Abstract:
A drinking cap dispense liquid from and to reseal any of a plurality of bottles having bottle necks of varying sizes. A sealing portion of the cap seals in liquid to prevent spilling. The sealing portion can have a cone shape with a first diameter on a lower portion and a second diameter on an upper portion that is larger than the first diameter, to seal bottles of different sizes. A sipping portion provides a spout for consuming or pouring liquid. An attached cover of the cap adapted for closes the sipping portion.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 19(e) to U.S. Patent App. No. 61/998,414, filed Jun. 27, 2014, entitled KIDDO KAP, by Ubaldo Garza, and to U.S. Patent App. No. 62/051,308, filed Sep. 17, 2014, entitled REUSABLE UNIVERSAL FIT BOTTLE CAP, by Ubaldo Garza, the contents of both being hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates generally to beverage container tops, and more specifically, to an insertable drinking spout that pressure fits to bottle necks of varying sizes. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Bottled beverages purchased by consumers come with generic tops. In general, bottles have a wide portion to store liquid and a narrower bottle neck to aid pouring or drinking. Different bottles have differently sized bottle necks that can be based on overall liquid volume, liquid type, composition, or use, for example. Included bottle tops are typically custom-sized to threads around the exterior of bottle necks. 
         [0004]    Problematically, conventional bottle caps are not designed for reuse. In more detail, wine bottles use corks that expand when taken out and cannot be reused at all. Other caps are completely removed from the bottle for drinking, and are then have to be screwed back on to prevent spillage. Removable caps are susceptible to loss and are not practical for sports drinks or other situations in which users take small drinks of liquid many times. Some sports drinks do have pop-up caps that allow users to drink without removing the cap. But these sports caps cost more and thus are not always included. Moreover, most caps are generic in nature, making it difficult to distinguish identical bottles from each other, for example, at a gym or party. 
         [0005]    What is needed is a robust drinking cap container that can be used to easily reseal bottles of varying sizes and to provide a drinking spout. Furthermore, the drinking cap should be customizable and fun with interchangeable topper of varying designs. 
       SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE 
       [0006]    The foregoing shortcomings of the prior art are solved with an apparatus and method providing a drinking cap to dispense liquid from, and to reseal any of, a plurality of bottles having bottle necks of varying sizes. 
         [0007]    In an embodiment, a sealing portion of the cap seals in liquid to prevent spilling. The sealing portion can have a cone shape with a first diameter on a lower portion and a second diameter on an upper portion that is larger than the first diameter. The sealing portion can pressure fit the lower portion into a bottle neck of one of the plurality of bottles having bottle necks of varying sizes. The lower portion fits deeper into a bottle neck of a larger diameter than a bottle neck of a smaller diameter, for pressure-fitting the bottle necks of the large and small diameters with the same cone-shaped portion of the cap. 
         [0008]    In another embodiment, a sipping portion of the cap provides a spout for consuming or pouring liquid. A first end is attached to the upper portion of the sealing portion. A second end has a plurality of holes to restrict the flow of liquid from the bottle through a third diameter that is smaller than the second diameter of the upper portion of the sealing portion. 
         [0009]    In yet another embodiment, an attached cover of the cap closes the sipping portion. The attached cover can flexibly connect to the sealing portion with a connector long enough to reach the sipping portion. The attached cover pressure fits over the second end of the sipping portion to prevent liquid from spilling through the plurality of holes. 
         [0010]    Still other embodiments convert a cavity in the drinking cap to store liquid or powder concentrate for mixing in liquid from the bottle. Designer tops customize drinking caps. Some designer tops are interchangeable and snap on to a pressure decoupling cap. Additionally, a water filter can purify liquid while being consumed. Also, an adapter can extend the range of bottle necks for sealing. 
         [0011]    Advantageously, a custom cap can be reused to seal and provide a spout universally to bottles. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    In the following drawings, like reference numbers are used to refer to like elements. Although the following figures depict various examples of the invention, the invention is not limited to the examples depicted in the figures. 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a drinking cap pressure fitted on a bottle, according to one embodiment. 
           [0014]      FIGS. 2A-2C  are schematic diagrams illustrating the drinking cap and an integrated assembly for an optional bottom plug, according to one embodiment. 
           [0015]      FIGS. 3A-3B  are schematic diagrams illustrating optional designer tops attachable to the drinking cap, according to one embodiment. 
           [0016]      FIGS. 4A-4B  are schematic diagrams illustrating an optional water filter attachable to the drinking cap, according to one embodiment. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating an optional size adaptor for the drinking cap, according to one embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    An apparatus and related method are disclosed for a drinking cap. In more detail, the drinking cap dispenses liquid from, and reseals any of a plurality of, bottles having bottle necks of varying sizes. Optional features discussed below can be implemented separately or in any combination to the baseline drinking cap. 
         [0019]    The below description includes exemplary embodiments that are provided for illustration only and are not intended to limit implementation details of additional embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the art could apply the principles described to the additional non-included embodiments within the spirit of the invention as described. For example, although the description describes a drinking cap sealing from within a bottle neck, alternatives can seal from outside of the bottle neck. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a drinking cap  100  pressure fitted on a bottle  110 , according to one embodiment. The drinking cap  100  seals the bottle  100  to prevent spilling and also allows liquid to be consumed more easily. 
         [0021]    The drinking cap  100  is shown in more detail in  FIGS. 2A-2C . More specifically,  FIG. 2A  shows a sealing portion  120  and a sipping portion  130  when separated. To join, a flexible connector  132  is attached to a joint between the sealing and sipping portions  120 ,  130  and extends so that a cap  134  can cover a spout  136  of the sipping portion  130 . A bottom plug  140  has a plug  142  and a loop  144  on each side of a flexible connector  146 . To integrate the bottom plug  140 , the loop  144  is placed over the spout of the sipping portion  130  to hold in place, and the plug is pushed into the sealing portion  120  to close off an internal cavity formed by the sealing and sipping portions  120 ,  130 . These components can be made of plastic, rubber, metal, a combination or any other appropriate material, and formed by being poured into a mold for cooling. 
         [0022]    In more detail, the sealing portion  120  has a cone shape with a larger diameter at the top that decreases in size to a smaller diameter at the bottom. As a result, when the drinking cap  100  is pushed into a bottle, a seal is generated when a diameter of a bottle neck matches a diameter of the sealing portion  120 . A bottle neck having a relatively small diameter will not accept much of the sealing portion  120  while a bottle neck having a relatively larger diameter will accept more of the sealing portion  120 , for a deeper insertion. Some bottle necks may require an adapter as described below. 
         [0023]    The sipping portion  130 , in another embodiment, also has different diameter on each end. One diameter matches an upper portion of the sealing portion to form a joint. Another diameter is small to form the spout  136  for comfortable disbursement of liquid (e.g., for a human drinking liquid). The spout  136  can have holes to optimize the flow of liquid. Loss of the cap  134  is prevented by attachment to the drinking cap  100 . The cap  134  can seal the spout  136  by a pressure fitting, threading, snapping on, or the like. 
         [0024]    The bottom plug  140 , in one embodiment, allows the drinking cap  100  to hold concentrated powder or liquid for mixing into a water bottle. A cavity  150  is formed by the sealing and sipping portions  120 ,  130 . When turned upside down as in  FIG. 2C  with the cap  134  on, powder or liquid can be scooped or poured in and closed up with the plug  142 . In some embodiments, stores can sell the drinking cap  100  packaged with a certain concentrate drink. For example, a health club may sell drinking caps  100  with protein powder for workout recovery. When ready for consumption, the plug is opened and the contents are poured into the bottle for mixing. The drinking cap  100  then switches from being a holding container to a sealer and sipper. 
         [0025]      FIGS. 3A-3B  are schematic diagrams illustrating an optional designer top  160  attachable to the drinking cap  100 , according to one embodiment. The designer top  160  customizes and makes bottles easily identifiable when used to seal a bottle as shown in  FIG. 3A . One embodiment of an interchangeable designer top  160  is shown in  FIG. 3B . The designer top  160  can be taken on and off of the cap  134 . The potential number of designs are infinite. A football helmet is shown in the illustrations, but other examples include cartoon characters, baseball helmets, different types of balls such as basketballs and baseballs, product advertisements, and more. 
         [0026]    In one implementation, a beveled design decouples pressure from pressure fitting of the designer top  160  on the cap  134  from pressure from pressure fitting the cap  134  over the spout  136 . In particular, a first portion  301  of the cap  134  is sized for the spout  136 . A second portion  302  of the cap  134  is sized with a smaller diameter so that pressure from the designer top  160  does not transfer to the first portion  301 , making it more difficult to put the cap  134  on and off of the spout  136 . The beveled design can be implemented in any of the other embodiments of the Figures. 
         [0027]      FIGS. 4A-4B  are schematic diagrams illustrating an optional water filter  170  attachable to the drinking cap  100 , according to one embodiment. Advantageously, water or liquid is purified as it is consumed from the drinking cap  100 . A filter  170  attaches inside of the drinking cap  100  by snapping in  172 , screwing in, pressure fitting, or by any other appropriate attaching mechanism. The filter  170  is easily removed from cleaning or for consumption without purification as desired by users. A charcoal filter or other type of changeable screen can be included inside the filter  170 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating an optional size adapter  180  for the drinking cap  100 , according to one embodiment. The adapter  180  allows a one size fits all drinking cap  200  to be downsized even smaller for beverage containers such as 12-ounce single serving water bottles. The neck size is significantly smaller on single serving bottles compared to 2-liters or gallons such that the drinking cap  100  design may be too large or impractical to cover the full range. The adapter  180  snaps in  182  to reduce the diameter below the minimum size of the sealing portion  120 . The adapter  180  can be a cylinder shape, or a cone shape to adapt to varying sized smaller bottle necks. In some embodiments, the adapter  180  is implemented in an over the neck version of the drinking cap  100 . 
         [0029]    Many other embodiments are possible. For example, one additional embodiment fits the drinking cap  100  over the outside of a bottle neck and is held in place by threads. Another embodiment includes an electronic volume tracker to indicate how much liquid has been consumed through the drinking cap  100 . Still other embodiments have different shapes, for example, when no storage cavity is needed, the implementation can be more streamlined. 
         [0030]    This description of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form described, and many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teaching above. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications. This description will enable others skilled in the art to best utilize and practice the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to a particular use. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.