Patent Application
20220071418
People enjoy celebrating with food, drink, and frequently, tobacco products such as cigars. Celebrations sometimes involve sitting at tables, but just as often, require the participants to stand. However, standing poses a problem to individuals who wish to enjoy both drinks and cigars, each of which generally requires a free hand. On account of human beings almost universally being limited to two hands, it quickly becomes unwieldy to hold a glass with one hand, a cigar with the other, while simultaneously shaking hands with people, patting them on the back, and eating some kind of food. Additionally, this poses increased difficulties when trying to retrieve a phone to take someone's contact information, or to answer a phone call or text.
One may be forced to hold the glass with one hand, put the cigar in one's mouth, hold the food item in the other hand, and switch the food item and the cigar with a single hand in order to alternate the enjoyment of each, or else manage to hold the glass with most of the fingers of the first hand, dedicating two fingers for holding the cigar or the food, thereby enabling the two to be switched with the other hand.
If such a person is expected, based on commonly accepted social norms, to greet another person with a handshake, the result would might not only be embarrasing and messy, in that the drink may be spilled or the glass may drop and shatter, but also ridiculous, and the person may appear altogether foolish. Alternatively, the person may simply explain awkwardly that a handshake is impossible on account of the difficulty in maneuvering the drink, cigar, food item, and the free hand necessary for a handshake, and consequently give others the impression of being smug, churlish, flippant, gluttonous, and/or simply rude. What is needed is a solution that enables the cigar and glass to be held more easily, preferably with one hand, in a manner that results in the person appearing, relaxed and in control.
Moreover, it would be desirable to provide a solution that enables the person to place the cigar down to rest, in order to allow it to last longer, thereby increasing the duration of enjoyment. Such benefits are hereby provided.
Described herein is a drinking glass or vessel with an embedded pass-through chamber. The drinking vessel is designed to contain beverages or liquid foods for drinking or consumption. The drinking vessel may include one or more primary walls, a lip, a base, and one or more primary walls disposed between the lip and the base. A cavity is formed in one or more of the primary walls, lip and base. The cavity may extend from each portion of the one or more primary walls to its opposite portion, and from the top face of the base of the lip of the drinking vessel.
Disclosed herein is a drinking glass or vessel with an embedded pass-through chamber, including one or more primary walls, a lip, a base, and one or more primary walls disposed between the lip and the base. A cavity is formed in one or more of the primary walls, lip and base. The cavity may extend from each portion of the one or more primary walls to its opposite portion, and from the top face of the base of the lip of the drinking vessel.
The drinking vessel may be a beaker, beer glassware, coffee cup, jar, mug, stemware, teacup, or tumbler, but preferably, the drinking vessel is of a type used for the drinking of spirits, for example, but not limited to, whiskey, tequila, liquers, carbonated beverages, or any other suitable beverages. The drinking vessel may be formed of glass, or of any other suitable material such as metal, plastic, or ceramic. The drinking vessel may be of any conventional dimensions, but may be large enough to contain a block of ice approximately two (2) inches diameter in the case of a sphere or two (2) inches cubed in the case of a cube. The drinking vessel is also small enough such that it can be helded by a user with one hand.
The drinking vessel may have one or more primary walls, a lip, and a base, with the one or more primary walls disposed between the lip and the base. A cavity is formed by the one or more primary walls, lip, and base. The cavity extends from each portion of the one or more primary walls to its opposite portion, and from the top face of the base to the lip of the drinking vessel.
The one or more primary walls have an outer face and an inner face, with the inner face oriented toward the cavity and the outer face designed to be held by the user. The one or more primary walls may be single-walled, in which case no air pocket is disposed between the inner and outer faces. In one variation, the one or more primary walls are double-walled, such that an air pocket is disposed between the inner and outer faces, thereby reducing the heat transfer coefficient, impeding the warmth of the user's hand from melting any ice disposed within the cavity, as well as impeding the user's hand from getting burnt by any hot liquid contained therein.
The drinking vessel may be substantially cylindrical, squared or any other suitable shape, and therefore encompases a perimeter extended over the height of the drinking vessel. This perimeter, by extending over the height of the drinking vessel, may form the one or more primary walls. The shape may be truly cylindrical, in having a circular cross-section, or the cross section may be polygonal, with three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten sides. Any two given sides may extend toward each other and merge at side junctions. The junctures may have small radii, less than a tenth of an inch—in other words, the junctures may be substantially unrounded. Alternatively, the junctures may have large radii, producing a substantially rounded-polygonal cross-section. A truly cylindrical cross-section will have no sides, and therefore no side junctures, but instead one single circumference.
The perimeter may change its radius, in the case of it being substantially circumferential, or average width, in the case of the cross-section being polygonal, as it extends from the base to the lip. The perimeter may increases as it passes along the primary walls away from the base toward the middle of the primary walls. In one variation, the perimeter continues to increase as it passes along the primary walls from the middle to the lip. In another variation, the perimeter decreases as it passes along the middle to the lip, in order to provide the relatively narrow lip common in snifters.
The drinking vessel base may be weighted—an effect achieved by increasing the thickness of the base relative to the drinking vessel primary walls. The base has a top and bottom face, with the top face oriented toward a drinking vessel cavity, which is formed at least by the one or more primary walls and base of the drinking vessel. The bottom face may be oriented toward any hard surface which the drinking vessel may be placed upon, such as a table, nightstand, chair, or the floor. The bottom and/or top face may each be essentially contoured, with the bottom face being concave, and the top face being concave, convex, or neither concave nor convex. In one embodiment, the base features a stem, in which a column, which may be straight or curved, connects the top face and the bottom face.
The one or more primary walls extend from the drinking vessel base to the drinking vessel lip. The lip is configured to touch the lips of the user when the user drinks from the drinking vessel, and is therefore preferably smooth and rounded, with the rounded shape continuing around the lip from the outer face of the one or more primary walls to the inner face.
The drinking vessel includes a pass-through chamber, which is configured to receive and support a cigar. The pass-through chamber may be embedded in the one or more primary walls, passing from one position of the one or more primary walls to another position. In one embodiment, the chamber is preferably not embedded to pass from one position to another such that it passes through the very center of the cavity, because by passing through the center of the cavity, it would be difficult to deposit the block of ice previously mentioned. In this embodiment, the pass-through chamber is disposed off-center, as seen from a cross-sectional view of the drinking vessel. Preferably, the pass-through chamber may pass from one position of the one or more primary walls to another position such that a central axis of the chamber is substantially parallel with the base or the hard surface on which the drinking vessel may be placed. This parallel orientation is at least to impede the cigar from sliding out of the chamber when the drinking vessel is being held or placed on a hard surface.
The pass-through chamber features an inner wall and an outer wall. The outer wall of the pass-through chamber may be identical to the inner wall of the one or more primary walls, if the primary walls are single-walled. The inner wall of the pass-through chamber forms and is oriented toward the chamber cavity, which is sized to receive and support the shaft of a cigar. The inner wall of the pass-through chamber may feature one or more grooves or ridges in order to grip the cigar, and to impede it from sliding out of the chamber when the drinking vessel is tilted by the user while its contents are being imbibed.
The pass-through chamber cross-section is preferably cylindrical, but it is conceivable that the cross-section may also be square or triangular, with these latter shapes configured to better grip the cigar.
The two positions in which the pass-through chamber passes through the one or more primary walls may each operate as openings into which the cigar may be inserted. The openings are agnostic with respect to the directionality of the cigar placement, such that the cigar may be inserted through one position with the tip of the cigar extending through the other, or vice versa. In one variation in which the drinking vessel has a substantially square cross-section, the two positions are disposed on opposite walls, so that the pass-through chamber is orthogonal to each of the opposite walls but parallel to the remaining two walls, being closer to one of the remaining two walls and further from the other. In another variation in which the drinking vessel has a substantially square cross section, the two positions are disposed on adjacent walls, such that the pass-through chamber is at an angle from the plane of each of the opposite walls, with the two angles of intersection adding up to ninety degrees. Preferably, the angles of intersection are 45 degrees each. In this embodiment, the juncture between the two adjacent walls falls on one side of the pass-through chamber and the center of the drinking vessel cavity falls on the other.
As described for the one or more primary walls, the pass-through chamber may also be double-walled, in order to reduce the formation of condensation on the inner face, which may have the effect of drenching the cigar, thereby causing the cigar leaf to unravel.
The inner face of the pass-through chamber must have a cross-section diameter suited to receiving a cigar, and therefore ranging between 34 to 54 gauge. The cross-section diameter for the chamber may be made to match a particular cigar gauge, and may have a range between 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 gauge. The cross-section must have a continuous length of at least half an inch, but preferably at least a full inch. It is important to recognize that the pass-through chamber is not a handle, and is not designed to receive the user's finger. A full inch of continuous length would be uncomfortable to receive a finger because fingers have joints, but the full inch would provide enough surface length to keep the cigar substantially parallel with the base and prevent one or the other end of the cigar from toppling.
The drinking vessel with embedded pass-through chamber may be made by melting glass into a molten state, then blowing and shaping it with various tools. The glass may be blown around a stand-in prop, the stand-in prop having the desired shape of the pass-through chamber. Once the glass has solidified, the stand-in prop may be removed. Alternatively, the drinking vessel may be made normally, but before the glass hardens, a hole may be cut in each of two sides, the remaining circumferences of which are then melded together.
In an embodiment, the drinking vessel may be used by a drinker for drinking liquids with a pass-through chamber to receive and support cigars. The drinking vessel may comprise at least one primary wall, a lip, a base, and a vessel cavity. The lip may be configured to be in contact with a drinker's mouth. The at least one primary wall may be disposed between and connecting the lip and the base. The vessel may be configured to be held by a drinker's hand, and include an inner face and an outer face, the inner face oriented toward the vessel cavity, and the outer face configured to be in contact with the drinker's hand.
The base of the vessel may be configured to be placed on a hard surface and include a top face and a bottom face, the bottom face oriented toward the hard surface and the top face oriented toward the vessel cavity. The vessel cavity may be disposed within a boundary formed by the lip, the at least one primary wall, and the base, and include a center. The center may be equidistant from opposite portions of the at least one primary wall.
The pass-through chamber may include an inner wall, an outer wall, a first and second opening, and a chamber cavity. The inner wall may face the chamber cavity and be continuous with the outer face of the at least one primary wall. The outer wall may be at least partially facing the vessel cavity. The first and second openings may each be disposed at a different position on the at least one primary wall.
The chamber cavity may be formed by the inner wall, extending from the first to the second opening, and configured to receive and support a cigar through at least one of the first or second openings.
In certain embodiments, the drinking vessel and/or chamber cavity may be substantially cylindrical. The drinking vessel may alternatively be formed with a substantially polygonal cross-section. The cross section may include three sides or more, each side forming a juncture with its adjacent side. The chamber cavity may be disposed between the vessel cavity center and at least one juncture. The chamber cavity may include an axis which intersects the first and second openings. The axis may intersect at least two sides of the cross-section at an angle between 30 and 60 degrees each.
In certain embodiments, the cross-section may include at least four sides, and the chamber cavity may be disposed between the vessel cavity center and at least two junctures. The chamber cavity may further include an axis intersecting the first and second openings and at least two sides of the cross section at 90 degrees each.
In certain embodiments, the chamber cavity may not pass through the vessel chamber center. The chamber cavity may have a length spanning from the first to the second openings of at least one inch, or one and a half inches. The chamber cavity may be substantially parallel with the base.
The base may include a stem, the stem connecting the top face and the bottom face. The inner wall of the pass-through chamber may include grooves or ridges configured to grip the cigar.
In yet certain embodiments, the chamber cavity may include a cross-section diameter sufficient to receive a cigar with a diameter between 34 and 54 gauge.
While this invention has been described in conjunction with the embodiments outlined above, many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing disclosure. Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
