US20140263336A1

US20140263336A1 - Bottle opener

Info

Publication number: US20140263336A1
Application number: US13/797,148
Authority: US
Inventors: Colleen Hicks; Scott Hicks
Original assignee: WOLF MOUNTAIN IP LLC
Current assignee: WOLF MOUNTAIN IP LLC
Priority date: 2013-03-12
Filing date: 2013-03-12
Publication date: 2014-09-18

Abstract

Example embodiments relate generally to a bottle opener and, more particularly, to a bottle opener for a container and for a drinking vessel lid. One example embodiment includes a container for removing a bottle cap secured to a bottle, with a bottle opener provided on a container lid. Another example embodiment allows a user to remove the bottle cap from the bottle with the bottle opener and then pour a liquid from the bottle into the drinking vessel in substantially one motion. Additionally, a further example embodiment includes a removable lid with a top surface to be used as a coaster for a drinking vessel, and the lid may further include a bottle opener on a bottom surface for removal of the bottle cap from the bottle.

Description

BACKGROUND

Embodiments relate generally to a bottle opener and, more particularly, to a bottle opener for a container and for a drinking vessel lid.

SUMMARY

In one example embodiment, a container for removing a bottle cap secured to a top edge of a bottle is provided, wherein the container comprises a drinking vessel with a bottom, sidewalls defining a vessel interior to contain liquid, and a rim of the sidewalls defining a top opening opposite the bottom; a lid to cover the opening when the lid is in a closed position, the lid rotatably joined to the drinking vessel by a hinge; and a bottle opener provided on a bottom surface of the lid, wherein the bottle opener is hidden from views external to the container when the lid is in the closed position. Additionally, the bottle opener of the container may further comprise a lift edge for engaging a bottle cap external edge along with a leverage surface for engaging a bottle cap top surface. The container may further comprise a recess between the lift edge and the leverage surface, wherein the recess is formed to fit over the bottle cap and to allow a user to remove the bottle cap from the bottle. Further, the container may also comprise a magnet, wherein the magnet is disposed on at least one of the lid above the recess and the leverage surface for retaining the bottle cap against the magnet after the bottle cap has been removed from the bottle with the bottle opener, thereby allowing a user to remove the bottle cap from the bottle with the bottle opener and then pour the liquid from the bottle into the drinking vessel in substantially one motion.
In another example embodiment, a drinking vessel lid for removing a bottle cap secured to a top edge of a bottle is provided, wherein the drinking vessel lid comprises a top surface; a bottom surface; an outer edge, wherein the top surface and bottom surface extend outward from a central axis to the outer edge; a bottle opener provided on the bottom surface of the lid; and at least one connector for securely joining at least a portion of the lid to at least a portion of a drinking vessel. Additionally, the bottle opener on the lid may further comprise a semicircular or circular opening with a diameter sized to engage the bottle cap, wherein an inside edge of the opening is ringed with a plurality of ridges and grooves dimensioned and configured to securely engage the plurality of jags of the bottle cap to allow a user to twist the bottle cap off the bottle. The drinking vessel lid may further comprise a circular raised lip on the top surface of the lid, the raised lip having a circumference larger than a circumference of a bottom of the drinking vessel, wherein the top surface of the lid has a substantially planar portion extending from the central axis of the top surface to an inner edge of the raised lip, and wherein the raised lip extends substantially perpendicular to the substantially planar portion of the top surface of the lid so that the lid may be used as a coaster for the drinking vessel. The drinking vessel lid may further comprise a top layer covering at least a portion of the substantially planar portion of the top surface, the top layer made of an absorbent material, for contacting the drinking vessel.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential characteristics of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additional features and advantages of claimed subject matter will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of embodiments. The features and advantages of various embodiments may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of example embodiments will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of embodiments as set forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of the present application, a more particular description of subject matter of this application will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only example embodiments and are therefore not to be considered to limit scope of the present application. Example embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a side view of a container in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 1B is a side view of a container in accordance with another example embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a container in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of a container with a cross-section view of a drinking vessel in accordance with a further example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a container including a drinking vessel with a screw top and a lid for connection to the drinking vessel in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a representative bottle and bottle cap;

FIG. 5A is a bottom view of a lid with a bottle opener in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 5B is a bottom view of a lid with a bottle opener in accordance with another example embodiment; and

FIG. 5C is a bottom view of a lid with a bottle opener in accordance with a further example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which example embodiments are shown. However, embodiments may be in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be both thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art. Like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout the various drawings.
It may be noted that in the description herein, a lid and a drinking vessel of a container may be described and/or claimed by terms such as “top”, “bottom”, “side”, or the like, for the purpose of facilitating description of the container structure. These terms are intended as relative terms to describe relative directions about the container structure as though the container being described were observed in a vertical, upright orientation as illustrated in side views herein. As a further clarification, the terms “inner” and “inward” mean radially toward a center of the lid or the drinking vessel, and “outer” and “outward” mean radially away from the center of the lid or the drinking vessel.
FIGS. 1A and 1B each illustrates a side view of an example container 6 in accordance with an example embodiment. The container 6 includes a lid 10 and a drinking vessel 30, and the lid 10 may be joined to the drinking vessel 30 by a connector such as a hinge 90. In each of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the lid 10 is shown in a closed position.
Referring now to FIG. 2A, a perspective view of the container 6 in accordance with an example embodiment is illustrated. In the example provided in FIG. 2A, the lid 10, joined to the drinking vessel 30 via the hinge 90, is shown in an open position, thereby exposing a bottom surface 14 of the lid 10. Provided on the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10 is a bottle opener 40, with the bottle opener 40 hidden from views external to the container 6 when the lid 10 is in the closed position, such as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
Turning now to FIG. 2B, a perspective view of the container 6 with a cross-section view of the drinking vessel 30 in accordance with a further example embodiment is illustrated. In the example provided in FIG. 2B, the lid 10, joined to the drinking vessel 30 via the hinge 90, is shown in an open position, thereby exposing the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10. Provided on the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10 is the bottle opener 40, in this example including a lift edge 42 along with a protrusion 45 to provide a leverage surface 44. The lift edge 42 and the leverage surface 44 will be described in additional detail below in reference to FIGS. 4, 5A, 5B, and 5C. The drinking vessel 30 includes a bottom 32, sidewalls 34 defining a vessel interior 39 to contain liquid, and a rim 36 of the sidewalls 34 defining a top opening 38 opposite the bottom 32. The drinking vessel 30 may be made from any material or combination of materials which allows for liquid to be retained within the vessel interior 39. When the lid 10 is in the closed position, the vessel opening 38 is covered by the lid 10.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a perspective view of the container 6 including the drinking vessel 30 with a screw top 31 and the lid 10 for connection to the drinking vessel 30 in accordance with an example embodiment is illustrated. The lid 10 may include a connector such as a threaded ring (not shown) disposed on the bottom surface 14 to allow for secure and removable connection to the drinking vessel 30. As illustrated earlier, such as in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B, to facilitate opening and closing of the lid 10, the lid 10 may be rotatably joined to the drinking vessel 30 by the hinge 90, though the lid 10 could instead be removably secured to the vessel 30 such as through connection to the screw top 31, with a sealing lip (not shown) around a perimeter of the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10 to fit over the vessel rim 36, with a clip (not shown), or any equivalents thereof.
The lid 10 as shown in FIG. 3 includes a circular raised lip 22 on the top surface 12 of the lid 10, the raised lip 22 having a circumference larger than a circumference of the bottom 32 of the drinking vessel 30. The top surface 12 of the lid 10 may have a substantially planar portion 24 extending from a central axis 18 of the top surface 12 to an inner edge 23 of the raised lip 22, and the raised lip 22 may extend substantially perpendicular to the substantially planar portion 24 of the top surface 12 of the lid 10 to allow the lid 10 to be used as a coaster for the drinking vessel 30. The raised lip 22 may be positioned anywhere on the lid 10, including inward, above, or outward of an outer edge 16 of the lid 10. Additionally, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, the lid 10 further includes a top layer 28 covering at least a portion of the substantially planar portion 24 of the top surface 12, the top layer 28 made of an absorbent material, for contacting the bottom 32 of the drinking vessel 30. The absorbent material may be paper, cork, cardboard, sandstone, leather, or any other equivalent absorbent material or combinations thereof. Inventive embodiments herein allow for a drinking vessel lid to be replaced by the lid 10 with an integrated bottle opener 40 and/or by the lid 10 with the integrated coaster. The lid 10 may be made of any material or combination of materials which allows the lid 10 to be non-porous and which is of sufficient strength to allow for the bottle opener 40 to be used for bottle cap 60 removal.
Turning now to FIG. 4, a side view of a representative bottle 50 and a bottle cap 60 is illustrated, and a user may remove the bottle cap 60 from the bottle 50 with the bottle opener 40, as will be further detailed below. The bottle cap 60 may be secured to a top edge 52 of the bottle 50, the bottle 50 containing a liquid 70. The bottle cap 60 may have a top surface 62 and a perimeter wall 64 extending downward from the top surface 62 with the perimeter wall 64 having a plurality of jags 66, and the perimeter wall 64 further having an external edge 68 at an opposite end of the perimeter wall 64 from the top surface 62. The bottle cap 60 may be removed from the top edge 52 of the bottle 50 through being pried off and/or through being twisted off.
Referring now to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C with reference back to FIG. 4, bottom views of the lid 10 with the bottle opener 40 are illustrated in accordance with example embodiments. Turning first to FIG. 5A, the bottle opener 40 for prying off the bottle cap 60 is provided on the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10, and the bottle opener 40 may include the lift edge 42 for engaging the bottle cap external edge 68, and the bottle opener 40 may further include the leverage surface 44 for engaging the bottle cap top surface 62. Further, an opening or recess 46 may be provided between the lift edge 42 and the leverage surface 44, wherein the recess 46 is formed to fit over the bottle cap 60 and to allow a user to remove the bottle cap 60 from the bottle 50. The bottle cap 60 typically has a diameter of at least 25 millimeters (mm), therefore a distance between where the lift edge 42 engages the bottle cap external edge 68 and where the leverage surface 44 engages the bottle cap top surface 62 is preferably less than 25 mm. A material or combination of materials for construction of the bottle opener 40 components such as the lift edge 42 and the leverage surface 44 should be sufficiently strong so as to be able to engage and remove the bottle cap 60.
One or more magnets 80 may be disposed on the leverage surface 44, such as the magnet 80 a. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more magnets 80 may be disposed on the lid 10 above the recess 46, such as the magnet 80 b. The magnet 80 may retain the bottle cap 60 against the magnet 80 after the bottle cap 60 has been removed from the bottle 50 with the bottle opener 40, thereby allowing a user to remove the bottle cap 60 from the bottle 50 with the bottle opener 40 and then pour the liquid 70 from the bottle 50 into the drinking vessel 30 in substantially one motion. That is, for example, the user holding the bottle 50 may engage the bottle cap 60 with the bottle opener 40, tilt the bottle 50 to remove the bottle cap 60, and continue the tilting motion to pour the liquid 70 from the bottle 50 into the drinking vessel 30 underneath the lid 10.
A connector 20 as shown in FIG. 5A includes a sealing lip around a perimeter of the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10 to fit over the drinking vessel rim 36, though the connector 20 may additionally or alternatively include a clip, a threaded ring, and/or a connection to the hinge 90 as shown in FIG. 5B. Referring further to FIG. 5B, the bottle opener 40 for twisting off the bottle cap 60 is provided on the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10, and the bottle opener 40 may include a semicircular or circular opening 43 with a diameter sized to engage the bottle cap 60, wherein an inside edge 48 of the opening 43 is ringed with a plurality of ridges 46 and grooves 47 dimensioned and configured to securely engage the plurality of jags 66 of the bottle cap 60 to allow a user to twist the bottle cap 60 off the bottle 50. Further, the magnet 80 may be disposed over the opening 43 for retaining the bottle cap 60 within the opening 43 after the bottle cap 60 has been twisted off the bottle 50 with the bottle opener 40.
Turning now to FIG. 5C, the bottle opener 40 for prying off the bottle cap 60 is provided on the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10, with the lid bottom surface 14 in this example being concave. The lid bottom surface 14 may include a tiered concave surface such as the lid 10 of FIG. 1A has. The bottle opener 40 in this example embodiment includes the lift edge 42, and the leverage surface 44 is a portion of the bottom surface 14 of the lid 10. The magnet 80 may be disposed on the bottom surface 14 for retaining the bottle cap 60 after the bottle cap 60 has been pried off the bottle 50 with the bottle opener 40. The leverage surface 44 could alternatively include the protrusion 45 extending from the bottom surface 14 as shown in FIG. 2B.
The previously described embodiments have many advantages, including: providing an all-in-one container and bottle opener; allowing substantially one motion for removal of a bottle cap from a bottle and pouring a liquid from the bottle; hiding the bottle opener from external view; and allowing for the drinking vessel lid to be replaced by a lid with an integrated bottle opener and/or coaster. All advantageous features and all advantages need not be incorporated into every embodiment.
The present subject matter may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A container for removing a bottle cap secured to a top edge of a bottle, the bottle containing a liquid, and the bottle cap having a top surface and a perimeter wall extending downward from the top surface with the perimeter wall having a plurality of jags and the perimeter wall further having an external edge at an opposite end of the perimeter wall from the top surface, the container comprising:

a drinking vessel comprising a bottom, sidewalls defining a vessel interior to contain liquid, and a rim of the sidewalls defining a top opening opposite the bottom;

a lid to cover the opening when the lid is in a closed position, the lid rotatably joined to the drinking vessel by a hinge; and

a bottle opener provided on a bottom surface of the lid, wherein the bottle opener is hidden from views external to the container when the lid is in the closed position.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein the bottle opener comprises a lift edge for engaging the bottle cap external edge, and wherein the bottle opener further comprises a leverage surface for engaging the bottle cap top surface.

3. The container of claim 2, wherein the leverage surface comprises a portion of the bottom surface of the lid.

4. The container of claim 3, wherein the bottom surface of the lid is substantially concave.

5. The container of claim 2, wherein the leverage surface comprises a protrusion extending from the bottom surface of the lid.

6. The container of claim 2, further comprising a recess between the lift edge and the leverage surface, wherein the recess is formed to fit over at least a portion of the bottle cap and to allow a user to remove the bottle cap from the bottle.

7. The container of claim 6, wherein a distance between where the lift edge engages the bottle cap external edge and where the leverage surface engages the bottle cap top surface is less than 25 mm.

8. The container of claim 6, further comprising a magnet, wherein the magnet is disposed on at least one of the lid above the recess and the leverage surface for retaining the bottle cap against the magnet after the bottle cap has been removed from the bottle with the bottle opener, thereby allowing a user to remove the bottle cap from the bottle with the bottle opener and then pour the liquid from the bottle into the drinking vessel in substantially one motion.

9. The container of claim 1, wherein the bottle opener comprises a semicircular or circular opening with a diameter sized to engage the bottle cap, wherein an inside edge of the opening is ringed with a plurality of ridges and grooves dimensioned and configured to securely engage the plurality of jags of the bottle cap to allow a user to twist the bottle cap off the bottle.

10. The container of claim 9, wherein the bottle opener further comprises a magnet disposed over the opening for retaining the bottle cap in the opening after the bottle cap has been removed from the bottle with the bottle opener.

11. A drinking vessel lid for removing a bottle cap secured to a top edge of a bottle, the bottle containing a liquid, and the bottle cap having a top surface and a perimeter wall extending downward from the top surface with the perimeter wall having a plurality of jags, and the perimeter wall further having an external edge at an opposite end of the perimeter wall from the top surface, the drinking vessel lid comprising:

a top surface;

a bottom surface;

an outer edge, wherein the top surface and bottom surface extend outward from a central axis to the outer edge;

a bottle opener provided on the bottom surface of the lid; and

at least one connector for securely joining at least a portion of the lid to at least a portion of a drinking vessel.

12. The drinking vessel lid of claim 11, wherein the bottle opener comprises a lift edge for engaging the bottle cap external edge, and wherein the bottle opener further comprises a leverage surface for engaging the bottle cap top surface.

13. The drinking vessel lid of claim 12, further comprising an opening between the lift edge and the leverage surface, wherein the opening is formed to fit over at least a portion of the bottle cap and to allow a user to remove the bottle cap from the bottle.

14. The drinking vessel lid of claim 13, wherein a distance between where the lift edge engages the bottle cap external edge and where the leverage surface engages the bottle cap top surface is less than 25 mm.

15. The drinking vessel lid of claim 13, further comprising a magnet disposed on at least one of the lid above the opening and the leverage surface for retaining the bottle cap against the magnet after the bottle cap has been removed from the bottle with the bottle opener.

16. The drinking vessel lid of claim 11, wherein the bottle opener comprises a semicircular or circular opening with a diameter sized to engage the bottle cap, wherein an inside edge of the opening is ringed with a plurality of ridges and grooves dimensioned and configured to securely engage the plurality of jags of the bottle cap to allow a user to twist the bottle cap off the bottle.

17. The drinking vessel lid of claim 16, further comprising a magnet disposed on at least a portion of the lid above the opening for retaining the bottle cap after the bottle cap has been removed from the bottle with the bottle opener.

18. The drinking vessel lid of claim 11, wherein the at least a portion of the drinking vessel comprises a hinge.

19. The drinking vessel lid of claim 11, further comprising a circular raised lip on the top surface of the lid, the raised lip having a circumference larger than a circumference of a bottom of the drinking vessel, wherein the top surface of the lid has a substantially planar portion extending from the central axis of the top surface to an inner edge of the raised lip, and wherein the raised lip extends substantially perpendicular to the substantially planar portion of the top surface of the lid.

20. The drinking vessel lid of claim 19, further comprising a top layer covering at least a portion of the substantially planar portion of the top surface, the top layer made of an absorbent material, for contacting the drinking vessel.