Patent ID: 6907893

Claim:
An article treating apparatus operating in treatment cycles for treating articles, particularly nursing bottles and nursing bottle accessories, wherein each nursing bottle includes a nursing bottle length, a nursing bottle exterior, a nursing bottle bottom, and a nursing bottle mouth fluidly coupled to a nursing bottle interior, the apparatus comprising: a fresh water tank functioning as a source of fluid for treating the articles independent of a water main, a chamber containing a cage wherein the articles are loaded for treatment with the nursing bottle being disposed upward, the chamber being in fluid communication with and downstream of the fresh water tank, a heater operatively controllable operative to heat the fluid and to produce steam, and a rotator operatively coupled to the cage for rotating the cage in continuous steps of angular rotation and dwell at a dwell station, wherein: the cage is configured to retain each nursing bottle with the bottom being disposed upward and in controlled-looseness retention allowing limited lengthwise translation and rotation perpendicular to the nursing bottle length, a jet dispenser in fluid communication with and downstream of the fresh water tank, the jet dispenser being configured to produce at least one oblique and intermittent high-speed jet of fluid at a dwell station appropriately aligned to impinge on a spot inside the nursing bottle via the nursing bottle mouth, to slightly lift upward and rotate the bottle, and a removable spent water tank disposed downstream of the chamber for collecting spent waste water, permitting operation of the appliance independent of a sewage system, whereby the apparatus is portable and autonomous by being self-sufficient in fresh water supply and in spent water collection.