Method and apparatus for monitoring fluid intake

Abstract

A device and method for monitoring fluid intake is disclosed in which time indicia may be marked on a container. The time indicia may correspond to a fluid intake program such that an individual can easily determine the amount of fluid to drink during a given time period. A level of the fluid in the container may be viewed and compared to the time indicia so that the individual can determine the amount of fluid to consume to stay on schedule with the fluid intake program.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/840,371, filed Aug. 23, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, including but not limited to those portions that specifically appear hereinafter, the incorporation by reference being made with the following exception: In the event that any portion of the above-referenced application is inconsistent with this application, this application supercedes said above-referenced application.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND

1. The Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates generally to methods and containers for dispensing fluids, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to methods and containers that facilitate determining the quantity of fluids to be dispensed in a particular amount of time.

2. Description of Related Art

It is common among individuals on health programs, diets or exercise programs to monitor the amount of fluid intake. For example, a particular program may recommend drinking a certain amount of water per day. Some programs recommend drinking at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water every day, i.e. sixty-four ounces of water per day. It is often difficult for an individual to know how much water he or she has consumed, and how much more should be consumed to meet the recommended amount. It is also difficult to make sure fluids are consumed throughout the day, rather than drinking large amounts of fluids at one time, and little or no fluids at other times.

Many different containers are known having indicia indicating how much fluid is in the container. However, none of the known containers have the indicia broken down for a time frame such that an individual could visually recognize if the rate of water consumption is being properly met, or if more water needs to be consumed. Accordingly, individuals have been required to estimate the amount of water to consume, and may often be required to drink extra water at some point, or large amounts at one time, to compensate for periods in which insufficient water was consumed. This is also true of monitoring fluid intake of any other living organism such as dogs, cats, and other pets and domesticated animals.

The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that are addressed by the present disclosure. The present disclosure minimizes, and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and other problems, by utilizing the methods and structural features described herein.

The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from a consideration of the subsequent detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a container for monitoring fluid intake in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a container for monitoring fluid intake in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an additional embodiment of a container for monitoring fluid intake in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure claimed.

Before the present methods and structures for monitoring fluid intake are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular configurations, process steps, and materials disclosed herein as such configurations, process steps, and materials may vary somewhat. It is also to be understood that the terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting since the scope of the present disclosure will be limited only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Moreover, as used herein, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” “characterized by,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic view is shown of one embodiment of a container, indicated generally at 10, useful in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. It will be understood that the size, shape, and configuration of the container may vary as desired within the scope of the present disclosure. The container 10 may be formed of a sidewall 12 defining a receptacle for receiving a fluid. The sidewall 12 may be formed of a substantially rigid material or a somewhat flexible material. One embodiment of the sidewall may be formed of a material that is at least partially transparent such that the level of the fluid in the container 10 may be visible from outside of the container 10. It will be understood that any variety of fluid may be used with the container 10, including water, juices, sports drinks, or milk, for example.

One embodiment of the container 10 may also include a handle 14 to facilitate grasping and carrying the container 10. Also, one embodiment of the container may include a lid 16 to prevent spillage of the fluid. The container may also optionally include an outlet 18, such as a straw or spout for *dispensing the fluid. One embodiment of the disclosure may also include volumetric indicia 20 indicating the volume of fluid in the container 10. The volumetric indicia 20 may be provided in any suitable unit and spacing as desired to represent the quantity of fluid in the container 10. Other embodiments may also include volumetric indica that represent the amount of fluid that has been removed from the container. It will be understood that since the level of fluid in the container 10 may be visible through the sidewall 12, the level of fluid may be compared with the volumetric indicia 20 to determine an approximate volume of fluid in the container 10, and thus, an approximate volume of fluid dispensed from the container 10.

The container 10 may also include time indicia 22. It will be understood that the time indicia 22 may be spaced apart at any desired interval, either in uniform or non-uniform increments. For example, the time indicia 22 may include times evenly spaced apart at hour and a half increments from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It will be understood, however, that any suitable time increments may be used.

The time indicia 22 may be arranged and pre-placed on the container 10 corresponding to a fluid intake program. Accordingly, the time indicia 22 may be permanently placed on the sidewall 12 of the container 10 prior to using the container 10. Thus, it will be understood that an individual may be able to observe the level of fluid in the container 10 and correlate the level of fluid with the time indicia 22 to determine how much fluid should be consumed to meet a fluid intake program. For example, if the program recommends that 64 ounces of water are consumed by 5:30 p.m., by 7:00 a.m. the person should have consumed 8 ounces such that 56 ounces remain. This can be verified by comparing the water level visible through the sidewall 12 with the time indicia 22. By 8:30 a.m., in order to stay on schedule, the person should have consumed water such that 48 ounces remain, and so forth. Accordingly, an individual can know throughout the day if more fluid needs to be consumed to stay on schedule with a particular fluid intake program.

It will be understood that the time indica 22 may be varied to correspond to any desired fluid intake program and the times and intervals may vary. For example, one embodiment may start at 9:00 a.m. and end at 9:00 p.m., or any other suitable time span. Moreover, the time intervals may vary, for example, in one hour intervals, or two hour intervals, or any other suitable interval.

Reference will now to made to FIG. 2 to describe another embodiment of the present disclosure. As previously discussed, the presently disclosed embodiments illustrated herein are merely exemplary of the possible embodiments of the disclosure, including that illustrated in FIG. 2.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in FIG. 2 contains many of the same features represented in FIG. 1 and only the new or different features will be explained to most succinctly explain the additional advantages that come with the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in FIG. 2. It will be understood that similar reference numerals are used in FIG. 2 as compared to FIG. 1, except that like features in FIG. 2 are designated with reference numerals that include an “a”, such as container 10“a”.

FIG. 2 discloses a schematic view of an alternative embodiment container 10a. It will be understood that the sidewall 12a of the container 10a may be flexible such that fluid in the container 10a may be dispensed by applying pressure to the sidewall 12a, thereby causing the fluid to be ejected out the spout 18a. As previously discussed, it will be understood that the container 10a may be formed in any suitable size or configuration.

Reference will now to made to FIG. 3 to describe another embodiment of the present disclosure. As previously discussed, the presently disclosed embodiments illustrated herein are merely exemplary of the possible embodiments of the disclosure, including that illustrated in FIG. 3.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in FIG. 3 contains many of the same features represented in FIG. 1 and only the new or different features will be explained to most succinctly explain the additional advantages that come with the embodiment of the disclosure illustrated in FIG. 3. It will be understood that similar reference numerals are used in FIG. 3 as compared to FIGS. 1 and 2, except that like features in FIG. 3 are designated with reference numerals that include a “b”, such as container 10“b”.

FIG. 3 discloses another alternative embodiment container 10b having time indicia 22b and volumetric indicia 20b that are representative of another alternative fluid intake program. The embodiment of FIG. 3 is intended to represent the concept that any suitable fluid intake program may be represented by the time indicia 22 within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, FIG. 3 discloses time indicia 22b that are non-uniform. A particular fluid intake program may suggest increased fluid intake during particular time periods, such as lunch time or during an exercise time, for example. It will be appreciated that the time indicia 22b in the embodiment of FIG. 3 may be configured to promote increased fluid intake from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and reduced fluid intake thereafter. It will be understood that the time indicia 22b represented in FIG. 3 are merely intended to be illustrative of the numerous different arrangements of time indicia 22b possible within the scope of the present disclosure.

It will be understood that the structural components disclosed herein may be manufactured in any suitable manner using any suitable material known to those skilled in the art.

It will be appreciated that the structure and apparatus disclosed herein is merely one example of a means for indicating the amount of fluid to be dispensed within a given period of time corresponding to a pre-determined fluid intake program, and it should be appreciated that any structure, apparatus or system for indicating an amount of fluid to be dispensed which performs functions the same as, or equivalent to, those disclosed herein are intended to fall within the scope of a means for indicating an amount of fluid to be dispensed, including those structures, apparatus or systems for indicating an amount of fluid to be dispensed which are presently known, or which may become available in the future. Anything which functions the same as, or equivalently to, a means for indicating an amount of fluid to be dispensed falls within the scope of this element.

In accordance with the features and combinations described above, a useful method for monitoring a quantity of fluid consumed by an individual includes the steps of:

providing a container for receiving and dispensing fluid;

providing time indicia on the container indicating the level of fluid to be consumed corresponding to predetermined times;

instructing the individual to consume water at a rate such that a level of water in the container at a given time corresponds to the level of fluid to be consumed as indicated by the time indicia on the container.

Those having ordinary skill in the relevant art will appreciate the advantages provide by the features of the present disclosure. For example, it is a feature of the present disclosure to provide a device and method for monitoring fluid intake that is simple in design and manufacture. Another feature of the present disclosure is to provide such a device and method for monitoring fluid intake that can be utilized with various different fluid intake programs. It is a further feature of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect thereof, to provide a device and method for monitoring fluid intake that can be used with various different container configurations. It is another feature of the present disclosure to provide a method for monitoring fluid intake that promotes intake of fluids at a rate corresponding to a desired fluid intake program.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features of the present disclosure are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed disclosure requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description of the Disclosure by this reference, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of the present disclosure.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present disclosure. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the present disclosure has been shown in the drawings and described above with particularity and detail, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a quantity of fluid consumed by a living organism, said method comprising:

providing a container for receiving and dispensing fluid;

providing time indicia on said container indicating the level of fluid to be consumed corresponding to predetermined times;

instructing said individual to consume water at a rate such that a level of water in the container at a given time corresponds to the level of fluid to be consumed as indicated by the time indicia on the container.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing volumetric indicia on said container indicating the volume of fluid in said container.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing said time indicia at regular intervals throughout a day.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising providing said time indicia in 1.5 hour increments from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing said time indicia corresponding to a predetermined fluid intake schedule.

6. A container for dispensing fluid, said container comprising:

a sidewall defining a receptacle for receiving said fluid;

time indicia on said sidewall indicating a level of fluid to be consumed corresponding to predetermined times; and

volumetric indicia on said sidewall indicating a volume of fluid in said container;

wherein a level of fluid in said container is visible through said sidewall such that said level can be compared with said time indicia and said volumetric indicia to indicate an amount of fluid to be consumed corresponding to a given time.

7. The container of claim 6, wherein said time indicia are permanently fixed on said sidewall prior to use of said container.

8. The container of claim 6, wherein said container further comprises a lid to prevent said fluid from spilling.

9. The container of claim 6, further comprising an opening for dispensing said fluid.

10. The container of claim 6, wherein said container is configured to receive at least 64 ounces of fluid.

11. The container of claim 10, wherein said volumetric indicia are evenly spaced apart along a height of said container.

12. The container of claim 10, wherein said time indicia are evenly spaced apart along a height of said container.

13. The container of claim 10, wherein said time indicia are unevenly spaced apart along a height of said container.

14. A method for promoting consumption of fluid at a predetermined rate, said method comprising:

determining said rate of fluid consumption;

placing time indicia on a container corresponding to a level of fluid in said container corresponding to said rate; and

providing instructions to drink fluid from said container such that the level of fluid in said container corresponds to said time indicia.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing volumetric indicia on said container corresponding to volumes of fluid in said container.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing said container with sidewalls configured such that said fluid may be viewed through said sidewalls.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing said container of a size configured to receive a quantity of fluid to be dispensed in a given period.

18. A container for dispensing fluid, said container comprising:

a sidewall defining a receptacle for receiving said fluid; and

means for indicating the amount of fluid to be dispensed within a given period of time corresponding to a pre-determined fluid intake program.

19. The container of claim 18, wherein said means for indicating the amount of fluid to be dispensed comprises time indicia on said sidewall.

20. The container of claim 18, wherein said means for indicating the amount of fluid to be dispensed comprises at least a portion of said sidewall being formed of a material that allows a level of said fluid to be visible from an exterior of said sidewall.