WO2001003643A1

WO2001003643A1 - Drinks packaging

Info

Publication number: WO2001003643A1
Application number: PCT/GB2000/002547
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jane Richards
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-07-08
Filing date: 2000-07-10
Publication date: 2001-01-18
Anticipated expiration: 2002-01-08
Also published as: GB9915911D0; AU5695300A

Abstract

A drink container (10) provides a direct drinking means for small children such as babies, which (unlike conventional containers) does not have to have its contents transferred to a separate bottle or other vessel before the baby can consume them. The container has a rubber teat (11), with closure means (12) holding the teat initially sealed closed. There are also cover means (13) covering the teat. The container may be collapsible, with the closure means attached to the inside of the cover means so that so that the initial removal of the cover means automatically opens the teat. The cover means are replaceable on the container. The container may be of flexible material, giving collapsibility, or of generally rigid construction.

Description

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The present invention relates to packaging or containers for drinks, and more particularly to soft dπnk or milk formula containers intended for use by babies and young children.

Every 30 seconds a baby dies from unsafe bottle feeding in the developing/ third world. This is compounded m the due to the lack of access to a clean water supply with which to make up milk formula or drinks, Whilst poverty causes over-diluting of milk formula Bottle feeding here is consequently seen as inappropriate, due to the lack of a clean water supply and inability to sterilise bottles/teats, whilst breastf eding can carry the risk of HIV transmission and malnutrition.

In the Western world, where bottle feeding is common, milk formula is used The milk formula is either a powder which is mixed with cooled boiled water or is supplied in aseptic packages already mixed for convenience, although despite being produced in small 200-250 ml packages it still needs to be transferred to a pre-steπlised bottle with a separate silicone rubber teat being attached at the opening in order to facilitate consumption.

In the Western world, single disposable drinking containers are popular offering convenience and hygiene Sterile aseptic packaging containing long- life liquids are well known. Juices and soft drinks are also produced m packages of small dimensions, usually in a rectangular shape to aid storing m supermarkets and facilitate opening. Single disposable drinks for adults are popular, due at least in part to their convenience and hygiene. Some of the packages have an attached drinking means or a way to open them and insert a straw etc

The package can be of the type which utilises layers of paper and thin metal foil coated with thin layers of liquid-tight, heat-sealable polyethylene, alternatively, moulded plastic or thinner more flexible metallic impervious fabric can be used. The shape of the package can be rectangular (parallelepedic) with four sides and a top and a bottom if this is cost effective and easy to store. In reviewing developments on aseptic packaging, one of the main problems has been to combine the convenience of opening the package with maintaining the sterile nature and the strength of the packaging. Consequently, the means of opening the package has been a major factor. The packages are commonly made of a flexible laminate and waterproof material, often comprising a layer of paper/cardboard coated on both sides with thin layers of liquid-tight, heat-sealable plastic material (typically polyethylene); metal foil is often used between thin layers of polythene on the inner side.

The package is often opened by tearing the material at a suitable point; the packaging is often weakened or scored so it can be torn open. Often there is a portion folded against the container body which has to be folded out for access; this usually then produces a kind of a spout which makes drinking or pouring from the container easier. The problems with conveniently opening these packages are that micro leakage impairs the sterile conditions and reduces the keeping properties of the product; even very small channels through the top seal may mean that the sterility is affected, and the keeping properties cannot be guaranteed. This has resulted in the top of the packages being heat sealed by fusing together layers of thermoplastic materials on the outside of the package as well.

Other containers have a built in moulding of plastics material which can be opened to provide access to the contents and can be closed to retain any unused contents, the moulded plastic being fused to the container.

The intended market for such drink containers is broad, including adults and children. However, such containers are in general not suitable for small children such as babies. Consequently there is a need for an all-in-one pre- filled disposable feeding package that negates the need to use a separate bottle and can be produced cheaply enough for commercial use and for application to the developing world. However, there are no pre-filled sterile all-in-one drinking bottles or packages for infants, ie suitable or designed for babies to drink from.

When designing a viable cost effective disposable infant aseptic drinking package, several points are important. The seal of the package and longevity/sterile aspect of contents are critical. The feeding receptacle has to be administrable to the infant without coming into contact with anything else once

SUBSTTTUTE SHEET (RULE 26) the protective top layer is removed. And the package has to be simple and cheap to produce so it can be commercially viable both in the western world and m third world countries.

There have been proposals to attach a teat to a disposable bottle or drinks package/pouch. However, they have had no effective means to seal the teat's opening, which is vital to create a sterile package, and/or they have created complicated contraptions to collapse the teat into a cap and then to pull it out either with the hands or by the pressure of the liquid in some form. This causes both problems in manufacture and also in administering it to the baby. Furthermore they are unlikely to become available to the developing world if the cost of production and the keeping qualities of the liquid are not ensured Moreover, none of them facilitate the use of the aseptic package which is used commonly for infant milk formula.

US 5 273 17 1 (Steele-Rowland) and WO 95/07608 (Bock/Baby Pack Holding) both show arrangements in which a teat is attached to the outside of the package, and can be coupled to the container holding the liquid.

US 4 830 205 (Hammond/MB Group) was developed from the inventor's previous patent for medical and surgical use, and was adapted in this patent for use with a teat rather than an element for receiving a needle. The opposite walls of a pouch-like bag of flexible sheet material for liquid food or drink are jointed together or sealed to produce a fold giving an auxiliary compartment in the inside carrying a teat connected to the package. The teat has a removable closure. When the gusset ends are freed (i.e. the seal a s broken), the pressure of the contents causes an inversion of the gusset to form a f rusto-comcal projection with the teat on top.

In this arrangement, the teat has a removable closure on top, but there is no reference to means to attach this to the teat and it does not seem substantial enough to prevent leakage, particularly as pressure needs to be supplied to the pouch to force the teat and the gusset into a f rusto-comcal projection before the teat is presented for access for feeding. Also, the patent comments that the rate of feeding can be controlled due to the flexible nature of the bag. However, babies' sucking creates its own pressure and any squeezing of the pouch would result m forcing the liquid into the babies mouth. Furthermore, the feeding pack once opened has no protective top or cap to put temporarily over the teat to prevent gems and milk flow. The thin nature of the pouch material also seems inappropriate with this teat arrangement, since, if pressure is accidentally applied to the content, the flimsy seal would allow milk to flow into the gusset compartment.

WO 99/03442 (Barnardo/VCambridge Consultants) shows a bottle with a body and a teat with an outlet orifice. A cap conforms to the external surface of the teat. A portion of the cap is detachable from the body by rupturing a tear strip. The cap is a similar shape to the teat, so preventing leakage after opening; this, along with a bead or ridge, is used to stop the liquid flowing beyond this ridge. This bead or ridge is meant to act like a seal to the teat before opening. This is achieved by high pressure in the teat and bottle which, as it has a similar shape, pushes the teat's surface into contact with the cap.

This sealing has a number of problems. It is not clear how to totally fill the bottle/teat package in order to achieve the required seal, and the construction results in a bottle brimming with liquid. After some liquid has been drunk, this seal could not occur as the pressure would no longer exist. A vacuum would be created if the bottle was totally filled with liquid, causing the baby some initial problems. Normal administration of liquids to babies usually needs some air space in the bottle to aid the suction action of the baby.

WO 98/46191 (Mules & Mitchell) has a teat, through which the infant is subsequently intended to drink, which is not sealed by any form of material over its aperture. The teat is located within a capping portion which has to be levered away from the cap rim to allow the teat to be drawn through the aperture. The liquid is supposedly prevented from leaking through this hole as it is 'too small' and abuts against the sealing portion surface. The sealing portion is the same plastic as the cap rim, being relatively rigid, and the increase in pressure in the bottle causes the teat end to be pressed tighter to inner surface. The teat is partially collapsed or inverted. Consequently, the teat and the sealing portion do not project from the cap rim to the full extent of nipple because it is stated that this could cause the seal to break.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved drink package which is suitable for use with babies. According to the invention there is provided a drink package having a teat, characterized by closure means holding the teat initially sealed closed. Preferably there are also cover means covering the teat. The closure means are preferably formed integrally with the teat, and may be attached to the inside of the cover means so that the initial removal of the cover means automatically opens the teat. The cover means are preferably replaceable on the container.

The container in which the drink is contained may be of flexible material, giving collapsibility, or of generally rigid construction.

The preferred forms of the present invention thus provide a disposable drinking means for small children such as babies, since (unlike conventional packages) the package does not have to have its contents transferred to a separate bottle or other vessel before the baby can consume them. The package allows direct f eding/drinking of infants from the package via an attached teat. This substantially reduces the need to sterilize the articles being used and reduces the risk of contamination.

The package comprises a sterile container containing the liquid, a rubber or silicone teat projecting from the top of the container, a form of stopper or projection from the top of the teat to completely seal the liquid inside, a small depression in between the teat and the stopper where a break will occur to open the liquid flow for consumption, and a sealed cover over the teat and base of the teat to maintain the sterile environment before use, to aid in some instances the opening up of the liquid flow and to temporarily cover the teat in between its consumption.

The teat is attached to the top of the package, conveniently by heat sealing. Alternatively, if a moulded plastic or rubber moulded material is used for the packaging, it might directly form the teat with its attached stopper or projection rather than the teat being a separate unit sealed on.

The teat also has a protective cover attached over it, sealed to the drinks package. The teat does not have an open end/aperture but has a projection from it that can be twisted, snapped, or pulled off at the same time as the cap is removed. This ensures that the liquid remains in the sterile state essential for administering to babies. The teat is hollow up to the point of its indent on the top where the material is treated so it can break or rupture when force is supplied to the stopper/projection sticking out from it. The teat itself is sealed from the outside by a cap or cover which itself is heat sealed to the package or to the package. This enables the consumption of the milk formula, soft drink or medicine direct from the sterile packaging.

The teat aperture which will subsequently be used to drink from is in one form closed by an extension of the rubber/silicone material used in the teat. There is a slight downward groove along the inner wall just where the opening will be made. The thickness of the material at its intended break point is reduced in order for it to rupture, breaking the seal along its groove line if the top of the projection from the teat is twisted. The actual wall thickness will vary depending on material used. It could be multi-layered, partially or completely intact and imperforate. Scoring could be used to weaken it but without compromising the aseptic nature.

When the stopper is twisted, snapped, or pulled, the material breaks away to produce a small hole in the top of the teat. It is preferable that the break occurs just under the top surface of the teat so there is no alteration in the material at the top if the teat. A tiny hole is thus left in order for the liquid to be received on sucking. The protrusion or stopper from the teat is preferably slightly indented at the break point, so that the part where the rubber material has broken is not on the surface of the teat but slightly inside. The stopper or protrusion may be of a slightly more rigid material than the actual teat in order to obtain an easy break.

The stopper may be totally of another plastic and just joined to the teat by say another layer of silicone on top of the two objects in order to join them. The stopper can have some hardening material inside the silicone, or there can be used an application on top or webbing to strengthen it from the outside rather than the inside. Alternatively the groove that is intended to break could have scoring on it or just less layers of the substance used to make the teat. Or a reduction of sealing strength within the limited region which is used to open the hole while still maintaining the sealing temperature/pressure. The stopper can be sized to be received just inside the teat opening/aperture and to engage in liquid tight relationship.

The stopper is in effect an extension of the teat itself with a weakened link that will break if twisted, revealing the small teat opening. In the preferred forms, this is attached to the top and the twisting action causes it to break, so the user's hands do not come anywhere near the teat. However a cheaper version might be to not have the two attached. In this case the outside is removed and then the stopper is twisted free. Pressure is not required in the package; hence it then acts like a normal feeding bottle.

In one preferred form the teat projection is attached to the top of the cap covering the teat. In this form if the cap is twisted or removed this pulls or twists the projection or stopper off the top indent on the teat, hence opening the package in one go ready for the baby.

The cap and shape of the package can either be cylindrical or square or rectangular, as with the aseptic packages used at present. Other shapes are of course possible depending on commercial consideration such as costs and storage and the material used in the container itself. If the parallelepipedic shape is used, then an extension of its dimensions might be appropriate for commercial, storage, and/or protective qualities. In this case the cover might just be more of the multi-layered laminate material used in the main section. However, the shape of container is not critical; in principle it could similarly be a bottle or jar shape fabricated from flexible packing material.

The top may be removed by a thin strip being removed or a scoring of the material, or another form of attachment such as tearing perforations (tearing indication) penetrating the carrier layers of the material but not its liquid tight layers. The strip, scoring, or perforations will be located around the join of the cover to the main package.

The stopper need not be connected to the top. If it is not connected, then it will merely need to be twisted or pulled to snap the material, with the user's fingers not actually touching the teat itself. Alternatively it could be cylindrical, the top being twisted to open both the outside seal and the seal inside on the teat.

The removable cover over the top of the container is sealed to maintain the sterile environment for the teat. Alternatively the cover could be a continuation of the packaging material used to hold the liquid, with a means to open the top section to reveal the teat connected to another membrane or material inside. This would result in a package looking only slightly longer than the small dimension aseptic packages produced at present. The cover can be reclosable or not depending on the shape of packaging used and the market and cost of production. A non-reclosable version may be simpler and less expensive. Non-reclosable versions may also be preferable in some circumstances, since babies milk substitutes should be consumed fairly quickly after initial use, particularly in hot climates.

A more flexible outside covering can be used, particularly if a more flexible container material is used, the outside of which can be torn off and then the stopper disconnected, again by twisting the top. In some instances this might be preferable due to cost.

The operability of the seal or material connecting the stopper to the teat indent in practice is a choice between a good seal and being easily openable. This also applies to the outside seal of the cover.

The teat is generally of silicone plastic and is attached to the package prior to opening. The cover is also attached to the package but is removed prior to use. The cover can either facilitate opening the teat or be separate.

The cover can facilitate opening by the stopper from the teat by being connected to the top of the cap/lid, so that when the lid is removed or twisted, this pulls or snaps the stopper off to reveal the small opening in the teat.

In contrast to some of the known arrangements, the surface of the liquid inside the container does not need to be too close to the teat top on opening, as the seal is completed by the material and not the liquid pressing on the teat. This negates the problem with spillage caused on first opening.

The teat can additionally be made removable so that the contents can be poured from the container; however, this is not the primary intention of the present package.

The preferred forms thus provide a simple, low cost sterile baby disposable drinks package that totally seals its fluid contents until use and obviates the need to transfer the liquid, or to handle the teat. The pre-filled fluid contents are totally sealed inside the package without having to transfer the liquid to another container. It is also desirable that the container and attachment should be suitable for simple and cost-e ective manufacture from a suitable blank. The present package is suited for pre-filled applications, with the bottle contents being inserted and then top assembly applied to hygienically seal the contents. Alternatively, the contents could be inserted eg through the bottom of the package, or even through the teat if the teat is open at a suitable point during manufacture.

The present invention provides, in its preferred forms, a simple and low cost sterile baby disposable drinks package that is directly applicable for use in third world countries as well as western society. The principles of aseptic packaging that are currently used in milk packaging are preferably used.

The package provides a convenient means to feed a baby without the need to have an additional sterilized container to pour the contents into. This means that a baby can be fed or drink straight from the packaging via the attached drinking means, due to its sterile environment. This allows convenience in western countries and reduces the occurrence of germs, the packaging being disposed of after use. In third world countries, the packaging could be a vital enhancement in the fight against disease brought about by unsterile water/utensils. The package means that water does not have to be used in these countries, hence reducing the risk of contamination.

Various packages in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 3 are enlarged views of two forms of teat;

Fig. 2 shows a detail of a modified teat on larger scale; and

Figs. 4 to 6 show three forms of the packages.

Referring to Fig. 1 , the teat 1 is made of flexible rubber or silicone like that used for babies' dummies. A bottle teat normally has a hole or slit at its end through which the baby can suck milk or similar liquid. The present teat is sealed at its end 3 by a closure element 2 which is moulded or sealed onto it as an integral part of the teat so that is does not have an opening at the end.

THe closure element can be moulded with the teat or attached and sealed to the teat after the teat has been made. This closure element can be removed either as or after the cap is removed. The closure element may be attached to the cap of the package inside the cover means, so hat the initial removal of the cover means automatically breaks off the closure means. The cover means is preferably replaceable on the container, although the contents will normally be intended for a single serving.

Fig. 1 shows the teat with a flat rim 4 which can be heat sealed to the rest of the package. Fig. 2 shows a modification in which the teat edge has an extra layer 5 so that the container material 6 can be sealed between the two layers.

Fig. 3 shows a teat with a slight downward groove or indent 8 at the top 3. The break point of the protrusion or stopper 2 is located below the level of the outer surface of the teat, so that after the stopper has been removed, the tear line is slightly inside the hole in the teat. The thickness of the material at the base of this depression 8 is preferably reduced to assist in braking it at this point if the top of the package is twisted as it is opened.

Fig. 3 shows a teat which is moulded as part of a single monolithic moulding with the rest of the container.

Fig. 4 shows the entire package, with a cover 10 and a main container body 1 1. The closure member 13 of the teat 9 is attached to the inside of the cover member 10, which is attached to the container 1 1 around a line 14. This package is cylindrical, so that the stopper 13 can readily be detached from the teat 9 by twisting the cover 10 as it is removed.

Fig. 5 shows a rectangular package comprising a container 15, a teat 18, and a stopper 20 mounted inside the cover means 16. The sides of the container 15 are extended upwards to form the cover 16; the teat 18 is mounted on the top surface 19 of the container. This top surface 19 may be a separate element sealed to the sides of the container, or the package may be formed from several laminations with one or more laminations being diverted from the outer surface to form the top surface 129 of the container. The package has a thin strip 17 just above the top surface of the container which can be torn off to separate the cover from the container.

Fig. 6 shows a package with a more flexible outer wall forming the sides of the container 22 (with the teat 23 attached to it as for Fig. 5) and the cover 22. The stopper 25 is not attached to the cover 21. The cover 21 is closed at its top edge by a strip 26, which may be a tear-off strip or a reclosable strip.

Claims

Clai ms

1 A drink container having a rubber teat, characterized by closure means holding the teat initially sealed closed.

2 A drink container according to claim 1 , characterized by cover means covering the teat.

3 A drink container according to either previous claim, characterized in that the container is collapsible.

4 A drink container according to any previous claim, characterized in that the closure means is attached to the inside of the cover means so that the initial removal of the cover means automatically opens the teat.

5 A drink container according to claim 4, characterized in that the cover means are replaceable on the container.

6 A drink container according to any previous claim, characterized in that the container is of flexible material.

7 A drink container according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the container is of generally rigid construction.

8 Any novel and inventive feature or combination of features specifically disclosed herein within the meaning of Article 4H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).