US3539140A - Spring mounted baby bottle holder - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Herbert D. Tuttle Box 161D R.R.01, Cold Spring, New York 10516 [21] Appl. No. 710,083

[22] Filed March 4, 1968 [45] Patented Nov. 10, 1970 [54] SPRING MOUNTED BABY BOTTLE HOLDER I Primary Examiner-Chancellor E. Harris Attorneys-Keith Misegades and George R. Douglas, Jr.

ABSTRACT: The instant invention relates to baby bottle holders and more particularly comprises a spring mounted baby bottle holder which is adapted to be supported on the usual parallel, horizontal rails of a babys crib. The invention includes an adjustable horizontal support, straddling the crib rails, a central, vertical rod mounted through the horizontal support and a bent wire baby bottle holder, mounted at the base of the vertical support rod. The support rod is itself spring mounted through the horizontal support, and the bent wire baby bottle holder is resiliently secured to the base of the vertical rod and is rotatable therearound so that the bottle may be placed in a variety of positions to suit the baby.

Patented Nov. 10, 1970 I 3,539,140-

INVENTOR.

The invention relates generally to baby bottle holders which, stated generically, are old in the art. The prior art devices include a horizontal support secured to the side rails ofa baby crib and include some sort of rigid, depending means for holding a baby bottle so that the infant may be fed without need of constant supervision by its mother. The prior art devices suffer one distinct disadvantage. Once the bottle is set in a fairly specific location, it cannot be moved about. However, any young infant of tender age tends to be constantly on the move, whether in or out of a crib, unless said infant is asleep. If the infant is particularly young, he will tend to move himself out of position from the bottle within a very few moments without being able to get back to the vicinity of the bottle. In the normal course of events, such a situation causes a tender infant much distress followed soon thereafter by rather audible complaining, followed immediately thereafter by a frantic mother returning to the crib vicinity frequently to make sure the bottle is in its proper place so that the baby may feed. After only a few experiences like this, any sensible mother would be understandably prompted to discard such a device and return to the old way of feeding the baby herself when she could be doing other things.

There are several prior U.S. patents in this field, U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,152 issued to E. J. Blackmore, indicates a baby bottle support having a transverse support resting on the rails of a crib and an elongated. adjustable support having a variety of wing nuts and such like devices thereon for placing the bottle in the vicinity ofthe baby's head. Obviously, if the baby moves more than a fraction of an inch or so, this elongated support will have to be reset to the new position, or, alternatively, the baby will have to be returned to his former position. U.S. Pat. No. 2,944,779 issued to G. Silagyi disclosed a limited improvement in the art, in that the transverse horizontal support is slidably, rotatably retained on the crib rails so that the baby bottle supported thereby may rotate about an axis transverse to the length of the crib. This permits the bottle to be moved slightly in a vertical plane through the length of the crib, but should the infant turn his head to one side or the other, as infants are wont to do, the problems discussed at length hereinbefore will ensue.

Three dimensional movement of the baby bottle in a sup port mounted on a'crib was accomplished in U.S. Pat. No. 3,l20.368 issued to C. D, Crisp. FIGS. 8 through 11 thereof indicate a resilient belt stretched from crib rail to crib rail with the baby bottle being located centrally thereof. As long as the baby retains a tight grip on the baby bottle and/or the nipple of the bottle he will be happily fed. However, should he release his tender grip on the bottle, it will bound away from him resulting in the distress explained above. Additionally, should the baby squirm away from the side of the crib on which the nipple of the bottle is located, effective access to the bottle is prohibited,

The instant invention overcomes these prior art disadvantages by providing a crib rail supported baby bottle holder which permits the bottle to be rotated 360 in a horizontal plane and additionally permits the bottle to be moved vertically and laterally by reason of its resilient support thereby giving the baby access to the bottle no matter what conceivable position he may work himself into during the time it takes him to feed himself.

SUMMARY The gist of the invention is to provide a crib rail supported baby bottle holder including a resiliently mounted vertical rod support and a bent wire baby bottle holder resiliently mounted with respect to the rod and rotatable thereabout through an arc of 360 thereby providing a variety of locations for a babys bottle for feeding the infant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Details of construction of the invention will become readily apparent by reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the invention mounted on a crib and depicting the operation thereof;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary viewof one end of the transverse horizontal support of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the central portion of FIG. 2, but showing an alternative construction thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings by reference character, there is shown an infant happily feeding on the usual baby bottle 12 having the obvious nipple thereon (not shown). The crib 14 includes side rails 16 and I8 which support the invention 20. Invention 20 includes horizontal transverse support 22, vertical rod support 24 and a bent wire bottle holder 26.

Transverse supports 22 includes a pair of linearly adjustable L-supports 28, each slotted at 35. L- supports 28, 30 are attached to central support 32 by means of nut and wing bolt assemblies 34, 34. The L-supports are slotted at 35 and may be adjustable outwardly or inwardly dependent upon the distance between rails I6 and 18 by loosening, and then tightening wing nut and bolt assemblies 34, 34. Transverse support 22 may be firmly retained on the crib rail 16, 18 by means of a pair of resilient ties 36, 36 tied to the outer, base ends of I,- supports 28, 30 and two rails I6, 18 respectively. Central support 32 is provided with a series of bores 38, for selective reception of vertical rod 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the diameter of each bore 38 is somewhat larger than the diameter of vertical rod 24 in order to permit some lateral movement of rod 24 with respect to support 22.

Rod 24 is resiliently supported in central support 32 by means of a coil spring 40 seated on a washer 42 and retained thereagainst by means of a wing nut 44 threadably received on the upper end of rod 24. A radial flange 46 on rod 24 beneath central support 32 defines the upperward limit of movement of rod 24. Wing nut 44 may be loosened or tightened on rod 24 to secure rod 24 loosely or tightly with respect to central support 32, as desired. Alternatively, coil spring 40 may be mounted beneath central support 32 as would retaining washer 42 so that wing nut' 44 would define the limit of downward movement of rod 24 (not shown).

An alternative construction is shown in FIG. 4, where flange 46 may be in the form of a wing nut and washer assembly 46a, rod 24 being threaded throughout its length, so that the upperward limit of movement of rod 24 may be varied.

Bottle holder 26 is seated on a second radial flange 48 at the bottom of rod 24 and is mounted for resilient upper movement by means of a second coil spring 50 and wing nut 52 threadably received on the base of rod 24.

Thus, vertical rod 24 may be moved upwardly and downwardly within central support 32 and somewhat laterally with respect thereto by reason of the relatively larger diameter,

bore 38 and may also be rotated therein in that there is no rigid connection between rod 24 and support 32. In the same fashion, bottle holder 26 may be rotated about rod 24 and may be moved vertically with respect thereto in that it is not-rigidly secured to rod 24.

Most babies, even at a tender age, have a tendency to grasp the bottle as they are feeding as indicated by FIG. 1. As the baby moves about while it is feeding, the bottle holder 26 will move with the baby thereby allowing him to feed without interruption and without distressing his mother.

It is apparent from the foregoing that I have invented a new and highly useful invention in the art of baby bottle holders,

1. A crib rail supported baby bottle holder for supporting a baby bottle in a variety of attitudes comprising:

a. a transverse support, seatable on the side rail of a crib;

b. a vertical rod slidably secured through the transverse support and having a resilient coil spring for connection therewith; and

c. a bottle support slidably secured at the base of said vertical rod and having spring means mounted thereabove urging said bottle support downwardly with respect to the rod, said bottle holder being rotatable about said rod.

2. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein: said horizontal support comprises an intermediate central support having means therein defining a plurality of bores for selectively receiving the vertical rod and having a pair of linearly extensible leg supports. one to each distal end of said central support for seating said horizontal support on said crib railsv 3. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 2 wherein: said horizontal support includes a pair of flexible tie means for securing each said extensible leg to its crib rail.

4. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein the upper portion of said vertical rod includes:

a. a flange, beneath said horizontal support for defining the upper limit of movement of said vertical rod; and

b. a wing nut threadably received on the upper end of said vertical support, said coil spring located between said wing nut and horizontal support for vertical adjustment of said vertical rod with respect to the horizontal support.

5. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein the upper portion of said vertical rod includes:

a. a wing nut, threadably received on the upper end of the vertical rod for selectively defining the downward limit of movement of the rod; and

b. a second wing nut, threadably received on the rod beneath said horizontal support, said coil spring located between said second wing nut and said horizontal support.

6. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein: said spring means comprises a second coil spring about said rod above the bottle support, and a wing nut threadably received on the rod above the second coil spring for vertical resilient adjustment of the bottle support.

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