Patent Publication Number: US-6705576-B2

Title: Nursing bottle support

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention was first described in Disclosure Document Number 463,937 filed on Oct. 21, 1999. There are no previously filed, nor currently any co-pending applications, anywhere in the world. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to nursing bottle or container and a holder and, more particularly, to a nursing bottle holder with strap and a nursing bottle. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related. 
     The following patents disclose a halter-type nursing bottle support. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,551 issued in the name of Jones; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,638 issued in the name of Woodard; and 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,153 issued in the name of Baucom. 
     The following patents disclose the ornamental design for a baby bottle holder. 
     U.S. Pat. No. D 382,970 issued in the name of Agopian 
     U.S. Pat. No. D 379,660 issued in the name of Aube; and 
     U.S. Pat. No. D 198,488 issued in the name of Reis. 
     U.S. Pat. No. D 404,493 issued in the name of Varlet describes the ornamental design for a combined baby bottle and baby bottle holder. 
     The following patents describe an adjustable baby bottle holder with an attachment to a support. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,927 issued in the name of Tebeau; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,483 issued in the name of Tebeau; 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,432 issued in the name of Ennis et al.; and 
     U.S. Pat. No. 1,630,167 issued in the name of Carderella. 
     Consequently, there is a need for an adjustable bottle holder and a nursing bottle that does not leak. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved baby bottle holder for supporting a nursing bottle and feeding a baby thereby allowing the parent to perform other tasks simultaneously. 
     It is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved baby bottle holder with a pressure sensor and timer setting and an adjustable strap that moves. 
     Briefly described according to one embodiment of the present invention, a baby bottle with an adjustable strap for support and to prevent spillage from the bottle. The strap is an adjustable arm that holds the bottle and contains two ball and socket joints for adjustment purposes while the posterior is a clamp mechanism to attach to a chair, table, crib etc. The bottle cap has a pressure sensor that senses the baby sucking. 
     An advantage of the present invention is that it can be attached to any surface by using the clamps. The arms have two ball and socket joints that provide adjustability. 
     Another advantage of the present invention, depending on whether the baby is sucking the bottle, the bottle cap has a pressure sensor prevents spillage by stopping the flow of through the bottle cap if the baby is not sucking thereby preventing spillage. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following more detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational frontal view of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an perspective frontal view of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective frontal view of the cylinder rod, clamp and elevational arm; 
     FIG. 4 is aside view of an elevating arm pivotally connected to a positional arm; 
     FIG. 5 is a frontal view of the positional arm, pivotally connected to the bottle holder in the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the positional arm and bottle holder in the present embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 7 frontal view of nursing bottle and bottle cap of present invention; and 
     FIG. 8 cross-sectional view of the bottle cap nipple. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     1. Detailed Description of the Figures 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, a nursing bottle holder  10  for attachment to a support, according to the present invention, includes a mechanical impinging device  18 , a first elevational arm  14 , a second elevational arm  15 , and an adjustable bottle retainer  12 . The mechanical impinging device  18  is shown herein as a pair of laterally spaced clamp members, each having an apical curvature viewed along axis “I”. The clamps are laterally spaced by being disposed at the distal ends of a linearly elongated cylindrical rod  20 . The mechanical impinging device  18  can be made of any hard but slightly resilient material, such as plastic or metal, thereby providing an innate inward biasing force when impinged about a supporting structure such as a rail. The cylindrical rod is affixed to the apex of the arch of the mechanical impinging device  18 . The first elevational arm  14  and a second elevational arm  15  are pivotally connected to the cylindrical rod  20  at each end by a first pivoting fastener  16   a.  As best shown in conjunction with FIG. 4, the first elevational arm  14  is formed in two parts: an elevating arm  14   a , and a positioning arm  14   b . Both the elevating arm  14   a  and positioning arm  14   b  are rigid and linearly elongated, and the anterior end of the positioning arm  14   b  is pivotally affixed to the distal end of the elevating arm  14   a  by a second pivoting fastener  16   b . The second elevational arm is similarly formed of two separate elongated, rigid members pivotally affixed together. 
     As best shown in FIG.  5  and FIG. 6, the distal part of each arm  14 ,  15  is pivotally attached to the adjustable bottle retainer  12  using a connecting means such as a third pivoting fastener  16   c . The adjustable bottle retainer  12  is made of a flexible or fabric material such as cloth or elastic material etc. that forms about and retains a nursing bottle  30 . 
     Referring to FIG.  7  and FIG. 8, the nursing bottle  30  has a nipple  40  with a pressure sensor  44 . The pressure sensor  44  detects the baby sucking and stops the milk from flowing through the nipple  40  when there is no pressure. 
     2. Operation of the Preferred Embodiment 
     The mechanical impinging device (clamp)  18  impinges a support object such as a cylinder or quadrilateral rail. The mechanical impinging device (clamp)  18  rests on a cylindrical rod  20  and is pivotally connected on to the elevational arm  14  at the distal ends. The elevational arm  14  pivots at the I axis and is pivotally attached at the opposite distal end to the positional arm  15  thereby providing more adjustability. The positional arm  15  is pivotally attached to the bottle holder  12 . The bottle holder  12  securely contains the bottle holder  12 . 
     The foregoing description is included to illustrate the operation of the preferred embodiment and is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. As designed, a device embodying the teachings of the present invention is easily applied. As one can envision, an individual skilled in the relevant art, in conjunction with the present teachings, would be capable of incorporating many minor modifications that are anticipated within this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be broadly limited only by the following claims.