Abstract:
A customizable container is disclosed for personalizing and identifying bottles and cans. The customizable container comprises several raised portions associated with indicia such as letters, numbers, symbols, characters, phrases, etc. The raised portions can be depressed, creating a unique pattern or association with the indicia in order to distinguish the container from similar containers. The raised portions are arranged in a manner to encourage their use, such as placing them where the consumer will grasp the container.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    This invention relates to container identification, and more particularly, to an identification and personalization system for bottles and cans. 
       DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
       [0004]    Containers are generally used to hold and protect something from external elements. Bottles are a type of container generally used to protect liquids such as water, soda, wine, beer, milk, medicine, although they may contain solids or gases as well. Bottles are usually rigid containers with a narrow neck, an opening on the top, and a relatively larger body. Bottles are typically made from glass, plastic, aluminum, or other impervious materials. Bottles often have an external bottle cap or lid designed to seal the opening and prevent the contents from spilling. 
         [0005]    Cans are another type of container generally used to hold, store, and distribute liquids and solids, such as soda, beer, meats, vegetables, and various other items. In general, cans are made of aluminum, tin, steel, tin-plated steel, or other metals. Pull tabs, stay-on tabs, and press button tabs are some of the most common mechanisms used to open cans. 
         [0006]    When at an event, such as a picnic or party, it is common to provide beverages in bottles and cans. It is also common for the beverages to be similarly labeled, as the organizer typically purchases the beverages in bulk. As such, when several participants leave their beverage unattended in a common location, it is easy to confuse which beverage belongs to which participant. The participants commonly dispose of the beverages in question, and obtain new beverages, only to misplace them again and repeat cycle of waste. Several solutions have been developed to solve this problem. 
         [0007]    U.S. Patent Application No. US 2009/0194449 to Wu on Aug. 6, 2009, describes a beverage container with readily identifiable labels that provides a scratch-off film on an outside surface of a container body. The scratch-off film has a distinct color for eye catching and is easy to scratch off to provide a beverage container with an identification mechanism. The scratch off film has an effective area that can be scratched off by a user to form an easily recognizable mark, such as a figure, a character, or a pattern to allow the user to identify the user&#39;s own beverage among a number of identical beverage containers. The purpose of this invention is to provide a sanitary and safe form of recognition to prevent the waste of incompletely consumed beverage containers due to un-recognition. 
         [0008]    U.S. Patent Application No. US 2009/0266735 to Moore on Oct. 29, 2009, describes a customizable beverage bottle label that provides a method of identifying the owner by providing an area on the beverage label for writing a name, initials, or other identification indicia. The specific area is added to the cylindrical beverage label of the beverage and can be any size, shape, and distinction. The label material can be chosen by any individual beverage, label company, or corporation. The customizable area of the label is incorporated into the layout and design of the label before printing and can be included on any area of the existing label. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,144 to Groth on Jan. 6, 1998, describes a beverage container identification tag for attaching to a beverage container to allow a drinker or others to identify the ownership of the beverage stored in the beverage container. The tag includes a tag body made of a thin strip of flexible material for wrapping around the beverage container. The beverage container identification tag also includes a display area for the placement of a name or symbol. One end of the tag body carries adhesive, which is used to connect that end to a selected overlapped location on the tag body after it is wrapped snugly around the beverage container. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,702 to Rea on Jul. 11, 2000, describes a method for personalizing beverage containers by utilizing a removable field of labels that can be placed anywhere on the container. A portion of the labels are removed from the container, organized in a desired sequence and remounted at a new location on the container. The labels are held to the bottle using an adhesive. 
         [0011]    While the above embodiments provide identification means for existing bottles and cans, their implementation methods are costly, inefficient, and require additional materials and adhesives. Therefore, there is a need for a container that can be quickly and easily personalized without the use of costly labels, materials, adhesives, or the like. The present invention accomplishes these objectives. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    The present device is a container that can be personalized to identify the owner of the container. The container comprises an arrangement of raised portions that are strategically placed on the container. The raised portions will be placed where the user typically holds the container, and thus encourages use by reminding the user to personalize the container. 
         [0013]    In use, the raised portions can be pressed and, with sufficient pressure, will be pushed in, going from a convex shape to a concave shape. The tabs may also display a change in color, such as going from clear to white. The pressed tabs will correlate with indicia on the container, such as numbers, letters, phrases, characters, and the like. The user will press as many raised portions as necessary to distinguish their container from other similar containers. 
         [0014]    The present invention is a container that can be quickly and easily personalized without the use of costly labels, materials, adhesives, or the like. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plastic bottle with a populated upper section; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plastic bottle with a populated upper section; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plastic bottle with a populated upper and lower section; 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a plastic bottle with a populated upper section; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can with a populated upper section; 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can with a populated upper and lower section; 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can with a populated upper, left, and right sections; 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the invention, illustrated as a can with a populated lower section. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0023]    Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. The following explanation provides specific details for a thorough understanding of and enabling description for these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments. 
         [0024]    Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list. 
         [0025]    The present invention comprises a plurality of raised portions  12  on the exterior  20  of a container  10 . Each raised portion  12  is located on the exterior  20  of the container  10  and is associated with specific indicia  14 . The raised portions  12  will enable the consumer of the container  10  to identify the contents of the container  10  as well as personalize the container  10 . As such, when the consumer misplaces their container  10  amongst similar containers  10 , they will be able to recognize their own by identifying their own personalized pattern ( FIG. 2 ). 
         [0026]    Each raised portion  12  will comprise a convex shape extending outward from the container  10 . Each raised portion  12  can be depressed  16 , transposing the outward facing convex protrusion into an inward-facing concave intrusion. Once depressed  16 , the raised portions  12  may change color. For example, the raised portions  12  may become white or blue after being depressed  16  due to the compression of the raised portion  12  material. Shapes comprise a circle  30 , oval  30 , triangle  32 , rectangle  34 , polygon  34 , star  36 , or other suitable shape. The shapes may also represent a character, symbol, logo  38 , or other design. In an alternative embodiment, each shape will include a small protrusion  26  at its center to further remind the user to depress the shape when they feel the protrusion. 
         [0027]    Each raised portion  12  is associated with a specific indicia  14 . Examples of indicia  14  include letters, numbers, words, phrases, characters, logos, teams, days, months, years, astrological signs, or other suitable indicia  14 . Typically, the user will personalize the container  10  with a word  28 , phrase, birthday, phone number, code, favorite character, favorite team, or any combination of the above. The indicia  14  will either be pressed  28  onto the container  10  independent of the raised portion  12 , be embossed  29  onto the raised portion  12  itself, or be printed on the container  10  or label. 
         [0028]      FIGS. 1 through 4  illustrate the container  10  as a plastic bottle with an upper section  22  and a lower section  24 . The raised portions  12  are strategically placed on the exterior  20  of the bottle to encourage use. In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the raised portions  12  are placed on the upper section  22 , or neck, where the user will typically grasp the bottle when twisting the cap  18 . In  FIG. 3 , the raised portions  12  are placed on the lower section  24 , or body, where the user will typically hold the bottle when not drinking from it. The strategic placement will encourage the use of the raised portions  12 , especially when the user would have forgotten to use them otherwise. 
         [0029]      FIGS. 5 through 8  illustrate the container  10  as a can with an upper section  42 , lower section  44 , and left  46  and right  48  sections. The raised portions  12  are strategically placed on the exterior  20  of the can to encourage use. In  FIG. 5 , the raised portions  12  are placed on the upper section  42 , or neck, where the user will typically grasp the can when pulling the tab  26  to open the can. In  FIG. 6 , the raised portions  12  are placed on the lower section  44 , or body, where the user will typically hold the can when drinking from it. Again, this will encourage the use of the raised portions  12  by reminding the user to depress them. The benefit of this will be increased use, and as such, less waste. 
         [0030]    The raised portions  12  and indicia  14  will be arranged to encourage use and personalization. In one embodiment, the raised portions  12  and indicia  14  will represent several alphabet sets (A-Z) and several of number sets (0-9), allowing the user to depress raised portions  12  correlating with their initials and birth month ( FIGS. 1 ,  5 ,  6 ). In an alternative embodiment, the raised portions  12  and indicia  14  will be arranged like a keypad, allowing the user to create a unique pattern ( FIG. 2 ). In a further alternative embodiment, the raised portions  12  and indicia  14  will be arranged to create interesting or provocative sentences, having a subject set, verb set, and object set in sequence ( FIG. 3 ). In an even further alternative embodiment, the raised portions  12  and indicia  14  will represent a month set, day set, year set, and zodiac set to indicate a birthday and astrological sign ( FIG. 3 ). 
         [0031]    In one embodiment, the exterior  20  of the container  10  is divided for a specific contest, sporting event, television show, theme park, or other means of division ( FIG. 7 ). For example, a can may be divided into left  46  and right  48  sections, the left  46  representing team one and the right  48  representing team two. Each side will include a raised portion  12  and an embossed team logo  38 , as well as other designs to further distinguish the sections  46 ,  48  of the can. The embossed logo  38  may be depressible along with the raised portion  12 . In another example, a can may be split into four or more sections, each representing a character on a television series or group, and each including an embossed logo  38  and a raised portion  12 . 
         [0032]    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, the raised portions  12  may be placed on any acceptable container  10 . Furthermore, the indicia  14  and arrangements can be associated with any television show, theme park, sporting event, competition, or the like, and can be arranged in any way in order to encourage the use of the raised portions  12 . Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims. 
         [0033]    Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention. 
         [0034]    The above detailed description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above or to the particular field of usage mentioned in this disclosure. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Also, the teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. 
         [0035]    All of the above patents and applications and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention. 
         [0036]    Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above “Detailed Description.” While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Therefore, implementation details may vary considerably while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. 
         [0037]    While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventor contemplates the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.