Drinking Teat Slit Geometry for High Flow Without Spillage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drinking teats restrict food flow and require high suction pressure due to their design, leading to inefficient feeding and potential spillage, as they either allow uncontrolled liquid flow when the drinking hole is too large or require excessive suction to open the outflow cross-section.
Innovation Solution
A drinking teat made of soft elastic material with two parallel drinking slits that decrease in distance from the outside to the inside of the teat nipple, allowing for increased food flow with low vacuum suction and secure closure when not in use, along with a ventilation valve for pressure equalization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the drinking hole is made large to increase food flow, then the flow rate improves, but the liquid flows out unhindered without the child having to suckle, causing food spillage
Solution Approach 1:
The drinking hole is designed as a slit that dynamically changes its opening state based on suction pressure. When the child sucks, the elastic material deforms and opens the slit to allow food flow. When not sucking, the slit closes automatically to prevent uncontrolled flow and spillage. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between maintaining high flow rate and ensuring controlled flow.
2Reliability
If the drinking hole is made small to prevent uncontrolled flow, then food spillage is reduced, but the food flow rate is restricted and requires high suction pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The slit design allows the opening to remain small at rest for controlled flow, but to expand dynamically when suction is applied. The elastic material's deformation under suction pressure enlarges the effective opening area, enabling high food flow rate without requiring excessively high suction pressure from the child.
3Device complexity
If parallel slits with constant distance are used, then the structure is simple, but the area between the slits must be raised above the outside of the teat nipple to release outflow cross-section, requiring high suction work
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of parallel slits with constant distance, the invention uses slits with varying distance between them. The distance between the slits is smaller at the outside of the teat nipple and increases toward the inside. This asymmetric configuration allows the area between the slits to be raised more easily during suction, reducing the suction effort required to release the outflow cross-section while maintaining structural simplicity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The teat enables high food flow rates with low suction effort and secure closure, making it suitable for introducing children to drinking from a cup, while minimizing spillage and ensuring effective pressure equalization.
Implementation Method 1
The invention relates to a teat made of a soft, elastic material
Implementation Method 2
a ventilation valve for pressure equalization
Data Source
Figure 1~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a sucking device for drinking purposes made of a weight elastic material, having a hollow sucking nipple (2), a circumferential attachment edge (4) for placing the same onto the bottle opening of a drinking bottle, a hollow transitional region (3) between the attachment edge (4) and the sucking nipple (2) and two drinking slots (9, 10) extending from the outer side (11) up to the inner side (12) of the sucking nipple (2) in an end region of the sucking nipple (2), which are aligned parallel to each other, and the distance to each other thereof abates from the outer side (11) toward the inner side (12) of the sucking nipple (2).