Patent Grant
11083314
This invention is directed to stemware and other drinkware, particularly to stemware and other drinkware incorporating a magnifying lens feature therein, and to methods for modifying a mold for making such stemware and other drinkware.
Most restaurants use printed lists or menus of food and drinks available to customers. Some of these lists or menus of food and drink are sometimes displayed in large bold print and are relatively easy to read by all patrons. However, in some eating establishments, their lists or menus are printed in relatively small type. Also the lighting in such places may be insufficient so that some people cannot read the printed materials or read them with difficulty. In many restaurants the lighting is dimmed or candle light is used to impart a desirable atmosphere for the enjoyment of the patrons. This presents a problem even for many patrons having normal vision.
Restaurant patrons can be provided with a conventional magnifying device, such as a conventional magnifying lens, a Fresnel lens or other flat sheet type lens for the purpose of magnifying the print of the menus to facilitate reading thereof. But it is relatively easy for such a lens to become separated from the menu so that it is not readily available for use by the customer.
Certain prior art lens magnification systems for pamphlets or booklets such as restaurant menus enable a lens, such as a flat sheet lens, to be permanently attached to the menu structure and permit a customer to turn the pages of the booklet or menu so that the customer can use the lens for magnifying the print on all pages of a menu. Such attached magnifying lens systems, however, provide no other additional function for the magnifying lens.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,117 describes tableware items such as a plate, flatware, coaster, tray, bowl, dish or beverage container such as a cup, glass or mug, having a body and a magnifier on the body. While providing tableware items such as described therein may provide a conveniently located device for reading menus in a restaurant, there are further problems in that such items may not be easily modified to include a magnifying lens, or further may not be used simultaneously for both magnification and conventional use of the item (e.g., the presence of food on a plate, or beverage in a glass, may prohibit effective use of a lens contained in the tableware item under such food or beverage).
Further, there is a problem with the misreading of medicinal and prescription labels, as the instructions on the medicine and prescription bottles and containers are often too small to be easily read. While conventional magnification lenses may be employed to facilitate reading of such instructions, such conventional magnification lenses are frequently hard to handle, especially by the elderly, or may not be easily located by a user in association with the medicine or prescription to be taken. WO 01/94894 describes magnification measuring cup apparatus wherein the measuring cup contains a magnifying lens that is molded or manufactured into the base of the cup, for use with medicine bottles or prescription drug containers to facilitate reading of instructions contained with such medicines and prescriptions. The described cups are relatively small, e.g. designed to be positioned on top of a bottle, and may be relatively hard to handle when used as an optical device, and provide only a relatively limited field of view when used.
US 2016/0157645 describes stemware with magnifying base and light source, and illustrates a stemware base comprise a clear dome shaped magnifier. Such a magnifier will provide the focal point of the lens directly under a centrally placed stem of the described stemware, however, such that the stem will obscure the magnified image created by such base.
It accordingly would be desirable to provide a tableware item, and in particular a drinkware item, which may be conveniently modified so as to be able to be used as a magnifying device. It would be further desirable to provide such an item which in certain embodiments would enable simultaneous conventional use thereof in addition to use as a magnifying device. It further would be desirable to provide a stemware or other drinkware item which in certain embodiments may be useful for reading very fine print (e.g., less than or equal to about 8 pt, less than or equal to about 6 pt, or even less than or equal to about 4 pt print size) which may be used in prescription labels as well as more conventional reading print (e.g., about 9 pt and higher).
The present disclosure, in certain aspects, describes a drinkware product comprising a vessel container and a base having upper and lower surfaces and a periphery; wherein the base includes a transparent section extending through the base from the upper surface to the lower surface and having an optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification when viewed through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base; and wherein the optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification is positioned to provide at least one focal point under the base positioned between the periphery of the base and a central location of the base when viewed through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base.
The present disclosure, in further aspects, describes a stemware product that comprises an upper portion, a base having upper and lower surfaces and a periphery, and a stem extending between the base and upper portion, where the stem is narrower than the periphery of the base and spaces the upper portion from the base such that the upper surface of the base is directly visible externally from the top portion, wherein the base includes a transparent section extending through the base from the upper surface to the lower surface and having an optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification when viewing through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base externally from the upper portion.
In one particular aspect, the upper portion comprises an upper container vessel or main reservoir connected to the stem, such as where the stemware product is a stemmed beverage glass, and more particularly a wine glass, a martini glass, a margarita glass, a champagne glass, or other similar glassware having a stem and a base. Optionally, the transparent section in the base may be clear or tinted a desired color. The upper portion and stem of the stemware may be clear (e.g. glass or crystal) or opaque, with or without ornamentation, design(s), and/or an identifying logo, trademark, or other indicia. In certain aspects a magnifying lens section is formed integrally in the base of the stemware. In other aspects a lens may be permanently secured in an opening through the base or may be releasably secured in such an opening. The lens itself may have indicia, etc. therein and/or thereon.
In further aspects, the disclosure is directed towards a method of modifying a mold for fabricating a stemware product, the method comprising: selecting an existing mold for forming a selected stemware product having an upper portion, a base having upper and lower primary surfaces and a periphery, and a stem extending between the base and upper portion, where the stem is narrower than the periphery of the base and spaces the upper portion from the base such that the upper surface of the base is directly visible externally from the top portion; and modifying the existing mold to either add material to the mold or remove material from the mold to form a modified mold surface which will impart an optical surface to the base of a stemware product formed with the modified mold.
In still further aspects, the disclosure is directed towards a method of forming a stemware product, the method comprising: selecting an existing mold for forming a selected stemware product having an upper portion, a base having upper and lower primary surfaces and a periphery, and a stem extending between the base and upper portion, where the stem is narrower than the periphery of the base and spaces the upper portion from the base such that the upper surface of the base is directly visible externally from the top portion; modifying the existing mold to either add material to the mold or remove material from the mold to form a modified mold surface which will impart an optical surface to the base of a stemware product formed with the modified mold; and using the modified mold to form a molded stemware product comprising an upper portion, a stem, and a base having a transparent section extending through the base from an upper surface to a lower surface thereof and having an optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification when viewing through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base externally from the upper portion.
A more particular description of various embodiments of the disclosure briefly summarized above is provided by references to the embodiments which are shown in the drawings which form a part of this specification. These drawings illustrate certain embodiments and are not to be used to improperly limit the scope of the invention which may have other equally effective or legally equivalent embodiments.
The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures, where like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the drawings, layers, regions, or components may be exaggerated for clarity. The method steps are not necessarily limited to the order in which they are set forth.
The present disclosure is directed to stemware and drinkware products with bases incorporating a transparent section having an optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification when viewing through the transparent section. The base comprises a substrate material that is transparent so that an image, such as printed text of a restaurant menu or wine list, or a prescription label, may be viewed through the base when the stemware or drinkware is positioned over the image. While any predetermined degree of magnification greater than 1× may be employed to improve viewing of an image through the base, in certain embodiments a predetermined degree of magnification of at least 1.1× is employed, and in further non-limiting embodiments at least 1.1× to at least 10×, including all values incremented by 0.1× over such range (e.g., in specific embodiments at least 1.2×, at least 1.3×, at least 1.5×, or at least 2.0×). In certain embodiments, the predetermined degree of magnification may vary over different portions of the base, and may include multiple predetermined degrees of magnification selected from such range and specific specified values.
The stemware and other drinkware can be formed from any suitable material including polymer and/or copolymer materials and blends and derivatives thereof, or glass materials. When employing polymer/copolymer materials, the stemware and other drinkware will typically be configured as multiple use stemware and other drinkware, or higher end stemware and other drinkware such as styrene stemware and other drinkware, as opposed to conventional single-use plastic ware. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure are more particularly directed to glass stemware and other drinkware. The terms “glass”, “glassware”, “glass stemware” and derivatives thereof, refer to any suitable glass substrate material that is typically frangible and translucent or transparent and also typically comprises silica materials. The glassware may include lead or be substantially lead free.
While a base in the form of a generally symmetrical spherical lens as illustrated in
More particularly, in accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure, the upper and lower surfaces of the base may be designed to provide an optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification which varies across the upper visible surface of the base to provide a plurality of focal points under the base of different predetermined degrees of magnification positioned across the upper visible surface of the base. Even more particularly, the optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification may vary continuously across at least a portion of the upper visible surface of the base to provide a continuously varying predetermined degree of magnification across the upper visible surface of the base, such as provided in progressive multifocal optical lenses.
Although
Suitable additional stemware for use with bases as described herein (in addition to the wine glasses illustrated in
In further embodiments of the present disclosure, drinkware may be in the form of non-stemmed drinkware, as illustrated in
More particularly, in various embodiments, the base may provide first and second distinct relatively lower and higher predetermined degrees of magnification at corresponding first and second focal points under the base, wherein at least one of the first and second focal points is positioned between the periphery of the base and a central location of the base when viewed through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base. The base may provide, e.g., a first relatively lower predetermined degree of magnification with a focal point under the base positioned approximately at the central location of the base as determined by upper surface 31g of the base, and a second relatively higher predetermined degree of magnification, as determined by surface of lens element 35g, with a focal point under the base positioned between the periphery of the base and a central location of the base when viewed through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base. In further specific embodiments, the first relatively lower predetermined degree of magnification provided by the majority of the surface of base 30g may be, e.g., from about 2× to about 8×, and more particularly about 6×, while the second relatively higher predetermined degree of magnification provided by lens element 35g may be from about 6× to about 15×, and more particularly about 10×. In such embodiments, the base may be shaped such that the majority of the base is in the form of a conventionally convex lens as shown for upper surface 31g in combination with lower surface 32g, to provide the first relatively lower predetermined degree of magnification over a majority of the surface of the base (e.g., 60-95% of the base surface area), and the second relatively higher predetermined degree of magnification may be provided by including a further lens element 35g over a relatively minor area (e.g., 5-40% of the base surface area) positioned between the periphery of the base and the center of the base when viewed through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base. Such relative degrees of magnification and relative positioning of the lens elements advantageously enable the drinkware with magnification base to be useful for reading very fine print through the higher magnification area (e.g., less than or equal to about 8 pt, less than or equal to about 6 pt, or even less than or equal to about 4 pt print size) which may be used in prescription labels, as well as reading more conventional reading print size (e.g., about 9 pt and higher) through the majority of the base surface area. In certain embodiments of the described drinkware, the drinkware base further may have a diameter of from about 4 cm to about 10 cm, or of from about 5 cm to about 9 cm. Such diameters may be further advantageous for enabling reading of both such fine and regular size printed matter.
Stemware and other drinkware as described herein may be formed by conventional stemware and drinkware molding procedures after generating an original mold with corresponding mold surfaces specifically designed to impart an optical surface in the resulting molded stemware or other drinkware base providing a predetermined degree of magnification when viewing through the upper surface of the base. In a further particular embodiment, stemware and other drinkware as described herein may alternatively be formed by conventional molding procedures after modifying an existing stemware or other drinkware mold.
Accordingly, in accordance with a further embodiment of the disclosure, a method of modifying a mold for fabricating a stemware product is described, the method including: selecting an existing mold for forming a selected stemware product having an upper portion, a base having upper and lower primary surfaces and a periphery, and a stem extending between the base and upper portion, where the stem is narrower than the periphery of the base and spaces the upper portion from the base such that the upper surface of the base is directly visible externally from the top portion; and modifying the existing mold to either add material to the mold or remove material from the mold to form a modified mold surface which will impart an optical surface to the base of a stemware product formed with the modified mold. Similarly, an existing mold for non-stemmed drinkware may be modified to either add material to the mold or remove material from the mold to form a modified mold surface which will impart a desired optical surface to the base of a drinkware product as described herein formed with the modified mold.
In yet a further embodiment of the disclosure, a method of forming a stemware product is described, the method comprising selecting and modifying an existing stemware mold as disclosed, and using the modified mold to form a molded stemware product comprising an upper portion, a stem, and a base having a transparent section extending through the base from an upper surface to a lower surface thereof and having an optical surface providing a predetermined degree of magnification when viewing through the transparent section from the upper surface of the base externally from the upper portion. Similarly, non-stemmed drinkware as described herein may be formed by selecting and modifying an existing drinkware mold, and forming the drinkware from the modified mold. In particular embodiments, e.g., an existing stemware or other drinkware mold for a stemware or other drinkware product having a relatively flat upper surface over at least a portion of the stemware or other drinkware base may be selected and then modified by removing material from the mold surface at the location of the mold corresponding to the relatively flat upper surface portion to result in a relatively curved optical surface providing a desired predetermined degree of magnification in the location of a molded stemware or other drinkware product corresponding to the position where material was removed from the existing stemware or other drinkware mold. Alternatively, an insert part may be added to an existing mold to reconfigure a surface of the base of a resulting molded stemware or other drinkware product to impart an optical surface providing a desired predetermined degree of magnification in the molded base. The present disclosure thus advantageously enables economical ways to generate stemware and other drinkware products as described herein with modified bases having optical surfaces providing a desired predetermined degree of magnification in transparent sections of such stemware and other drinkware bases.
In various embodiments, the stemware and other drinkware including a magnification base as described herein may further include custom decorating such as silk screening, pad printing, labeling, heat transfer, die sublimation, surface etching, hand painting, UV printing or any high temperature curing process including manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic processes.
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although a few exemplary embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2017/015043 | 1/26/2017 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017/132318 | 8/3/2017 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20190038055 A1 | Feb 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62287168 | Jan 2016 | US |
