FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bottle cap which may retain two kinds of ingredients and can be attached to a bottle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In prior art, e.g. from GB 2489721, is known a bottle cap comprising a teat and a dispenser unit. The dis penser unit comprises a compartment to retain releasably an ingredient, which may be formula milk powder, i.e. mother milk substitute. The prior art seeks to provide a powder dispenser which can contain formula milk powder and which can be secured to a baby bottle wherein the dispenser is arranged to dispense into the water at the appropriate time just prior to feeding the baby.

The prior art bottle cap has a disadvantage that pure bottled or tap water is needed to be filled to the bottle before the formula milk powder can be released from the bottle cap into the bottle. Thus, the prior art system is not useable in disaster areas, such as in flooded areas, or in less developed countries where untreated water may contain potentially pathogenic agents, in cluding protozoa, bacteria, viruses, and some larvae of higher-order parasites such as liver flukes and round- worms. Therefore, efficient purification of the water would be needed before the water can be used as a drink- ing water.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the invention is to alleviate the dis advantages mentioned above. In particular, it is an objective of the present inven tion to provide a bottle cap which can be used to create a potable mother milk substitute solution for baby feed ing despite pure water is not available.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect, the present invention provides a bottle cap comprising a mouthpiece and a dispenser unit. The dispenser unit comprises a first compartment to retain releasably a first ingredient. According to the invention the dispenser unit comprises a second com partment to retain releasably a second ingredient. The first ingredient is water purification agent and the second ingredient is mother milk substitute.

The advantage of the invention is that the bottle cap can be used to first release the water purification agent into the water, and after the water purification agent has purified the water, mother milk substitute can be released into the water. E.g. in disaster areas where pure water is not available any less pure water can be used because of the water purification ability of the bottle cap provided by the water purification agent con tained therein.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the bottle cap is adapted to be attached to a baby bottle. Alternatively, the bottle cap can be adapted to be secured to the mouth of a beverage bottle.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the water purifica tion agent is in powder, granule or in tablet form.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the water purifica tion agent includes silver ions. In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the water purifica tion agent includes silver chloride (AgCl) .

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the water purifica tion agent includes 2,8 mg/g of silver chloride and 103 mg/g of troclosene sodium.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the volume of the second compartment is larger than the volume of the first compartment.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the mouthpiece com prises a first flange, and that bottle cap comprises a securing element having an inner thread to be threaded to an outer thread of a bottle, and a circular second flange projecting inwardly to define a central hole through which the mouthpiece is insertable, so that the first flange of the mouthpiece is against the second flange of the securing element.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the first compart ment is sealed with a first cap which is openable to release the first ingredient from the first compartment into the bottle when turning the inner thread of the securing element a first amount in the outer thread of the bottle.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the second compart ment is sealed with a second cap which is openable to release the second ingredient from the second compart ment into the bottle when turning the inner thread of the securing element a second amount into the outer thread of the bottle.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the dispenser unit comprises a cup element comprising a cylindrical wall encircling said first compartment and said second com partment, and a third flange having an outer thread to be threaded to the inner thread of the securing element to secure the dispenser unit inside the securing ele ment .

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the dispenser unit comprises a cap unit comprising said first cap, said second cap, an oblique ring-like element arranged around the cup element in a space between the inner thread of the securing element and the cup element to be movable therein, a first arm connecting the first cap to the oblique ring-like element, a second arm connecting the second cap to the oblique ring-like element, the oblique ring-like element having an oblique abutment surface against which the mouth end of the bottle can push when threading the bottle cap to the outer thread of the bottle to urge the oblique ring-like element to move axially on and along the cup element, so that the first cap is forced to open and subsequently the second cap is forced to open.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the obligue ring like element comprises a retaining flange around the periphery of the oblique ring-like element to engage with the inner thread of the securing element, the re taining flange being bendable to allow axial movement of the oblique ring-like element along the cup element when pushing force is applied to oblique ring-like el ement during threading.

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the mouthpiece is a teat .

In an embodiment of the bottle cap, the mouthpiece is a spout . It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiments of the invention described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiments may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description help to explain the principles of the invention. In the draw ings :

Figure 1 shows an axonometric view of a bottle cap ac cording to one embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the bottle cap of Figure

1,

Figures 3 to 5 show a longitudinal section of the bottle cap of Fire 1 in three different positions relative to a bottle,

Figure 6 illustrates that the mouthpiece of the bottle cap attachable to a securing element can be either a teat or a spout,

Figure 7 shows a bottle cap having a teat installed to a mouth of a bottle, and

Figure 8 shows a bottle cap having a spout installed to a mouth of a bottle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figures 1 to 8 show a bottle cap 1 comprising a mouth piece 2 and a dispenser unit 3. As shown in Figures 6 to 8, the mouthpiece 2 may be a teat 2 ¹ or a spout 2 ² . The dispenser unit 3 comprises a first compartment 4 to retain a first ingredient, so that it can be controlla- bly released to the bottle. The first ingredient is water purification agent. The dispenser unit 3 comprises a second compartment 5 to retain a second ingredient so that it can be controllably released to the bottle. The second ingredient is mother milk substitute. The bottle cap 1 may adapted to be attached to a baby bottle, or to a beverage bottle. The water purification agent is in powder, granule or in tablet form. The water purifi cation agent may include silver ions. The water purifi cation agent may include silver chloride AgCl . In one embodiment the water purification agent includes 2,8 mg/g of silver chloride and 103 mg/g of troclosene so dium. The water purification agent may be, for example, a product sold with a trade name Katadyn Micropur Forte MF IT intended to be used for water disinfection and produced by Katadyn Produkte AG, Switzerland.

The volume of the second compartment 5 is significantly larger than the volume of the first compartment 4.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3 and Figure 6, the teat 2 ¹ and the spout 2 ² comprises a first flange 6. The bottle cap 1 comprises a securing element 7 having an inner thread 8 to be threaded to an outer thread 9 of a bottle 10 (shown in Figure 3) . The securing element 7 comprises a circular second flange 11 projecting inwardly to de fine a central hole 12 through which the teat 2 ¹ or spout 2 ² can be inserted, so that the first flange 6 of the teat 2 ¹ or spout 2 ² is against the second flange 11 of the securing element 7.

The first compartment 4 is sealed with a first cap 13. As illustrated in Figure 4, the first cap 13 is openable to release the first ingredient, i.e. the water purifi cation agent, from the first compartment 4 into the bottle 10 when turning the inner thread 8 of the securing element 7 a first amount in the outer thread 9 of the bottle .

The second compartment 5 is sealed with a second cap 14. As illustrated in Figure 5, the second cap 14 is openable to release the second ingredient, i.e. the mother milk substitute powder, from the second compartment 5 into the bottle 10 when turning the inner thread 8 of the securing element 7 further a second amount into the outer thread 9 of the bottle.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the dispenser unit 3 com prises a cup element 15. The cup element 15 comprises a cylindrical wall 16 encircling said first compartment 4 and said second compartment 5. The cup element 15 com prises a third flange 17 having an outer thread 18 to be threaded to the inner thread 8 of the securing element 7 to secure the dispenser unit 3 inside the securing element 7.

The dispenser unit 3 comprises a cap unit 19 comprising the first cap 13, the second cap 14, an oblique ring like element 20 arranged around the cup element 15 in a space between the inner thread 8 of the securing element 7 and the cup element 15 to be movable therein, a first arm 21 which connects the first cap 13 to the oblique ring-like element 20, and a second arm 22 which connects the second cap 14 to the oblique ring-like element 20. As can be seen in Figure 2 and 3, the oblique ring-like element 20 has an oblique abutment surface 23 against which the mouth end of the bottle 10 can push when threading the bottle cap 1 to the outer thread 9 of the bottle 10. As can be seen Figure 4 and 5, the bottle 10 urges the oblique ring-like element 20 to move axially on and along the cup element 15, so that the first cap 14 is forced to open and subsequently the second cap 15 is forced to open. As can be best seen in Figures 2 and 3, the obligue ring-like element 20 comprises retaining flanges 24 around the periphery of the oblique ring-like element 20. The retaining flanges 24 engage with the inner thread 8 of the securing element 7. The retaining flanges 24 are bendable to allow axial movement of the oblique ring-like element 20 along the cup element 15 when pushing force is applied to oblique ring-like el ement during threading of the bottle cap 1 to bottle 10. While the present invention has been described in con nection with a number of exemplary embodiments, and im plementations, the present invention is not so limited, but rather cover various modifications, and equivalent arrangements, which fall within the purview of prospec tive claims.