Nipple means and calf feeder bottle for dry feed

Abstract: A calf feeder bottle for dispensing dry feed has an angled neck portion (18) which is in alignment with a handle (22) on the front of the bottle and a bracket (28) on the rear of the bottle so that a nipple (46) secured to the mouth of the bottle when the bottle is in an inverted dispensing position will be angled properly for dispensing feed to a calf. The nipple (46) has a tubular spout (48) with a flap valve (54) therein with the mating surfaces of the flap valve (54) aligned with the handle to facilitate opening of the flap valve when the tubular portion (48) of the nipple (46) is squeezed by a calf.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a nipple for use with a calf feeder bottle and more specifically to a nipple especially adapted to supply dry feed to a calf by having a flexible flap valve. The use of nipples on bottles which are especially designed for feeding a calf are old and well-known in the art as evidenced by the US-A- 2,699,778. However, the nipple disclosed in this patent is only suitable for use with a liquid feed. The use of flexible flap valves for dispensing a semi-fluid or pasty material from a flexible squeeze-type container is also old and well-known in the art as evidenced by US-A- 2,546,709 and US-A- 3,726,436. In the first named patent the flexible flap valve members are provided with pairs of opposed internal projections which define passages for the material being dispensed and which act as rocker members or fulcrums which cause the engaged flaps to separate on one side of the fulcrum when the body of the bottle is squeezed on the opposite side of the fulcrum. Such a self-closing tube would be totally unsuitable for dispensing dry feed to a calf since the calf would not be able to squeeze the body of the tube on the opposite side of the fulcrum to open the flap valve. The flap valve of US-A- 3,726,436 is also designed to operate when pressure is applied to the container rather than the valve and utilizes a complicated four-flap arrangement which would make the valve totally unsuitable for dispensing dry calf feed. The use of holders to support a bottle in an inverted dispensing position is also well-known in the art as evidenced by US-A- 3,938,769. In this patent the bottle holder is completely separate from the bottle. The bottle is provided with a cap having a dispensing tube adapted to dispense liquid to an animal when the bottle is in the inverted position. US-A- 2,065,012 and US-A- 4,101,043 each disclose a dispensing container having a support connected thereto for supporting the container in an inverted dispensing position. In US-A- 2,065,012 a wire hook is slidably mounted on the outside of the bottle and is movable from a retracted position when the bottle is right side up to a projecting position when the bottle is inverted for dispensing. US-A- 4,101,043 discloses a support clip which is slidably mounted in the bottom of a container which is movable to a projecting position for hanging the container in an inverted position from an adjacent support. WO-A-85/02323, showing a nipple means according to the preamble of claim 1, also discloses a teat or nipple of a resilient material for feeding ruminants with a liquid feed. For that purpose the teat is provided with a slit-like opening at the free end, which opening is defined by stiff teat wall parts provided by a layer of harder material on the inner surface of the teat wall and being tiltable about a fulcrum member so that the slit-like opening is opened when the teat is compressed during suckling. However, filling this known teat with dry feed would inhibit said tilting operation and a calf would not be able to open the slit-like opening sufficiently for getting any dry feed out of it. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a new and improved nipple means for a calf feeder for dispensing dry feed to a calf in accordance with claim 1. The nipple is so designed that the calf can start eating dry feed from the first day of life as opposed to the normal three-week period before a calf begins to eat dry feed. As a result, the calf is generally healthier and heavier than those on a purely liquid diet. The calf can be weaned sooner, bred younger and therefore start producing milk earlier. The present invention also provides, in accordance with claim 4, a new and improved calf feeder comprised of, preferably a bottle of molded plastic material having a handle on one side and a support bracket pivotally mounted on the opposite side for supporting the bottle in an inverted dispensing position, said bottle having a curved neck at the lower end in the dispensing position, a nipple means according to claim 1 detachably secured to said neck and having the flap valve therein suitable for dispensing dry feed upon squeezing of the nipple by a calf. Alternatively, for supporting the bottle in an inverted dispensing position the bracket may be integrally molded with the bottle and the end of the bottle opposite the neck can be provided with a detachable cover to permit replenishment of the feed when the bottle is in the inverted dispensing position. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the bottle in the inverted dispensing position with the nipple removed. Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the bottle shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the bottle shown in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the nipple as it would appear when attached to the bottle as viewed in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the nipple as it would appear when attached to the bottle as viewed in Figure 1. Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in Figure 5. Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in Figure 4. Figure 8 is an end view of the nipple as viewed from the right in Figure 6 with the flap valve in the open position. Figure 9 is an end view of the nipple as viewed in Figure 6 with the flap valve in the closed position. Figure 10 is a side elevational view of a modified nipple means and a calf feeder bottle according to the present invention. Figure 11 is a perspective view of the modified nipple means and calf feeder bottle shown in Figure 10. Figure 12 is a sectional view taken along the line 12-12 in Figure 10. Figure 13 is an end view of the nipple as viewed from the right in Figure 12. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The nipple means and calf feeder bottle 14 as disclosed in the preferred embodiment of Figures 1-9 comprises preferably a two-quart bottle as indicated by the markings 16 in Figure 2 but may comprise a bottle of any desirable size. Bottle 14 is provided with a curved neck portion 18 with the lower surface of the curved neck as viewed in Figure 2 being a smooth continuation of the upper side of the bottle. The neck is provided with an enlarged lip portion 20 over which the nipple disclosed in Figures 4-9 inclusive can be snap-fitted. The handle 22 is integrally mounted on the front of the bottle so that the handle would be in alignment with the curved neck portion as best seen in Figures 1 and 2. On the rear surface of the bottle opposite the handle 22 a transverse recess 24 is formed having a longitudinally extending web portion 26 extending across the groove in the middle thereof in alignment with the handle 22. A support plate 28 is provided with an angled bifurcated portion 30 at the lower end thereof as viewed in Figures 2 and 3 with each bifurcation terminating in a tubular bearing member 32. A pin 34 is press-fitted or otherwise secured in the tubular bearing portions 32 and extends through an aligned aperture (not shown) in the web 26 so that the support bracket 28 will be pivotally mounted on the rear of the bottle 14. The support bracket 28 is provided with a plurality of vertically aligned keyhole slots 36 so that the bracket and the bottle attached thereto can be mounted at any suitable height on a headed nail or the like. Each keyhole slot 36 is provided on one side of the bracket 28 with a raised reinforcing edge portion 40. A cover 42 may be detachably connected to the flange 44 surrounding an opening in the end of the bottle 14 opposite the neck 18 to facilitate refilling of the bottle when the bottle is supported in the inverted dispensing position as shown in Figure 2. The cover 42 may be snap fitted to the flange 44 similar to the manner in which the nipple is attached to the flange 20 on the neck of the bottle or the cover and flange may be provided with complementary screw threads. The nipple means 46 for the bottle 14 is comprised of a tubular dispensing portion 48 having a larger diameter flange base portion 50 with an annular internal bead 52 disposed adjacent the open end thereof which is adapted to be snap fitted over the flange 20 on the neck 18 of the bottle shown in Figures 1-3. The tubular portion 48 is provided with a pair of integrally mounted flaps 54 which are symmetrically disposed with respect to the axis 56 of the tubular portion 48 at an angle of 20°. The entire nipple means 46 including the flange base portion 50, the tubular portion 48 and the flaps 54 may be molded as a single piece from a flexible resilient material such as rubber, plastic or any other suitable material. The flaps 54 extend diametrically across the open end 58 of the tubular portion 48 as best seen in Figure 9 to provide a normally closed valve structure for the nipple. When assembling the nipple on the neck of the bottle, the arrow 60 on the nipple means 46 as shown in Figure 5 should be aligned with the arrow 62 on the bottle as shown in Figure 1. With the nipple and bottle in this specific alignment the flaps 54 of the flap valve will be disposed in vertical alignment with the handle 22 on the bottle. Due to the curvature of the neck 18 the calf would always approach the bottle on the handle side thereof and upon squeezing the tubular portion 48 of the nipple, the flaps 54 of the flap valve would move to the opened position as shown in Figure 8 thereby permitting the dispensing of dry feed material from the bottle to the calf. A modified form of nipple means and calf feeder bottle is disclosed in the embodiment of Figures 10-13. The bottle 70, the handle 80 and the support bracket 78 may be molded in integral one-piece construction from a clear flexible plastic material so that the contents of the bottle are readily visible. The suitable stiffening bracket or support blade 76 may be molded within in the bracket 78 to provide a more rigid support structure for the bottle when the bottle is hung on a board 74 as shown in Figure 11. The bottle 70 is provided with an outwardly extending flange 82 having a reinforcing member 84 therein. The nipple means 72 may be molded of any suitable flexible resilient material such as rubber, plastic or the like and is comprised of a large tubular dispensing portion 86 and the larger diameter flange base portion 88 adapted to be snap-fitted over the flange 82 on the neck of the bottle 70. A pair of flexible resilient tabs 90 are secured on the outer surface of the tubular portion 86 directly opposite each other and extend through slots to the interior of the bottle where the tabs define flexible resilient flaps 92 disposed in engagement with each other. The flaps 92 do not have to completely close the tubular opening since the dry feed is usually in the form of large pellets 94 which would not normally pass through the flap valve when disposed in the position shown in Figure 12. As the calf sucks the tubular portion of the nipple, the flap valves will separate due to physical pressure as well as suction applied by the calf so that the dry feed will readily be dispensed to the calf. While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the subject-matter of the invention as claimed.

Claims: A nipple (46;72) means for use with a calf feeder bottle (14; 70) for dispensing feed comprising a base portion (50; 88) adapted to be secured to a neck (18) of a bottle (14; 70) and a hollow dispensing portion (48; 86) connected to the base portion (50; 88); said nipple means (46; 72) include flap valve means therein which in a normal situation close said nipple means (46; 72) while permitting dispensing of feed upon application of pressure to said nipple means (46; 72); said nipple means (46; 72) being characterized in being arranged for dispensing of dry feed; in that said flap valve means comprise a pair of flat flaps (54, 54; 92; 92) which are disposed within said hollow dispensing portion (48; 86); each flap having its one end in the direction of the base portion mounted to the hollow dispensing portion; the arrangement being such that in said normal closed situation said hollow dispensing portion is a hollow tubular portion and the pair of flat flaps are disposed within said hollow tubular portion (48; 86) in angled opposition to each other with the other end edges disposed near the open tubular end of the hollow tubular portion adjacent each other along a diameter of the hollow tubular portion (48; 86). A nipple (46; 72) means for use with a calf feeder bottle (14; 70) as set forth in claim 1 characterized in that said base portion (50; 88), said hollow tubular portion (48; 86) and said flaps (54, 54; 92, 92) are of integral one piece construction. A nipple means (46) for use with a calf feeder bottle (14) as set forth in claim 1 characterized in that indicia means (60) are disposed on an exterior surface of said nipple (46) in alignment with said diameter of said hollow tubular portion (48). A calf feeder for dispensing of dry feed comprising a bottle (14; 70) with a neck portion (18) at one end thereof and a nipple means (46; 72) according to any of claims 1 to 3 detachably connected to said neck portion (18) of said bottle (14; 70), wherein the longitudinal axis of said bottle (14; 70) is curved toward one side of said bottle (14; 70) in the zone of said neck portion (18); support means (28; 78) being connected to said bottle (14; 70) on a side opposite said one side for supporting the bottle in an inverted position with the neck portion (18) disposed downwardly. A calf feeder wherein said flaps (54, 54; 92, 92) have flat opposing faces which are angled towards each other so that in said normal closed situation said other end edges of said flaps (54, 54; 92, 92) are disposed adjacent each other in said diametrical plane whereby upon application of pressure to said tubular portion (48; 86) transversely to said plane said flaps (54, 54; 92, 92) will separate to permit the dispensing of dry feed to a calf, as set forth in claim 4 characterized in that said diametrical plane is disposed in alignment with said curved neck portion (18).

Inventors: BRADEN JOE T, BRADEN, JOE T.
Applicants: BRADEN IND, BRADEN INDUSTRIES
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A01K9
IPC codes: A01K9, A01K5