air inlet valve 200 is embedded in the mounting hole 150 and the outer side wall of the air inlet valve 200 is sealed with the inner side wall of the mounting hole 150 to ensure that gas can only flow through the air inlet hole 230 in the air inlet valve 200. Exemplarily, the outer end of the air inlet valve 200 (the end of the air inlet valve 200 facing away from the cavity 140) is located in the mounting hole 150 and does not protrude outward from the outer surface of the nipple body 100. This method avoids the air inlet valve 200 protruding from the surface of the nipple body 100, reducing the probability of the air inlet valve 200 being blocked by impurities. Simultaneously, using this method, the airflow first passes through the larger mounting hole 150 and then through the air inlet hole 230, reducing the length of the air inlet hole 230 and ensuring smooth airflow.

[0035] When connecting the air inlet valve 200 to the nipple body 100, different connection methods can be used. They can be connected via an interference fit or other methods. For example, when the air inlet valve 200 and nipple body 100 are connected via an interference fit, the outer wall of the air inlet valve 200 abuts against the inner wall of the mounting hole 150, and the sealing effect between them is ensured by the deformation of the base 210 and the nipple body 100. In another example, the air inlet valve 200 can also be integrally manufactured with the nipple body 100 via injection molding. This ensures the sealing and stability of the connection between the air inlet valve 200 and the nipple body 100, and also improves manufacturing efficiency. For example, the base 210 of the air inlet valve 200 and the nipple body 100 are bonded and fixedly connected via injection molding. During manufacturing, the air inlet valve 200 is first formed using a mold. Then, when manufacturing the nipple body 100, the air inlet valve 200 is placed in the desired position, and the mounting hole 150 that mates with the air inlet valve 200 is naturally formed during the manufacturing of the nipple body 100. Furthermore, during the manufacturing process, the nipple body 100 and the air inlet valve 200 are bonded together through self-curing. The above manufacturing method can be achieved using a two-color injection molding process, or other similar processes; specific limitations are not specified in this embodiment.

[0036] In this embodiment, to improve airflow, the air intake valve 200 is inclined downwards relative to the axis of the nipple body 100, and the angle between the air intake direction and the axis of the nipple body 100 is between 40° and 80°. As shown in Figure 3, for ease of description, two reference lines L2 and L3 are provided, where L2 is the axis of the nipple body 100 and L3 is the reference line for the air intake valve 200. L2 and L3 form an angle α, which is between 40° and 80°. For example, α can be different angles such as 40°, 50°, 60°, 70°, and 80°. When arranged in the above manner, the air intake valve 200 can be closer to the bottle opening. When the nipple is tilted, the path of gas flowing into the bottle can be shortened as much as possible. At the same time, when the valve disc 220 of the air intake valve 200 is submerged in the beverage, the direction of air intake is as far away from the flow direction of the beverage as possible, which can reduce the probability of air bubbles formed in the beverage being sucked into the baby's mouth and reduce the risk of hiccups.

[0037] In some embodiments, according to structural division, the nipple body 100 includes a sucking portion 110 and a supporting portion 120; wherein, the sucking portion 110 is close to the liquid outlet end of the nipple body 100, while the supporting portion 120 is close to the bottle body. Exemplarily, the thickness of the sidewall of the sucking portion 110 is less than the thickness of the supporting portion 120. For ease of understanding, a reference line L1 is introduced in FIG3, and the sucking portion 110 and the supporting portion 120 are divided by the reference line L1. However, it should be understood that the reference line L1 in FIG3 is only an example. The sucking portion 110 and the supporting portion 120 provided in the embodiments of this application are only for the convenience of describing the division of the structure of the nipple body 100, and there is no clear boundary between the sucking portion 110 and the supporting portion 120 in the actual nipple body 100.

[0038] When this structure is adopted, the overall structure of the sidewall of the nipple body 100 gradually thins out in a direction away from the bottle. When the baby sucks on the nipple, the sucking part 110 deforms more, while the support part 120 deforms less than the sucking part 110. Therefore, when arranging the air inlet valve 200, placing the air inlet valve 200 in the support part 120 can further reduce the impact of the nipple being sucked on the air intake of the air inlet valve 200. Thus, it can be seen that the embodiment provided in this application, by increasing the strength of the air inlet valve 200's own structure and by cooperating with arranging the air inlet valve 200 in the support part 120 with less deformation, further improves the stability of the air inlet valve 200 when the nipple is in use.

[0039] In some embodiments, a support ring 130 is provided at the connection between the sucking part 110 and the support part 120 of the nipple provided in this application embodiment. The support ring 130 is formed on the side wall of the nipple body 100, and an annular protrusion is formed by making the side wall of the cavity 140 bulge outward. The protrusion increases the thickness at the connection between the sucking part 110 and the support part 120. When the sucking part 110 is sucked and deformed, the deformation can be controlled as much as possible in the sucking part 110 by the isolation of the support ring 130. On the one hand, it can make the sucking part 110 deform more and improve the sucking effect of the baby; on the other hand, reducing the deformation of the support part 120 can reduce the impact on the air inlet valve 200.

[0040] In some embodiments, the air intake valve 200 has a flat structure, and the flat direction of the air intake valve 200 is along the circumferential direction of the nipple body 100. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the air intake valve 200 is a flat structure as a whole, that is, the length along the circumferential direction of the nipple is greater than the length along the axial direction of the nipple (that is, the axial direction of the nipple body 100), so that the air intake valve 200 is a flat structure in the axial direction of the nipple, and the deformation of the nipple body 100 extends in the direction from the sucking part 110 to the support part 120. Therefore, the flattening treatment of the air intake valve 200 in the axial direction of the nipple can effectively reduce the influence of the deformation of the nipple body 100 on the air intake valve 200 and improve the stability of the air intake valve 200.

[0041] When using a bottle nipple, the air intake valve 200 provides the best air intake effect when it is not blocked by the beverage inside the nipple. Therefore, bottles are often tilted during use, with the air intake valve 200 positioned at the top to ensure sufficient air intake. However, current bottle nipples typically integrate the air intake valve 200 into the nipple body 100, making it difficult for users to quickly identify it. To address this, in some embodiments of the bottle nipple provided in this application, the nipple body 100 and the air intake valve 200 are set in different colors to clearly indicate the location of the air intake valve 200 through color difference. When using the bottle nipple, the user can intuitively notice the location of the air intake valve 200 and quickly adjust the nipple position based on the observed color of the air intake valve 200, improving the user's experience. For example, the air intake valve 200 can be a brightly colored valve. For example, the nipple body 100 can be brown, while the air valve 200 can be orange; or the nipple body 100 can be transparent, while the air valve 200 can be red or other eye-catching colors.

[0042] The intake valve 200 provided in this application embodiment can be manufactured in different ways. As shown in Figure 4, in one embodiment, the base 210 and valve disc 220 of the intake valve 200 are integrally manufactured. In this case, the intake valve 200 and valve disc 220 are directly injection molded, and the base 210 and valve disc 220 are made of the same material. When using the above method, it should be ensured that the thickness of the valve disc 220 is sufficient to allow the valve disc 220 to open and close, thereby controlling the opening and closing of the intake port 230.

[0043] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of another air intake valve 200 provided in an embodiment of this application. In Figure 5, the air intake valve 200 is manufactured using a split structure. The base 210 includes an inner seat 212 and a support seat 211 nested outside the inner seat 212. Exemplarily, the inner seat 212 is fixedly connected to the valve disc 220, and the air intake hole 230 is located within the inner seat 212. The support seat 211 is nested outside the inner seat 212, and the hardness of the inner seat 212 is less than the hardness of the support seat 211, so that the inner seat 212 can be less affected by the deformation of the nipple body 100 through the support of the support seat 211. It should be understood that in this embodiment, the hardness of the support seat 211 is greater than the hardness of the sidewall of the nipple body 100, so as to reduce the impact of the deformation of the nipple body 100 on the air intake valve 200.

[0044] In the above example, the support seat 211 has a through-hole receiving cavity, and the inner seat 212 passes through this receiving cavity and is fixedly connected to the support seat 211, with a seal at the connection point. The valve disc 220 passes through the support seat 211 and protrudes into the cavity 140 of the nipple body 100. During manufacturing, the support seat 211, the inner seat 212, and the valve disc 220 can be manufactured by injection molding, specifically using two-color injection molding or other injection molding methods. Alternatively, the support seat 211 and the inner seat 212 can be injection molded separately and then fixedly connected by bonding. The valve disc 220 and the inner seat 212 are integrally injection molded. When the air inlet valve 200 adopts a split structure, the valve disc 220 can be made of the same material as the inner seat 212, which has lower hardness, thereby improving the elasticity of the valve disc 220 and reducing the pressure difference (the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the nipple body 100) when the valve disc 220 opens and closes.

[0045] As can be seen from the above description, in the embodiments of this application, the air intake valve 200 can be manufactured in different ways. However, regardless of which method is used, the higher hardness of the base 210 can reduce the influence of the deformation of the nipple body 100 on the air intake valve 200, thereby improving the reliability of the air intake valve 200.

[0046] This application also provides a baby bottle, which includes a bottle body and a nipple as described above, wherein the nipple is sealed to the bottle body. For details, please refer to the description above; further details will not be elaborated here.

[0047] In the above embodiment, by using an air inlet valve 200 with a hardness greater than that of the nipple body 100, the air inlet valve 200 can withstand greater external force. When the nipple body 100 is sucked and deformed, the air inlet valve 200 can still maintain sufficient strength to ensure the smooth flow of air and guarantee the air guiding effect of the nipple.

[0048] One or more embodiments of this specification are intended to cover all such substitutions, modifications, and variations that fall within the broad scope of the appended claims. Therefore, any omissions, modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of one or more embodiments of this specification should be included within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0049] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A pacifier comprising: The nipple body has a cavity, and the air inlet valve is embedded in the nipple body and used for guiding air into the cavity. The hardness of the air inlet valve is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body.

2. The nipple of claim 1, wherein, The air inlet valve comprises a valve flap and a base connected with the valve flap, wherein the base is provided with an air inlet hole, and the valve flap is used for controlling the opening and closing of the air inlet hole. The base is embedded in the nipple body, and the valve flap is inserted into the cavity. The hardness of the base is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body.

3. The nipple of claim 2, wherein, The base is convex to the cavity.

4. The nipple of claim 3, wherein, The side wall of the nipple body is provided with a mounting hole, the base is embedded in the mounting hole, and the base is recessed in the mounting hole on the exposed side of the nipple body.

5. The nipple of claim 2 wherein, The base of the air inlet valve and the nipple body are fixedly connected by an injection molding process.

6. The nipple of claim 2 wherein, The base comprises an inner base and a support base nested outside the inner base, wherein The air inlet hole is located in the inner base, and the valve flap is fixedly connected with the inner base. The hardness of the support base is greater than the hardness of the side wall of the nipple body, and the hardness of the inner base is less than the hardness of the support base.

7. The nipple of claim 2 wherein, The air inlet valve is in a flat structure, and the flat direction of the air inlet valve is along the circumferential direction of the nipple body.

8. The nipple of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The air guiding direction of the air inlet valve is inclined downward relative to the axis of the nipple body, and the included angle between the air guiding direction and the axis of the nipple body is between 40° and 80°.

9. The nipple of claim 8 wherein, The nipple body comprises a sucking part and a supporting part, wherein the thickness of the side wall of the sucking part is less than the thickness of the supporting part. The air inlet valve is arranged in the supporting part.

10. The nipple of claim 8 wherein, The air inlet valve and the nipple body are different in color.

11. A feeding bottle comprising a bottle body and a teat as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, The nipple is sealingly connected with the bottle body.

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