US20120298614A1

US20120298614A1 - Sports bottle with top-mounted filter

Info

Publication number: US20120298614A1
Application number: US13/118,135
Authority: US
Inventors: Steven D. Nelson
Original assignee: GOMATE LLC
Current assignee: GOMATE LLC
Priority date: 2011-05-27
Filing date: 2011-05-27
Publication date: 2012-11-29

Abstract

A personal bottle lid including a filter cup received in a filter holder, the cup and holder having apertures orbitable into alignment with one another for flow through the filter cup and orbitable out of alignment with one another to isolate the cup from the interior of the bottle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to sports bottles and particularly to sports bottles incorporating filters for filtering tap water and the like.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
With the active healthy way of life subscribed to by many in society, a great demand exists for personal sports bottles for carrying a quantity of refreshing or energizing liquid for quick hydration during sporting activities such as running, bicycling, hiking, tennis, golf and the like. Typically, sports bottles are constructed of plastic, a material often not biodegradable and, with the relatively high consumption at today's rates, the landfills are fast filling with single use bottles.
It has long been recognized that the cost and inconvenience of accessing filtered water is a problem which can discourage consumption of sufficient quantities of fluids to adequately hydrate the athlete. Accordingly, there has long existed a need for a compact and convenient filtration device which would allow for use of readily available tap water to be conveniently and inexpensively introduced and filtered allowing for numerous repeated fills and a long service life.
Numerous different efforts have been made to provide different types of filtration systems for filtering drinking water and the like. Early on, a canteen was proposed which was separated into multiple chambers and including a filtering body interposed between the chambers so that an air pump could force unfiltered water through the filtering body. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,542 to Hall.
Another device proposed for use in conjunction with a canteen involved an internal chamber filled with a particulate material for purifying the water and incorporating concentric tubes to force the fluid to flow through a circuitous path, and also including a manually operated pump for pressurizing the container to pump the water from the canteen through the purifying assembly. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,550 to Malson.
Another example of a prior water purification system is disclosed as a container with a removable lid positioned within a wide mouth tubular structure and including a filter cartridge positioned centrally to divide the container into two compartments for unfiltered water and filtered water. The filtering material includes a macro fabric filter, a core of silver-impregnated granular activated carbon, and a bottom segment of macro fabric filter to remove contaminants and sediments from the water percolated through the disposable filter cartridge to thereby improve the taste of the water and remove odors before being drawn from a spigot at the bottom of the container. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,018 to Moser.
Another proposed solution involves a container receiving an elongated filter device formed with an inner wall to divide the area inside the cylinder into upper and lower chambers and including a sipping tube for access to a lower chamber for filtered water. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,272 to Iana.
Other constructions incorporating upper and lower chambers separated by a filter includes the proposal of a ceramic filter through which water is dripped under gravitational forces to a lower receptacle. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,830 to Rait.
It has also been proposed to incorporate filtering devices in the neck of a water bottle to filter pesticides, chlorine, particulate matter, algae, bacteria and heavy metals from the water to improve the taste and remove odors. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,813 to Daniels.
Another proposed solution involves a container including a porous filter cartridge sealed in an outlet port and incorporating multiple fibrous spacers and treatment chambers containing beds of treatment media to filter the water for storage in the container as dispensed via outlet ports in the periphery of the purifier cartridge. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,824 to Magnusson.
Another plastic bottle device includes a neck for receiving a tube of filtering material for filtering water introduced through the neck. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,759 to Nohren, Jr.
Numerous different types of squeeze bottles have been proposed for use with various types of filters for creating partial vacuums within the chambers to draw water through filters or to pressurize to expel water from the bottle. One such type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,448 to Kura.
Another squeeze bottle approach includes a squeeze bottle incorporating a cap having an upstanding inlet compartment thereon for receiving and containing unfiltered water to be passed downwardly through a tubular filtration device to be expelled into the squeeze bottle upon generating a partial vacuum and then further including a purification filter for filtering water as it is passed to an outlet. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,585,409 to Bommi.
Other bottles have been proposed which include an enlarged wide-mouth neck for receiving a filter through which unfiltered water can be poured and through which is passed a relatively rigid straw for drawing filtered water from the bottom of the bottle. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,920 to Moeller.
It has also been proposed to provide a water pitcher including an inner chamber for containing unfiltered water to be flowed through a bottom outlet plugged by a filter to provide filtered water to be drawn out through a spout. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,670,479 to Arett.
It has also been proposed to provide a bottle with an inverted bottom with the bottom thereof being open for receipt of a filter device including a screen and filter through which water might be passed to be retained in the bottle for subsequent consumption from the neck of the bottle itself. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0170839 published Jul. 8, 2010 to Kohl.
Other proposals have suggested a bottle formed intermediately with a wall for suspending a filter and having an inlet stub in the shoulder of its upper portion for receiving unfiltered water to pass through the filter and to subsequently be dispensed therefrom when the bottle is inverted for the filtered water to flow through an annulus in the wall of the bottle to be dispensed through the neck of the bottle. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,669 to Crick.
A multi-stage water purification device has been proposed including a lower compartment having a flexible wall which may be compressed and then released to draw a partial vacuum to thus draw unfiltered water downwardly from an overhead compartment through a multi-stage filter to be partially filtered and stored in the lower compartment so that upon subsequent compression of the flexible wall the partially filtered water will be driven upwardly through a one-way valve to pass through a second stage filter to a filtered water compartment ready to be discharged through a pull up valve. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,585,409 to Bommi et al. Such devices are relatively complicated, expensive to manufacture and rely on atmospheric pressure to control the rate of fluid flow through the first stage filter.
The invention may be embodied in other forms without departure from the spirit and essential characteristics thereof. The embodiments described therefore are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Although the present invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art are also within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a lid for a personal water bottle. The lid includes a filter holder receiving a filter cup, the holder and cup having flow apertures alignable with one another for flow of fluid therethrough and shiftable out of alignment to isolate the filter cup from the interior of the bottle.
The features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal water bottle incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the bottle shown in FIG. 1 but exploded;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the bottle shown in FIG. 1, in enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but depicting the cap removed from the filter and pour spout;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view similar to FIG. 7 but with the valve rotated;

FIG. 9 is vertical sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the personal sports bottle of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 10 but exploded;

FIG. 12 is a transverse view taken along the line 12-12 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a transverse view taken along the line 13-13 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a transverse view, in enlarged scale, taken along the line 14-14 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 15-15 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is transverse sectional view similar to FIG. 14 but showing the valve closed;

FIG. 17 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 17-17 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a vertical sectional view, in enlarged scale, of the filter holder included in the personal sports bottle shown in FIG. 10; and

FIG. 19 is a detailed sectional view, in enlarged scale, taken from the circle designated 19 in FIG. 18.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention includes, generally, a lid assembly 25 to be mounted on a bottle 21 and including a depending open top cylindrical filter holder 29 which receives a cylindrical filter cup 33 in telescopical relation containing a filter 35. A drinking spout is formed in the lid 25 spaced laterally of the holder 29. The holder and cup are formed in their respective bottom walls with respective apertures 31 and 71 (FIG. 4) to be selectively aligned for flow of filtered water therethrough as indicated by the directional arrows 32. The holder may be formed integrally with a cover plate assembly, generally designated 51, and may project above the top of a circular cover plate 53 to form a connector ring 68 (FIG. 2). The ring 68 is formed in its interior wall with diametrically opposed bayonet thread grooves 67 configured with upwardly opening access slats 69 disposed adjacent clockwise facing stop surfaces 67. The top edge of the cup 33 is likewise formed with pairs of diametrically opposed, upwardly opening control notches 61 configured to selectively register radially with pairs of the slats 69. The lid assembly 25 includes a cylindrical rim, generally designated 75, configured with a cylindrical collar having the interior female threads 51 and formed on its vertical exterior with horizontal gripping ribs 77 spaced thereabout. The collar 75 is configured with an annular flange 79 overlying the periphery of annular flange 54 of a mounting assembly generally designated 51 to connect the plate assembly nested to the top edge of the neck 23. The collar may be split and may incorporate threads compatible with a NALGENE® bottle.
In the preferred embodiment, the lid assembly 21 includes a circular control plate 81 (FIGS. 2 and 3) formed on its diametrical opposite sides with radially outwardly projecting lugs 83 for selective receipt in the notches 61 and in the upwardly opening slats 69 of bayonet threads 67 formed in the upper ring 68.
It will be appreciated that, in practice, the cup 33 is so constructed that the diametrical notches 61 are positioned relative to the respective apertures 71 in the bottom wall so that when the control plate 81 is rotated counterclockwise to a closed position with apertures 71 out of registration with the holder apertures 31 (FIG. 3) of the housing 29 the bottom walls of the cup and holder to act as a valve to block liquid flow upwardly from the body of the bottle 21 and into the filter 35 to thereby maintain the filter isolated from the filtered water.
The notches 61 in the cup 33 are further clocked relative to the apertures 71 (FIG. 4) in the bottom wall of such cup so that when the lugs 83 are registered with the bayonet thread 67 and rotated clockwise to contact the stop 70 at the end of the thread (FIG. 9), the apertures 71 will be registered with the aperture 31 of the holder and the bottom wall of the filter housing so that water can flow downwardly through the filter 35 and into the container formed by the bottle 21.
The control plate 81 is formed on its top side with a pair of spaced-apart upstanding ears 85 (FIG. 3) which receive an end of a connector tether 87 of a spout cap 91. The tether is in the form of a plastic belt having sufficient body to provide for hinging of the tether about the hinge pin 86 at the lower end thereof to an upstanding orientation, so a user can grasp the cap 91 and rotate this cap to apply support torque to the control plate 81 to rotate such plate between its open and closed positions.
Referring to FIG. 3, the spout cap 91 is configured with a downwardly projecting stub tube 93 formed to be complementarily received within the pour spout 37 as viewed in FIG. 3. In the preferred embodiment, the spout 37 is kidney bean shaped in horizontal cross section to thus provide a pair of lobes 38 at the opposite ends projecting toward the holder to form a saddle therebetween. The cap 91 and stub tube 93 are likewise formed with a kidney bean complimentary shape to facilitate convenient shaping onto the spout and release therefrom.
Received in an annulus formed about the stub tube 93 is an annular fiber seal 97 which seals against the top edge of the pour spout 37 as shown in FIG. 3.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the filter 35 may be constructed of granulated carbon to remove unpleasant odors, organics and certain heavy metals. The filter may be a monolithic cylindrical carbon block designed such that the porosity of the block is as low as 1 micron to trap biological contaminants and the like.
In practice, it will be appreciated that the lid assembly 75 may be mounted on a selected bottle such as the bottle 21 as by placing the plate assembly 51 on the top edge of the neck 23 as shown in FIG. 3. The filter 35 may be placed in the filter cup 33 and the cup lowered telescopically into the open top of filter housing 29. The user may then grasp the cap 91 and tab 41 and position the cap assembly 41 (FIG. 3) with the control plate 81 over the filter 35 to engage the lugs 83 with a pair of diametrically disposed notches 61 of the cup 33 to provide for mechanical interconnection thereof. The user may conveniently rotate the cap assembly 41 forty-five degrees clockwise (FIG. 3) relative to the filter housing 29 until the lugs 83 engage the respective stops 70 thus indicating the outlet apertures are out of registration with the housing apertures 31 to thus positively block any flow to the bottom side of the filter 35. The cap 91 and tether 87 may then rotated about the pivot pin 86 to lower the spout cap 91 onto the spout to insert the stub tube in sealing engagement as shown in FIG. 3, thus sealing the spout and concurrently locking the cap 61 clocked in position with the apertures 31 and 71 closed.
It will be appreciated that when the user would like to fill the bottle 21 with filtered water, he or she may access a spigot of tap water or the like and snap the spout cap 91 off the spout 37 to free the plate 81 for rotation relative to the filter housing 29. The spout cap 91 may then serve as a convenient handle to be grasped by the operator to rotate the plate 81 counterclockwise thus orbiting the lugs 83 along the respective bayonet notches 67 until they engage the respective stops 67 to free such lugs to be passed vertically upwardly through the respective openings 69 (FIG. 2) to disengage the plate 81 from the housing 29 to be moved clear of the top of the filter. In this position, the cup apertures 71 are aligned with the apertures 31.
The user may then access a municipal water spigot 90 (FIG. 4) and pour water 43 into the top of the filter 35 to flow water downwardly by force of gravity to pass downwardly through the filter and through the aligned pie-shaped apertures 31 and 71 to flow into the body of the bottle 21.
When the bottle has been filled to the desired capacity, the user may then turn off the water from the spigot 90 and close the cap assembly itself. The cap assembly 41 may be closed by again inserting the control plate 81 into the top of the filter housing 29 and engaging the lugs 83 with diametrically opposed notches 61 and rotating the cup 33 until the lugs 83 register axially over the openings 69 in the bayonet threads 67 so such lugs can be passed downwardly into the bayonet threads and allow the plate 81 to be rotated 45° clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 to thereby move the plate axially downwardly to align horizontally with the body of the threads 67 so the plate can be rotated to orbit the lugs 83 to the respective end stops 70 (FIG. 9) of the respective threads 67, thereby rotating the cup 33 sufficiently to rotate the aperture 71 out of alignment with the apertures 31 in the bottom of the filter housing to thereby block fluid flow upwardly into the filter 35. At the point the hinge pin is oriented parallel to the main horizontal axis of the spout 37 to orient the tether 87 so that, when the cap 91 is lowered it will be aligned for snap fit the stub tube 93 into the spout.
The user may then undertake his or her active day, such as a bicycle ride, mountain hike or to perform in the workplace having the portable personal bottle of the present invention ready for convenient access. When the user desires to access the bottle, he or she may merely snap the spout cap 91 off the spout 37 (FIG. 3) to rotate the tether about the hinge pin 86 to open the spout 37 for access to the filtered water within the bottle 21. The cap 91 will then be held away from the top end of the spout by the user holding the tether and/or by the saddle between the hinge pin 86 of the kidney bean shaped cap. This procedure of opening the cap and accessing the water then may be repeated until the filtered water is substantially or completely consumed, at which time the water may be replenished from the spigot 90 or the like. It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the lid-mounted filter assembly and pour spout of the present invention provides an economical and convenient means for filtering water into a personal bottle and isolating the filtered water for drinking.
Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, a second embodiment of the personal filtered water bottle of the present invention includes, generally, a bottle 101 having a neck configured with coarse male threads 103 for receipt of a lid 105. The lid 105 is formed with an upstanding stub tube holder 107 configured for telescopic receipt of the lower end of a filter cup 109. The filter cup 109 is formed in its lower extremity with an exterior O-ring gland which receives an O-ring 113 to form a dynamic seal with the interior wall of the tube holder 107. The filter cup is configured to receive a filter cartridge generally designated 121, and is formed in its exterior walls with a pair of vertical ribs 123 annularly spaced apart to selectively snap into a vertical groove in the interior of the holder to register the cup in its open or closed positions. A filter holder cap 127 is connected to the cup 109 by a flexible tab 131.
The upper edge of the cylindrical cup 109 is formed with a radially outwardly projecting flange 124 (FIGS. 18 and 19) constructed to be snap-fitted into a groove 126 formed in the peripheral flange 128 of the cap 127.
Referring to FIG. 12, the portion of the lid 105 forming the bottom wall of the holder 107 is formed with a plurality of truncated, triangular apertures 141 spaced equidistant around a circular pattern, its center coinciding with the axial center of the cup 109. With continued reference to FIG. 12, it is noted that indicia “filter” 145 and “drink” 147, respectively are displayed on the lid adjacent the exterior of the holder 107, spaced circumferentially apart to designate when the holder is in position for filtering water through the filter 121 or in position for drinking of the filtered water.
Referring to FIG. 13, the bottom wall of the cup 109 is formed with apertures 151 complementing the shape of the apertures 141 and also disposed on the circumference of a circle having its center coinciding with the axial center of the holder itself and have the same diameter as the pattern for that for the apertures 141. Thus, when the holder is received in the holder 107 and rotated to the “filter” position, the apertures 141 and 151 will be aligned with one another as shown in FIG. 15 for flow of filtered water therethrough. When the cup 109 is rotated to the “drink” position, such apertures will be rotated out of registration with one another as shown in FIG. 16 to block water from penetrating upwardly into the filter.
With continued reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, the lid is formed with an upstanding drinking spout 171 spaced from the cup 109 to be utilized for drinking of filtered water from the bottle 101.
A cap 172 is provided for covering the spout 170 and includes a flexible tether 174 connected with a collar 176 which may be fitted over the spout 171.
Similar to the description for the embodiment of FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that the filter cartridge 121 may be inserted in the cup 109 and the holder received in the holder 107. When it is desirable to filter water into the bottle FIG. 10, the user may merely snap the cap 127 off the holder as shown in FIG. 11 and hold the holder under the spigot 90 to flow water downwardly through the filter 121 and through the aligned apertures 141 and 151 as shown in FIG. 14 to fill the bottle with filtered water.
When filled, the user may then conveniently rotate the holder to orbit the pointer 128 to the drink indicia 147 (FIGS. 12-14) to thereby position the apertures 141 and 151 out of alignment with one another as shown in FIG. 16 so that the filtered water does not reenter the filter holder and pick up any impurities that may exist in the filter itself.
When the user desires to consume some water, he or she may then lift the drinking spout cap 120 off the drinking spout 171 and drink from the spout directly or otherwise pour water into a glass or other container.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the are the personal fluid bottle of the present invention provides an inexpensive and convenient lid device allowing for filtering water into a bottle to be isolated from the filter until such time as the water is consumed and ready for replenishment.
The invention may be embodied in other forms without departure from the spirit and essential characteristics thereof. The embodiments described therefore are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Although the present invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art are also within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A personal filtering liquid bottle apparatus comprising:

a bottle;

a lid on the bottle, the cover formed on one side with a pour spout and formed with an inlet spaced laterally therefrom;

the lid further formed with an open top filter housing over the inlet;

a filter cup nested rotatably in the housing and configured with a bottom wall for normally blocking flow from the inlet having an outlet, the housing being rotatable in the housing between an open position with the outlet registered with the inlet and further rotatable to a closed position with bottom wall blocking the outlet; and

a filter in the housing.

2. The personal filtering liquid bottle apparatus of claim 1 that includes:

a releasable fastener for releasable fastening the cup in the housing.

3. The personal filtering liquid bottle of claim 1 wherein:

the cover includes a plurality of inlets; and

the bottom wall is formed with a plurality of outlets registrable with the respective inlets.

4. The personal filtering liquid bottle of claim 1 wherein:

the cup is constructed to be selectively removed from the housing.

5. The personal filtering liquid bottle of claim 1 wherein:

the housing is formed in its interior with an index indent; and

the cup is formed in its exterior with first and second radially spaced apart rib elements constructed to selectively register with the indent when the housing is in respective open and closed positions.

6. The personal filtering liquid bottle of claim 1 wherein:

the cup is constructed to project above the top edge of the housing.

7. The personal filtering liquid bottle of claim 1 wherein:

the housing includes a cap for covering the top thereof and a flexible tab connecting the cap to the housing.

8. The personal filtering liquid bottle apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the filter housing is formed in its upper portion with interior threads;

the cup is formed with a pair of oppositely disposed upwardly opening notches and the apparatus includes;

a plate for covering a cup, the plate including oppositely projecting lugs for engaging the respective notches and to project laterally outwardly from the notches to engage the threads and constructed to, upon rotation of the cover, rotate the cup and to engage the threads and be drawn into closing relationship with the cup.

9. The personal filtering liquid bottle apparatus of claim 8 wherein the apparatus includes:

a spout cap for selectively covering the spout; and

a tether connecting the spout cap to the lid and constructed and so arranged as to, when the cup is rotated to move the outlet and inlet out of registration with one another, position the spout cap for closure on the spout.

10. A personal fluid, self filtering fluid bottle lid device for fitting to the neck of a bottle having an upwardly facing opening and comprising:

a lid formed with a peripheral skirt for fitting to the neck and configured on one side with a pour spout and further formed with a housing defining a well spaced laterally from the spout, the well including a bottom wall formed with at least one inlet;

a filter cup nested rotatably in the well, rotatable between open and closed positions and configured with a filter bottom wall including an inlet configured to be, when the housing is in the open position, registered with the outlet.

11. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 10 wherein:

the cup is formed at its upper end with a latch element and the device includes;

a cap fitted rotatably on the well and including a catch element engageable with the latch element for rotation of the well with rotation of the filter cap.

12. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 11 that includes:

a spout cap connectable with the spout and including a flexible tab is connected to the filter cap.

13. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 11 wherein:

the filter plate is formed with at least one upwardly opening notch defining the latch element; and

the filter lid is formed with a dog engageable with the latch element.

14. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 10 that includes:

a filter received in the housing.

15. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 10 that includes:

a latch for releasably holding the cup in the well.

16. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 11 that includes:

index means for indexing the rotational position of the cap relative to the well.

17. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 10 that includes:

registration means for registering the position of the housing when in its closed position.

18. The personal, self filtering fluid bottle cover of claim 10 wherein:

the well bottom wall is formed with a predetermined number of outlets; and

the cup bottom wall is formed with a plurality of inlets corresponding with the predetermined number of outlets.

19. A personal fluid bottle device comprising:

a bottle including a top wall;

the top wall including at lease one filter inlet;

a filter holder disposed over filter inlet;

a filter in the filter holder;

a valve interposed between the filter and filter inlet and operable to be manually shifted between an open and closed position; and

a pour spout on the top wall spaced from the filler port.

20. The personal fluid bottle device of claim 19 wherein:

the valve includes a filter cup interposed between the holder and filter and formed with an outlet cooperating with the inlet to form the valve.