Abstract:
A bonding nurser that can be used to closely approximate breast feeding mechanically and psychologically comprises a feeding container that simulates a breast in fluid delivery, shape, texture, feel, and ease of infant suckling releasibly attached to a sling so that the container is positioned on the breast area of the adult feeding the baby, and the adult&#39;s hands are free for cuddling the baby during feeding. The feeding container is a breast-shaped flexible housing that holds a collapsible bag which delivers milk or other fluids through a nipple protruding through the apex of the housing and is filled through a screw cap opening at the base opposite the apex and secured in the housing by retaining straps surfaced with Velcro™. When the container is assembled, i.e., a bag is positioned in the housing, the straps present a loop interface that mechanically couples the base of the container to a correspondingly sized hook-surfaced area on a shoulder strap (or a hand strap).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an infant feeding device that closely approximates natural breast feeding in the sensory experiences provided to the baby and promotes parent-baby bonding 1) mechanically, as the feeding container simulates a breast in its fluid delivery, shape, texture, feel, and ease of infant attachment for suckling, and 2) psychologically, as the nurser is designed to permit both the infant and the parent to assume a natural position where the infant can feel the body heat and heartbeat of the parent, the parent&#39;s hands are free to cuddle the infant during feeding, and the infant&#39;s face is pressed against the nipple to stimulate the perioral area and imitate a breast. 
     One of the largest shortcomings of conventional baby bottles and modern nursers with improved shapes is that the devices do not provide the full maternal benefits that are a necessary part of maximizing sustenance to the child, both physically and psychologically. Even recently engineered feeding containers that deliver more fluid with less air are typically advanced as baby bottle substitutes to be used by an adult holding the bottle in one hand which is offered to an infant cradled by the the adult&#39;s opposite arm and hand. Both the adult&#39;s hands are devoted to feeding and not cuddling the infant, the infant is not positioned next to the chest area of the adult, and the infant&#39;s face is not pushed against the nipple. Thus, important bonding opportunities that are inherent in the practice of breast feeding are not available with ordinary bottle feeding. This deprives infants cared for by their fathers or other men such as grandfathers, who now take an active role in child rearing in industrialized societies, or by non-nursing mothers, surrogate parents, and other infant caretakers, of the important positive bonding advantages obtained by infants who breast feed, and deprives the adults of significant bonding experiences with the infant. This invention addresses these concerns. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Myriad vessels with nipples, pap boats, and other nursing devices have been used for millenia for feeding infants as a substitute for breast feeding. In modern times, an elongated cylindrical bottle of glass or plastic, equipped with a cap and an enlongated latex nipple, became universally known and used as a conventional baby bottle. Only more recently have alternative feeding apparatuses been suggested as improvements over this basic design. These roughly fall into two groups: designs with a nipple that more closely approximate the shape of a human breast and designs that position the baby for feeding in a configuration more closely approximating that of an infant suckling from a breast. 
     In the former category, for example, Prentiss suggested an infant feeding container that was wider than a conventional baby bottle and had a nipple more closely approximating a breast-shape (U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,679; this and subsequent cited patents are expressly incorporated in their entireties by reference). This was said to more closely approximate the experience of natural breast feeding, and provide a bottle that was more stable for an older child to put down without tipping it over. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,710, Dieringer and Suarez disclosed an improved natural nipple baby feeding apparatus which includes detachable inner and outer membranes which both extend substantially across a distance larger than the diameter of a standard baby bottle, providing a nipple surface more closely approximating a the areola of a human breast. The device was said to make it easier for a baby to “latch on” to in a manner similar to natural suckling of a breast, rather than sucking from an elongate smooth single rubber nipple of a conventional baby bottle, and hence, easier for the baby to alternate between breast feeding and bottle feeding. Prentiss suggested an infant feeding container in the overall shape of a breast, rather than just the nipple portion (U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,479). Holmquist provided a cushion under the nipple portion of a baby feeding apparatus and a spring-biased pressure plate to force a milk bag in the container portion toward the nipple as the milk level fell with the infant&#39;s feeding (U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,427). Griffin even more closely approximated a human nipple by suggesting nipple manufacture using a device formed from a mold taken of the nursing mother&#39;s breast so that the shape exactly replicated the mother&#39;s nipple (U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,686). 
     In the latter category of designs directed to positioning the infant, Jones disclosed a surrogate nursing bib that secured around the neck and around the waist of the wearer, and held a milk pouch that protruded from either of two orifices in the bib located on the chest of the wearer at the wearer&#39;s breast position (U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,517). Goldson and Goldson suggested a similar bib (U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,546). Beard and Beard suggested a nursing baby bottle holder that was a sling that could be draped around the neck of the person feeding the baby, which supported the baby bottle in a nursing position (U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,335). 
     It would be desirable to combine many of these desirable features with fluid delivery more closely approximating breast feeding to provide a baby nurser that more closely mimicks natural breast feeding and contributes to parent-infant bonding during feeding, and thus to the emotional stability of a healthy child. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These objectives and others are provided by the present invention which describes an infant nurser that has a container that closely simulates the sensation provided by a mother&#39;s breast in its shape and fluid delivery and which is, in the preferred embodiment, attached to a shoulder sling and positioned over the breast of the person feeding the infant, leaving both arms free to caress the infant held in close proximity to the adult&#39;s chest. In an alternate embodiment, the same advanced design container may be attached to a hand strap so the infant can be fed as if the nurser were an ordinary baby bottle. 
     The two embodiments are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 12, more fully described below. Briefly, the container has two main parts: a flexible, dome-shaped housing approximately in the form of a human female breast and having a centrally positioned aperture in the apex region of the housing and a securing means in the base rim region opposite the apex for holding a pouch in the interior of the housing and releasibly attaching the container to a hand strap or shoulder sling, and a pouch that contains fluids and conforms to the housing interior when placed inside it and comprises a collapsible bag having a nipple which protrudes through the housing aperture and allows passage of fluids therethrough when an infant suckles on the nipple, and an attachment collar and lid which holds a flanged end of the bag opposite the nipple through which fluids may be poured to fill the bag and hold fluids in it. Typical securing straps that hold the pouch in the dome housing have hook and loop fasteners such as Velcro™ so that the container can be easily emptied or filled by pulling apart the Velcro™ and putting in or taking out the pouch (illustrated in FIGS.  2  and  4 ). The bag of the pouch is preferably disposable plastic that doesn&#39;t need to be sterilized for repeated use, and the cap of the pouch has an attachment collar that holds and secures a flange on the bag and is threaded to receive a screw-on pouch lid (illustrated in FIGS. 5 to  7 ); the flange serves as a gasket, making the pouch leakproof when containing liquids and excluding air from the bag as the infant suckles. 
     The container is releasibly attached to either a hand strap or a shoulder sling. Preferred embodiments employing hook and loop fasteners, e.g., Velcro™, are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 11. Both have container attachment sites that present a hook fastener area so that the container can be easily attached or removed from the sling or hand strap by simply placing the container on a Velcro™ patch on the sling or wrist strap and pulling it off. As mentioned above, in the preferred sling embodiment, the container attachment site is positioned over the breast of the person feeding the baby (FIG.  1 ). The hand strap embodiment positions the container attachment site in the palm area for convenience in feeding the infant by conventional means. In both cases, however, the suckling infant using a nurser of the invention has the benefit of of a feeding experience that simulates natural breast feeding in that the baby&#39;s face is pressed up against the container (as illustrated in FIG. 13) and the internal pouch slowly deflates while the baby is held up against the chest of the nurturing adult. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     To illustrate and explain the invention, the detailed description that follows make reference to the following annexed drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a front prospective view of a nurser of the invention in place on a person who will feed an infant, which comprises a breast-shaped container attached to a shoulder sling. 
     FIG. 2 shows a back prospective view of the container portion of the nurser depicted in FIG. 1 detached from the sling, exposing the interior of the container and illustrating that the container comprises a dome-shaped housing which holds a lidded pouch that conforms to the interior shape of the apex region of the housing, with folded securing straps on the base rim of the housing holding the pouch inside the housing, and that the straps have loop surfaces of a Velcro™ or similar attachment means. 
     FIG. 3 shows a front prospective view of the sling portion of the nurser of FIG. 1 with the container portion detached, exposing a hook surface of a Velcro™ or other attachment means on the sling which conforms to the circular shape of the container so that the container illustrated in FIG. 2 may be attached by mechanical coupling to assemble the nurser for use as depicted in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a back perspective view of the container of FIG. 2 illustrating the securing straps unfolded for removal of the pouch from the container housing and illustrating that the securing straps have hook surfaces of a Velcro™ or similar attachment means on the reverse side of the loop surface so that, when folded, the securing straps secure the pouch in the housing. 
     FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of a collapsible bag that holds fluid in the pouch and has a nipple on one end and a circular flanged opening on the other. 
     FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of an attachment collar and lid for the bag of the pouch. 
     FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of how the bag is inserted through the collar, nipple end first, until the bag flange meets the collar. 
     FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of the dome-shaped housing portion of the container which has an aperture in the apex region and securing straps attached in the base rim region. 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the container showing the strap attachment to the container and illustrating the pouch comprising the filled fluid bag with its collar in place in the container, and with the bag nipple protruding through the housing aperture, and further comprising a nipple cap. 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded side cross-sectional view of the container nipple area of FIG. 9 with the a nipple cap installed over the nipple. 
     FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of an alternative embodiment comprising a container attached to a hand strap instead of the sling of FIG.  2  and showing the same type of hook surface of a Velcro™ or other attachment means for attaching the container. 
     FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of the hand strap embodiment of the invention with the container attached, illustrating its placement in the palm of the hand of a person who will feed an infant. 
     FIG. 13 is a side perspective view of an infant suckling from a nurser of the invention, illustrating how the entire area of the infant&#39;s face around the mouth, including the nose, presses up against the nipple area of the nurser in use as an infant&#39;s does in breast feeding. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Various features of preferred embodiments of the invention are depicted in the figures. FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a nurser according to the invention, which is designated generally by the reference numeral  10 , which depicts a shoulder sling nurser briefly described above. Nurser  10  includes a flexible shoulder sling  12  to which is attached, positioned in the breast area of user&#39;s chest  14  depicted in the Figure as a woman, container  16 , which has the overall shape of a human breast in that housing  18  is dome-shaped with a nipple cap  20  protruding from the center of the apex region of the dome. Sling  12  fits over shoulder  22  of user  14  and under arm  24  as indicated, and is depicted as being slightly wider in shoulder region  22  and narrower under arm  24  for the comfort of user  14 , but the relative widths are immaterial so long as the sling holds container  16  in the breast area of the user&#39;s. Typical slings used for nursers of the invention are fabricated from heavy duty fabric or belting materials; preferred slings are sufficiently soft to be comfortable for the user to wear year round and are machine-washable, e.g., cotton, cotton blends, and the like, typically reinforced with some polymeric fibers to provide durability. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates container  16  removed from sling  12  and shows a back prospective view exposing the interior of housing  18 , which holds pouch  26 , and FIG. 3 shows a front perspective view of sling  12  with container  16  detached. Pouch  26  comprises bag  28 , which extends from its bottom near nipple cap  20  to its top at attachment collar  30  and lid  32 , to be more fully described below in descriptions of FIGS. 5 to  7 . At circular base rim  34  of housing  18 , four straps  36  are attached through four slots  38  that protrude from base rim  34  as tabs  46 . Straps  36  are arranged on base rim  34  in pairs of two opposite one another along the circumference of the circle. Though the Figure shows two slots  38  closer together on either side of housing  18 , they can be spaced further apart, as will become clearer in the description of FIG. 4 below. Surface  40  of straps  36  comprise loops in a loop pile of Velcro™ fabric to attach to hooks  42  in a hook pile of Velcro™ fabric attached to strap  12  as circular attachment surface  44 . Circular attachment surface  44  has the same circumference as base rim  34  so that container  16  can be neatly attached to sling  12  when nurser  10  is in use, and can be secured to sling  12  using standard means such as glueing or sewing. 
     Since FIG. 3 shows sling  12  when not worn by user  14  fastener  48  on the back side of the sling is exposed. Fixed length slings may be employed in the practice of the invention, but adjustable slings are preferred so that sling size can be changed for the comfort of user  14  and adjusted to fit different-sized users using buckle assembly  48 , but other buckle assemblies, ties, snaps, hooks and eyes, fabric latches, etc., alternative fasteners typically employed for belts and the like may also be employed (not shown). Buckle assembly  48  is comprised of slotted member  50  to which one end of sling  12  passes and is fixed to buckle member  50  in a stationary configuration by passing sling end  52  through a slot in  50  and joining end  52  to sling  12  at seam  54  by standard means such as sewing, riveting, or gluing. Buckle member  50  is sized to reversibly latch to buckle member  60  as a male-female joint. The other end  56  of sling  12  passes through cuff  58  as well as a slot on buckle member  60 , so that end  56  can be pulled at the discretion of the user to shorten or lengthen the sling. Many variations of coupling connections of this type, including standard belts and belt buckles fabricated to releasibly attach easily, are known to the skilled worker, particularly for the manufacture of child care and sports equipment. 
     FIG. 4 is a back perspective view of container  16  with securing straps  36  unfolded to illustrate how container  16  is opened to remove pouch  26  from housing  18 , exposing surface  62  on the other side of surface  40  of the strap. Surface  62  has hooks like those on surface  42 . Use of Velcro™ fabric for securing straps  36  provides a very convenient hook and loop attachment means for the straps, since surface  40  on the straps can interact with both surface  62  or surface  42 , providing attachment of the securing straps to each other to hold pouch  26  in housing  18  and to attach container  16  to strap  12  at surface  42  by mechanical coupling, providing nurser  10  of the invention. FIG. 4, like FIG. 2, shows straps  36  attached to housing  18  by passage through slots  38  in tabs  46  protruding from base rim  34 , but any attachment means known to the skilled artisan such as hinges or rings that mount straps  36  to housing  18  accomplish the same purpose may be employed in alternate embodiments (not shown). 
     FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of bag  28 , which is collapsible and holds whatever fluid is going to be fed to the infant, such as milk, formula, juice, or water, in pouch  26 . Preferred bags used in nursers of the invention are clear or translucent plastic and are disposable, but sterizable ones can also be used. Myriad polyethylene and the like materials are known to the skilled worker for the fabrication of bag  28 . Bag  28  is sized to fit inside housing  18  when assembled into pouch  26  to be more fully discussed below in the explanation of FIG.  9 . Nipple  64  is located at the bottom of bag  28 , and has orifice  66  through which fluids flow when the infant suckles on the nurser. Circular flange  68  on the top of bag  28  is sized to be sufficiently large enough for pouring liquids into bag  28  and to fit snugly against surface  70  of collar when bag  28  is fitted through collar  30  as depicted in FIG.  7 . The assembly of bag  28 ,  30  and  32  together form pouch  26 , which holds fluids for the infant&#39;s consumption in container  16  without leakage. Therefore, lid  32  of FIG. 6 is sized to tightly fit collar  30 . FIG. 6 shows collar  30  having threads  72  that interact with corresponding threads in cap  32  (not shown), providing a screw-on pouch top, but a simple cork assembly (not shown) will suffice. However, the illustrated embodiment is much preferred because the assembly of flange  68  of bag  28  against surface  70  of collar  30  with lid  32  screwed on enhances the seal because the flange acts like a gasket between lid  32  and collar  30 . Thus, not only is fluid leakage minimized, but air entry into the bag as the infant feeds is also minimized, with consequent minimization of discomfort to the baby often observed with conventional baby bottles (to be more fully discussed below). 
     FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of dome-shaped housing  18 , which, without bag  28 , has aperature  72  in the apex region of the dome through which nipple  64  protrudes. Housing  18  is fabricated from a durable, pliable, resilient material, preferably plastic, sufficiently strong to provide a durable container  16 , but sufficiently soft and malleable to mimic a breast when a filled bag  28  is installed therein. As with bag  28 , any plastic materials are available to the skilled artisan for the fabrication of housing  18 , and preferred embodiments employ optimal plastics that function well together to achieve an optimal container  16 . Preferred plastics for use in all container components of the invention are sterilizable, preferably autoclavable, for home or hospital use. Housing  18  may even be flesh-colored and slightly textured like skin. It is an advantage of the invention that the nurser so closely resembles a breast that nipple confusion often observed when infants switch from a breast to a bottle, which interrupts feeding and can cause infants considerable distress, is minimized or eliminated. 
     FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view of container  16  of the invention. Strap  36  is joined to housing  18  by passage through slots  38  in tab portion  48  as previously described. The Figure illustrates cap  32  threaded at  72  onto collar  30  as previously described, with flange  68  flaring out from neck region  74  of bag  28  and to fit against surface  70  of cap  30  and held down by cap  32  so that fluids do not leak. Nipple  64  passes through aperture  72 , and has a circumferential indentation  74  that is sized to clip on to circumferential protrusion  84  of FIG. 10 in nipple cap  20  when the nurser is not in use (to be discussed below). The nipple design advantageously provides an excellent attachment site for the infant&#39;s mouth to easily grip and suckle. FIG. 9 also shows another important structural feature of the invention, namely that bag  28  fits against and ajoins interior surface  76  of the apex region of dome-shaped housing  18  when bag  28  contains fluid  78 . The design of collapsible bag  28  against pliable housing  18  held in place by straps  36  provides a unique container for nursers of the invention because both the bag and the housing act in concert to mimic the malleability and texture of a breast and collapse slightly against the face of the infant in the mouth and nose area as depicted in FIG. 13 (to be more fully discussed below). As shown in FIG. 9, in preferred embodiments, housing  18  is thinner in apex area  80  and thicker in area  82  near and at base rim  34 . Thicker base region  82  in housing  18  provides structural integrity to container  16 , and thinner apex region  76  provides the supple pliancy of the container area around the nipple. Moreover, the design allows for bag  28  to slowly deflate as fluid  78  drops in container  16 . Since lid  32  is screwed down on collar  32  when pouch  26  is prepared, with flange  68  on bag  28  acting like a gasket, fluid  78  is sucked out of container  16  with very little air delivery to the infant as it suckles, feeding is more comfortable for the baby and gas delivery to the intestinal tract is minimized, avoiding stomach cramps and frequent and/or excessive belching after feeding. 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded side cross-sectional view of the nipple area of FIG. 9 with the nipple cap  20  installed to cover nipple  64 . When nipple cap  20  covers nipple  64 , circumferential flange  84  in stem area  86  of nipple cover  20  clicks into place in circumferential indentation  74  in the stem area of nipple  64  (shown in FIG.  9 ). Circumferential indentation  74  in nipple  64  is sized to fit circumferential flange  84  of nipple cap  20  to protect nipple  64  when container  16  is not in use. FIGS. 9 and 10 together also show that flange  76  of nipple cap  20  fits snugly fit against housing  18  in the area around aperture  72  to protect the nipple and provide a detachable cap that is easy for the user to remove or replace and large enough to be readily found if misplaced by the user. 
     FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate an alternate nurser embodiment to the sling depicted in FIG. 1, but using the same container. FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of hand strap  90  presenting circular attachment surface  92  which is analogous to, and the same size as, circular attachment surface  42  on sling  12 . Surface  92  has hooks that engage with the loops on surface  40  of securing straps  36  on container  16  to attach container  16  to the handstrap to provide nurser  100  depicted in FIG.  12 . Hand strap  90  has an adjustable buckle assembly  94  corresponding to buckle assembly  48  of sling  12  shown in FIG.  3 . 
     As shown in FIG. 12, which is a front perspective view of the handstrap embodiment, illustrating placement of a nurser of the invention in the palm region of user hand  102 . As shown by the arrow, strap end  96  is simply pulled through buckle  94  to fasten nurser  100  to the hand, so that infant  110  of FIG. 13 can be fed as with a conventional baby bottle. An advantage of the invention is that, since both the shoulder sling and the hand strap are designed to attach to the same container, either nurser  19  or nurser  100  can be conveniently provided in a kit with sling  12 , hand strap  90 , housing  18 , collar  30  and lid  32 , and nursers can be assembled for either breast-type or lap-type feeding at the option of the person feeding the infant by adding disposable bags  28 . 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of infant  110  suckling from container  16 . The drawing illustrates another important feature of the invention mentioned above, namely that the face of infant  110  in nose area  112 , chin area  114  and adjacent areas around lips  116  are pressed up against container  16  as the baby feeds from the nurser. This is what happens in natural breast feeding. When combined with the design of container  16  as described above, nursers of the invention more closely mimic natural breast feeding than previously described nursers by stimulating the sensory perceptive nerves of the infant in the perioral region of the face. The sling embodiment of FIG. 1 allows the free hands of the adult feeding adult to caress the baby and hold it close to the warmth, smell, and heartbeat of the adult. Taken together, the nurser of the invention provides an optimal bonding experience during feeding for fathers, non-nursing mothers, and other infant caretakers. 
     The above description is for the purpose of teaching the person of ordinary skill in the art how to practice the present invention, and it is not intended to detail all those obvious modifications and variations of it which will become apparent to the skilled worker upon reading the description. It is intended, however, that all such obvious modifications and variations be included within the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the following claims.