Mineralizing Bottle Inner Cap and Straw System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for mineralizing drinking water, such as reverse osmosis, remove both desirable and undesirable mineral ions, leading to demineralized water without taste or health benefits, and existing mineral fortification systems face challenges with inconsistent dosing, bioavailability, and bacterial contamination, particularly with iron and zinc supplements.
Innovation Solution
A bottle system for mineralizing drinking water that uses a specialized bottle with an inner cap and straw to mix mineral or supplement-containing liquid with filtered water, employing a peristaltic pump for controlled dosing and an air filter to prevent contamination, avoiding the use of mineral-containing clay pellets and promoting bioavailability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If reverse osmosis is used to purify water, then water purification effectiveness is improved, but mineral content is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the beneficial mineral ions (calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate) from the purified water through a selective mineralization process, while leaving other components separate. This resolves the contradiction by recovering desirable minerals without reintroducing contaminants.
Solution Approach 2:
The mineralization process applies local quality enhancement by selectively adding specific mineral ions to particular zones or streams of purified water, allowing precise control over which minerals are replenished and in what concentrations, rather than uniform addition of all minerals.
2Quantity of substance
If mineral salts are dissolved into water for mineralization, then mineral content is improved, but taste and health issues worsen due to unwanted ions
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and separates desirable mineral ions from undesirable ions through selective filtration and mineralization processes. This allows recovery of beneficial minerals (calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate) while excluding harmful ions (chloride, sulfate, excessive sodium and potassium), resolving the contradiction between mineral content and harmful substances.
Solution Approach 2:
The mineralization process enhances local quality by selectively introducing specific mineral ions in controlled concentrations, ensuring that only beneficial minerals are added in appropriate amounts while unwanted ions are excluded, thus improving taste and health properties simultaneously.
3Quantity of substance
If clay pellets are used for mineral delivery, then mineral supplementation is achieved, but dosing precision and quality control worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the mechanical dissolution process of clay pellets with a controlled mineralization system that uses filtration and selective ion transfer. This substitution enables precise digital control and measurement of mineral dosing, eliminating the imprecision inherent in pellet-based systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical and chemical parameters of mineral delivery from solid pellet dissolution to controlled liquid-phase ion transfer. This allows real-time monitoring and adjustment of mineral concentration, flow rate, and dosing precision, resolving the contradiction between supplementation and measurement accuracy.
4Ease of manufacture
If mineral-containing liquid is stored in a simple open container, then ease of manufacture is improved, but bacterial contamination worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a nested container structure where an inner removable container holding mineral-containing liquid is placed within an outer protective container. The inner container can be sealed and replaced, providing protection against contamination while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses flexible sealing membranes and thin-film barriers in the container design to prevent bacterial contamination while allowing for simple manufacturing. These flexible seals maintain integrity during storage and dispensing, protecting the mineral liquid without requiring complex rigid containment structures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system ensures consistent mineral dosing, improved bioavailability, and prevention of bacterial contamination, providing a healthy, tasteful, and bioavailable mineral-fortified drinking water with precise control over mineral content and rate of delivery.
Implementation Method 1
employing a peristaltic pump for controlled dosing
Implementation Method 2
The air filter material is adapted to allow flow into the interior volume of the body and to block airborne contaminants from entering the interior volume of the body
Implementation Method 3
The straw has an end positioned in proximity to the bottom of the body. The straw has an upper end opening at the receptacle.
Data Source
AI summary
A bottle for use with a system for mineralizing drinking water has a body and an inner cap fixedly positioned in the opening of the body. The body has a neck extending outwardly therefrom. The neck defines an opening at the upper end of the body. The inner cap has an upper surface affixed over the opening of the body. The inner cap has an annular portion extending downwardly from the upper surface. The annular surface bears against an inner wall of the neck of the body. The inner cap has a receptacle opening at the upper surface. The inner cap has a channel extending downwardly therefrom so as to open to the interior volume of the body. A straw extends through the channel and into the interior volume of the body so as to have an end position in proximity to the bottom of the body.