This invention relates generally to containers and more particularly to a container having modular accessories that can be added as needed depending upon the intended use of the container.
People often carry beverage bottles with them. Depending upon that day's activities, they may also carry a variety of small accessories. For example, people participating in outdoor sports or recreation may also carry accessories such as an AM/FM radio or MP3 player with a speaker, a storage unit, a flashlight, a GPS unit, a compass, a stopwatch or clock, or a pedometer. In addition to these accessories, people concerned about emergency preparedness may also carry a radio that can access NOAA alerts or other weather channels, a first aid kit or other emergency accessories, or a two-way communication device. Moreover, any person using electronic accessories will also need to carry batteries, a solar collecting device, other power sources, or a manual power supply (such as a hand-crank power-generating device) for generating power or recharging batteries. In general, any beverage bottle user may have a need for any or all of these and other accessories.
Carrying a beverage bottle and any or all of these and other accessories adds to the overall bulk of a person's belongings. Moreover, a person may bring some multiple accessories having the same feature. For example, a person may bring a clock/radio combination to tell time and an MP3/radio combination for listening to music. Carrying redundant accessories also adds to the bulk of the person's belongings.
The ability to make dual use of a bottle for storing a beverage and as a receptacle for attaching one or all of these and other accessories would be a significant advantage to beverage bottle users, including users participating in recreational activities and sports and users concerned with emergency preparedness, and users with special medication needs. It would, among other benefits, reduce the bulk, space, and weight of belongings, improve organization of accessories, and provide convenient access to a beverage bottle and accessories. It would also reduce the amount of redundant accessories that add bulk to the person's belongings.
In various representative aspects, the present invention describes a bottle-and-accessory aggregate along with methods of using such aggregates.
Exemplary implementations include a beverage bottle for storing and dispensing drinking water or other liquids or solids attached to any combination of one or more optional accessories, for example, audio devices, storage devices, recreational devices, lighting devices (both an outward-facing flashlight and an inward-facing lantern), power sources, emergency items, clocks, timers, alarms, and medicine dispensing needs. In certain embodiments, the bottle can be disposable, made of lightweight plastic, reusable, and be made of a transparent or translucent material such as Nalgene/Lexan.
The accessories can be attached in many combinations including but not limited to: bottle with radio feature; bottle with radio feature and flashlight; bottle with flashlight only; bottle with digital clock and alarm feature; bottle with digital clock, alarm, and radio feature; bottle with digital clock, alarm, radio, and flashlight; bottle with medicine dispenser; bottle with medicine dispenser and flashlight; bottle with medicine dispenser, radio and flashlight; or bottle with medicine dispenser, digital clock, alarm, and flashlight.
In another exemplary implementation, a user can detach an accessory from the beverage bottle. The user can, for example, detach all accessories from the beverage bottle and use the beverage bottle in a stand alone configuration. In an exemplary implementation, the instrumentality for attaching accessories to the beverage bottle will be concealed so that no instrumentality for attachment is visible when all accessories are detached from the bottle. The ability to detach an accessory from the beverage bottle can allow the user to substitute a different accessory by attaching that different accessory to the beverage bottle. For example, there can exist a range of accessories that can be attached to the beverage bottle. For example, there can exist a range of accessories that can be attached to the beverage bottle that use the same instrumentality. Therefore, each accessory in the range of accessories would be suitable for one another, and a user could form various aggregates from the same beverage bottle by detaching and attaching various accessories.
In still another exemplary implementation, a user can attach more than one accessory to the beverage bottle. For example, there could exist a range of accessories that can be attached to the beverage bottle or to other accessories using the same instrumentality. These accessories could also, for example, be detached from the beverage bottle or from other accessories. In one exemplary implementation, each accessory in the range of accessories could be substitutable for one another and could be detached from or attached to each other or to the beverage bottle in any configuration. For example, the user could link accessories by attaching one accessory to another in a serial configuration and then the user could attach an accessory at the end of the serial accessories to the beverage bottle. This would allow a user to create a single aggregate of water bottle and multiple accessories linked together in a serial configuration. However, any configuration for attaching more than one accessory to a water bottle would be appropriate and any instrumentality for connecting accessories to each other and to the beverage bottle could be used.
There are a variety of techniques for attaching accessories to the beverage bottle and to each other. One or more of these accessories can be attached to the beverage bottle, for example, by screwing one accessory to the bottle and other accessories to each other. The accessories can also snap into the bottle and to each other or can be attached by fasteners. The accessories can be attached to the bottle by frictional engagement. Any technique for securing one object to another, including permanent techniques for fixing objects to each other, is suitable for securing one or more accessories to the beverage bottle and to each other.
The aggregates can be customized by users or by marketers. A user can, for example, create an aggregate of a beverage bottle and one or more accessories that meets the user's needs by selecting certain accessories from a range of accessories based upon the user's desired activity and attaching these one or more accessories to the beverage bottle. For example, if the user is going on a day hike, the user may select a compass, a storage compartment, a flashlight, and a portable power source from a range of accessories. The user can then attach these accessories to the beverage bottle. As another example, a marketer can create an aggregate of a beverage bottle and one or more accessories that targets a certain market segment's needs. For example, the marketer can pre-select certain accessories from a range of accessories and sell a beverage bottle bundled together with these accessories. A marketer could, for example, target the emergency preparedness market by selecting a first-aid kit, a GPS, a power source, and a flashlight from a range of possible accessories. The marketer can then attach these accessories to the beverage bottle and market the aggregate to particular users interested in emergency preparedness.
The features of the aggregates can be combined to address specific price points and market segments. These market segments include, among others, the general consumer bottle water market; the outdoor, recreational, and sports market; the safety and emergency preparedness markets; and the market for consumers requiring medication. For the emergency preparedness market, an aggregate can also include safety and emergency items inside the bottle for storage, distribution, and easy access in case of an emergency. For the outdoor, recreational, and sports market, an aggregate can also include items commonly used for outdoor activity such as camping and hiking stored inside the bottle. The items will be packaged with the aggregate bottle and accessories as a complete solution to address the specific market.
Additional advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice. Other advantages will be realized and attained through the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The accompanying figures, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown or discussed generally in order to avoid obscuring the present invention or making the specification unnecessarily long. IN that regard, in order to further shorten the specification, numerous existing patents and publications are discussed and incorporated by reference above and below. It should be noted that there exist many different configurations, technologies, and applications to which the present invention may be applied and that, while exemplary embodiments are used to illustrate and explain the various aspects of the invention, application of the various aspects of the invention is not limited to those embodiments.
Container body 10 includes a connector 110 located on a lower end 12 of the container body 10 adjacent the container body bottom 106. In a preferred embodiment, and as shown in
The container body 10 has a top portion 11 for dispensing the contents of the bottle having a cylindrical perimeter. Threaded portions 114, formed about the periphery of the top portion 11, mate with complementary threaded portions 116 formed on inside walls of removable cap 13. A connector element 14 attaches the cap 13 to the first extremity 11 of the bottle body.
In one embodiment, there is an annular groove at the first extremity of the bottle body. An annular ring 15 is situated inside the groove. There is a fastener 16 on the cap. The connector element 14 joins the annular ring 15 to the fastener 16. This permits the cap to remain attached to the bottle body even if the user removes the cap from the first extremity. The connector element can also serve as a carrying handle.
A first accessory 20, attachable to the container body 10 along its long axis 100, is shown detached from the configurable beverage container in exploded form. First accessory 20 has a first accessory connector 21 located on a top end thereof. In a preferred embodiment, connector 21 is implemented in a male threaded portion 118 formed on outside walls forming a periphery of a top portion of the first accessory. Portions 118 and 112 are complementary threaded portions configured to be coupled to one another. That is, male threaded portion 118 mates with female threaded portion 112 formed on inside walls of the bottom of the container body 10 to form an aggregate device. The aggregate device preferably is bound by a common cylindrical periphery so that, when attached, the first (and second, etc.) accessory appears to be unitary with the container body 10 and part of the same whole.
In one embodiment, the first accessory 20 includes an inward-facing light source 120 configured to shine upward 122 into the cavity 108 of the container body 10 and outward 124 through the non-opaque sides 102 of the container body to thereby illuminate liquid (or other objects) stored within the cavity 108. The liquid within the cavity serves as a light dispersal mechanism that enhances the lantern effect caused by the inward-facing light source 120.
The embodiment may also include an outwardly-facing light source 126 arranged in the first accessory 20 on a side opposite the top end on which the first accessory connector 21 is located. Outwardly-facing light source 126 includes a light concentrating mechanism, such as parabolic mirror 128, for casting light in a beam outward 130 from the aggregate so that it serves a flashlight function.
The first accessory further includes a connector 132 located adjacent a bottom end of the first accessory. In a preferred implementation, the connector includes a female thread portion formed on inside walls forming the periphery of the bottom end 22 of the first accessory 20. The female threaded portion 132 of the first accessory 20 is most preferably identical to the female threaded portion 112 of the container body 10 so that, as will be appreciated below, multiple accessories can be daisy chained in serial fashion in any order.
Accessory 20 includes an electronic portion 134 encompassing a power source (e.g. battery compartment) to drive the light sources 120 and 126. The electronic portion further includes an external button 136 for actuating the light sources 120 and 126, and further may include a switching mechanism for alternately actuating the light source 120 separately from light source 126. The switching mechanism may, for example, operate light source 126 (flashlight) upon a first button press, operate light source 120 (lantern) upon a second button press, both light sources 120 and 126 upon a third button press, flashing one or both light sources upon a forth button press, and both sources off upon a fifth button press. The cycle is then started anew.
And although not shown in
As noted above, other accessories and combinations of accessories are possible. Other accessories can include a radio, a powered external speaker, a compass, a global positioning system (GPS), a storage unit, a clock, a pedometer, a power-generating unit, and an alarm. The storage unit can be included with medicines and/or first aid supplies. In various combinations, preferred accessory combinations include a flashlight and speaker combination or a flashlight with radio combination serving as the first accessory 20 and second accessory 30.
In a method for configuring a beverage bottle with accessories, the method comprises coupling one or more accessories to a beverage bottle along a long axis of the bottle. The coupling step can include threading one end of an accessory to a complementary threaded portion formed on one end of the beverage bottle to form an aggregate device defining a common peripheral (e.g. laterally cylindrical) boundary. A first light source may be oriented within the accessory to shine upward into a cavity of the beverage bottle and out non-opaque sides of the bottle to form a diffuse lantern effect. A second light source may be oriented within the accessory to shine outward away from the beverage bottle cavity, opposite to the first light source, to form a flashlight effect. A button is then configured on the accessory to actuate both the first light source and the second light source.
Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be apparent that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. We claim all modifications and variation coming within the spirit and scope of the invention.
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