Patent Application
20210394959
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of reusable insulated bottles, and more specifically to a multi-functional reusable insulated bottle that includes various reusable dining attachments for minimizing user's plastic consumption footprint.
Insulated bottles are regularly used as a convenient way to store and transport water or other beverages. Various types of reusable bottles with more advanced features have become increasingly popular, such as those that include liquid filtration units, insulation, or are reusable and designed for long-term use.
However, currently existing reusable bottles remain severely limited in their ability to reduce the plastic footprint of their users. This is because the currently available reusable bottles are frequently used in connection with disposable eating utensils, namely plastic forks, spoons, and knives. Reusable bottle users frequently bring their bottles when traveling, which is an inconvenient and unsanitary time to store and use reusable flatware. As a result, the users may frequently use disposable utensils, despite that user's concern for the environment.
Furthermore, currently available reusable bottles are limited in functionality and features. Although there are reusable bottles that provide, for example, water filtration and vacuum insulation, these bottles are not available with an eating surface, reusable utensils, and cups.
Thus, there is a need for a reusable, multi-functional bottle that effectively reduces the plastic footprint of users by eliminating the need to use disposable eating utensils, while simultaneously providing a high-quality bottle that is durable, reusable, thermally insulated, and has a filtration system.
To minimize the limitations in the cited references, and to minimize other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the reusable, multi-functional bottle and attachments disclosed herein disclose a multi-function, reusable bottle that may be equipped with reusable dining attachments designed to eliminate a user's need for single use bottled water, plastic utensils, plates, and cups. In addition to reducing a user's plastic consumption footprint, the multi-functional reusable bottle of the present disclosure may provide a high-quality beverage container for all of the user's reusable bottle needs.
One embodiment may be a multi-functional container, comprising an interior space configured to hold a liquid, a removable cup, a utensil storage insert, a reusable utensil, a magnetic plate, and a cap assembly, wherein the utensil storage insert may be configured to removably receive the reusable utensil, and wherein the removable cup, utensil storage insert, magnetic plate, and cap assembly may be configured to removeably connect to the bottle. The reusable utensil may include one or more pivot points, such that the reusable utensil may compact by rotating along the pivot points. The reusable utensil may be selected from the group of utensils consisting of, forks, knives, spoons, and/or sporks. The removable cup may engage a bottom portion of the bottle. The removable cup and the bottom portion of the bottle may be configured to threadedly engage one another. The utensil storage insert may engage a bottom portion of the bottle. The utensil storage insert and the bottom portion of the bottle may be configured to frictionally engage one another. The utensil storage insert may engage an inner surface of the bottom portion of the bottle. The removable cup and an outer surface of the bottle may be configured to threadedly engage one another. The removable cup may be larger in diameter than the utensil storage insert, such that the removable cup slides over and encompasses the utensil storage insert when both the removable cup and the utensil storage insert may be engaged with the bottle. The bottom portion of the bottle may be flat, such that the bottle may be capable of standing upright on flat surfaces when the removable cup may be removed from the bottle. The bottle, removable cup, magnetic plate, utensil storage insert, and reusable utensil may be made of metal. In other embodiments, the removable cup, utensil storage insert, and reusable utensil may be made of high-grade washable and reusable plastic. The bottle may be vacuum insulated. The cap assembly may further include a first straw. The cap assembly may further include a second straw. The multi-functional container apparatus may further include a liquid filtration apparatus attached to or integrated with the cap assembly.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may further include a reusable, multi-functional bottle geared towards reducing the amount of plastic waste generated by single-use utensils or single-use water bottles. The multi-functional reusable bottle efficiently and conveniently packages durable, reusable utensils for repeated use, eliminating the need for single-use utensils or bottled water. The multi-functional reusable bottle may be equipped with a magnetic plate, collapsible utensil, a removable cup, one or more straws, a carbon filter liquid purifier, and any combinations thereof. In addition, the multi-functional reusable bottle may preferably be vacuum sealed and/or insulated, include a side strap for easy carrying, and/or may be made of a durable metal that may be washable and reusable over prolonged periods of time.
One embodiment may be a multi-functional reusable bottle with reusable dining attachments, comprising: a bottle; a removable cup; a utensil storage insert; a reusable utensil; a magnetic plate; and a cap assembly.
One embodiment may be a multi-functional reusable bottle with reusable dining attachments, wherein the reusable utensil(s) may be one or more of the following: a fork, a knife, a spoon, and/or a spork. Preferably, the reusable utensil(s) is foldable along a central pivot point, such that the reusable utensil folds approximately in half for easy storage within the utensil storage insert.
One embodiment may be a multi-functional reusable bottle with reusable dining attachments, wherein the utensil storage insert, and removable cup may be securely and reversibly attached to separate portions of the bottle, preferably by screw threading. In this embodiment, the utensil storage insert and removable cup may be attached or removed to the bottle independently of each other, allowing users to selectively access and use either the reusable utensil(s) and/or the removable cup.
In one embodiment, the multi-functional reusable bottle may be vacuum insulated, such that the bottle is capable of maintaining the temperature of its contents for extended periods of time.
Another embodiment may be a multi-functional reusable bottle, wherein the cap assembly further comprises one or more straws. The multi-functional reusable bottle may be further equipped with a liquid filtration apparatus.
Other features and advantages inherent in the multi-functional reusable bottle with reusable dining attachments of the present disclosure, besides those which are claimed and disclosed, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and its accompanying drawings.
The drawings are of illustrative embodiments. They do not illustrate all embodiments. Other embodiments may be used in addition or instead. Details which may be apparent or unnecessary may be omitted to save space or for more effective illustration. Some embodiments may be practiced with additional components or steps and/or without all of the components or steps, which are illustrated. When the same numeral appears in different drawings, it refers to the same or like components or steps.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of one or more embodiments. However, these embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and/or components have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of embodiments.
While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. As will be realized, these embodiments are capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of protection. Accordingly, figures and the detailed descriptions thereof are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. Also, the reference or non-reference to a particular embodiment shall not be interpreted to limit the scope of protection.
In the following description, certain terminology is used to describe certain features of one or more embodiments. For purposes of the specification, unless otherwise specified, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, in one embodiment, an object that is “substantially” located within a housing would mean that the object is either completely within a housing or nearly completely within a housing. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context. However, generally speaking, the nearness of completion will be so as to have the same overall result as if absolute and total completion were obtained. The use of “substantially” is also equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result.
As used herein, the terms “approximately” and “about” generally refer to a deviance of within 5% of the indicated number or range of numbers. In one embodiment, the term “approximately” and “about,” may refer to a deviance of between 0.0001-10% from the indicated number or range of numbers.
The present specification discloses a multi-functional reusable bottle with reusable dining attachments for minimizing the user's plastic consumption footprint.
Disclosed are components that may be used to perform the disclosed methods and systems. These and other components are disclosed herein, and it is understood that when combinations, subsets, interactions, groups, etc. of these components are disclosed that while specific reference of each various individual and collective combinations and permutation of these may not be explicitly disclosed, each is specifically contemplated and described herein, for all methods and systems. This applies to all embodiments of this application including, but not limited to, steps in disclosed methods. Thus, if there are a variety of additional steps that may be performed it is understood that each of these additional steps may be performed with any specific embodiment or combination of embodiments of the disclosed methods.
In the following description, certain terminology is used to describe certain features of one or more embodiments.
As shown in
The plate 130 may be easily removed and re-attached to the side of the container 110. The magnetic plate 130 may be durable and washable, such that it may be used multiple times over the lifetime of the multi-functional reusable bottle 100. In one embodiment, the removeable plate 130 may be substantially curved in order to engage the bottle 110 and comprise at least one flat portion 131 that may allow the magnetic plate 130 to be stable on a flat surface. The flat portion 131 may also double as the magnetic portion.
When the removable cup 120 is secured to the bottom of the bottle 100, preferably, the removable cup 120 may be attached to the bottle 100 at an attachment point 115 that is narrower than the rest of the container 110. In this manner, the completely assembled multi-functional reusable bottle 100 may have a smooth appearance when seen from afar, with a near-consistent diameter from top to bottom.
The bottom of the container 110 may have a structure that comprises a substantially hollow portion 116 with an opening facing down such that the utensil storage insert 140 may engage the substantially hollow portion 116. The utensil storage insert 140 may engage the substantially hollow portion via friction or some other connection mechanism. Additionally, the bottom of the container 110 may have an outward threaded portion configured to receive and secure the removable cup 120. In alternative embodiments, various mechanical attachment mechanisms may be used to secure the reusable cup 120 and the utensil storage insert 140 to the container 110.
In an alternative embodiment, the utensil storage insert 140 may be a part of the bottle 110, and not a separate component that removeably affixes to the container 110.
The seal 190 may be an O-ring or a gasket that allows the cap assembly to tightly seal in liquid into the container 110 in a leak-proof manner. The cap 180 is the main portion of the cap assembly and may typically connect to the top of the container 110 in a threaded manner. The straw fitting 195 may act as a plug in the bottom part of the cap 180 and may allow a straw to removeably connect to the cap assembly 150.
Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions, magnitudes, sizes, locations, and other specifications, which set forth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, not exact. They are intended to have a reasonable range, which is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with what is customary in the art to which they pertain.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the above detailed description, which shows and describes the illustrative embodiments. As will be realized, these embodiments are capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the detailed description is to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. Also, although not explicitly recited, one or more additional embodiments may be practiced in combination or conjunction with one another. Furthermore, the reference or non-reference to a particular embodiment shall not be interpreted to limit the scope of protection. It is intended that the scope of protection not be limited by this detailed description, but by the claims and the equivalents to the claims that are appended hereto.
Except as stated immediately above, nothing which has been stated or illustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedication of any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, or equivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recited in the claims.
