Patent Document

[0001]     This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/251,707 filed Sep. 20, 2002. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to the field of beverage containers for active sports use, and more specifically to a particularly convenient reservoir for personal hydration and a method for making such a reservoir.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The importance of maintaining hydration while engaging in strenuous physical activity is well known. Recently, personal hydration devices have been developed which allow users to carry large amounts of liquids and drink more or less continuously during long periods of physical activity. These devices typically have a bag-like water reservoir that is carried in small, back-mounted packs and, more recently, backpacks of all sizes. A long flexible hose is connected to the reservoir at one end and terminates in a mouth piece at the other end. The hose is long enough to allow the user to carry the mouth piece and draw water from the reservoir at will during vigorous activity such as hiking or cycling.  
         [0004]     Initial designs of the refillable reservoir suffered from two main limitations: restricted flow of the beverage at the junction between the hose and the reservoir and difficulty in cleaning the reservoir. Flow of the beverage is restricted when the user applies suction to the hose in an effort to drink and the reservoir collapses as the hose junction thereby forming an unwanted seal at the hose&#39;s end. Cleaning the reservoir is very important and difficult due to small diameters in the hose and a filling port in the reservoir. After a reservoir has been used to carry water, mold and/or fungus typically forms in the reservoir due to persistent moisture in the reservoir. After a reservoir has been used to carry sports beverages such as Gatorade®, a sticky residue remains and repeated fillings of such sports beverages eventually render the reservoir unusable.  
         [0005]     More recent designs of hydration devices have been mostly successful of overcoming there early deficiencies. However, such recent designs still grow mold and/or fungus in the drinking hose due to lack of ventilation and are still difficult to clean despite larger fill openings. What is needed is a reservoir for a personal hydration device wherein difficulty in cleaning the reservoir is mitigated substantially.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In accordance with the present invention, a reservoir for use with a personal hydration pack is sealed in a tamper-evident manner while pre-filled with a beverage concentrate. Such indicates to the user that the beverage concentrate is clean, fresh, and free of contaminants from prior usage. In addition, the reservoir can be filled by a manufacturer of beverages and/or personal hydration reservoirs such that the end user purchases the reservoir pre-filled with concentrate. Accordingly, use of the personal hydration reservoir is particularly convenient since filling of the reservoir by the user can be accomplished at any location at which drinking water is dispensed. Most places in which strenuous, outdoor sports activities are practiced provide many locations dispensing drinking water, making each such location a potential source of a nourishing sports drink, containing many helpful and restorative ingredients other than water. More importantly, since many active people purchase such sports drinks for use in personal hydration devices, extraneous disposable containers in which such beverages are typically sold can be eliminated, thereby reducing costs and recyclable and non-recyclable waste.  
         [0007]     The reservoir can be formed with a drinking hose attached and the beverage concentrate can be sealed with the drinking hose attached. In fact, the reservoir can be filled through the attached drinking hose and then sealed at the proximal end of the drinking hose. The reservoir can also be filled by welding the reservoir about the majority of its perimeter prior to filling and welding the remainder of the perimeter subsequent to filling.  
         [0008]     The reservoir can include a sealed, tamper-evident re-filling port such that the reservoir can be used in a conventional manner after consumption of the beverage made from the previously sealed-in beverage concentrate. Accordingly, particularly active people can re-fill the reservoir if the originally supplied beverage is depleted prior to completion of a particularly long and strenuous period of high activity. For example, a cyclist on a particularly long ride can re-fill a depleted reservoir at any source of water to continue the ride without risking dehydration. By making the re-fill port tamper-evident, the user can be sure that the sealed-in beverage is clean, fresh, and free of contaminants despite the presence of the re-fill port. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a cut-away illustration of a personal hydration pack and a reservoir in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of a personal hydration reservoir in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a cross-section view of a fitting between a reservoir and drinking hose in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a cross-section view of an alternative fitting to that shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of an alternative personal hydration reservoir in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a cross-section view of a fitting between the reservoir of  FIG. 5  and a drinking hose.  
         [0015]      FIGS. 7-9  are cross-section views of alternative fittings between the reservoir of  FIG. 5  and a drinking hose.  
         [0016]      FIG. 10  is a cross-section view of a sealed bite valve at a proximal end of a drinking hose. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]     In accordance with the present invention, personal hydration pack  10  includes a reservoir  20  which is pre-filled with a beverage concentrate and is sealed in a tamper-evident manner. Pre-filling reservoir  20  with a beverage concentrate prior to sealing in a tamper-evident manner allows the user to fill reservoir  20  from any drinking water source and therefore also eliminates waste containers such as plastic bottles in which the user would otherwise have purchased a beverage with which to fill reservoir  20 . In addition, making pre-filled reservoirs such as reservoir  20  available to end-users encourages such end-users to purchase new reservoirs rather than risk build-up of mold and/or fungus in improperly cleaned, used reservoirs.  
         [0018]     Reservoir  20  is positioned within personal hydration pack  10  as shown with personal hydration pack  10  shown cut-away. Personal hydration pack  10  includes two holes  12 A-B through which drinking hose  22  of reservoir  20  can pass for drinking by a user during any of a number of physical activities such as hiking, cycling, skating, rowing, etc. In this illustrative embodiment, hose  22  terminates at a bite valve  24  which the user can bite to facilitate flow of a beverage contained within reservoir  20 .  
         [0019]     Reservoir  20  is shown in isolation in  FIG. 2 . Reservoir  20  is pre-filled with a beverage concentrate such as a sports drink concentrate in powder or alternatively liquid form and is a plastic bag which is sealed by being welded about its perimeter with the beverage enclosed. Reservoir  20  includes a hose fitting  24  which is welded to reservoir  20  and to drinking hose  22  to form a permanent seal between reservoir  20  and drinking hose  22 . In an alternative embodiment, hose fitting  24  is replaced with an angled hose fitting  26  ( FIG. 4 ). In another alternative embodiment, hose fitting  24  is replaced with an exit valve described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,714 to Fawcett and that description is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0020]     Drinking hose  22  is welded to form a seal at proximal end  28 . In one embodiment, reservoir  20  is welded around its perimeter and drinking hose  22  is fixed to reservoir  20  by hose fitting  24  prior to filling of reservoir  20  with a beverage. The beverage is then sealed within reservoir  20  by welding proximal end  28  of drinking hose  22 . In an alternative embodiment, proximal end  28  of drinking hose  22  is sealed and drinking hose  22  is affixed to reservoir  20  in the manner described herein and a majority of the perimeter of reservoir  20  is welded prior to filling reservoir  22  with a beverage concentrate. After filling, the remainder of the perimeter of reservoir  20  is welded to seal in the beverage. In one illustrative example embodiment, the materials and techniques used are those described in the following U.S. patents which are incorporated herein by reference:  
                                                       Inventor (s)   U.S. Pat. No.   Issue Date                           L. Doyen et al.   3,192,095   Jun. 29, 1965           Boquet &amp; Doyen   4,023,700   May 17, 1977           Aquetant &amp; Doyen   4,010,786   Mar. 8, 1977           Doyen &amp; Doyen   3,935,993   Feb. 3, 1976           Doyen &amp; Doyen   3,637,133   Feb. 25, 1972           Doyen   3,583,132   Jun. 8, 1971           Doyen   3,514,061   May 26, 1970           Doyen et al.   3,380,646   Apr. 30, 1968                      
 
         [0021]     In either embodiment, the user adapts reservoir  20  for drinking by cutting off the welded portion of proximal end  28 , filling reservoir  20  with water to mix with the concentrate, and affixing bite valve  24  to the now-open proximal end  28  of drinking hose  22 . Thus, cutting of proximal end  28  of drinking hose  22  evidences a break of the seal of reservoir  20 . Such is important in that tamper-evident sealing of reservoir  20  enables retail sale of reservoir  20  pre-filled with a beverage.  
         [0022]     Sealing reservoir  20  with the beverage concentrate therein is a significant improvement over an alternative in which an unsealed reservoir pre-filled with concentrate is sealed within additional packaging. Not only does the sealed additional packaging represent unnecessary cost and wasted materials, but the sealed additional packaging hides the included reservoir and bite valve from the consumer, thereby making evaluation of the reservoir and concentrate combination difficult to evaluate for purchase.  
         [0023]     An alternative embodiment is shown in  FIG. 5 . Reservoir  30  includes two sealed, tamper-evident access ports  32  and  34 . Each of ports  32  and  34  can be of the form illustrated in  FIG. 6 . For illustration purposes, port  32  is described in the context of  FIG. 6  but it should be appreciated that description of port  32  in conjunction with  FIG. 6  is equally applicable to port  34 .  
         [0024]     Port  32  is welded to reservoir  30  and has a threaded exterior annular surface which mates with a threaded cap  36 . Port  32  is sealed by a user-removable seal  38  which, in this illustrative embodiment, is a ring-pull seal such as those used on conventional and currently available milk and juice cartons and which can be easily removed by a user without tools by simply pulling on a ring  38 R after removing cap  36 . The user attaches drinking hose  22  by screwing a hose fitting cap  40  onto port  32 . Hose fitting cap  40  is sealed to drinking hose  22  as shown.  
         [0025]     Port  34  is provided as an alternative port for re-filling reservoir  30  after consumption of the beverage previously made from water and the beverage concentrate pre-filled into reservoir  30  if the user so desires. Port  34  is also sealed and tamper-evident after initial filling.  
         [0026]     Unlike with reservoir  20  described above, drinking hose  22  can be preserved and reused with multiple instances of reservoir  30 . Alternatives to port  32  which are similarly sealed and tamper-evident are shown in  FIGS. 7-9 . In all such embodiments, reservoir is formed completely, including ports  32  and  34  or alternatives thereof, and is welded around a majority of the perimeter of reservoir  30 . Reservoir  30  is then filled with a beverage concentrate and the remainder of the perimeter of reservoir  30  is sealed to completely seal in the beverage in such a manner that accessing the beverage concentrate, e.g., to add water, requires breaking the seal of reservoir  30  in a clearly evident manner. It should be appreciated that reservoir  20  is preferably pre-filled with an amount of concentrate which is predetermined to be the proper amount for mixing with an amount of water equal to the liquid capacity of reservoir  20 . For example, if reservoir  20  can hold one liter of liquid, it is preferred that reservoir  20  is pre-filled with an amount of beverage concentrate which is proper for mixing with one liter of water.  
         [0027]      FIG. 7  shows port  42  which is an alternative to port  32 . Port  42  is welded to reservoir  30  in a conventional manner. However, reservoir  30  includes a thin sealing membrane  46  which can be punctured by the user using a sharp instrument  44 , such as an ice pick. In some embodiments, a suitable sharp instrument made inexpensively of hard plastic can be distributed with reservoir  30 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 , a drinking hose  50  which is generally analogous to drinking hose  22  includes a soft rubber barbed distal end  48  for inserting into port  42 . Barbed distal end  48  facilitates insertion into port  42  and sealing with port  42  and resists inadvertent extraction of barbed distal end  48  from port  42 .  
         [0028]     The user accesses the beverage concentrate sealed in reservoir  30  through port  42  by (i) piercing seal membrane  46  with sharp instrument  44  and (ii) inserting barbed distal end  48  into port  42 . The user can then fill reservoir  30  through drinking hose  50  or, alternatively, through port  34 .  
         [0029]      FIG. 8  shows an alternative embodiment in which an angled port  52  is welded to reservoir  30 . Angled port  52  includes a barbed end  54  over which drinking hose  22  can be placed. Barbed end  54  includes an annular stop  56 . A cap  58  is press fit over barbed end  54  and over annular stop  56  to form a seal about annular stop  56 . A tear-away ring  62  is attached to, or alternatively formed with, cap  58  to hold cap  58  in position over barbed end  54 . Tear-away ring  62  is positioned such that breaking the seal between cap  58  and annular stop  56  requires a permanent and evident alteration to tear-away ring  62  to thereby evidence breaking of the seal. In addition, cap  58  includes a plug  60  which forms another seal with barbed end  54 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 9  shows an alternative embodiment in which a rigid port  70 , made of rigid plastic in this illustrative embodiment, is welded to reservoir  30  to form a drinking port. The drinking port of rigid port  70  is sealed by a user-breakable sealing membrane  80 . The beverage concentrate is sealed within reservoir  30  in the manner described above. To access the beverage concentrate, the user pierces membrane  80  with barbed end  74  of a barbed connector  72  as indicated by arrow  82 . Barbed connector  72  includes a center annular flange  76  which forms a seal against rigid port  70  as barbs of barbed end  74  hold barbed connector  72  in place within rigid port  70 . The user then fits drinking hose  22  over barbed end  78  of barbed connector  72 . As described above with respect to  FIG. 7 , the user can then fill reservoir  30  through drinking hose  50  or, alternatively, through port  34 .  
         [0031]     An alternative configuration of drinking hose  22  is shown in  FIG. 10 . A bite valve  84  is welded to, formed with, or alternatively press fit onto drinking hose  22 . Bite valve  84  and a portion of drinking hose  22  are encased by a heat-shrink seal  86  which is removed by the user to drinking from bite valve  84 . Removal of heat-shrink seal  86  is evident such that a user can be assured that the beverage has not been accessed since sealing of heat-shrink seal  86 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 10 , it is preferred that water can be added to the beverage concentrate through alternative port  34  as filling reservoir  30  through bite valve  84  can prove difficult for the user at most publicly available water sources.  
         [0032]     In another embodiment, personal hydration pack  10  ( FIG. 1 ) is obviated altogether by attaching inexpensive shoulder straps directly to reservoir  20 . Specifically, the welded perimeter of reservoir  20  ( FIG. 2 ) provides a place for welding of ends of shoulder straps such that reservoir  20  can be carried directly on the back of a user without personal hydration pack  10  ( FIG. 1 ). Similarly, a waist strap can be attached directly to reservoir  20  in an analogous manner. Such straps can be made adjustable using conventional techniques.  
         [0033]     The above description is illustrative only and is not limiting. For example, while welding is described herein as one embodiment for sealing a beverage in a flexible bag container, it should be appreciated that generally any technique for sealing a beverage in a flexible bag container can be used. It is also preferred that the reservoir support labeling in accordance with any applicable jurisdiction for the sale of pre-packaged beverages, including direct printing of content information on reservoir  20  and adhesive, pre-printed labels bearing such requisite information. The present invention is defined solely by the claims which follow and their full range of equivalents.

Technology Category: 1