Patent Application
20230114442
Drink spiking is the act of one adding alcohol, drugs, and the like to a drink without the permission of another. This can occur when drinks are served at places such as nightclubs, bars, pubs, parties, and restaurants. The act of drink spiking is usually linked to criminal activities like assault and robbery. According to the Office on Women's Health, the most used drugs include Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine. This is due to the fact that they're not easily detected as these drugs are odorless, colorless and tasteless. Drink spiking is usually performed at a house party, bars, clubs, and music festivals. The effects it can have include slurring of words, confusion, blacking out, inability to speak, loss of balance, body weakness, vomiting, unconsciousness and much more. Because of these undesirable effects, there is a desire to minimize and/or prevent drink spiking.
For the purpose of illustration, there is shown in the drawings certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise embodiments and features shown. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the disclosed concept consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain advantages and principles consistent with the present disclosure.
It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the embodiments of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The figures and written description are provided to teach any person skilled in the art to make and use the presently disclosed technology. The presently disclosed technology is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Persons of skill in the art will appreciate that the development of an actual commercial embodiment incorporating aspects of the presently disclosed technology will require numerous implementations—specific decisions to achieve the developer's ultimate goal for the commercial embodiment. While these efforts can be complex and time-consuming, these efforts, nevertheless, would be a routine undertaking for those of skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
Further, as the presently disclosed technology is susceptible to embodiments of many different forms, it is intended that the present disclosure be considered as an example of the principles of the presently disclosed technology and not intended to limit the presently disclosed technology to the specific embodiments shown and described. Any one of the features of the presently disclosed technology can be used separately or in combination with any other feature. References to the terms “embodiment,” “embodiments,” and/or the like in the description mean that the feature and/or features being referred to are included in, at least, one aspect of the description. Separate references to the terms “embodiment,” “embodiments,” and/or the like in the description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, process, step, action, or the like described in one embodiment can also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the presently disclosed technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein. Additionally, all aspects of the present disclosure, as described herein, are not essential for its practice. Likewise, other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the presently disclosed technology will be, or become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the figures and the description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present inventive concept, and be encompassed by the claims.
As employed herein, the term “coupled” shall mean connected together either directly or through one or more intermediate parts or components.
Regarding its constituent components, protection apparatus 2 includes a coupling member (e.g., without limitation, keyring 4, which may be metallic), a transport apparatus 10, and a drink cover 30 (see
Protection apparatus 2 is also relatively compact in size, easily allowing it to, for example, be stored in a user's pocket or purse. Specifically, as shown in
Referring to
In one example embodiment, the sealing mechanism 16 includes a string 20 and a pull bead 18 coupled to the string 20. The bull bead 18 is configured to move independently with respect to the string 20 in order to move between the sealed and unsealed positions. For example, in the unsealed position of
In one example embodiment, a drink container 200 includes a continuous side wall with a sealed bottom and an open top. The drink container 200 may hold a user's preferred liquid beverage, which can be chilled using ice cubes. Social activities typically involve a liquid beverage that can be alcoholic or can be non-alcoholic. Accordingly, drink cover 30 may be used with the drink container 200 when removed from bag 12. Furthermore, drink cover 30 covers the opening of the drink container 200 by stretching perimeter portion 34 and cover portion 32 over the opening and releasing perimeter portion 34 to conform to the diameter of the opening of the cup. The perimeter portion 34 holds the drink cover 30 tightly over the opening of the cup. It will be appreciated that drink cover 30 protects the liquid beverage by covering the opening and preventing a person from adding additional substances to the liquid beverage. Drink cover 30 also prevents inadvertent objects or substances (i.e., bugs, dust, etc.) from entering the drink container 200.
Additionally, drink cover 30 can be reusable or can be single use, and can be washable. In the illustrated example, cover portion 32 of drink cover 30 is elastic, although it can be inelastic in other examples. While in the illustrated example cover portion 32 is made of a nylon spandex fabric blend material, it will be appreciated that it may be made from any material and/or texture, such as velvet, cotton, polyester, silk, batiste, or the like. Cover portion 32 can also be liquid repellent, and can be any color and/or transparency such as opaque, transparent, or semi-transparent. Moreover, cover portion 32 can further be made of a material that detects when a new material is added to a liquid held in a cup and can provide a visual indicator (e.g., a stain) or cue when a new material is detected.
Perimeter portion 34 can be elastic, or can be static with a pull tie to tighten perimeter portion 34. Perimeter portion 34 stretches over and conforms to a diameter of an opening of a cup when drink cover 30 is utilized to cover the opening. In some examples, perimeter portion 34 can include elastic band 35 which is sewn or adhered to the cover and in other examples, perimeter portion 34 can be a free edge, sewn over edge, or folded over and adhered edge of the cover portion 32.
Furthermore, when cover 30 is secured to a drink container, such as drink container 200 in
The disclosed concept thus provides individuals with a beneficial extra layer of protection in social situations, and does so in a convenient manner with the device in an easy to remember location. When individuals in social situations need to cover their drinks, they can grab their keychain 100, open bag 12, remove drink cover 30, and quickly/easily place it on a drink to be protected. Moreover, while the disclosed concept has been presented in association with bag 12 for containing drink cover 30, additional transport apparatus which are configured to be coupled to a keychain are contemplated herein. For example, non-bag retaining members may be coupled to keyring 4 (or a suitable alternative coupling member), and be connected to a cover by a suitable mechanism (e.g., snaps, velcro, or a pocket in the retaining member). Subsequent removal of such a cover from a retaining member would allow an individual to be protected in a social situation in substantially the same manner as with use of protection apparatus 2.
It will also be appreciated that removal of drink cover 30 from, and storage back into bag 12, is relatively simple and quick. A user simply must grasp and pull bead 18, pull the drink cover 30 from bag 12 for use, and tuck drink cover 30 back into the bag 12 and pull bead 18 for storage. Quick use and storage of the drink cover 30 allows for the user to use the protection apparatus 2 without interruption of their general social or other experience (e.g., during conversation). The whole process should generally take only a few seconds.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to various implementations, it will be understood that these implementations are illustrative and that the scope of the disclosure is not limited to them. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. More generally, implementations in accordance with the present disclosure have been described in the context of particular implementations. Functionality can be separated or combined in blocks differently in various implementations of the disclosure or described with different terminology. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements can fall within the scope of the disclosure as defined in the claims that follow.
This patent application claims priority to and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/254,265, filed on Oct. 11, 2021.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63254265 | Oct 2021 | US |
