Abstract:
A bottle with a lid mechanism to open and close both straw and air holes simultaneously. The preferred bottle features an external straw coupling which connects to both a mating internal straw coupling and an air hole coupling. Both the internal straw and air hole couplings preferably have spring-biased valves which simultaneously open to allow flow when the external straw coupling is connected to the bottle lid and simultaneously close to block flow when the external straw coupling is disconnected from the bottle lid. In this way, the bottle and bottle lid become leak proof when the external straw coupling is disconnected.

Description:
[0001]    This non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/136,388 filed Mar. 20, 2015 and entitled “Spring Loaded Air Vent For Leak Proof Bottle Lid With Removable Straw”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to spill resistant water bottles. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Water bottles with a straw are well known. Such water bottles usually require air holes built into their lids to work properly. Air holes are advantageous in lid design because they make it easier to draw fluid out of a bottle (by equalizing air pressure). The drawback to including air holes is that vented water bottles can get knocked over and create a mess when they spill through the air hole, straw or both. This can particularly be a problem if the user of the water bottle is a quadriplegic who cannot easily clean up the mess created by a spilled water bottle. Bussell&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,583 discloses one attempt to create a water bottle for a quadriplegic. Bussell&#39;s water bottle features a segmented tube which bends the straw into a comfortable position for the quadriplegic. Nonetheless, the Bussell water bottle does not have a way of preventing water from spilling out if the water bottle gets knocked over. 
         [0004]    Other patents and published patent applications disclose various mechanisms to prevent water bottles from spilling if they are knocked over. These patents and publications include Yoneoka&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,065 (a pivoting cap is used to open straw and air holes), Noell&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,231 (spring loaded shut off valve for straw hole), Chasteen&#39;s U.S. Published Application No. 2003/0213803 (hinged straw valve), Levy&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,582 (hinged straw valve) and Panec&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,311 (hinged straw valve). Nonetheless, none of these other patents and published patent applications provide a simple, easy-to-use mechanism for opening and closing both straw and air holes simultaneously. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention provides a bottle with a mechanism to open and close both straw and air holes simultaneously. The preferred water bottle features an external straw coupling which connects to both a mating internal straw coupling and an air hole coupling. Both the internal straw and air hole couplings preferably have spring loaded valves which simultaneously open to allow flow when the external straw coupling is connected and simultaneously close to block flow when the external straw coupling is disconnected. In this way, the bottle and bottle lid become leak proof when the external straw coupling is disconnected. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the preferred bottle of the present invention with its leak-proof lid. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  shows a exploded view of the lid and connector components of the bottle of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  shows the external straw coupling prior to its attachment to the internal straw and air hole couplings. 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  shows a side, cut-away view of the bottle lid before the external straw coupling is attached to the internal straw and air hole couplings. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a side, cut-away view of the bottle lid after the external straw coupling is attached to the internal straw and air hole couplings. 
           [0011]      FIG. 6A  shows a close-up, cut-away view of the air hole coupling when the external straw coupling is attached. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6B  shows a close-up, cut-away view of the air hole coupling when the external straw coupling is detached. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a preferred form of bottle  10  of the present invention is shown. The bottle  10  includes a container  12  to hold water or other fluid, a lid  30 , an external straw coupling  20 , a segmented tube  14  and an external straw  16 . The external straw coupling  20  preferably has an internal orifice through which the external straw  16  is inserted and an outer surface to which the segmented tube  14  is connected. When the bottle  10  is fully assembled, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the user can suck from the external straw  16  to draw water or other fluid from the container  12 . 
         [0014]    Turning now to  FIG. 2 , the components which create a leak proof lid for the bottle  10  of the present invention are shown in exploded form. In its preferred form, the external straw coupling  20  preferably includes a non-valved coupler , such as the ¼″ Flow by ¼″ MNPT PPL Nonvalved Coupler (“MNPT Nonvalved Coupler”) manufactured by Parker Hannifin Corporation of Minneapolis, Minnesota and available from U.S. Plastic Corporation of Lima, Ohio. This non-valved coupler is manufactured from thermoplastic and steel. It accepts the proximal end of external straw  16  to allow fluids to flow to the user in a sanitary manner. The MNPT Nonvalved Coupler has a cap base  23  which attaches to cap  24 . Cap  24  functions to open an air valve  31  when the external straw coupling  20  is attached to the lid  30 . 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  also shows the components of the internal straw coupling  22  and air hole coupling  31 . A preferred component of the internal straw coupling  22  is a valve coupler, such as the ¼″ Flow X ¼″ Panel Mount Hose Barb PPL Valved Nipple (“PMHB Valved Coupler”) manufactured by Parker Hannifin Corporation of Minneapolis, Minn. and available from U.S. Plastic Corporation of Lima, Ohio. This PMHB Valved Coupler is manufactured primarily from thermoplastic. In operation, the lower end of this PMHB Valved Coupler is inserted through the center lid hole  35  and then secured to the lid  30  by a nut  39  and washer  38  (i.e., when the nut  39  is screwed down onto the threads  21  of the PMHB Valved Coupler). The MNPT Nonvalved Coupler and PMHB Valved Coupler are preferred for the present invention because they are designed to fit together to create a leak-proof connection and, when they are properly connected, an audible snap can be heard. As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the bottom of the internal straw coupling  22  attaches to the top of an internal straw  47 , which is used to draw fluids from the bottom of the bottle. 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the PMHB Valved Coupler features a nipple  25  on top. When the PMHB Valved Coupler is uncoupled from the external straw coupling  20 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the nipple  25  is biased upward by a spring (not shown) to close the valve and thereby prevent the flow of fluid through the internal straw coupling  22 . By contrast, when external straw coupling  20  is snapped onto the internal straw coupling  22 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , the nipple  25  is pressed downward by the external straw coupling  20  to open the valve and, thereby, allow flow of fluid through the internal straw coupling  22 . 
         [0017]    In addition to having a valve for the internal straw coupling  22 , the present invention preferably also provides an air hole valve  31  (see,  FIG. 2 ). An air hole  40  is included in the lid  30  of the present invention to address the basic physics problem that air has to rush into an enclosed container when one sucks on a straw to keep air pressure at equilibrium. Without an air hole  40 , it becomes progressively more difficult to suck fluid out of a closed container. This can particularly be a problem for quadriplegics, who often experience reduced lung function. 
         [0018]    As show in  FIGS. 2 through 6B , the air hole valve  31  in the present invention preferably includes stop cone  32 , plunger  34  and spring  36 . The stop cone  32  (preferably made of silicone rubber) attaches to the plunger  34  by sliding over and locking onto a raised notch near the middle of the plunger  34 . The spring  36  rests below the plunger  34  and provides upward force. As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 6B , when the external straw coupling  20  is disconnected from the lid  30 , the spring  36  presses the plunger  34  and stop cone  32  upward so that the stop cone  32  blocks the upper entrance  42  of the air hole. In this closed position, the stop cone  32  prevents either air or fluid from passing through the air hole  40 . 
         [0019]    To allow the air hole valve  31  to open, the plunger  34  includes a plunger tip  37  which protrudes out of the upper entrance  42  of air hole  40  as shown in  FIG. 3 . When the external straw coupling  20  is connected to the lid  30 , the plunger tip  37  is pressed downward as shown in  FIG. 6A  to lower the stop cone  32  and thereby open the air hole  40  for the flow of air or fluid. In the preferred embodiment, the cap  24  of the MNPT Nonvalved Coupler is used to press down on the plunger tip  37  and thereby open the air hole  40 . 
         [0020]    In one preferred embodiment, the air hole upper entrance  42  is 0.1″ in diameter, the tip  37  of the plunger is preferably formed in a hexagonal shape and the body  48  of the plunger is preferably formed in an octagonal shape (see,  FIGS. 6A-6B ). The hexagonal shape of the plunger&#39;s tip  37  and octagonal shape of the plunger&#39;s body  48  allows air to flow around the flat sides of these polygons while, at the same time, preventing the plunger  34  from wobbling inside the air hole  40 ,  42 . A circular shape for the plunger tip  37  or body  48  is less preferred because less air would flow through when the air valve  31  is opened. As those of skill in the art will recognize, other polygonal shapes could be advantageously used for the plunger tip  37  and body  48 . 
         [0021]    An advantageous feature of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the straw hole and air hole are opened and closed simultaneously. Specifically, when the MNPT Nonvalved Coupler is snapped onto the PMHB Valved Coupler, the nipple  25  of the PMHB Valved Coupler is pressed downward to open fluid flow through the PMHB Valved Coupler at the same time the plunger tip  37  is pressed downward to open air flow through the air hole  40 . Conversely, when the MNPT Nonvalved Coupler is disconnected from the PMHB Valved Coupler, the biasing spring in the PMHB Valved Coupler presses the nipple  25  upward to close fluid flow through the PMHB Valved Coupler at the same time the air hole spring  36  presses the stop cone  32  upward to close the top entrance  42  of the air hole. At the moment the MNPT Nonvalved Coupler is disconnected from the PMHB Valved Coupler, the bottle lid  30  becomes leak proof. 
         [0022]    In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific preferred embodiments and methods. It will, however, be evident to those of skill in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. For these reasons, the specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than restrictive sense; the invention being limited only by the appended claims.