AN IMPROVED FEEDING BOTTLE FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Overman Day, of Waterloo Bridge Road, in
the County of Surrey, Surgeon, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVED
FEEDING BOTTLE FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Overman Day at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th October 1880.
EDMUND OVERMAN DAY, of Waterloo Bridge Road, in the County of Surrey,
Surgeon. "AN IMPROVED FEEDING BOTTLE FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS."
Feeding bottles as ordinarily constructed for infants' use are a frequent cause of
illness to the child and a constant source of anxiety and trouble to mothers and
nurses. The chief cause of trouble arises from the difficulty of keeping the bottles
and their fittings sufficiently clean at all times to prevent the turning sour of the
milk or other food. The parts most difficult to cleanse and keep clean are the neck
and stopper and the flexible tube. In ordinary modern feeding bottles the stopper
is sometimes made of cork and sometimes partly of cork and other material, and the
tube passes through the same, but is not made fast therein, so that it is movable in
the said stopper, and the hole through which the said tube passes also serves for the
admission of air to the bottle.
By my Invention I have sought to obviate the above inconveniences and to
furnish a feeding bottle which can be cleansed and kept clean with comparatively
little trouble, and which will therefore afford facility for keeping the food in a sweet
and wholesome condition.
According to my Invention form the stopper of india-rubber or other like
material which will not be corroded by the action of the milk or other food, and I
form this stopper with a plain smooth end, and so fit it in the neck of the bottle as
to leave no projections or spaces for the lodgement of particles of food or milk.
Moreover I secure the tube immovably in the stopper, and thus avoid the aperture
through the same, which, in the ordinary feeding bottles, affords a surface for the
retention of sour and unwholesome food, and which is very difficult to clean.
Another feature of my Invention is the employment of a peculiar kind of tube.
The tubes ordinarily heretofore used. have been formed of very soft or pliant
india-rubber, which easily collapses or closes and is very difficult to clean; but

page_text: according to my Invention I use tubes made of comparatively hard india-rubber
which is not easily collapsible, and therefore retains its circular form in all positions
in which the bottles may be used. I prefer to make this tube in short lengths or
sections, one of which is secured in the stopper as aforesaid, and is connected to the
next length by a coupling formed of porcelain or other suitable material. I also
prefer that the interior of the tube should be rendered very smooth and impervious
to the chemical action of the milk or other food by coating or glazing it with a
suitable varnish or preparation which will adhere permanently to the india-
rubber.
In feeding bottles as ordinarily constructed no provision is made for the admission
of air to the interior of the bottle except through the aperture in the stopper, but
according to my Invention I provide for the admission of air as follows, that is to
say On one side of the said bottle just below the neck I form a cavity or
depression, at the bottom of which there is a small hole through the glass. The
bottle is preferably but not necessarily formed with its neck curved or inclined to
one side, which I term the upper side, and this is the side provided with the said
air-hole. The bottle should be laid on the other side when used, but the liquid will
not escape should it be turned over.
I employ the ordinary glass tube connected to the flexible tube inside the bottle,
and I may use the ordinary nipple or any other suitable contrivance.
I have however devised a nipple or teat, which is preferably formed of the same
kind of india-rubber as the tubo, and which has a central space or reservoir and a
series of very small holes through which the milk or other liquid may be drawn
from the said reservoir.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edmund Overman Day in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st April 1881.
EDMUND OVERMAN DAY, of Waterloo Bridge Road, in the County of Surrey,
Surgeon. "AN IMPROVED FEEDING BOTTLE FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS."
The ordinary feeding bottle as constructed for infants' use is a frequent cause of
illness to children and a constant source of anxiety and trouble to mothers and
nurses. The trouble arisos chiefly from the difficulty of keeping the bottle and its
fittings sufficiently clean at all times to prevent the turning sour of the milk or
other contents of the said bottle. The parts most difficult to cleanse and keep
clean are the neck and stopper and the flexible tube. In ordinary modern feeding
bottles the stopper is sometimes made of cork and sometimes partly of cork and
other material, and the tube passes through the same, but is not made fast therein,
so that it is movable in the said stopper, and the hole through which the said tube
passes also serves for the admission of air to the bottle.
By my Invention I have sought to obviate the above inconveniences and to
furnish a feeding bottle which can be cleansed and kept clean with comparatively
little trouble, and which will therefore afford facility for keeping the food in a sweet
and wholesoine condition.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is an exterior top view of my improved feeding bottle provided with its
stopper, and
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Like letters indicate the same parts in both Figures. a is the bottle, which is
formed of glass or other suitable material; b is the stopper; c is the flexible tube
attached to the glass tube d in the usual manner.
According to my Invention I form the stopper of india-rubber or other like
material which will not be corroded by the action of the milk or other food, and I
so fit this stopper in the neck of the bottle as to leave no projections or spaces for
the lodgment of particles of milk or other food. Moreover I form the flexible tube c
in one piece with the stopper b, or secure the said tube immovably in the said stopper,
and thus avoid the aperture through the same, which, in the ordinary feeding
bottles, affords a surface for the retention of sour and unwholesome food, and which
is very difficult to clean.
The flexible tubes ordinarily heretofore used for such bottles have been formed of
very soft or pliant india rubber, which easily collapses or closes and is very difficult
to clean; I therefore prefer to use tubes made of comparatively hard india-rubber
which is not easily collapsed, and therefore retains its circular form in all positions
in which the bottles may be used. I also prefer that the interior of the tube should
be rendered very smooth and impervious to the chemical action of the milk or other
food by coating or glazing it with a suitable varnish or preparation which will
adhere permanently to the india rubber. But if desired I may use the tubes
ordinarily employed in feeding bottles.
In feeding bottles as ordinarily constructed no special provision is made for the
admission of air to the interior of the bottle, that is to say, the air has to find its
way into the bottle through such space as may exist between the flexible tube and
the surface of the aperture in the stopper, through which the said tube passes,
which space affords great facility for the accumulation of stale or sour food; but in
a stopper made according to my Invention there is no aperture, and I provide for
the admission of air to the bottle as follows, that is to say -On one side of the
bottle a just below the neck I form a cavity or depression, at the bottom of which

page_text: there is a small hole e through the glass. In some instances I may form the hole e
through the side of the bottle without the said cavity or depression, but I consider
the latter desirable, for the reason that it tends to prevent the escape of the contents
of the bottle if the latter should be turned the wrong way upward. The bottle is
preferably but not necessarily formed with its neck inclined or curved, as shewn, to
one side, which I term the upper side, and this is the side provided with the said
air hole. The bottle should be laid on the other side when used. Or I may
provide for the admission of air by forming a small groove or channel, or two or
more of the same, along the interior of the neck of the bottle in such a manner that
when the stopper is fixed therein the said groove or grooves will allow the air to
pass from the exterior to the interior of the bottle.
I employ the ordinary glass tube connected to the flexible tube inside the bottle,
and I may use the ordinary nipple or any other suitable contrivance, but I prefer
to use a nipple or teat formed of the aforesaid hard india rubber and with a central
space or reservoir and a series of very small holes, through which the milk or other
liquid may be drawn from the said reservoir.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
A feeding bottle provided with a stopper which has the flexible tube formed in
one piece therewith or otherwise immovably and tightly fixed thereon, and also
provided with special means for the admission of air, substantially as above set forth
and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Overman Day, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
EDMUND OVERMAN DAY. (L.S.)