Receptacles – Container attachment or adjunct – Drinking device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-10
2001-03-06
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Container attachment or adjunct
Drinking device
C215S229000, C215S388000, C239S033000, C220S714000, C220S717000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196413
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved structure of a water bottle-straw assembly and particularly to a water bottle-straw assembly that employs a simple structure and has the advantages of preventing air from being sucked in subsequent suctions, providing better sealing free from water leakage, completely sucking up water in the bottle, and being applicable to water bottles with various capacity depths.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a commercially available water bottle, there is generally provided with a straw assembly for convenience. For example, please refer to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, which are two side sectional views of a conventional water bottle-straw assembly, illustrating the cap of a lift-lower type used in the assembly is in an open and a closed states, respectively. The straw assembly essentially consists of a cap base
10
and a straw
20
. The cap base
10
can be screwed to the open end of a water bottle
30
, and a circular groove
11
is provided at the center of the cap base
10
. A through hole
12
is fonned on the bottom of the circular groove
11
. The cap base
10
is also provided with a cap
13
of a lift-lower type. The straw
20
goes through the through hole
12
of the circular groove
11
and is capped with a sucker
21
. A spring
22
is disposed between the sucker
21
and the bottom of the circular groove
11
in such a way that the sucker
21
can be pushed up above the cap base
10
by the spring
22
when the cap
13
is in an open state as shown in
FIG. 1
, and that the sucker
21
can be pushed down into the circular groove
11
when the cap
13
is in a closed state as shown in FIG.
2
. In addition, the lower end of the straw
20
generally approaches the inner bottom of the water bottle
30
.
Although such a water bottle-straw assembly can provide convenience in water drinking, there are several drawbacks as described below.
Because the upper end of the straw
20
simply leads to the lower end thereof, the water sucked up in the straw
20
will flow back to the bottle
30
when a user's mouth no longer contains the sucker
21
, resulting in that the air will immediately fill in the space above the water level in the straw
20
. Consequently, when the user sucks again, he must completely suck the air in the straw
20
before the water in the bottle
30
comes up into his mouth through the straw
20
. By the way, the lower the water level is, the more air is sucked. Users usually suck so much air into their stomachs that they may feel sick during or after drinking. When the cap
13
is in a closed state as shown in
FIG. 2
, it presses against the upper end of the sucker
21
. However, since there is a gap between the sucker
21
and the circular groove
11
, the water in the bottle
30
can leak out from the circular groove
1
1
through the through hole
12
.
During sucking, users, especially children and babies, may be hurt at their teeth because the sucker
21
is usually made of hard plastics.
Furthermore, the straw
20
will move up and down as the sucker
21
moves up and down due to the opening and closing of the cap
13
. Accordingly, it is usually a principle that the straw
20
is not so long and does not touch the inner bottom of the water bottle
30
when the cap
13
is in aclosed state, as shown in FIG.
2
. Obviously, such a length of the staw
20
always makes a distance between the lower end of the straw
20
and the inner bottom of the water bottle
30
when the cap
13
is in an open state, as shown in FIG.
1
. Therefore, users cannot completely suck the water out of the bottle
30
, and there is always some water left in the bottle
30
after use.
Thus, there is a need to improve conventional water bottles for better sucking.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The objective of the present invention is to provide an improved structure of a water bottle-straw assembly, which employs a simple structure and has the advantages of preventing air from being sucked in subsequent suctions, providing better sealing free from water leakage, completely sucking up water in the bottle, and being applicable to water bottles with various capacity depths.
In accordance with the present invention, the improved structure of such a water bottle-straw assembly, comprises:
a cap base screwed to the open end of the water bottle body, wherein a through hole and an air inlet are formed on said cap base, a rabbet groove is provided around said through hole beneath said cap base, and said cap base is also provided with a cap of a lift-lower type at its edge;
a suction base made of silicone and being made integral, wherein a flange is formed around said suction base, a suction end is protruded on said suction base, another flange is formed around the low part of said suction end, a valve is provided at the top of said suction end, an air-guiding groove is formed either on said flange or on the corresponding position beneath said cap base, an air inlet valve is provided in said air-guiding groove;
a straw, the tipper end of which is connected into said suction end of said suction base and the lower end of which touches the inner bottom of the water bottle body;
wherein said suction end goes through said through hole of said cap base in such a way that said two flanges of said suction base are rabbetted with said rabbet groove and the edge of said through hole, respectively, and that said suction end is protruded above said cap base; and
wherein said air-guiding groove on said flange corresponds to and is thus air-connected to said air inlet on said cap base.
Moreover, a flexible tube can be telescopically connected to said lower end of said straw, thereby the total length of said straw being adjustable to make said tube touch the inner bottom of the water bottle body by means of telescoping, in order for use in water bottles with various capacity depths.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2513896 (1950-07-01), Searer
patent: 2688326 (1954-09-01), Lerman
patent: 2724536 (1955-11-01), Pugh, Sr.
patent: 2815879 (1957-12-01), Hermes
patent: 2989961 (1961-06-01), Blanchett
patent: 3132776 (1964-05-01), Wasserberg
patent: 3481500 (1969-12-01), Palma
patent: 4785978 (1988-11-01), Kano et al.
patent: 4828141 (1989-05-01), Coy
patent: 4836404 (1989-06-01), Coy
patent: 4850533 (1989-07-01), Hoshi et al.
patent: 4946062 (1990-08-01), Coy
patent: 5101991 (1992-04-01), Morifuji et al.
patent: 5148971 (1992-09-01), Ahn
patent: 5234117 (1993-08-01), Garvin
patent: 5474028 (1995-12-01), Larson et al.
patent: 5878898 (1999-03-01), Shefflin
patent: 6050444 (2000-04-01), Sugg
patent: 6116457 (2000-09-01), Haberman
patent: 2695910 (1994-03-01), None
Dougherty & Troxell
Hylton Robin A.
Shoap Allan N.
LandOfFree
Structure of a water bottle-straw assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Structure of a water bottle-straw assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Structure of a water bottle-straw assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2440846