Abstract:
A solid dosage preparation is provided with a bottle of water. The solid dosage preparation is contained within a cavity at the bottom of the bottle and held captive therein by a heat-sealed lidding. The lidding indicates an attempted tampering event by limiting the means for opening to a witnessing tear. The bottle stands on its cap to provide clear viewing of the containment area.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Priority is claimed to Provisional Application 61/145,528, filed Jan. 17, 2009. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to bottled water products, and more particularly to a nutritionally enhanced drink. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Additives are commonly sold in combination with bottled water. Currently marketed examples include energy, or health, drinks, where the additive is provided in solution form. Other examples include a medication where the bottled water is supplied simply as a convenience for washing down a pill or a capsule. 
         [0004]    In particular instances involving nutritional supplements, however, it is useful to supply the supplement in solid dosage form, similar to the medication example. Doing so improves the shelf stability of a natural active ingredient, and particularly one of a biological derivation, which might otherwise degrade or lose potency over time when in dissolution. 
         [0005]    In contrast with the medication circumstance, however, the water is not just a convenience for administering the dosage. It is also a measured amount of ingredient required for the best metabolic results. Therefore, the means for combining the two components into a single package is an important aspect of the product put-up. 
         [0006]    The art is replete with bottled liquid products where some adjunct product is packaged in or on the bottle closure. Alternatively, the bottle itself might play a dual role in the packaging by providing an exterior location for attachment purposes. Most bottles for bottled liquid products are fabricated by molding. The molding technology lends itself to creating cavities, or recesses, in the sidewalls or bottom to provide a nesting location for the adjunct component. 
         [0007]    In the case of blow-molded bottles, which are typically used for bottled water products, a natural recess is provided at the bottom where the parison is stubbed off. The parison is the preform tube which is expanded into the shape provided by a female mold by blowing air, or another gas, through an open end called a gate. A protruding gate vestige is left on the bottom where a concavity recesses it out of the way. This recess might provide a handy location for storing a solid dosage preparation. 
         [0008]    Solid dosage preparations placed on the exterior recessed bottom of open-topped drinking cups or tumblers are known in the art. U.S. Patent Application 2004/0149598 to Scarla, for example, attaches a breath freshener to the bottom of a disposable cup, such as a STARBUCKS™ coffee cup. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,798,339 to Soulis, a tablet, or a powder composition in a pouch is attached to the raised bottom of a paper cup. These containers, however, while temporarily filled for drinking, do not contain the liquid product, in the sense of put-up packaging. Even if they were to be transformed into a shelf package by means of filling and applying a sealing closure, they provide little physical, and no safety, protection for the solid dosage component, not to mention failing to provide self-stability for the liquid component. 
         [0009]    Sealed-closure bottled liquid products, where an adjunct component is conveyed therewith at or near the bottom, are also known. In U.S. Patent Application 2005/0284792 to Gopinathan, a multi-component migraine kit is stored in a separate container comprising a false bottom to a water bottle. In U.S. Patent Application 2004/0262173 to Buesching, a medication is provided in an end-cap which is press-fit to the posterior of a bottle containing a liquid, such as water. An additional container is required, however, in each of these cases. The additional container represents increased cost and assembly complication. Furthermore, the accompanying product is unprotected with regard to tampering. Still furthermore, the product, in its location underneath the bottle, is not always visible to the consumer of the product. 
         [0010]    The prior art is silent regarding the use of an already-existing concavity in most water bottles for the simplified concomitant conveyance of a solid dosage preparation in a way that provides both tamper safety and physical protection for the preparation, and in a manner that places the preparation in full view for verification by the user. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    In view of the above-mentioned unfulfilled needs, the present invention embodies, but is not limited by, the following objects and advantages: 
         [0012]    A first objective of the present invention is to provide a solid dosage preparation together with a bottle of water. 
         [0013]    A second objective is to provide the solid dosage preparation in a recessed location at the bottom of the bottle. 
         [0014]    A third objective is to limit the packaging components of the assembly to, at most, a bottle, a closure and a lidding. 
         [0015]    A fourth objective is to provide protection with respect to handling damage for the solid dosage preparation. 
         [0016]    A fifth objective is to render both the water and the solid dosage preparation secure from tampering. 
         [0017]    A sixth objective is to stand the bottle so that the bottom is in view. 
         [0018]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an enhanced water product combined with a safety feature comprises a water bottle containing water and having an elongated body with a neck finish on one end and a concave bottom on the other end. The concave bottom has a first annular ring at the periphery of the elongated body and a second annular ring recessed from, and inboard of, the first annular ring. The second annular ring has a flat surface defining a cavity at the periphery thereof with the concave bottom. The neck finish is sealed with a closure. A solid dosage preparation is protectively housed in the cavity and retained by a means for retaining. An integrated means for providing an indication of tampering, should pre-purchase access to the cavity be attempted, is included. 
         [0019]    In a particularly preferred embodiment, the means for retaining comprises a lid bonded to the flat surface of the second annular ring. The integrated means for providing an indication of tampering comprises a frustum wall section joining the first annular ring and the second annular ring. The frustum wall section provides an abutment surface for the lid. The abutment surface renders the edge of the lid abutted thereto substantially inaccessible for the purpose of peeling it away and exposing the cavity. With a lid that is frangible, the integrated means for providing an indication of tampering further comprises at least one tab extending from the periphery of the lid, the periphery having at least one notch adjacent the tab. The notch serves to break the edge so as to propagate a tear in the lid when the tab is lifted. The tear gives a preferred access to the cavity, but also gives evidence of any prior attempt to gain access. 
         [0020]    In another particularly preferred embodiment, the lid is a clear film and the bottle is oriented bottom-up with the use of a stand-up cap. This combination of features allows for the visual inspection of the solid dosage preparation. 
         [0021]    As this is not intended to be an exhaustive recitation, other embodiments may be learned from practicing the invention or may otherwise become apparent to those skilled in the art. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0022]    Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood through the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein: 
           [0023]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view in perspective; 
           [0025]      FIG. 3  is a partial section in perspective along the line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0026]      FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the bottom showing the tab and notch; 
           [0027]      FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view of the bottom showing a peeled tab; and 
           [0028]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the lid; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0029]    The major components of an enhanced water product  1  are best shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . A solid dosage preparation  2  is located in the bottom of a bottle  10  and retained therein by a means for retaining  30 . A closure  20  sealingly closes bottle  10 , containing water  17  (not shown) inside, by threading to a neck finish  11 . 
         [0030]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , bottle  10  has an elongated body with a concave bottom  12  opposite neck finish  11 . Concave bottom  12  has a first annular ring  13  at the periphery of the body. A second annular ring  14  is disposed inside of, and recessed away from, first annular ring  13 . Second annular ring  14  has a flat surface  15 , the inside periphery of which defines a cavity  16  with the concave bottom  12 . 
         [0031]    When bottle  10  is standing on first annular ring  13 , as, for example, when closure  20  is removed for drinking, second annular ring  14  is protectively offset from the substrate surface. Similarly, when bottle  10  is standing on closure  20  in a bottom-up position, first annular ring  13  is in a position to protect the concave bottom  12  from any object resting on top. 
         [0032]    In the preferred embodiment, the means for retaining  30  comprises a lid  31 , as best shown in  FIGS. 4 and 6 . Lid  31  is secured to the flat surface  15  of the second annular ring  14  by a means for bonding  32 . In the preferred embodiment, the means for bonding  32  comprises a pattern heat-seal coating  33 , which is adhesively applied by a heated die. 
         [0033]    A means for providing an indication of tampering  40  is shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In the preferred embodiment, the means for providing an indication comprises frustum wall section  41  which joins the first annular ring  13  and the second annular ring  14 . A lid edge  35 , at the periphery of lid  31 , abuts frustum wall section  41  such that access to the edge, for the purpose of lifting it to peel it back, is occluded. Such occlusion prevents someone from lifting the lid intact and re-bonding it in place. 
         [0034]    The means for providing an indication of tampering  40  further comprises, in the preferred embodiment, at least one tab  42  extending from lid edge  35 , thereby to provide a means for opening cavity  16  to remove solid dosage preparation  2 . Tab  42  has at least one notch  43  adjacent its profile which extends partially into the area of pattern heat-seal coating  33  from the lid edge  35 . Because notch  43  breaks lid edge  35 , a tear  44  will be promulgated, providing a sufficiently frangible composition of lid  31 , when tab  42  is lifted (see  FIGS. 5 and 6 ). In the preferred embodiment, lid  31  is a clear film die-cut  34 . The opening provided by tear  44  provides access to solid dosage preparation  2 , but it also provides a witness to a previous attempt to gain access. 
         [0035]    Clear film die-cut  44  allows solid dosage preparation  2  to be viewed inside cavity  16 . If bottle  10  stands on its bottom surface, which surface is first annular ring  13 , the view of cavity  16  can be obstructed by the opacity of the bottle, or by light reflection at the refractive interfaces. Since the location of the solid dosage preparation  2 , not to mention the verification of its presence, should be rendered obvious to the user, it is useful to invert the bottle  10  to stand on the closure  20 . To facilitate that purpose, stand-up cap  21  is provided for closure  20  in the preferred embodiment ( FIG. 2 ). Stand-up cap  21  is broad enough to extend the substrate contact surface substantially beyond the plumb line of the center of gravity of the filled bottle. 
         [0036]    In spite of the protective offset provided by first annular ring  13 , lid  31  might be subject to inadvertent rupture, particularly in the case of a frangible film. As an additional protective measure, solid dosage preparation  2  could be placed inside of a tube (not shown) with the tube axis aligned with the longitudinal direction of the bottle. The tube, designed with sufficient axial compression strength, should extend from the bottom of cavity  16  to the bottom of lid  31  to thereby provide structural support for the lid. The tube may be of spiral-wound paper or extruded plastic construction. 
         [0037]    Water bottle  10  can be formed by known methods in a variety of thermoplastic materials. In the preferred embodiment, the bottle is blow-molded from polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), which is a clear resin of the polyester family. Similarly, production methods and materials for the closure  20  can be selected from those well known by practitioners in the art. In the preferred embodiment, closure  20  is injection molded from one, or a combination of, polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE), both of which are commodity resins generically known as polyolefin&#39;s. Lid  31  can be comprised of any film or foil of paper, polymer or aluminum construction. In the preferred embodiment, lid  31  is die cut from a non-oriented clear film of the polyester or acetate families. Solid dosage preparation  22  can be granulated, compressed, or comminuted in accordance with known methods, typically in the domain of pharmaceuticals. 
         [0038]    While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example: (i) The lidding may be applied to the first annular ring, thereby eliminating the need for customized tooling to provide the second annular ring; (ii) Literature may be provided in the cavity, along with the dosage. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.