Patent Application
20220279879
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The disclosure relates to drinking bladder devices and more particularly pertains to a new drinking bladder device for convenient beverage storage and drinking.
The prior art relates to drinking bladder devices. Known devices integrate bladders and tubes into wearable devices. These devices typically place the bladder against the small of the user's back and run the drinking tube through the collar of the shirt. Known devices do not have access to the drinking tube at the cuff of a jacket and do not place the bladder within a chest pocket, the sleeve, or the hood.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a jacket having a jacket body, a pair of sleeves coupled to the jacket body, and an inner lining. A bladder pocket is coupled to the jacket. The bladder pocket is coupled to the inner lining. A bladder is coupled within the bladder pocket. The bladder has a fill port and a release port extending into a bladder inside. The bladder inside is configured to hold a beverage. A cap is coupled to the bladder. The cap is selectively engageable with the fill port to seal or unseal the bladder inside. A drinking tube is coupled to the bladder. The drinking tube extends either through one of the sleeves of the jacket or through a hood portion of the jacket if present. The drinking tube is in fluid communication with the release port. A valve is coupled to the drinking tube. The valve is coupled proximal a distal end of the drinking tube to restrict or allow the flow of the beverage.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A bladder pocket 20 is coupled to the inner lining 18 of the jacket. The bladder pocket 20 may be coupled to the inner lining 18 on a breast portion 22 as seen in
The bladder pocket 20 may have a pocket portion 30 and flap portion 32. The flap portion 32 closes or exposes the pocket portion 30. Each of the pocket portion 30 and the flap portion 32 may have a selectively engageable fastener 34 to seal the pocket portion 30 and secure contents. The selectively engageable fastener 34 may be, but is not limited to, a hook-and-loop fastener, a zipper, a plurality of snaps, and the like. The bladder pocket 20 may be rectangular when positioned on the breast portion 22 or the upper arm portion 26. The bladder pocket 20 may alternatively have a parabolic perimeter 35 when coupled to the hood portion 29 in order to conform to the shape of the hood portion 29 and maximize volume.
A bladder 36 is coupled within the bladder pocket 20. The bladder 36 has a fill port 38 and a release port 40 extending into a bladder inside 42. The bladder inside 42 is configured to hold a beverage. The bladder 36 may conform to the dimensions of the pocket portion 30 to maximize the volume of the beverage stored. The fill port 38 allows the user to replenish the bladder inside 42 with the beverage and is positioned on a bladder top edge 44 of the bladder. The release port 40 allows the beverage to exit the bladder inside 42 and is positioned adjacent a bladder bottom edge 46 to be gravity fed and allow the bladder inside 42 to empty as much as possible. A cap 48 is coupled to the bladder 36. The cap 48 is selectively engageable with the fill port 38 to seal or unseal the bladder inside 42. The cap 48 may threadingly engage the fill port 38 or may alternatively press-fit onto the fill port 38.
A drinking tube 50 is coupled to the bladder 36. The drinking tube 50 extends through one of the sleeves 16 of the jacket when the bladder pocket 20 is positioned on the breast portion 22 or the upper arm portion 26. The drinking tube 50 has an exposed portion 52 protruding from a cuff 54 of the sleeve. The drinking tube 50 is in fluid communication with the release port 40 of the bladder to allow the user to consume the beverage. When the bladder pocket 20 is coupled to the hood portion 29 the drinking tube 50 extends out of the hood portion 29. The bladder 36 and the drinking tube 50 are sufficiently malleable to not restrict movement of the user.
A valve 56 is coupled to the drinking tube 50. The valve 56 is coupled proximal a distal end 58 of the drinking tube to restrict or allow the flow of the beverage. The valve 56 may have a release button 60 to allow the flow of the beverage when depressed. The release button 60 may be elliptical to maximize the depressible area for ease of use.
In use, the bladder 36 is filled with the beverage through the fill port 38. The cap 48 is engaged with the fill port 38 to prevent leakage and the bladder is returned to within the bladder pocket 20. The beverage is then consumed through the drinking tube 50 by depressing the release button 60 on the valve and creating suction.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
