Abstract:
A single-piece nipple to fit various sized beverage containers. The nipple fits over and seals to the top of standard water, juice, or soda containers that are available in supermarkets and other stores. The nipple enables children to drink directly from these containers without having to transfer the liquid to a bottle that is specially designed for children. The nipple includes a protuberance that is supported by a flexible base that has a wall for placement around a container mouthpiece. An aperture extends from the wall out through the protuberance creating a passage for liquid to flow from the container into the child&#39;s mouth. An attachment portion extends inwardly from the wall to seal the base to the mouthpiece of the container.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a single-piece nipple adapter, particularly for attaching to various sized beverage containers so that children of various ages can drink therefrom.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Nipples that are used with standard infant bottles are generally attached to the bottle with a separate threaded collar. The bottle ordinarily has a wide-mouthed opening. After the bottle has been filled, the nipple is placed over the opening. The collar is then placed over the nipple and is threaded onto the bottle to hold the nipple in place. These nipples are limited in that they can only be used with a standard wide-mouth bottle. There are situations in which a child wants to drink water or juice, and a standard bottle is not available; or the child does not want to drink from a standard bottle, but can not yet drink without spilling from a standard water or juice container that is sold in stores. The nipples that are used with these standard baby bottles will not fit on the standard water or juice containers.  
           [0003]    U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,573,507 and 5,688,238 to Moser et al. disclose a nipple system that can be used with a conventional baby bottle, or with another sized container when the nipple is utilized in conjunction with a straw. The nipple has a flexible upper portion that fits into the infant&#39;s mouth and a rigid lower portion that attaches to a baby bottle with a threaded collar in the conventional method. The nipple can also attach to a straw so that it can be used to drink from other types of containers. A disadvantage of this device is that the nipple attaches to the straw that is projecting upward from the container whose top is often open. Therefore, if the child turns the container or drops it, the liquid in the container is spilled.  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,810 to Meyers et al. disclose a one-piece nipple and collar combination that includes a nipple that is molded over a rigid collar that has threads for attaching to a bottle or container. The one-piece nipple and collar can be made of different sizes to accommodate different size containers. Conventional water, juice and soda containers have tops with small variations in size. A disadvantage of this device is that the collar portion is rigid so that different size nipple and collar devices must be carried to accommodate for these small variations. Carrying a number of these devices is bulky and trying different sizes to fit the various containers is time consuming.  
           [0005]    Therefore, there is a need to provide a single-piece nipple that fits various beverage containers of different sizes and that covers the top of the container so that liquid is not spilled if the bottle is turned or dropped.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The single-piece nipple to fit various sized beverage containers of the present invention solves the aforementioned problems and meets the aforementioned needs by providing a single-piece flexible nipple that fits over and seals the top of standard water, juice, or soda containers that are available in supermarkets and other stores. The nipple enables children to drink directly from these containers without having to transfer the liquid to a bottle that is specially designed for children.  
           [0007]    The nipple includes a protuberance that is supported by a flexible base that has a wall for placement around a container mouthpiece. An aperture extends from the wall out through the protuberance creating a passage for liquid to flow from the container into the child&#39;s mouth. An attachment portion extends inwardly from the wall to seal the base to the mouthpiece of the container.  
           [0008]    The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of a single-piece nipple according to the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a second embodiment of a single-piece nipple according to the present invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a third embodiment of a single-piece nipple according to the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a view of the single-piece nipple of FIG. 3 showing a retaining member in dashed lines.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a fourth embodiment of a single-piece nipple according to the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6A shows a side view of a retaining member and a safety protrusion molded as a single-piece.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6B is top view of FIG. 6A.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a fifth embodiment of a single-piece nipple according to the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is a sixth embodiment of a single-piece nipple according to the present invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 9 is a view of the single-piece nipple of FIG. 8 sealed to the mouthpiece of a container. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]    A first embodiment of a single-piece nipple  10  according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The nipple  10  includes a protuberance  12  for insertion into a child&#39;s mouth. The protuberance  12  is supported by a flexible base  14  having a wall  16  that is placed over a mouthpiece of a container or bottle. The protuberance  12  and the base  14  form a single-piece. An aperture  18  extends from the base  14  through an opening  20  in the protuberance  12 , creating a passage  22  for liquid to flow from the container into the child&#39;s mouth.  
         [0020]    The single-piece nipple  10  attaches to the mouthpiece of the container by an attachment portion  24  that extends inwardly from the base  14 . When the nipple  10  is attached to the mouthpiece of the container, the attachment portion  24  forms a seal with the container so that liquid does not leak from the container if the container is turned or dropped. The attachment portion  24  includes one or more ridges  26  that fit between threads on the mouthpiece. The ridges  26  have a tapered leading edge  28  that easily slides over the ridges of the mouthpiece and an abrupt trailing edge  30  that secures the nipple  10  to the container, thus preventing the nipple from falling off. When an upward force is applied to the nipple  10 , the abrupt leading edge  30  pushes against the threads of the container, preventing the nipple from being removed from the container. The nipple is removed by twisting, which is similar to the removal of the original container cap. A child would most likely not be able to remove the nipple.  
         [0021]    The single-piece nipple shown in FIG. 1 is adapted to attach to the tops of conventional (e.g., 1 liter, 500 ml, or 12-16 oz.) screw-top plastic beverage containers. These types of containers typically have a mouthpiece that has an approximate diameter of 28.5 or 31 mm. The base  14  of the nipple  10  is flexible to account for the small variations in the size of the threaded mouthpiece. The nipple is formed from a flexible food-grade polymer such as latex, silicone (such as Food grade 2-part silicones), or synprene thermoplastic elastomer. However, other compatible materials can be used without departing from the principles of the invention. The thickness of the single-piece nipple will vary based on the material and the manufacturing techniques. The single-piece nipple can be injection molded, dipped, or manufactured by other methods. The nipple is shown in FIG. 1 as having a fairly standard configuration, but other configurations can be formed without departing from the principles of the invention. The protrusion  20  and the base  14 , which includes the attachment portion  24 , are formed as a single-piece so there is no need to fumble with a number of parts or look for a lost piece as is common with a nipple that has a separate attachment mechanism.  
         [0022]    A second embodiment of a single-piece nipple  110  according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 2. The second embodiment is similar to the first embodiment and parts that are the same are given the same number and work in the same way. The single-piece nipple  110  has an attachment portion  24  that has ridges  26  with leading and trailing edges  28  and  30  that are like the attachment portion  24  in the first embodiment. In addition, the single-piece nipple  110  includes a retaining member  132  that surrounds the base  14  at the attachment portion  24 , and that provides constricting pressure to the base  14  to hold the nipple  110  in place. The retaining member  132  is designed so that it is positioned to be below the threads on the mouthpiece of the container. The retaining member can be a spring, a band, an o-ring, or any other item that provides constricting pressure. The retaining member can be formed from metal, or if the container is to be micro-waved it can be formed of a plastic material.  
         [0023]    A third embodiment of a single-piece nipple  210  according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. The third embodiment is similar to the second embodiment and parts that are the same are given the same number. The single-piece nipple  210  has a knob-like attachment portion  224  located near the aperture  18  in the nipple  210 . The nipple  210  is similar to the second embodiment in that it has a retaining member  132  that provides constricting pressure to the base  14  to hold the nipple  210  in place. However, the single-piece nipple  210  of the third embodiment does not have the ridges of the second embodiment.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 shows the retaining member  132  as being ring-shaped, but other shapes that provide enough constricting pressure may be used without departing from the principles of the invention. The retaining member  132  is embedded in the wall  16  of the nipple  210  and rests below the threads of the mouthpiece of the container and above a bottom ridge (see  550  in FIG. 9) of the container. As an alternative, the retaining member  132  may be partially embedded in an inside wall  234  of the nipple  210 , or the retaining member may be attached to the inside wall  234  without being embedded therein.  
         [0025]    A fourth embodiment of a single-piece nipple  310  according to the present invention is a shown in FIG. 5. This embodiment is similar to the third embodiment in that a retaining member  132  provides constricting pressure to hold the nipple  310  on the container. In addition, the nipple has one or more wings or safety protrusions  336  that prevent the child from choking. The retaining member  132  and the wing  336  can be formed separately, or as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, they can be formed as a single-piece. The retaining member and the wings may be molded together, and then they may be over-molded by the protrusion  12  and the base  14 . The safety protrusions  336  are shown as being wing-shaped, but other shapes that prevent children from choking can be used without departing from the principles of the invention. The nipple  310  can be removed from the container by pulling back on the safety protrusion  336 . The safety protrusions are designed to comply with Infant Safety Guidelines pertaining to chocking. If a circle is drawn around the safety protrusions, the circle would have a diameter of at least 37 mm. The safety protrusions may also be used as a teething ring.  
         [0026]    A fifth embodiment of a single-piece nipple  410  according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 7. The fifth embodiment is similar to the third embodiment and parts that are the same are given the same number. In this embodiment, an attachment portion  424  includes a groove  438  that is molded into the circumference of the base  14 . After the nipple  410  is placed on the mouthpiece, a retaining member  432  such as a metal spring, band, or o-ring is placed over the top of the nipple  410  and inserted into the groove  432 . The retaining member  432  provides constricting pressure to hold the nipple  410  on the container.  
         [0027]    A sixth embodiment of the single-piece nipple  510  is shown in FIGS.  8 - 9 . Instead of having an attachment portion  524  having internal ridges, the nipple  510  has a lip  540 . The lip  540  has a bottom portion  542  that is angled to facilitate insertion over the mouthpiece  544  of the container  546 , and a top portion  548  that is a flat trailing edge to prevent unwanted removal. As shown in FIG. 9, when the nipple  510  is placed on the mouthpiece of the container the bottom portion  542  abuts a bottom ridge  550  of the container and the top portion  548  abuts the bottom of the threads  552 .  
         [0028]    Although the safety protrusions are featured in two embodiments, they can be included in any of the embodiments. Moreover, the different retaining members can be interchanged and combined with one another. For example, the sixth embodiment could also include a retaining member. In addition, different size nipples can be formed in order to accommodate large variations in the size of the mouthpieces of the container.  
         [0029]    The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.