1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cup.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cup is used generally for receiving liquid. Regarding to a disposable cup, for weight lighting and cost saving, the disposable cup usually be made of plastic materials such as PET, high-density PE (HDPE), PVC, low-density PE (LDPE) or PP.
Besides, to enhance structural strength, an increase of thickness is usually taken to avoid deformation of the cup due to hand grab or break of the cup due to dropping on the ground, which, however, results in an increase of the used plastic material and production, and is not environment-friendly.
A heat-isolating cup as disclosed in TW M360639 is provided with an inner layer is wave-shaped and an outer annular shell disposed around the outer surface thereof. There exists gap between the inner layer and the outer annular shell so that the heat can whereby be isolated and the structural strength of the cup can also be minorly enhanced. However, the above conventional structure requires plenty of raw materials, and the inner layer and the outer annular shell have to be manufactured individually, thus increasing the production cost and being unable to cater for market requirements.
The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cup which has better structural strength and is uneasily deformed and broken.
To achieve the above and other objects, a cup includes a main body. The main body includes a bottom, an outer side surface and an inner side surface. The bottom and the inner side surface define a receiving space, and the outer side surface is smooth and arcuate. The inner side surface includes plural protruding portions extending longitudinally, and the protruding portions are arranged on the inner side surface annularly. Every two adjacent protruding portions define a concave portion extending longitudinally therebetween. The inner side surface has at least one reinforcing rib integrally protruding therefrom and extending radially, and the reinforcing rib divides at least parts of the protruding portions and at least parts of the concave portions into two material-reduced areas.
In the invention, every two adjacent protruding portions define one of the concave portion therebetween, which can reduce the usage of material and weight of the cup. Besides, since the inner side surface is configured to have the reinforcing rib(s), the structural strength of the cup can be enhanced. As such, the cup is light and strong in structure, and it is cost-saving in production.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention.
As shown in
Tops of the protruding portions 51 and tops of the concave portions 52 are connected to form an annular top portion 53, and bottoms of the protruding portions 51 and bottoms of the concave portions 52 are connected to form an annular bottom portion 54. The inner side surface is formed with two smooth annular arcuate surface 55, 55′. The smooth annular arcuate surface 55 is disposed between the top edge 20 and the annular top portion 53 (as shown in
The thickness of the bottom 30 is greater than distances between the respective vertexes of the protruding portions 51 and the outer side surface 40.
The inner side surface has at least one reinforcing rib 56 integrally protruding therefrom and extending radially. In this embodiment, the inner side surface has a plurality of the reinforcing ribs 56, the reinforcing ribs 56 integrally extend from and are annularly arranged on the inner side surface, as shown in
The reinforcing ribs 56 divide at least parts of the protruding portions 51 and at least parts of the concave portions 52 into two material-reduced areas. Practically, the inner side surface of the main body 10 is configured to have more than one reinforcing ribs 56 at suitable locations thereof according to the extent of the main body 10, wherein the amount of the reinforcing ribs 56 follows the condition: the diameter of the annular bottom portion 54 is R, a distance from the annular bottom portion 54 to the annular top portion 53 is defined as H, the integer portion of the ratio of H/R is N, and N represents the amount of the reinforcing ribs 56. N of the reinforcing ribs 56 divide the protruding portions 51 and the concave portions 52 into N+1 of the material-reduced areas 57, 57′, 57″. As shown in
In the invention, every two adjacent protruding portions 51 define one of the concave portion 52 therebetween, which can reduce the usage of material and weight of the cup.
To enhance the structural strength of the cup which is reduced in material usage and weight, the inner side surface is configured to have the reinforcing rib(s) 56 and the smooth annular arcuate surface 55, 55′.
Additionally, according to various requirements of the arrangement of the protruding portions 51 and concave portions 52 on the inner side surface, the amount of the reinforcing rib(s) 56 can be definitely, precisely and sufficiently defined and chosen. Adequate amount of the reinforcing rib(s) 56 can significantly enhance the structural strength and anti-deformability of the cup. Therefore, the waste of usage of material for making the cup due to the redundancy of the reinforcing rib(s) 56 is prevented, and the insufficient structural strength of the cup due to the inadequacy of the reinforcing rib(s) 56 is prevented.
It is noted that, under either of a condition that the cup has one reinforcing ribs 56 and a condition that the cup has more than one reinforcing ribs 56, the upper and lower sides of each of the material-reduced areas 57, 57′, 57″ are arranged with reinforcing structures as the condition D−1≦H/(N+1)≦D+1 is met. As such, each of the material-reduced areas 57, 57′, 57″ of the cup can still have sufficient structural strength and anti-deformability in an instance that the cup is reduced in material usage and weight. Thus, the cup will not have some weak portion which is easily broken or seriously deformed.
Moreover, the bottom 30 may be provided with a thickness greater than distances between the respective vertexes of the protruding portions 51 and the outer side surface 40. As such, the relatively thick bottom 30 is sufficient to bear an external impact thereon and thus not easily be broken.
Additionally, since the reinforcing rib 56 is convex and the vertex thereof is arcuate, each outer side surface 40 of each main body 10 will not be scratched by the reinforcing rib 56 as numbers of the main bodies 10 are stacked.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101134100 | Sep 2012 | TW | national |