Tilt-activated beverage effects

Abstract

A tilt-activated beverage container is tilted to release an additive into a liquid. The additive is provided in an additive-release housing coupled to an inner wall of the beverage container. The additive-release housing includes a cap coupled to a base to form an additive-release compartment. When the base and cap are coupled, a channel is formed between a lip of the cap and an annular rim of the base. The additive is released into the liquid via the channel when the container is tilted.

1 . A tilt-activated beverage container, comprising:
 a beverage container;   an additive-release housing forming a compartment, the additive-release housing disposed on or in an inner wall of the beverage container, wherein the additive-release housing comprises:
 a cap comprising a lip forming an inner diameter of the cap, wherein the lip extends away from a cap top; 
 a base comprising:
 an annular rim extending away from a support surface, the annular rim forming an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cap such that the annular rim fits within the lip; and 
 a post protruding from the support surface and configured to be coupled to the cap top, wherein, when the post is coupled to the cap top, the lip extends past an upper edge of the annular rim and towards the support surface to form a channel between an inner surface of the lip and an outer surface of the annular rim; and 
 an additive disposed within the compartment of the additive-release housing, wherein liquid of the beverage container does not flow into the compartment in a first orientation of the beverage container and flows into the compartment via the channel in a second orientation. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein a width of the channel formed by a gap between the inner surface of the lip and the outer surface of the annular rim is 2-5 mm. 
     
     
         3 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the additive comprises a liquid additive or a solid additive. 
     
     
         4 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the lip extends past the annular rim an amount corresponding to at least 5% of a height of the annular rim. 
     
     
         5 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the additive-release housing at least in part removably couples to the inner wall of the beverage container. 
     
     
         6 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 5 , wherein the base is fixedly coupled to the inner wall of the beverage container and the cap is removable from the base. 
     
     
         7 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the base is removable from the cap to permit the additive-release housing to be refilled with additional additive. 
     
     
         8 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the additive-release housing is coupled to a bottom portion of the beverage container such that a top of the liquid is generally parallel to a plane of the cap top. 
     
     
         9 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the liquid extends at least partially into the channel in the first orientation and the liquid fills the channel in the second orientation. 
     
     
         10 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 9 , wherein the first orientation is a non-tilted orientation and the second orientation is a tilted orientation. 
     
     
         11 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein a top surface of the post couples to a mating feature of the cap top. 
     
     
         12 . The tilt-activated beverage container of  claim 1 , wherein the post couples to the cap top via an interference fit with a recess formed in the cap top. 
     
     
         13 . A method of providing tilt-activated beverage effects, comprising:
 providing a tilt-activated beverage container, the tilt-activated beverage container comprising an inner wall comprising an additive-release housing forming a compartment, wherein the additive-release housing comprises:
 a cap comprising a lip forming an inner diameter of the cap, wherein the lip extends away from a cap top; 
 a base comprising:
 an annular rim extending away from a support surface, the annular rim forming an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cap such that the annular rim fits within the lip; and 
 a post protruding from the support surface and coupled to the cap top, wherein, when the post is coupled to the cap top, the lip extends past an upper edge of the annular rim and towards the support surface to form a channel between an inner surface of the lip and an outer surface of the annular rim; and 
 
   providing an additive disposed within the compartment, wherein the compartment is not fluidically coupled via the channel to the beverage container holding a liquid in a first orientation of the beverage container and is fluidically coupled via the channel to the beverage container holding the liquid in a second orientation.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein providing the additive comprises disposing the additive within the cap or the base and coupling the base and the cap together via the post. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the additive is sealed within a reservoir of the cap or the base and the post disrupts the seal when coupling the base and the cap together to dispose the additive within the compartment. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , comprising coupling the additive-release housing to the inner wall via complementary mating features. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , comprising uncoupling the additive-release housing from the inner wall and coupling a new housing comprising a different additive. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , comprising filling the tilt-activated beverage container with the liquid. 
     
     
         19 . A tilt-activated beverage container system, comprising:
 a tilt-activated beverage container, the tilt-activated beverage container comprising an inner wall comprising at least one mating feature configured to receive an additive-release housing; and   a plurality of additive-release housings, each additive-release housing comprising:
 a cap comprising a lip forming an inner diameter of the cap, wherein the lip extends away from a cap top; 
 a base comprising:
 an annular rim extending away from a support surface, the annular rim forming an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cap such that the annular rim fits within the lip; 
 a post protruding from the support surface and coupled to the cap top, wherein, when the post is coupled to the cap top, the lip extends past an upper edge of the annular rim and towards the support surface to form a channel between an inner surface of the lip and an outer surface of the annular rim; and 
 an additive disposed within a compartment formed by the additive-release housing, 
 
 wherein each individual additive-release housing of the plurality of additive-release housings is configured to couple to the inner wall via the at least one mating feature. 
   
     
     
         20 . The tilt-activated beverage container system of  claim 19 , wherein each respective additive-release housing of the plurality of additive-release housings has a different type of additive. 
     
     
         21 . The tilt-activated beverage container system of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one mating feature comprises a plurality of mating features distributed about the inner wall.