Fluid container having fluid level indicators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10974876-B2
Application number	US-201916707915-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 9, 2019
Priority date	Jun 19, 2018
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

A fluid container including a fluid vessel having a neck with an opening and having an internal compartment sized to hold a volume of fluid, the internal compartment being at least partially enclosed by an opaque layer, a closure assembly removably coupled to the fluid container to cover the opening, and two or more fluid level indicators defined in the opaque layer, each fluid level indicator comprising a translucent or transparent material configured to permit light to pass through the opaque layer and into the internal compartment, at least two of the two or more fluid level indicators being positioned on circumferentially opposed sides of the fluid vessel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fluid container, comprising:
a fluid vessel having a neck with an opening and having an internal compartment sized to hold a volume of fluid, the internal compartment being at least partially enclosed by an insulation layer positioned between an inner wall and outer wall of the fluid container;
a closure assembly removably coupled to the fluid container to cover the opening, wherein the closure assembly defines at least one fluid conduit for the fluid to flow from the internal compartment and through the closure assembly to a user, wherein the at least one fluid conduit includes at least one inlet through which fluid from the internal compartment may enter the fluid conduit, and at least one dispensing outlet through which fluid in the at least one fluid conduit may be dispensed from the closure assembly to a user; and
two or more fluid level indicators defined in the insulation layer, each fluid level indicator comprising a translucent or transparent material configured to permit light to pass through the opaque layer and into the internal compartment, wherein at least two of the two or more fluid level indicators are positioned on circumferentially opposed sides of the fluid vessel;
wherein the insulation layer is at least substantially formed of a material with a thermal insulation that is quantified by a base thermal resistance value and wherein the two or more fluid level indicators are configured such that an average thermal resistance value across a full surface area of the insulation layer is at least 70% of the base thermal resistance value.

2. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein the insulation layer encloses a circumference of the internal compartment.

3. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein the insulation layer encloses one or more sides of the internal compartment.

4. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein at least one fluid level indicator in the two or more fluid level indicators comprises a circular-shaped fluid level indicator.

5. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein at least one fluid level indicator in the two or more fluid level indicators comprises a slit-shaped fluid level indicator.

6. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein the at least one dispensing outlet comprises a plurality of dispensing outlets, the closure assembly further comprising:
a closure base configured to be selectively coupled to the neck of the fluid vessel to selectively couple the closure assembly to the fluid vessel; and
a valve assembly operatively coupled to the closure base and including the plurality of dispensing outlets, the plurality of dispending outlets including at least one drink outlet, at least one shower outlet, and a barrel valve, wherein each drink outlet is spaced apart from each shower outlet.

7. The fluid container of claim 6 , wherein the valve assembly is configured to be selectively transitioned between:
a closed configuration that restricts flow of the fluid from the internal compartment to each of the at least one drink outlet and the at least one shower,
a drink configuration that restricts flow of the fluid from the internal compartment to the at least one shower while permitting flow of the fluid from the internal compartment to the at least one drink outlet, and
a shower configuration that restricts flow of the fluid from the internal compartment to the at least one drink outlet while permitting flow of the fluid from the internal compartment to the at least one shower outlet.

8. The fluid container of claim 7 , wherein the barrel valve is configured to be selectively rotated about the rotational axis without concurrently translating along the rotational axis to transition the valve assembly between the closed configuration, the drink configuration, and the shower configuration.

9. The fluid container of claim 7 , wherein the barrel valve is configured to be retained at a constant axial position along the rotational axis relative to the closure base when the valve assembly is selectively transitioned between the closed configuration, the drink configuration, and the shower configuration.

10. The fluid container of claim 7 , the valve assembly further comprising:
an actuator configured to be engaged by a user to selectively transition the valve assembly between the closed configuration, the drink configuration, and the shower configuration, the actuator includes at least one actuator tab that extends away from the closure base.

11. The fluid container of claim 10 , the valve assembly further comprising:
an outlet spout that defines each drink outlet, the outlet spout comprising an outlet nozzle that extends away from the closure base by an outlet nozzle height;
wherein each actuator tab extends away from the closure base by an actuator tab height; and wherein the actuator tab height is at least 75% of the outlet nozzle height.

12. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein the fluid vessel comprises a semi-rigid fluid vessel configured to be squeezed by a user to expel the fluid through the closure assembly.

13. The fluid container of claim 1 , further comprising:
a dispensing spout that defines each dispensing outlet, the dispensing spout comprising a dispensing nozzle that extends away from a closure base of the closure assembly.

14. The fluid container of claim 13 , wherein the dispensing nozzle extends less than 20 millimeters away from the closure base.

15. The fluid container of claim 14 , wherein the dispensing nozzle extends less than 10 millimeters away from the closure base.

16. The fluid container of claim 15 , wherein the dispensing nozzle extends less than 5 millimeters away from the closure base.

17. The fluid container of claim 13 , further comprising:
one or more projections extending from the closure base, the one or more projections being configured to at least partially obstruct direct engagement between a mouth of the user and the dispensing nozzle.

18. The fluid container of claim 17 , wherein the one or more projections extend from the closure base at least 75% of a length that the dispensing nozzle extends from the closure base.

19. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first fluid level indicators comprise a plurality of fluid level features on the first side of the fluid vessel and the one or more second fluid level indicators comprise a single vertically-oriented fluid level strip on the second side of the fluid vessel.

20. The fluid container of claim 1 , wherein the two or more fluid level indicators are configured such that an average thermal resistance value across a full surface area of the insulation layer is at least 80% of the base thermal resistance value.

21. The fluid container of claim 20 , wherein the two or more fluid level indicators are configured such that an average thermal resistance value across a full surface area of the insulation layer is at least 90% of the base thermal resistance value.

22. The fluid container of claim 21 , wherein the two or more fluid level indicators are configured such that an average thermal resistance value across a full surface area of the insulation layer is at least 95% of the base thermal resistance value.

Assignees

• Camelbak Products Llc

Inventors

• Backs Jochen
• Boone Kaydee
• Davies Jeff

Classifications

• A47G19/2272

  from drinking glasses or cups comprising lids or covers · CPC title

• B65D81/3846

  formed of different materials, e.g. laminated or foam filling between walls · CPC title

• B65D47/185

  with sprinkling devices · CPC title

• B65D25/48

  Separable nozzles or spouts · CPC title

• B65D2543/00046

  Drinking-through lids · CPC title