Abstract:
A thermal bottle including an outer body wall defining a shape of the thermal bottle having a top opening and a bottom end, an inner body wall having an inner volume for a storage area disposed within the inner body and selectively connected to the outer body wall wherein the storage area is accessible through the top opening, a thermal area defined therebetween the outer body wall and the inner body wall, a cover configured to be attachable to at least one of the top opening that prevents removal of a material placed within the storage area, and a securing element located at the bottom end of the outer body wall which is configured to hold the cover when the cover is detached from the top opening.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to containers and, more particularly, to a thermal baby bottle where a nipple cover can be secured to the bottle and material may be added and removed which further affects the thermal characteristic of the baby bottle. 
         [0002]    Conventional baby bottles typically have a single wall defining the bottle. When the liquid inside the bottle is warm, this single wall configuration generally does not retain heat well and likewise when the liquid inside the bottle is cold, does not retain cold well. Recent inventions have resulted in development of bottles with insulated walls where a minimum of two layers of material define the insulated walls of the bottle. An insulating material in these recent inventions, disposed therebetween the minimum two layers which define the wall of the bottle, have been either air and/or an insulation material. 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  depicts a prior art embodiment of an insulated bottle. As illustrated the bottle  10  has a two layer wall, specifically an outer body wall  12  and an inner body wall  13 . The outer body wall  12  defines a shape of the thermal bottle  10 . The outer wall  12  has a top opening  15  and a bottom end  16 . The inner body wall  13  has an inner volume  17  for a storage area which is disposed within the inner body wall  13  and is accessible through the top opening  15 . The inner body wall  13  is selectively connected to the outer body wall  12 . A material, such as but not limited to a liquid, is placed within the inner wall. A thermal area  20  is defined therebetween the outer body wall  12  and the inner body wall  13 . Either air and/or an insulation material may be placed therebetween the inner wall  13  and the outer wall  12 . A ring cap  22  is provided. 
         [0004]    Disposed therethrough the ring cap  22  is a nipple  24 . Beneath the nipple  24  is a seal disk  26  which prevents a liquid within the inner wall  13  from reaching the nipple  24  and possibly releasing from the nipple  22  when the bottle  10  is not being used. To protect the nipple  24 , such as but not limited to remaining sanitized, a nipple cover, or cover  30 , is provided. The cover  30  is attachable and detachable from the bottle wall  12 ,  13  and/or ring cap  22 . 
         [0005]    Even though a thermal bottle usually provides for a cover to protect the nipple, when the cover is removed there is no location on the thermal bottle to secure the cover. Manufacturers and users of thermal bottles would benefit from a thermal bottle design that further provides for securing a cover when the cover is removed. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    A thermal bottle including an outer body wall defining a shape of the thermal bottle having a top opening and a bottom end. An inner body wall having an inner volume for a storage area disposed within the inner body and selectively connected to the outer body wall wherein the storage area is accessible through the top opening is also provided. A thermal area defined therebetween the outer body wall and the inner body wall, and a cover configured to be attachable to at least one of the top opening that prevents removal of a material placed within the storage area are also provided. Also disclosed is a securing element located at the bottom end of the outer body wall which is configured to hold the cover when the cover is detached from the top opening. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    A more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  depicts an illustration of a prior art embodiment of a thermal bottle; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2A  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle having a location for retaining a cover; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2B  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle with one exemplary embodiment of a locking mechanism; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2C  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle with another exemplary embodiment of a locking mechanism; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  depicts an illustration of another exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle having a location for retaining a cover; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4A  depicts another exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle having a location for the retaining a cover; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4B  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a bottom end of the thermal bottle having a location for the retaining a cover; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4C  depicts another exemplary embodiment of a bottom end of the thermal bottle having a location for the retaining a cover; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5A  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment for providing a material to enhance a thermal characteristic of a thermal bottle; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5B  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment for providing a material to enhance a thermal characteristic of a thermal bottle 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments consistent with the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals used throughout the drawings refer to the same or like parts. 
         [0019]    Though exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described with respect to baby bottles, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that embodiment of the invention are applicable to other containers as well. Therefore applying a top securing location to baby bottles should not be viewed as limiting. 
         [0020]      FIG. 2A  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a cross section of a thermal bottle having a location for retaining a cover. A securing element  40  is located at the bottom end  16  of the outer body wall  12  which is configured to hold the cover  30  when the cover  30  is detached from the top opening  15 . As illustrated the securing element  40  has an opening  42  formed through the bottom end  16  of the outer body wall  12 . The opening  42  is provided to receive a bottom end  44  of the cover  30 . A movable seal  46  is located within the opening  42 . 
         [0021]    In operation, when the cover  30  is not placed within the opening  42 , the movable seal  46  is in a naturally closed position, closing off the opening  42  and providing an enclosed thermal area within the walls  12 ,  13 . When the cover  30  is placed within the opening  42 , the seal  46  is pushed out of the way or displaced from closing the opening  42 . Once within the opening  42 , the cover  30  is locked in place with a locking mechanism  48 . This locking of the cover  30  to the bottle  10  may be accomplished a plurality of ways. As further illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the top of the cover  30  has a flat surface. When connected to the opening  42 , by having the flat surface, the bottle may be positioned on a flat surface. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2B  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle with one exemplary embodiment of a locking mechanism. In this exemplary example, the cover  30  is attached to the top of the bottle  10  with a screw cap assembly  50 ,  51 . When inserted in the opening  42 , the screw cap assembly part  51  of the cover  30  is received by a receiving screw cap assembly  52 . 
         [0023]      FIG. 2C  depicts an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle with another exemplary embodiment of a locking mechanism. In this exemplary embodiment, a notch  56  may be formed on the cover  30 . When inserted in the opening  42 , the cover  30  may be twisted where the notch  56  is secured in a receiving element  58 . In another exemplary embodiment, the receiving element  58  is a detent located on the outer bottle wall and a notch is provided on the cover to engage the detent. When the detent  60  is released, the cover  30  can be removed. In another embodiment, the locking device connects to the cover upon insertion, or in other words, the cover does not have to be twisted. To minimize time required to secure the cover  30 , if an embodiment requiring screwing is used, twisting less than a quarter of a rotation is preferred. However those skilled in the art will readily recognize that providing for more than a quarter rotation of screwing may also work. 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  depicts an illustration of another exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle having a location for retaining a cover. In this embodiment, the cover  30  has a diameter greater than a diameter of the outer body wall  12 . A securing element  61  is located on an outer perimeter of the outer body wall  12  at the bottom end  16  of the bottle  10 . The cover  30  has a receiving section  62  for connecting the securing element  61 . For example, the securing element  62  may be the screw cap assembly, and the securing element is a receiving screw cap assembly. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4A  depicts another exemplary embodiment of a thermal bottle having a location for the retaining a cover and  FIG. 4B  depicts an exemplary embodiment of the bottom of the thermal bottle. As is further illustrated, a thermal stopper  65  is provided to secure a material within the inner body wall  13 . The stopper  65  has a defined thickness to provide for its thermal characteristic. When the cover  30  and stopper  65  are both removed from the top  15  of the bottle  10 , the stopper  65  is placed in an area of the cover  30  provided to encase the nipple  24 . An area may be provided in the bottom end of the thermal bottle  10  to receive the stopper  65  should the cover  30  not be of a height to provide for securing the stopper  65  within the cover  30  when the cover is secured to the bottom end, as disclosed above. In another exemplary embodiment as illustrated in  FIG. 4B , an area is provided in the bottom end  16  of the thermal bottle  10  which may be pressed into the thermal area  20  to provide additional room for the stopper  65 . This area may be a flexible area that moves into the thermal area  20  when pressed and then returns to a position of not extending into the thermal area  20  when not pressed. This flexible area may have a solid area  67  with a flexible material  69  surrounds the solid area. In another exemplary embodiment the flexible material  69  is part of the seal  46 . In another exemplary embodiment, the solid area may have parts that extend to be contiguous to the outer side wall and the flexible material is in place where the solid area is not provided, such as is illustrated in  FIG. 4C . 
         [0026]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  depict an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a bottom of the thermal bottle for providing a material to enhance a thermal characteristic of a thermal bottle. The movable seal  46  has a receiving location  70  through which the material may be inserted into the thermal area  20 . The material may be a warm liquid and/or a cool liquid. For example, if the thermal bottle  10  is being used to keep contents of the bottle warm, if a significant amount of time has passed, where the natural characteristics of the thermal bottle  10  are not maintaining the warmth over time, warm liquid, such as but not limited to warm water or hot water, may be placed in the thermal area  20  between the inner wall body  13  and the outer wall body  12 . Similarly, cold water may be used if the intent is to keep the contents of the bottle cool. In an exemplary embodiment, a funnel device  72  is attachable to the receiving location for placement of the thermal material within the thermal area. For example, since the seal  46  covering the opening  42  is a flexible material, a tip of the funnel  72  may be pressed into the opening  42  at a location that may be configured to accept the tip, or at any location along the seal  46 . As illustrated in  FIG. 5B , the funnel device  72  may fit into the seal  46  just as the cover  30  does. This funnel device  72  has an opening through which the thermal material may be poured into. The top end of this funnel device  72  may have a flared end to insure that the material does not spill. 
         [0027]    In another exemplary embodiment, also illustrated in  FIG. 4A , the bottle may be separated into two halves  91 ,  92 . The separation technique is not limited to one technique. For example, both halves have a threaded section  90  that allow for the halves to be threaded together. As illustrated the outer sidewall  12  are separated whereas the inner sidewall  13  remains intact. In this configuration, the thermal area  20  may be further exposed to air, especially when the thermal material is liquid-based. 
         [0028]    Furthermore, though exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated herein with baby bottle having a particular outer body wall shape  12 , the invention is application with a plurality of body wall shapes, even the body wall shape illustrated in  FIG. 1 . For body wall shapes that are not readily designed to accommodate hands of an infant or user of the bottle, a means may be provided, such as but not limited to indentures  19  and/or a handle, to assist the user with holding the bottle. 
         [0029]    While exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions and/or additions may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, unless specifically stated any use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another.