IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING BOTTLES AND FEEDING APPARATUS FOR INFANTS
Year: 1879

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LETTERS PATENT to John Thompson, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING BOTTLES AND
FEEDING APPARATUS FOR INFANTS."
Sealed the 20th February 1880, and dated the 4th December 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th December 1879.
JOHN THOMPSON, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of London.
IN FEEDING BOTTLES AND FEEDING APPARATUS FOR INFANTS."
" IMPROVEMENTS
This Invention has for its object improvements in feeding bottles and feeding
apparatus for infants.
In feeding bottles and apparatus as at present constructed, it is usual to connect
the teat with the flexible tube of the bottle by the aid of a coupling piece or union
made of porcelain, wood, or metal which enters within the end of the tube and
also into the teat, and the joint is usually made airtight by the bone or other
shield which is drawn over the teat and confines it to the end of the union.
This is not a convenient arrangement, for if the fit of the shield over the teat
and union be as good as it should be to form an air tight joint, the parts are not
easily disconnected or put together again after they have been taken apart for
Besides the insertion of the
washing which is necessary each time after use.
union into the interior of the flexible tube contracts the passage to an injurious
extent and does not allow a brush to pass.
To obviate these objections I form the connection between the flexible tube and
the teat by means of a union piece or ring of metal or rigid material suitable to
receive the teat upon it. This union piece or ring is passed over the exterior of
the flexible tube, and is stopped or prevented slipping off the end of the tube by
stop upon the outside of the tube; this stop may be made by turning the end of
the flexible tube back over a metal or other ring, or the union piece itself may
have a projecting tubular end in front of the enlargement to receive the end of the
flexible tube turned back over it, or the tube when stretched may be passed
through a ring or short tube of india rubber or other material, which then will

page_text: form a stop to prevent the union sliding off the end of the flexible tube; this also
is a very convenient way to apply a stop upon the exterior of the flexible tube to
prevent its being drawn too far out of the bottle; or the tube itself may be formed
with a thickened end to serve as a stop; or the union may be formed with an
enlarged or flanged end over which the end of the flexible connecting tube can be
turned and the teat applied over all; or the simplest arrangement is to turn the
end of the flexible tube back over a ring, as already described, and to apply the
teat directly upon the enlargement so produced, but this method does not admit of
the teat being taken on and off so readily as some of the others described, as india
rubber does not slide an readily upon india rubber as it does on rigid material
such as metal and porcelain.
The above described methods permit of a tube brush being readily drawn
through the flexible tube without obstruction either by the union or the stops
applied upon the exterior or at the end of the tube.

page_text: stop is placed to prevent the tube being drawn through the cap of the bottle
beyond its proper position; this stop is marked e, it consists of a ring formed of
india rubber tube and it is shown separately at Figure 8; this ring is drawn over
the tube to its place when the tube a is sufficiently stretched to permit it to pass
on readily.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim,―
First. In the construction of feeding apparatus for infants connecting the flexible
tube a with the teat c by means of a flanged union piece b on the exterior of the
tube, and stopped from slipping off by a thickened end a¹, substantially as
described.
Second. The combination of the parts a, a, b, b, c, and d, substantially as
described.
Third. The tube a with its thickened end a¹ received within the hollow flange b'
of the union piece b.
Fourth. The stop e of india rubber sprung around the exterior of the tube a
thereby preventing it sliding too far through the cup of the bottle, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thompson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
J THOMPSON