Container with buoyant fluid flow restrictor
AssigneeKenneth Ali Alley
InventorsKenneth A. Alley, Jonothon M. W. McIntyre
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A buoyant ball as provided within a water bottle to provide a momentary gate for restricting water flow out of the bottle as it is inverted. When filling the bottle with water, the ball floats on the surface and eventually comes to rest at the base of the bottleneck. Due to irregularities in the bottle, water flow past the ball is not prevented, but is restricted. As the bottle is inverted to permit water to escape therefrom, some water leaks past the ball through the neck and out of the bottle, but the ball remains positioned at the base of the bottleneck. The ball can be dislodged from the neck by an exterior blow to the bottle, or it will dislodge itself with the passage of time.
Claims18
A novel fluid container for use in connection with a fluid dispensing station, the container comprising:
- bottle means having a tapered fluid port at an upper end through which fluid passes to fill or empty the container;
- and
- means within the bottle means for momentarily restricting fluid flow out of the port when the bottle means is inverted, the restricting means having a construction such that when the bottle means is filled with fluid in an upright position, the fluid is permitted free passage through the port until the bottle means is substantially full at which time the port becomes substantially occluded by the restricting means, and when the bottle means is inverted some passage of fluid is permitted past the restricting means yet the port remains substantially occluded until the fluid pressure at the port reduces sufficiently so that the restricting means disengages to permit the fluid to flow without obstruction through the port.
A water container for use in connection with a water conditioning unit having means for receiving and holding the water container in an inverted position thereon to permit gravitational flow of water from the bottle into the interior of the water conditioning unit, whereupon the water can be dispensed on demand, the water container comprising:
- a generally cylindrical bottle having a tapered fluid port at an upper end through which fluid passes to fill or empty the container;
- and
- means within the bottle for momentarily restricting fluid flow out of the port as the bottle is inverted and placed on the water conditioning unit, the restricting means including a generally spherical, flexible and resilient ball which is buoyant in water, which ball has a diameter greater than a diameter of the tapered fluid port, and means situated on the inner surface of the bottle for preventing the ball from forming a fluid tight seal over the port such that when the bottle is filled with water in a upright position the water is permitted free passage through the port until the bottle is substantially full at which time the port becomes substantially occluded by the ball, and when the bottle is inverted some passage of water is permitted past the restricting means yet the port remains substantially occluded until the buoyant characteristics of the ball overcome the fluid pressure bearing downwardly on the ball and the frictional engagement between the ball and the bottle, so that the ball floats upwardly and thus permits the fluid to flow without obstruction through the port.
A novel fluid container for use in connection with a fluid dispensing station, the container comprising:
- bottle means having a tapered fluid port at an upper end through which fluid passes to fill or empty the container;
- and
- means within the bottle means for momentarily restricting fluid flow out of the port when the bottle means is inverted, the restricting means having a construction such that when the bottle means is filled with fluid in a upright position the fluid is permitted free passage through the port until the bottle means is substantially full at which time the port becomes substantially occluded by the restricting means, and when the bottle means is inverted some passage of fluid is permitted past the restricting means yet the port remains substantially occluded until the bottle means is given an exterior blow sufficient to cause the restricting means to disengage and thus permit the fluid to flow without obstruction through the port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.