Container assembly with orientation referencing feature and method

Abstract

A beverage container assembly enhances a user's ability to manually orient the assembly for safe, spill-free beverage consumption. The assembly includes a beverage container and a lid construction. The beverage container includes select outer container wall surfacing outfitted with certain tactilely distinguishable surfacing. The lid construction includes a primary beverage outlet. The lid construction is attachable to the beverage container such that the primary beverage outlet is situated in superior adjacency to the select outer container wall surfacing. The select outer container wall surfacing including the primary tactile-referencing structure, is in inferior adjacency to the primary beverage outlet for enhancing a user's ability to reference the primary beverage outlet. The container assembly may be supported by a support structure outfitted with structure that mates with the container assembly for preventing re-orientation of the container assembly once supported.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A beverage container assembly, the beverage container assembly for enhancing a user's ability to manually orient said beverage container assembly for beverage consumption, said beverage container assembly comprising, in combination:
 a beverage container and a lid construction, the beverage container comprising outer container wall surfacing, the lid construction comprising a lid perimeter and a primary beverage outlet, the primary beverage outlet being located inwardly adjacent to the lid perimeter, the lid construction being attachable to the beverage container such that the primary beverage outlet becomes situated in superior adjacency to the outer container wall surfacing, the outer container wall surfacing comprising primary tactile-referencing means, the primary tactile-referencing means being in inferior adjacency to the primary beverage outlet for enhancing a user's ability to reference the primary beverage outlet via the primary tactile-referencing means, the beverage container assembly thus for enhancing a user's ability to manually orient said beverage container assembly for beverage consumption.   
     
     
         2 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 1  wherein the primary tactile-referencing means extend inwardly from the outer wall surfacing for enhancing the user's ability to reference the primary beverage outlet via partial manual insertion of a user's tactile sensor into the inwardly extended primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         3 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 1  wherein the primary tactile-referencing means extend outwardly from the outer wall surfacing for enhancing the user's ability to reference the primary beverage outlet via engagement a user's tactile sensor with outwardly extended primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         4 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 3  wherein the outwardly extended primary tactile-referencing means comprise textured surfacing, the textured surfacing for increasing the surface contact area between the user's tactile sensor and the primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         5 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 1  wherein the beverage container comprises a container bottom and a container height, the primary tactile-referencing means extending longitudinally a distance less than the container height, the longitudinally extended primary tactile-referencing means for increasing the tactile surface contact area available to the user's tactile sensor and for directing the user's tactile sensor toward the primary beverage outlet. 
     
     
         6 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 1  wherein the beverage container comprises inner wall surfacing and thermally-insulative material, the primary tactile-referencing means and thermally-insulative material extending intermediate the inner wall surfacing and the outer wall surfacing for thermally insulating the beverage container assembly while providing said primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         7 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 1  wherein the outer wall surfacing comprises secondary tactile-referencing means, the primary tactile-referencing means for providing first tactile sensory information, the secondary tactile-referencing means for providing second tactile sensory information, the first and second tactile sensory information being sensitively different for enabling the user to distinguish the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means via the first and second tactile sensory information for enhancing the user's ability to manually orient the beverage container. 
     
     
         8 . The beverage container assembly of  claim 7  wherein the secondary tactile-referencing means are periodically and circumferentially spaced relative to the primary tactile-referencing means for directing the user's tactile sensor toward the primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         9 . A container assembly, the container assembly for enabling a user to manually orient said container assembly in a select direction, said container assembly comprising:
 a container, the container comprising exterior container structure and select outer container surfacing, the exterior container structure comprising primary tactile-referencing means, the primary tactile-referencing means for providing first tactile sensory information and being in longitudinal alignment with the select outer container surfacing for enabling the user to manually orient the container such that the select outer container surfacing is directed in a select direction.   
     
     
         10 . The container assembly of  claim 9  comprising a container support structure, the container support structure comprising reference-mating means, the reference-mating means being matable with the primary tactile-referencing means for preventing re-orientation of the container after mated engagement therebetween. 
     
     
         11 . The container assembly of  claim 9  comprising a lid construction, the lid construction comprising a primary outlet, the lid construction being attachable to the container such that the select outer container surfacing is located in inferior adjacency to the primary outlet, the primary tactile-referencing means for enabling the user to reference the primary outlet via the primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         12 . The container assembly of  claim 9  wherein the container comprises a container height, the primary tactile-referencing means extending longitudinally within the container height for directing the user's tactile sensor along the select outer container surfacing. 
     
     
         13 . The container assembly of  claim 9  wherein the container comprises a thermally-insulative material construction, the primary tactile-referencing means extending into the thermally-insulative material construction, the thermally insulating material construction for thermally insulating the container while simultaneously providing said primary tactile-referencing means. 
     
     
         14 . The container assembly of  claim 9  wherein the exterior container structure comprises secondary tactile-referencing means, the primary tactile-referencing means for providing first tactile sensory information, the secondary tactile-referencing means for providing second tactile sensory information, the first and second tactile sensory information being sensitively different for enabling the user to manually distinguish the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means via the first and second tactile sensory information for enhancing the user's ability to manually orient the container. 
     
     
         15 . The container assembly of  claim 14  comprising tertiary tactile-referencing means, the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means being longitudinally aligned, the tertiary tactile-referencing means being circumferentially spaced relative to the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means, the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means for providing a first set of tactile sensory information, the tertiary tactile-referencing means for providing a second set of tactile sensory information, the first and second sets of tactile sensory information being sensitively different for enabling the user to distinguish the primary and secondary versus tertiary tactile-referencing means for enhancing the user's ability to manually orient the container. 
     
     
         16 . A container assembly orientation method for enabling a user to manually orient a container assembly, the method comprising the steps of:
 outfitting a container with primary tactile-referencing means, the primary tactile-referencing means being outfitted upon exterior container structure for providing first tactile sensory information and being in longitudinal alignment with the select outer container surfacing;   locating the primary tactile-referencing means via a user's tactile sensor; and   manually orienting the outfitted container so as to selectively orient the select outer container surfacing in a first direction.   
     
     
         17 . The container assembly orientation method of  claim 16  comprising the steps of:
 a. providing a container support, the container support being outfitted with reference-mating means; and 
 b. mating the primary tactile-referencing means with the reference-mating means, the mated primary tactile-referencing means and reference-mating means preventing re-orientation of the container. 
 
     
     
         18 . The container assembly orientation method of  claim 16  comprising the steps of:
 a. providing a lid construction, the lid construction comprising a primary outlet; and 
 b. outfitting the container with the lid construction, the container being outfitted with the lid construction such that the select outer container surfacing is located in inferior adjacency to the primary outlet. 
 
     
     
         19 . The container assembly orientation method of  claim 16  comprising the step of outfitting the container with secondary tactile-referencing means, the secondary tactile-referencing means being outfitted upon exterior container structure in longitudinal alignment with the primary referencing means, the longitudinally aligned primary and secondary tactile-referencing means for reinforcing select manual orientation of the container. 
     
     
         20 . The container assembly orientation method of  claim 19  comprising the step of outfitting the container with tertiary tactile-referencing means, the tertiary tactile-referencing means being circumferentially spaced relative to the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means, the primary and secondary tactile-referencing means for providing a first set of tactile sensory information, the tertiary tactile-referencing means for providing a second set of tactile sensory information, the first and second sets of tactile sensory information being sensitively different for enabling the user to distinguish the primary and secondary versus tertiary tactile-referencing for enhancing the user's ability to manually orient the container.