Improvements in Sterilising Infant's Food and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1898-Accepted, 4th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Sterilising Infant's Food and Apparatus therefor.
I, DR. MED. BERNHARD VORNHECKE, of Munster, in Westphalia, German
Empire, Physician, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
-
My invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for the sterilizing
of milk, and other liquid food for infants without the exclusion of air.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which
Figure 1 shews the funnel apparatus for filling the sterilized bottles.
Figure 2 is an elevation of the said bottles, and
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively elevation and section of the said bottles on an
enlarged scale.
My apparatus for the sterilizing of children's food in bottles without exclusion
of air consists essentially of specially formed heating bottles together with the
requisite stoppering device, and bottle holder for placing the same into the heating
vessel.
My apparatus is designed in contradistinction to those of others, such as that
of Soxhlet to allow the air during and after the heating to have free access to the
interior of the bottle.
Other inventions such as that named permit it is true of an escape of air from
the inside outwards, but do not admit air from outside inwards. Consequently
after the bottles have been heated in the water bath when they cool there is pro-
duced in the interior of the bottle a partial vacuum, the vapour pressure of which
remains as far below the outer atmospheric pressure as the temperature of the
contents of the bottle remain below the boiling point of water. Owing to the
pressure of atmospheric air the stopper is firmly pressed upon the bottle, and
thereby an air tight and consequently a germ tight closing is obtained, and
accordingly the object of preventing any penetration of germs into the bottle is
obtained fully. But this method is subject to a special drawback. The natural
milk, as well as any other fluid which has remained in contact with air for some
time contains certain gases in solution, principally nitrogen and oxygen. More-
over, the power of absorption for gases of all kinds stands in inverse proportion to
the temperature of the fluid, or in direct proportion to the vapour pressure of the
said gases. Upon heating, therefore, the fluids lose the gases dissolved in them
under normal conditions. As, however, owing to the above named tight stoppers
an almost entire vacuum is created in the bottles, the sterilized fluid cannot again
saturate itself with gases, consequently the child's food sterilized in this manner
will be devoid of gases when it is given to the child. This, however, is not a
matter of no consequence. It is well known to physicians that the feeding of children
exclusively with sterilized food leads to great inconveniences because the power
of digestion soon becomes less, even without distinct disturbance of health. The
eason of this has been hitherto unknown, but my careful experiments and observa-

page_text: tions have shewn that the reason of this is to be found principally in the absence
of gas in this sterilized food. In consequence of these investigations I have con-
structed the apparatus shewn in the drawings which secures an absolutely certain
sterilization of the child's food without excluding the air, so that the sterilized
food can again absorb its full quantity of gases.
My process bases itself upon the property of fibrous materials, such as wadding,
felt, asbestos, glass wool, and the like to allow the passage of air, but of no material
mixtures therewith.
In a small funnel or beaker shaped vessel a, which is continued below in a
small tube is placed dry sterilized wadding or the like. This vessel is hermetically
secured upon the top of the bottle containing the fluid to be sterilized by means
of the pierced rubber stopper b or other suitable means, so that the air escaping
from the interior of the bottle, and the air entering the same must pass through
the wadding placed in the little vessel. The air passing in is rendered hereby
absolutely free from germs without, however, losing in any degree its chemical
qualities. The sterilized fluid saturates itself after cooling very soon in sufficient
quantity with gases, and its use no longer gives rise to the evil results of sterilized
food prepared in vacuuo.
As the boiling point of milk is a little lower than that of water there occurs on
heating the same in boiling water, or in a current of steam, a vigorous boiling up
of the same, which if the bottles are too much filled, or possess an unsuitable shape,
can easily result in causing the milk to boil over into the funnel, and soak its
contents. As, however, a wet filter-mass does not afford any certain protection
against the entrance of bacteria, it is necessary to avoid this. For this purpose
I make use of cylindrical bottles having the neck attached by a sharp curve to the
body as shewn in the drawing, and provided at the proper part of their surface
with a mark and inscription indicating that they are to be filled only to this point.
Moreover, the bottles preferably possess a graduation in divisions of 25 C.C.M.
Moreover, it is preferable not to sterilize the bottles by means of boiling water,
but by means of a current of steam. For this purpose Ï may make use of a frame
to hold the bottles provided with legs, which are so high that the bottom of the
bottles when the boiler is filled stand about 1 C.M. above the water. The frame
can be easily constructed of wire or tin plate, and must have at its upper part
openings for the reception of the bottles, and it is preferably so constructed that
it has below openings sufficiently large to pass the necks of the bottles through
them, so that the empty bottles may be inserted upside down therein, and this
frame may be made use of at the same time as a support for draining the bottles
after they are washed. The bottom plate of the frame, if the same is made of
tin plate, must of course have a number of small holes for the entrance of the
steam.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The improved apparatus for the sterilizing of children's food in bottles with
access of air, consisting essentially of a funnel or otherwise shaped holder of glass
or the like prolonged below into a tube, which holder serves to contain a filtered
medium, and is secured air tight upon the sterilizing bottle, so that all air must
necessarily pass through the filtering mass.
2. In combination with the apparatus set forth in Claim 1 cylindrical bottles
with short necks, with or without screw threads, having at a suitable height a
mark around them with the indication that they are to be filled only to that point,
and graduated in divisions of 25 C.C.M.
3. In combination with the apparatus set forth in Claim 1 the improved frame
for the sterilizing apparatus possessing legs preferably about 5 C.M. high, and
having a bottom plate suitably perforated for the reception of the bottle necks

page_text: corresponding to the holes for the bottles in the upper plate, substantially as
described.
Dated this 5th day of March 1898.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
322, High Holborn, London, W.C., Patent Agents for the Applicant.