Container assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11364456-B2
Application number	US-202016801891-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2020
Priority date	Mar 1, 2019
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A container assembly is disclosed. The container assembly includes a container that contains a volume. Selected portions of the container assembly may be removable. A spigot assembly may be removed and associated with a filter assembly. An ambient light sensor may be included to determine when the filter assembly has been removed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system to contain a fluid, comprising:
a container having:
a first sidewall and a second sidewall extending from a first end to a second end,
a first end wall and a second end wall, and
a bottom wall extending between all of the first sidewall, the second sidewall, the first end wall, and the second end wall;

a valve assembly operable between an open configuration and a closed configuration to selectively remove a fluid from the container;
a filter assembly selectively connectable to the valve assembly and operable to filter the fluid disposed in the container as the fluid exits the container via the valve assembly when the valve assembly is disposed in the open configuration; and
a monitoring system to indicate a feature of the container or the filter assembly, wherein the monitoring system is integrated into the valve assembly so that the valve assembly and the monitoring system are removable from the container as a single unit.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the valve assembly is selectively connectable to the first end wall and extends at least partially within a sump; and
the bottom wall includes a first region that is angled toward a second region of the bottom wall, and the second region forms the sump.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the bottom wall forms an angle greater than zero degrees relative to a level surface and the angle greater than zero directs the fluid to at least the second region.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall form a taper for the container, the taper extending from a top portion of the container toward the bottom wall.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least the second end wall extends from a lower portion to an upper portion and an outer surface of the upper portion forms a radius that is operable as a grasping portion of the container.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first end wall forms an internal engaging portion;
the valve assembly includes a container engaging portion; and
the internal engaging portion and the container engaging portion include radially extending complementary engaging walls.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the radially extending complementary engaging walls fix the valve assembly to the first end wall with a quarter turn.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring system includes a visual indicator.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the visual indicator includes a light pipe to direct a light emitted from a light source.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the filter assembly is selectively removable from the container as part of the single unit.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the monitoring system includes a light sensor to sense existence of light when the filter assembly is selectively removed from the valve assembly.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the single unit is slidably removable from the container.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the container includes a fill port and the container defines a container volume that is filled unobstructed through the fill port when the valve assembly and the filter assembly are installed in the container.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring system is operable to:
generate a reset signal based on sensing of an ambient light when the filter assembly removed from the valve assembly.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the monitoring system is operable to:
determine a status of whether a threshold is reached is based at least upon one or more signals received when the valve assembly is moved from the closed configuration to the open configuration, the reset signal, or any combination thereof.

16. A system to contain a fluid, comprising:
a container having:
a first sidewall and a second sidewall extending from a first end to a second end,
a first end wall and a second end wall, and
a bottom wall extending between all of the first sidewall, the second sidewall, the first end wall, and the second end wall;

a valve assembly operable between an open configuration and a closed configuration to selectively remove a fluid from the container;
a filter assembly selectively connectable to the valve assembly to filter the fluid exiting the container; and
a monitoring system to indicate a feature of the container or the filter assembly, wherein the monitoring system includes a light sensor to sense existence of an ambient light when the filter assembly is selectively removed from the valve assembly and the monitoring system is operable to generate a reset signal based on sensing of the ambient light.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the monitoring system includes a visual indicator.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the visual indicator includes a light pipe to direct a light emitted from a light source.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein:
the monitoring system is integrated into the valve assembly; and
the valve assembly and the monitoring system are removable from the container as a single unit.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the valve assembly and the filter assembly are selectively removable from the container as a single unit.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the single unit of the valve assembly and the filter assembly are slidably removable from the container.

22. The system of claim 16 , wherein the container includes a fill port and the container defines a container volume that is filled unobstructed through the fill port when the valve assembly and the filter assembly are installed in the container.

23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the monitoring system is further operable to:
determine a status of whether a threshold is reached is based at least upon one or more signals received when the valve assembly is moved from the closed configuration to the open configuration, the reset signal, or any combination thereof.

24. The system of claim 16 , wherein:
the bottom wall of the container includes a first region that is angled toward a second region of the bottom wall, and the second region forms a sump; and
the valve assembly is selectively connectable to the first end wall and extends at least partially within the sump when connected to the first end wall.

25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the bottom wall forms an angle greater than zero degrees relative to a level surface and the angle greater than zero directs the fluid to at least the second region.

26. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall form a taper for the container, the taper extending from a top portion of the container toward the bottom wall.

27. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least the second end wall extends from a lower portion to an upper portion and an outer surface of the upper portion forms a radius that is operable as a grasping portion of the container.

28. The system of claim 16 , wherein:
the first end wall forms an internal engaging portion;
the valve assembly includes a container engaging portion; and
the internal engaging portion and the container engaging portion include radially extending complementary engaging walls.

29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the radially extending complementary engaging walls fix the valve assembly to the first end wall with a quarter turn.

Assignees

• Brita Lp

Inventors

• Macoretta Federico
• Nishijima Rick T
• Donovan Madeline A
• Bell Russell E
• Yau Piercy

Classifications

• B01D2201/291

  End caps · CPC title

• B67D3/0093

  Level indicators · CPC title

• C02F1/283

  using coal, charred products, or inorganic mixtures containing them · CPC title

• C02F1/003 Primary

  using household-type filters for producing potable water, e.g. pitchers, bottles, faucet mounted devices (C02F9/20 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B67D2210/00005

  Filters · CPC title