GB2378901A

GB2378901A - Baby bottle steriliser with safety trigger

Info

Publication number: GB2378901A
Application number: GB0216739A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Arnold Edward Rees
Original assignee: Jackel International Ltd
Current assignee: Jackel International Ltd
Priority date: 2001-07-19
Filing date: 2002-07-18
Publication date: 2003-02-26
Also published as: GB0117644D0; GB0216739D0; HK1054336A1

Abstract

A baby bottle steriliser comprises a base 14, water tray/hotplate assembly 24, main body 12, auxiliary basket 20,22 and lid 16. In use, water is placed in tray 24, a bottle is placed in the steriliser (with small accessories therefor placed in basket 20,22) and the lid is sealed on. The hotplate is activated to convert the water to steam. Once all the water has vaporised, the hotplate temperature rises above 100 degrees, this increase is detected by a sensor, and the hotplate is shut down. The steriliser may include a second temperature sensor in lid 16, which senses when the temperature therein has dropped below a safe value and triggers an appropriate alert to indicate that the steriliser may now be opened. The alert may comprise a light or a buzzer. Alternatively, deactivation of the hotplate may start a preset timer, which allows sufficient time to elapse for the steriliser interior to cool to a safe value and then triggers the alert. The steriliser may also include status indicator means for indicating the progress of a sterilisation cycle.

Description

Steriliser The invention relates to a steriliser, in particular a steriliser of the type used for sterilising vessels such as infant feeding vessels.

A range of sterilising devices are known for the sterilisation of baby equipment, such as feeding items (e. g. feeding bottles and teats) and other items such as rattles and teethers. Three main types of steriliser exist, namely the cold water type, microwave and electrical. The cold water type, in the form of a large plastic container, is filled with cold water and used in conjunction with chemical sterilising/sanitising tablets that are soluble in water to generate a sterilising solution. The disadvantage with this type of sterilisation is that products must be immersed for relatively long periods of time, typically an hour or more before they can be used for infant feeding. As chemicals are used the market for this type of system has been in steady decline over the past 10 years.

Microwave and electrical sterilisers use steam generation to sterilise/sanitise the products ready for use and complete the sterilising cycle typically in 8-12 minutes.

Steam is a much more convenient method to use and in addition does not use chemical disinfectants. Tap water is simply used and heated by the microwave or by an electrical ring or plate.

One known electrical steam sterilising appliances is mains operated and includes a steam generating hot plate inside the unit. A measured amount of cold water is poured onto the steam generating plate. Products to be sterilised are loaded into the unit and the lid is closed ready for sterilising. Typically the cycle begins by

depressing a start button that provides electrical power to a heating device mounted under the heater plate. An indicator light is usually provided to show that the steriliser is operating. The water in the steam generator boils, producing steam, which slowly evaporates off until all of the water on the heater plate has evaporated. At this point the temperature of the heater plate rises. A thermo-switch mounted on the heater plate detects this increase in temperature and switches off the cycle. The cycle indicator light then goes out.

A problem with this arrangement is that at this point, although the indicator light is off, the steriliser is unsafe to open as the user could potentially suffer steam bums.

Often the operating instructions warn the user to leave the unit to stand for a period of time after the indicator light has switched off so that the unit can cool down allowing the hot steam to condense prior to opening. However the user would only be aware when the cycle had been completed if they had observed the light extinguish, which will not always be the case. In such cases it will be impossible to assess when an appropriate period of time has elapsed before opening the steriliser.

The invention is set out in the appended claims.

In particular the invention addresses the problem with known sterilisers by providing an indicator such as audible or visible control means which indicates to the user that the unit has completed its cycle and is completely safe to open.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawing which shows in exploded form a steriliser according to the invention.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1, the steriliser is designated generally 10 and includes a main body 12, base 14 and lid 16. The lid 16 hinges to the main body 12 and is releasably closed by a slide catch 18. A basket 20 and basket lid 22 sit at the top of the main body 12 for sterilisation of small accessories. The base 14 includes a base lid 24 that has a hotplate for heating water received in the base lid 24. When assembled, water is poured into the base lid and the main body lid is sealed closed with the catch 18. On/off switch 26 is activated and the water is heated and the steam generated sterilises objects in the main body and/or basket. The lid is preferably dome shaped allowing condensed liquid to run back into the main body both during operation and when the lid as opened. The separable components allow ease of assembly and disassembly for improved cleaning and handling.

Included in the base lid, although it may be positioned in any appropriate place in the steriliser, is a thermostat arrangement (not shown) for monitoring the temperature inside the steriliser. The arrangement includes two phases, a first one to detect when all the water has boiled, for example by detecting when the hot plate temperature rises above 100 C, and a second one to detect when the temperature inside the steriliser has dropped to a safe level to be opened. The second phase can include measurement of the temperature inside the steriliser or the temperature of the hot plate. When the temperature drops to a safe level the thermostat arrangement activates an indicator

which is preferably a buzzer or other audible device but can alternatively be a visual indicator such as a static or flashing light.

Operation of the thermostat arrangement can be achieved by electronic control and, for example a sound chip and speaker or LED.

In an alternative arrangement the thermostat arrangement initiates a timer at the end of the first phase, when the heating has completed, and the indicator is triggered at the end of a pre-determined cooling period.

In a further embodiment the steriliser includes a status indicator (not shown) which displays the current operational state of the steriliser. For example this can be a bartype display comprising a line of LEDs which light sequentially tracking the operation of the steriliser. In this case, at the start of operation none of the LEDs are lit and then, during operation, the LEDs gradually light until all are lit, indicating that operation is completed. The LEDs can vary in colour to provide additional information. Instead of a bar of LEDs a dial or simple digital display can be provided or any other alternative display.

The operational status indicator can be controlled by a simple timing device such as an electronic or mechanical timing device reflecting the amount of time the operation has continued. A more accurate alternative, however, is to include a thermometer element which tracks the temperature of the steriliser up to boiling and down again to a safe level and triggers the status indicator accordingly.

As a result the user is able not only to tell when it is safe to use the steriliser, but how far through the steriliser is through its cycle.

It will be appreciated that the steriliser can be of any configuration and use heating in any appropriate fashion. Any suitable form of indicator and control scheme can be implemented within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A steriliser comprising an openable steriliser body for heating of a sterilising medium, an indicator and a safety trigger arranged to trigger the indicator when a safe condition for opening the steriliser is met.
2. A steriliser as claimed in claim 1 in which the safety trigger comprises a thermostat.
3. A steriliser as claimed in claim 1 in which the safety trigger comprises a timer.
4. A steriliser as claimed in claim 3 in which the timer is arranged to trigger a pre- determined time after a heating operation has stopped.
5. A steriliser as claimed in any preceding claim in which the indicator comprises an audible indicator.
6. A steriliser as claimed in claim 5 in which the indicator comprises a buzzer.
7. A steriliser as claimed in any preceding claim in which the indicator comprises a visual indicator.
8. A steriliser as claimed in claim 7 in which the indicator comprises a light.

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9. A steriliser as clamed in any preceding claim in which the steriliser further includes a heater provided in the steriliser body.
10. A steriliser as clamed in any preceding claim in which the safe condition comprises a safe temperature for opening condition.
11. A steriliser as claimed in any preceding claim further including a status indicator for indicating the operational status of the steriliser.
12. A steriliser as claimed in claim 11 in which the operational status comprises a measure of how far the steriliser is through the sterilisation cycle.
13. A steriliser as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 in which the status indicator comprises one of an LED display, a digital display or a dial.
14. A steriliser as claimed in any of claims 11 to 13 further comprising a status detector for providing a status signal to the status indicator.
15. A steriliser as claimed in claim 14 in which the status detector comprises one of a timer or a temperature detector.
16. A steriliser comprising an openable steriliser body for heating of a sterilising medium, and a status indicator for indicating the status of the sterilisation cycle.
17. A steriliser substantially as herein described and as illustrated in the drawing.