BOTTLE ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A bottle assembly comprises a bottle having an end wall having a U-shaped compartment for receiving a lip balm container and a coupling assembly for removably grasping the lip balm container as the lip balm container rests within the U-shaped compartment, the coupling assembly removably coupling the lip balm container to the bottle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Field of the Invention

This invention is in the fields of: (i) sunscreen containers; and (ii) lip balm containers.

2. The Relevant Technology

This invention relates to sunscreen containers and lip balm containers and materials used and produced in connection with the protection of an individual's skin and lips from the adverse effects of the sun. For centuries, people have struggled with the ability to be outside while at the same time preserving their skin and health from the damaging effects of the sun. It is common to use sunscreen to protect the user's skin and to use lip balm to protect a user's lips. However, these products are typically sold separately and users often forget one or the other. Users might remember to bring sunscreen, but may often forget to bring lip balm when going outdoors, or vice versa. There is therefore a need in the art for a convenient way to purchase, store, ship and use sunscreen and lip balm simultaneously.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An example of a bottle assembly of the present invention comprises a bottle having an end wall having a compartment for receiving a lip balm container and a coupling assembly for removably grasping the lip balm container as the lip balm container rests within the U-shaped compartment. The coupling assembly removably couples the lip balm container to the bottle. The coupling assembly may be comprised of a plastic material, for example, that has sufficient resilience such that (i) the coupling assembly has sufficient flexibility that the lip balm container can be placed within the U-shaped compartment by being pressed into the coupling assembly, which maintains the lip balm container within the U-shaped compartment in the absence of a removing force; and such that (ii) the coupling assembly has sufficient flexibility such that the coupling assembly releases the lip balm container when a force is generated pulling the lip balm container out of the coupling assembly and out of the U-shaped compartment.

An embodiment of the bottle assembly comprises a bottle having a recessed end wall having a U-shaped compartment for receiving a lip balm container and a coupling assembly for removably grasping the lip balm container as the lip balm container rests on a rounded protuberance within the U-shaped compartment, the coupling assembly removably coupling the lip balm container to the bottle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only illustrated embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a Bottle Assembly of the present invention for convenient storage of both liquid and lip balm materials without co-mingling the materials;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the Bottle Assembly of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3-4 are right and left side views, respectively of the Bottle Assembly of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5-6 are back and front views, respectively of the Bottle Assembly of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7-8 are top and bottom views, respectively of the Bottle Assembly of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of the bottle of the Bottle Assembly of FIGS. 1-8 without the lip balm container;

FIGS. 11-12 are right and left side views, respectively of the bottle of FIGS. 9-10;

FIGS. 13-14 are top and bottom perspective views of the Bottle Assembly of FIGS. 1-8 of the present invention with the coupling assembly and lip balm container shown in broken, phantom lines.

Other views of the bottle assembly of the present invention are shown in the parent Design Application No. 29/498,657 which is incorporated herein by reference.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 1, a bottle assembly 10 of the present invention comprises a bottle 12 and a lip balm container 14, the bottle 12 having a recessed end wall 16 having a U-shaped compartment 18 for receiving lip balm container 14 and a coupling assembly 19 for removably grasping lip balm container 14 as lip balm container 14 rests on a rounded protuberance 66 (see FIG. 9) within the U-shaped compartment 18. Coupling assembly 19 removably couples lip balm container 14 to bottle 12. Coupling assembly 19 may be comprised of a plastic material, for example, that has sufficient flexibility and resilience such that (i) lip balm container 14 can be placed within U-shaped compartment 18 by being pressed into the coupling assembly 19, which maintains lip balm container 14 within U-shaped compartment 18 in the absence of a removing force; and such that (ii) coupling assembly 19 has sufficient flexibility such that the coupling assembly 19 releases lip balm container 14 when a force is generated pulling lip balm container 14 out of coupling assembly 19 and out of U-shaped compartment 18.

Bottle 12 has a bottle body 26 having, on at least one side thereof, as shown in FIG. 1, an upper ledge 22 and a lower ledge 24 that extend outwardly from the bottle body 26 laterally so as to form U-shaped compartment 18. Upper ledge 22 has a lower surface 30 (FIG. 2) and lower ledge 20 has an upper surface 32 (FIG. 3) between which the lip balm container 14 is mounted within U-shaped compartment 18. Upper ledge 22 is connected to lower ledge 24 by recessed end wall 16, forming U-shaped compartment 18.

As further shown in FIGS. 1-2 and in FIGS. 9-12, connected to bottle body 26 is coupling assembly 19. Coupling assembly 19, which can be a separate piece or can be integrally formed with body 26, comprises (i) first and second proximal latches 42, 44 (FIG. 4) which connect to curved body 50 (FIG. 2) of coupling assembly 19 and which connect to bottle body 26, and (ii) first and second distal latches 46, 48 which connect to curved body 50 of coupling assembly 19 and which are resiliently movable with respect to body 50 of coupling assembly such that the lip balm container 14 can be selectively, removably mounted within distal latches 46, 48 of assembly 19 to thereby removably maintain lip balm container 14 within assembly 19 while lip balm container 14 rests within compartment 18 on the lower ledge 24 of body 26 (e.g., on protuberance 66 of ledge 24).

Coupling assembly 19 thus selectively, removably maintains container 14 within the compartment 18 of bottle 12 for convenient accessibility. Since container 14 is removably connected to bottle 12, it is convenient to purchase, store, ship, and use assembly 10 as a unit. Users are much less likely to forget their sunscreen and/or lip balm because they are in a single assembly, as shown in FIG. 1. Bottle 12 may be a plastic bottle which contains a sunscreen having an spf selected from a variety of different spfs, for example. Container 14 is an elongate container which may be one of a variety of different types of lip balm containers, such as a CHAPSTICK lip balm container, for example.

Bottle assembly 10 further comprises a cap 60 mounted on bottle 12 for releasably maintaining a liquid such as sunscreen within bottle 12. Lip balm container 14 comprises lip balm container body 62 and lip balm container cap 64 and a rotating lip balm container adjustment device 65 for adjustably moving the lip balm within container body 62. Elongate lip balm container 14 contains a lip balm or other medicinal or soothing material therein. Body 62 of elongate container 14 may have a concave lower surface configured to receive protuberance 66 therein to assist with maintaining lip balm container within compartment 18 when an upper portion of lip balm container 14 is removably mounted within coupling assembly 19, as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 9, the lower ledge 32 of the assembly 10 includes rounded, convex protuberance 66 extending upwardly from the ledge 32.

As further shown in FIG. 9, the resiliently movable clasping latches 46, 48 of coupling assembly 19 are available for a lip balm container 14 to be removably placed therebetween, such that the clasping latches 46, 48 will temporarily move apart as the lip balm container is placed there between, but then will resiliently maintain lip balm container 14 therebetween when lip balm container 14 is placed on the rounded protuberance 66 and between ledges 22 and 24. Container 14 may then be selectively removed from latches 46, 48.

Coupling assembly 19 may be a single molded plastic piece that snaps onto opposing sides of body 26 of bottle 12 (e.g., a plastic bottle 12) with opposing first and second latching ears 68 (FIG. 9) that extend from respective proximal latches 42, 44 into mating grooves within opposing sides of bottle body 26.

Coupling assembly 19 is comprised of a curved body 50 from which distal curved latches 46, 48 extend outwardly with sufficient resilient deformability so they can be moved apart to receive lip balm container 14 therein, yet with sufficient resilience that they will move back into place once the lip balm container 14 is grasped between latches 46, 48. Latches 46, 48 can then be moved apart again when container is pulled away from latches 46, 48.

In use, the user conveniently mounts the lip balm container 14 onto protuberance 66 of ledge 24 when it is desired to place the lip balm container 14 within bottle 12 and further snaps lip balm container between curved latches 46, 48 of coupling assembly 19 and into curved body 50. In this position, the lip balm container and the sunscreen or other liquid in bottle 12 can be conveniently moved, stored and maintained in a singular assembly, such that the user will have both at the user's ready disposal when needed and such that the user will not need to remember to obtain separate lip balm and sunscreen in distinct locations when needed.

When the user desires to use sunscreen, the user can maintain both in an assembly and apply the sunscreen by opening the lid of cap 60, or by removing cap 60, and dispensing sunscreen from bottle 12. When the user desires to apply lip balm, the user can remove lip balm container 14 from the grasp of curved latches 46, 48 and readily apply the lip balm from container 14, then return the lip balm container 14 to the position shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7-8, lip balm container 14 is configured to fit within the outer wall of bottle 12 such that container 14 fits within the horizontal footprint of the bottle 12. By fitting within the horizontal footprint of bottle 12, as shown in FIGS. 7-8, lip balm container 14 efficiently uses space within the profile of bottle 12. Assembly is thus a convenient bottle assembly for storing a liquid material and a balm material in separate portions of the assembly 10 for convenient storage of the materials without co-mingling the materials,

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

1. A bottle assembly for storing a liquid material and a balm material in separate portions of the assembly for convenient storage of the materials without co-mingling the materials, the bottle assembly comprising: a bottle,a container configured to fit within the outer wall of the bottle, such that the bottle can be used separately from the container and such that the container can be used separately from the bottle and such that the container can be selectively mounted onto the bottle and selectively removed therefrom; anda coupling assembly mounted to the bottle for removably coupling the container to the bottle.

2. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the bottle comprises a sunscreen bottle.

3. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the container comprises an elongate lip balm container.

4. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the container is an elongate container that fits within the horizontal footprint of the bottle.

5. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the bottle has a U-shaped compartment for receiving the container.

6. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the bottle has a U-shaped compartment for receiving the container, the U-shaped compartment having a rounded protuberance upon which the container rests.

7. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the coupling assembly is configured to couple an upper portion of the lip balm container to the bottle while a lower portion of the lip balm container rests on a rounded protuberance of a ledge of the bottle.

8. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the container contains a lip balm material.

9. A container as recited in claim 1, further comprising a lid on a bottle.

10. A container as recited in claim 1, wherein the container comprises a lip balm container having a lid on the top portion thereof and wherein the container has a concave surface on the bottom portion thereof for receiving a rounded protuberance of the bottle.

11. A bottle assembly configured to maintain two different materials within different portions of the bottle assembly for selective use by a user, the bottle assembly comprising: a bottle having an end wall having a U-shaped compartment;an elongate container configured to fit within the U-shaped compartment; anda coupling assembly for removably grasping the container as the container rests within the U-shaped compartment, the coupling assembly configured to enable a user to selectively insert the container into the U-shaped compartment and to selectively remove the container for the U-shaped compartment.

12. An assembly as recited in claim 11, wherein the elongate container fits within the horizontal footprint of the bottle.

13. An assembly as recited in claim 11, wherein the bottle comprises a bottle body having a recessed wall having an upper ledge and a lower ledge connected thereto, the elongate container fitting within the U-shaped compartment between the upper and lower ledges.

14. A method for providing an assembly for storing two different materials, the method comprising: providing a bottle having an end wall having U-shaped compartment;providing a separate container configured to fit within the U-shaped compartment;providing a coupling assembly for removably grasping the container as the container rests within the U-shaped compartment, the coupling assembly configured to enable a user to selectively insert the container into the U-shaped compartment and to selectively remove the container from the U-shaped compartment; andplacing the container within the U-shaped compartment of the bottle such that the container is conveniently coupled to the bottle within the U-shaped compartment of the bottle by the coupling assembly and can be selectively removed therefrom.

15. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein the bottle is configured to hold a liquid material, and wherein the container is configured to hold a lip balm material therein.

16. A method as recited in claim 15 further comprising mounting the lip balm container on a protuberance of the bottle.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the container fits within the horizontal footprint of the bottle.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the bottle comprises a bottle body having a recessed wall having an upper ledge and a lower ledge connected thereto, the elongate container fitting within the U-shaped compartment between the upper and lower ledges.

19. A method recited in claim 18, wherein the coupling assembly is configured to couple an upper portion of the lip balm container to the bottle while a lower portion of the lip balm container rests on the rounded protuberance of a ledge of the bottle.

20. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein the container comprises a lip balm container having a lid on the top portion thereof and wherein the container has a concave surface on the bottom portion thereof for receiving a rounded protuberance of the bottle.