Sports bottle with preloaded valve and methods
OwnerChristopher A. Leonoffinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A beverage bottle for storing and dispensing water and impure sports beverages having a container and a dispensing opening on a top wall movable between an open position and a closed position and a unitary valve disposed within the container bottom wall having a vertically sinuous contour, and laterally opposed, laterally actuating, compliant slit faces and a substantially rigid annular flat surface. As the vertically sinuous contour is flattened upon the annular flat surface, the slit faces are laterally urged together establishing a preloaded seal, for leak resistant valve operation, and reduced restriction dispensing of water and impure sports beverages.
Claims20
A sports bottle for storing and dispensing sports beverages, comprising:
- a container, with a dispensing opening, a sidewall, a bottom wall, and a round hole in said bottom wall;
- a duckbill valve mountable within said hole, having an even walled cylindrical body, a vertically sinuous contour surface associated with said cylindrical body, and at least two laterally opposed slit faces, which actuate laterally;
- an insert, having a reinforcing tube, an annular flat surface, and a vent, in which the joining of said cylindrical valve body upon said reinforcing tube and the flattening of said vertically sinuous contour surface with said annular flat surface establishes a vertically imposed preload upon said valve body resulting in a preload across said slit faces, while also maintaining said even walled cylindrical body in a cylindrically round state for concentric engagement within said round hole with even circumferential compression, appreciating that said vertically imposed preloading and said round cylindrical state permit mounting compatibility within non-uniform wall thicknesses of said bottom wall, while maintaining said preload across said slit faces for leak resistant valve operation, and reduced restriction dispensing of said sports beverages.
A sports bottle for storing and dispensing sports beverages, comprising:
- a container, with a dispensing opening, a sidewall, a bottom wall, and a round hole in said bottom wall;
- a duckbill valve mountable within said hole, having an even walled cylindrical body, at least two vertically sinuous contour surfaces associated with said cylindrical body, and at least two laterally opposed slit faces, which actuate laterally;
- an insert, having a reinforcing tube, at least two annular flat surfaces for contacting said sinuous contours, at least one of said vertically sinuous contours located below said slit faces and above said bottom wall, and a vent, in which the joining of said cylindrical valve body upon said reinforcing tube and the flattening of said vertically sinuous contour surfaces with said annular flat surfaces establishes a vertically imposed preload upon said valve body resulting in the preloading of said slit faces, while also maintaining said even walled cylindrical body in a cylindrically round state for concentric engagement within said round hole with even circumferential compression, appreciating that said vertically imposed preloading and said round cylindrical state permit mounting compatibility within non-uniform wall thicknesses of said bottom wall, while maintaining said preloaded slit faces for leak resistant valve operation, and reduced restriction dispensing of said sports beverages.
A method of mounting a duckbill valve having a slit, an even walled cylindrical body, and a vertically sinuous contour surface associated with said cylindrical body in a preloaded state within a round hole in a container bottom wall, comprising the steps of:
- a) joining the cylindrical valve body downwardly upon a reinforcing insert having a reinforcing tube, and an annular flat surface such that said vertically sinuous contour surface is maintained in a flattened state against said annular flat surface resulting in vertically imposed preload forces and the preloading of said slit, said cylindrical valve body being of even wall thickness and reinforced by said reinforcing tube and maintained in a cylindrically round state;
- and
- b) inserting the preloaded, reinforced, and round valve and insert within the hole;
- where said preloaded, cylindrically round valve body is evenly compressed within said round hole for mounting and maintaining the valve in a preloaded state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.