Patent Application
20130150783
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for consuming liquids. More particularly, the systems and methods relate to consuming liquids with a cup. Specifically, the methods and systems of the present invention involve a cup with the ability to measure an amount of medicine consumed with a liquid in the cup.
2. Background Information
Training cups (e.g., sippy cups) are used to help transition babies from bottles to regular cups. Typically, the biggest challenge in transitioning babies from bottles to regular cups is teaching them to not dump the fluid all over themselves by tipping the cup as far back as when using a bottle, to which they have come accustomed, to empty the cup.
Administering liquid medicine to toddlers can also be challenging. Because some medicines do not taste well to children it can be difficult for them to directly orally ingest the medicine. If the medicine is first mixed with a liquid such as a juice drink and consumed with a training cup, it can be difficult to know how much medicine has been consumed if not all the liquid is consumed.
Training cups usually come in two varieties, a cup with lid and spout (sippy cup) to drink while tilted towards the mouth, or a cup with lid and straw to drink by sucking through the straw. One problem with the straw cup is it does not train the baby's motor skill habits to handle a regular cup. On the other hand, with the lid and spout training cup, the baby will usually tip the cup almost completely upside down and thus need to tip his or her head back to finish the fluid. This creates discomfort for the baby, and also provides no training for transition to using regular adult-type cups. A better cup for drinking liquids is desired.
The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a cup for consuming a liquid and a medicine. The cup for consuming a liquid and a medicine includes a main cup body, a cup base and a straw. The main cup body is adapted to receive a liquid beverage. The cup base is adapted for receiving a liquid medicine. The cup base can be removed from the main cup body before adding the liquid medicine to the cup base and it can then be reattached to the main cup body after the liquid medicine is added to the cup base. The straw has a beverage opening and a medicine opening. The medicine opening can be placed in the cup base for extracting the liquid medicine and the beverage opening can be placed in the main cup body for extracting the liquid beverage.
Other configurations of the preferred embodiment can include other items and other useful features. For example, the cup can include a lid that can be attached to the cup. The lid has a hole for passing the straw through the lid. The cup base can have graduated markings for determining how much liquid medicine is in the cup base. The cup base can include a top wall and a bottom wall. A hole in the top wall allows a portion of the straw with the medicine opening to fit through the hole in the top wall. The bottom wall can be tapered for allowing medicine in the cup base to flow toward the straw. Additionally, the main cup body can include a bottom wall with a hole in it for receiving the straw. The hole can be sealed with a one-way valve.
In some configurations of the preferred embodiment, the straw can be formed with various components. For example, the straw can include a medicine shaft with a first end and a second end where the medicine opening is formed at the second end of the medicine shaft. The straw can likewise include a beverage shaft with a first end and a second end where the beverage opening is formed at the second end of the beverage shaft. The medicine shaft and the main shaft can combine/intersect at the bottom of a main shaft that extends out the top of the cup. In the preferred embodiment, the area of the beverage opening is at least twice the size of the of the medicine opening.
A second embodiment is a training cup for administering medicine. The cup includes a main cup portion that has a lower chamber for receiving medicine and an upper chamber for receiving a beverage. The training cup can have a curved wall between the upper chamber and the lower chamber so that the medicine poured into the training cup flows from the upper chamber to the lower chamber. Graduated markings can be placed on the cup to indicate how much medicine is in the lower chamber. The training cup has a lid attachable to the main cup portion. The lid includes a one-way valve to prevent the spillage of liquid from the training cup. In one configuration of this embodiment, one or more handles sized to allow a toddler to easily handle the training cup can be included on the training cup.
One or more preferred embodiments that illustrate the best mode(s) are set forth in the drawings and in the following description. The appended claims particularly and distinctly point out and set forth the invention.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example methods, and other example embodiments of various aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in some examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.
Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.
The cup body 2 includes a top end 6, a bottom end 7 and a cup bottom wall 8 that form an inner chamber 10 of the cup 1. The top end 6 may include grooves 26 (e.g., threads, ridges) for screwing the lid 3 onto the top end 6 of the cup body 2. The bottom end 7 includes a bottom wall 8 with a hole 9 in it to allow a portion of the straw 4 to pass through the hole 9. In one configuration of the preferred embodiment, a one-way valve 13 can cover the hole 9 when there is no straw 4 inserted into the hole 9 to prevent leakage of liquid in the chamber 10 through the hole 9.
In the preferred embodiment, the straw 4 is formed with an upper portion 11 and a lower portion 12. The upper portion 11 has an opening 22 and the lower portion 12 has an opening 23 into which respective liquids may flow when a low pressure is created at the top of the straw 4. In the preferred embodiment, the lower portion 12 has an opening 23 with an area that is one half the area of the upper portion's opening 22. This allows for a 2-to-1consumption of the liquid in the cup body 2 with respect to medicine in the cup base 5. The upper portion 11 of the straw 4 may be tapered near the location that the lower portion 12 attaches to the upper portion 11 at a straw tap opening so that the portion of the straw above this location is of sufficient size to carry liquid injected from both hole 22 and hole 23. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the upper portion 11 and the lower portion 12 of the straw 4 can have other different cross-sectional areas to allow for different ratios of liquid-to-medicine when liquid is consumed from the cup 1.
In some configurations of the preferred embodiment, the straw 4 can have a one way-valve 170 at the junction of the upper portion 11 and a lower portion 12 of the straw. The one-way valve 170 is configured to prevent liquids that are mixed at this location from returning from the straw 4 back into chambers 10 and 21 with their respective unmixed liquids.
The lid 3 can be formed with grooves 24 (e.g., threads, ridges) that complement ridges 26 at the top end 6 of the cup body 2 to allow the lid 3 to be screwed onto and off of the cup body 2. The lid 3 includes a hole 14 to allow the upper portion 11 of the straw 4 to pass through the hole 14.
The cup base 5 is formed with an upper end 15 and a lower end 16. The upper end 15 can be formed with grooves 28 (e.g., threads) that complement ridges 30 at the bottom end 7 of the cup body 2 to allow the cup base 5 to be screwed onto and off of the cup body 2. The bottom end 16 of the cup base 5 is formed with a bottom wall 19 to form a chamber 21. When the cup base 5 is removed from the cup body 3, liquid medicine can easily be poured through the open top of the cup base 5 and into the chamber 21. The bottom wall 19 is formed with an interior tapered surface 17. The tapered surface 17 slopes generally from the upper end 15 of the cup base 5 toward the lower end 16 of the cup base toward the bottom of the straw 4. Graduation markings 18 are labeled on the cup base 5 to allow for the tracking of how much liquid medicine is added. For example, the markings 18 can include tick marks with labels indicating how many milliliters or tablespoons of medicine the cup base 5 contains.
Having described the structure of the cup 1, the use of the cup 1 is now described. The cup base 4 can be removed and liquid medicine 70 can be placed into the chamber 21 of the cup base 4. The graduated markings 18 are used to measure how much medicine 70 is placed into the cup base 5. The cup base 5 is then attached to the cup body 2. Next, a primary liquid 60 for consumption is placed into the chamber 10 of the cup body 2. The straw 4 is placed through the opening 14 in the lid 3 and the lid 3 is attached to the cup body 2. The lower portion 12 of the straw 4 is inserted through the hole 9 in the cup base 5.
To consume the liquid 60, a person would suck on the straw 4 as normal to create a negative pressure inside the straw 4. As the negative pressure is applied to the straw 4, liquid 60 in the main chamber 10 is pulled upward through the opening 22 in the upper portion 11 of the straw and a proportional amount of medicine 70 in the medicine chamber 21 of the cup base 5 is pulled into the opening 23 in the lower portion 12 of the straw 4. As discussed above, these proportions may be based on the sizes of the openings 22, 23. As medicine 70 is consumed from the cup base 5, the tapered surface 17 of the base 5 causes remaining medicine 70 in the base 5 to slide downward toward the bottom end 20 of the straw 4 when the cup 1 is relatively level or tilted in the direction of arrow A as shown in
The lid 41 includes a spout 43 to allow a user to suck liquid from the training cup 40 through the spout 43 when a negative pressure is applied to the spout 43. The lid can also include a one-way valve 52 that allows liquid to be extracted through the spout 43 when there is a negative pressure at the spout. Liquid is prevented from exiting the spout 43 when there isn't a negative pressure at the spout 43.
The main body 42 is formed with a main chamber 44 and a medicine chamber 45. The main chamber 44 is adapted to hold a primary liquid to be consumed from the training cup 40. The medicine chamber 45 is adapted to hold a liquid medicine to be consumed with the primary liquid. The medicine chamber 45 is formed below a curved bottom surface 48 of the main chamber 44 so that liquid in the main chamber 44 flows toward the medicine chamber 45 when the training cup 40 is relatively level or resting on a level surface. This curved/tapered surface 48 causes medicine to be funneled toward and into the medicine chamber 45 when medicine is initially poured into the training cup 40. Graduation marks 50 are included on the main body 42 near the medicine chamber 45 so that the amount of medicine in the medicine chamber 45 can be quickly determined. For example, the markings 50 can include tick marks with labels indicating how many milliliters, teaspoons or tablespoons of medicine the training cup 40 contains.
The medicine chamber 45 and the curved bottom surface 48 can be formed with a forming portion 49 that forms the shape of the medicine chamber 45 and the curved bottom surface 48 that is tapered toward the medicine chamber 45. The forming portion 49 is shown for simplicity in
Having described the structure of the training cup 40, the use of the sippy cup 1 is now described. Medicine 70 is initially poured into the training cup 40. The curved bottom surface 48 will cause the medicine to be funnelled into the medicine chamber 45. Graduated marking 50 on the sides of the medicine chamber 45 allow for the measurement of how much medicine 70 is in the medicine chamber 45. After the medicine 70 is in the medicine chamber 45, a primary beverage 60 is added to the main chamber 44 and mixed with the medicine. This mixture can then be consumed from the training cup 40 as other liquids would be consumed from the training cup 40. In other embodiments, the training cup 40 can be any cup, glass, or other drinking device formed with a medicine chamber 45 similar to the medicine chamber of
Other components can be used with the straw 400. For example, a one-way valve 178 can be included within the first shaft 401 to prevent medicine from returning to the medicine chamber 21. In some configurations of the straw 400, another similar one-way valve can be included in the second shaft 402. A one-way valve 13 can be included on the cup body 2 to prevent the primary liquid 60 from mixing with the medicine 70 in the cup base 5 when the first shaft 401 of the straw 400 is not inserted into to the cup base 5. Also, the hole 9 in the bottom wall 8 of the cup body 2 can be lined with rubber or another type of sealer to prevent the primary liquid 60 from getting around the first shaft 401 mixing with the medicine 70 in the cup base 5.
The straw 400 may include other features as understood by those with ordinary skill in the art. For example, the straw 400 has been illustrated with a generally oval first shaft 401 and a second shaft 402 with an outer surface that is generally oval and that wraps around the first shaft 401; however, other suitable shapes can be used.
The lid 441 includes a medicine chamber 445. The bottom end of the medicine chamber 445 is formed with a bottom wall 410 that can be sloped downward toward graduated markings 412 so that the amount of medicine in the medicine chamber 445 can be accurately measured when the training cup 500 is in use. A one-way valve 414 can be located in a straw 416 that extends from the lid 441 downward into the main chamber 444 of the cup base 442. The lid 441 can include a medicine cap 420 that can be opened to allow medicine to be added to the medicine chamber 445 and closed so that medicine will not spill from that chamber when the training cup 500 is in use. For example, the medicine cap 420 can be screwed onto and off of the lid 441 or attached to the lid 441 in other ways.
The medicine cap can include a lid top wall 422, and a cylindrical downward pointing annular wall 424 with internal upward threads 426 formed on the downward pointing annular wall 424. These threads 426 can be threaded onto external upward pointing threads 466 formed on a cylindrical upward pointing annular wall 462 formed on a top wall 460 of the lid 441.
Similar to the training cup 40 of
Example methods may be better appreciated with reference to flow diagrams. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the illustrated methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks can occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from that shown and described. Moreover, less than all the illustrated blocks may be required to implement an example methodology. Blocks may be combined or separated into multiple components. Furthermore, additional and/or alternative methodologies can employ additional, not illustrated blocks.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, the representative embodiments, and illustrative examples shown and described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described. References to “the preferred embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “one example”, “an example”, and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase “in the preferred embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, though it may.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/569,951, filed Dec. 13, 2011; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61569951 | Dec 2011 | US |
