Patent Application
20210401201
The disclosed embodiments relate to an apparatus and system for drinkable “bottle” caps.
There exist a wide range of cups, drinking glasses, containers, bottles and other vessels that allow users to drink. To prevent spillage when carried or transported purse, a removable cap is often placed over these vessels. Since there are many consumers who do not wish to take the time or go through the effort of removing the cap every time they wish to take a drink, some modern water bottles have caps that support an aperture that allows the user to drink from the bottle with the cap still on.
One popular method for drinking out of a capped water bottle is to lift the cap and squeeze the bottle (e.g. sports cap). The drawback to these caps is that in order for them to work the bottles themselves must be flexible material, often plastic, which may be undesirable for some for health or environmental reasons etc. Moreover, metal water bottles (e.g. non-flexible) often use a cap equipped with a built-in straw connected to a mouthpiece, or a mouthpiece that the user lifts the bottle up to pour out the mouth piece. The drawbacks being that the user has to wrap their lips around an exposed surface, which may be undesirable for some. For example, the mouth piece may be dirty, the vessel may be shared amongst more than one user, or it may be simply a non-preferred method of drinking out of a vessel. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a drinkable cap that may resolve these problems.
Apparatuses for caps designed to fit various bottles are described. In an embodiment, a cap comprising: an aperture; a valve configured to open and close the aperture; a valve controller configured to control the valve; a drinkable cap guide configured to protrude out from the drinkable cap in a vertical direction; and the drinkable cap configured to be a removably secured to a vessel.
In yet another embodiment, a cap for a bottle is described, comprised an aperture; a valve configured to pulse open and close the aperture; a drinkable cap guide configured to protrude out from the drinkable cap in a vertical direction; and the drinkable cap configured to be a removably secured to a vessel.
The following embodiments may be better understood by referring to the following figures. The figures are presented for illustration purposes only, and may not be drawn to scale or show every feature, orientation, or detail of the embodiments. They are simplified to help one of skill in the art understand the embodiments readily, and should not be considered limiting.
Each of the additional features and teachings disclosed below can be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide a system and an apparatus for a drinkable “cap” designed to be removably attached on top of a drinking vessel. Applications for the disclosed embodiments are not meant to be limited to just “sport” type applications, but rather, broadly apply to other uses as is readily apparent to a POSA. Representative examples of the following embodiments will now be described in further detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art details for practicing the preferred aspects of the teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments.
The disclosed embodiments broadly describe a removably secured or permanently affixed cap which attaches to a drinking vessel and a drinkable cap system. The drinkable cap may be configured such that a user may drink from a vessel without having to place their lips/mouth, on it in order to drink. The drinkable cap may include a pour aperture and a valve which may be activated in a variety of ways. The drinkable cap may include one or more ventilation orifices to improve airflow during filling and pouring. The drinkable cap may be made of metal, plastic, rubber, wood, polymers, or any combinations thereof. Furthermore, the term vessel as used, herein, broadly means any container that holds liquids, such as water bottle, canteen, thermos, half-gallon jug, can, jar, jug, carafe, pitcher, cup, made of a variety and combination of materials such as glass, wood, metal, plastic, paper, or any combinations thereof.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form or to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. Similarly, any process steps described might be interchangeable with other steps in order to achieve the same result. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the embodiments and its best mode practical application, thereby to enable others skilled in the art to understand the various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use or implementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the embodiments be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents. Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather means “one or more.” Moreover, no element, component, nor method step in the described disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the following claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. Sec. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for . . . .”
In addition, the conjunction “and” when used in the claims is meant to be interpreted as follows: “X, Y and Z” means it can be either X, Y or Z individually, or it can be both X and Y together, both X and Z together, both Y and Z together, or all of X, Y, and Z together.
It should be understood that the figures illustrated in the attachments, which highlight the functionality and advantages of the described embodiments, are presented for example purposes only. The architecture of the described embodiments are sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in ways other than that shown in the accompanying figures.
Furthermore, the purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to the scope of the described embodiments in any way. It is also to be understood that the steps and processes recited in the claims need not be performed in the order presented.
Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. A process or method may be implemented with a processor, or similar device, or any combination of hardware and software.
The various features of the embodiments described herein can be implemented in different systems without departing from the embodiments. It should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merely examples and are not to be construed as limiting the embodiments. The description of the embodiments is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. As such, the described teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
