Patent Application
20060006182
This invention relates generally to a child's sipper cup. In particular, the present invention relates to a self-righting and spill-minimizing sipper cup that includes features of both a cup and a straw.
The traditional sipper cup is used to teach children to drink from a cup on their own, minimizing the spills through a small sipping spout. Nevertheless, as children have learned to drink and eat on their own, accidents and messes have proven inevitable.
It is important to keep liquid at the bottom of the cup's interior because this helps maintain the cup's low center of gravity. If this is not done, the weight of the liquid will increase the weight of the cup's sidewalls when the cup is tipped, allowing the cup to continue or accelerate its motion of falling to its side.
Various proposals for self-righting cups are found in the art. Self-righting cups with rounded bottoms can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,170, U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,996, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,737, U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,018, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,992. None of these include either a base portion wider than an upper portion or a double-wall construction, however. Further, none of these proposals suggest incorporating a straw-like device into a child's sipper cup. In fact, U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,992 expressly teaches away from adding a straw-like feature, claiming a spout encourages children to develop improper drinking techniques. Likewise, none of these suggest including a float device to keep liquid in the bottom of the cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,141 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,995 disclose spill-resistant cups with base portions wider than upper portions and double-wall constructions. However, neither cup is self-righting and neither suggests adding a straw-like feature or a float device to keep liquid in the bottom of the cup.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a self-righting and spill-minimizing sipper cup that includes features of both a cup and a straw, keeps liquid in the cup at the bottom of the cup's interior, maintains the temperature of liquid contained in the cup, is lightweight, easy for a child to hold, easy to clean, and aesthetically pleasing.
A self-righting sipper cup according to the present invention includes an outer cup member, an inner cup member, a channel, a drinking slot, a drinking spout, a valve, a float, a removable lid, handles, and a ballast. The inner cup member is positioned in an interior space defined by the outer cup member, and the inner cup member defines an outlet port at a bottom wall of the inner cup member. The drinking slot is adjacent the top of the outer cup member and is connected to the outlet port by the channel. The drinking spout surrounds the drinking slot. The valve is positioned inside the channel adjacent the drinking slot for selectively retaining liquid contained inside the self-righting sipper cup, and the float is positioned inside the inner cup member for limiting the movement of liquid contained in the self-righting sipper cup. A rounded base portion of the outer cup member is wider than an upper portion of the outer cup member, and the rounded base portion of the outer cup member includes the ballast. The handles attach to the outer cup member and are rounded to brace the self-righting sipper cup if the self-righting sipper cup is upended.
In use, liquid is placed in the inner cup member. The float is then inserted in the inner cup member and rests atop the liquid. The removable lid is then attached. A child can pick up the self-righting sipper cup by the handles and suck on the drinking spout in either an upright or horizontal position. When the child sucks on the drinking spout, liquid flows through the outlet port, the channel, the valve, and the drinking spout to reach the child's mouth. If the valve is not included, the child may either drink traditionally (without sucking) through the drinking spout or treat the drinking spout as a straw. As the liquid is drawn out of the interior space, the float is drawn to the bottom of the interior cup member and a vacuum is established to bias the liquid to the outlet port. If the self-righting sipper cup is dropped or tipped, the liquid will stay at the bottom of the interior cup member and in the channel due to the float and the valve. The shapes of the rounded base portion of the outer cup member and the handles, along with the weight of the ballast and the location of the liquid, bias the self-righting sipper cup to the upright position. By including both features of a cup and a straw, the child is able to suck from the cup in an upright position or tip it up and drink traditionally. This helps the development of the child's ability to learn to eat and drink on his own.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a self-righting sipper cup that includes features of both a cup and a straw.
Another object of this invention is to provide a self-righting sipper cup, as aforesaid, that keeps liquid in the cup at the bottom of the cup's interior.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a self-righting sipper cup, as aforesaid, that maintains the temperature of liquid contained in the cup.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a self-righting sipper cup, as aforesaid, that is lightweight and easy for a child to hold.
A further object of this invention is to provide a self-righting sipper cup, as aforesaid, that is easy to clean.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a self-righting sipper cup, as aforesaid, having an aesthetically pleasing configuration.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention.
a is a top view of the self-righting sipper cup as in
b is sectional view taken along line 2b-2b of
a is a top view of a self-righting sipper cup according to another embodiment of the present invention;
b is a sectional view taken along line 3b-3b of
c is an isolated sectional view on an enlarged scale of a float, float seal, and inner wall as in
A self-righting sipper cup according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to
The outer cup member 110 has a continuous outer wall (outer wall) 114 situated atop a rounded base portion 112. The outer wall 114 defines an open top 115 and an interior space 116. The rounded base portion 112 and the open top 115 have a common vertical axis A1 (
The inner cup member 120 has a continuous inner wall (inner wall) 124 with a closed bottom wall 122 and defines an open top 125 and an interior space 126. The inner wall 124 is positioned in the interior space 116 of the outer cup member 110 and shares the common vertical axis A1 with the rounded base portion 112 and the open top 115. A rim 118 connects the top of the outer cup member 110 and the top of the inner cup member 120.
The closed bottom wall 122 defines an outlet port 123, and the drinking slot 132 is positioned in the rim 118 adjacent the open top 115 of the outer cup member 110. The channel 130 extends through the interior space 116 of the outer cup member 110 and connects the outlet port 123 with the drinking slot 132. The channel 130 is outwardly adjacent the inner wall 124 (
The drinking spout 134 is positioned on the rim 118 adjacent the open top 115 of the outer cup member 110 and surrounding the drinking slot 132. The valve 136 is positioned inside the channel 130 adjacent the drinking slot 132 for selectively retaining any liquid contained inside the self-righting sipper cup 100.
A peripheral edge 152 of the removable lid 150 is preferably threaded, and the inner cup member 120 is preferably threaded adjacent the open top 125 for receiving the removable lid 150. Other methods of attaching the removable lid 150 are of course possible, however.
The handles 160 attach to the outer cup member 110 and are rounded to brace and stabilize the self-righting sipper cup 100 if the self-righting sipper cup 100 is upended. The handles 160 are small enough for a child's small hands to hold onto.
The interior space 116 between the outer cup member 110 and the inner cup member 120 acts as insulation for the contents of the interior space 126. This use of an outer cup member 110 and an inner cup member 120 may be referred to as double-wall construction and acts to maintain the temperature of liquid contained in the self-righting sipper cup 100. Insulation (not shown) may optionally fill the interior space 116 between the outer cup member 110 and the inner cup member 120.
In use, liquid is placed in the interior space 126 of the inner cup member 120 through the open top 125. The removable lid 150 is then attached to the inner cup member 120. A child can pick up the self-righting sipper cup 100 by the handles 160 and suck on the drinking spout 134 in either an upright or horizontal position. When the child sucks on the drinking spout 134, liquid flows through the outlet port 123, the channel 130, the valve 136, and the drinking spout 134 to reach the child's mouth. If the valve 136 is not included, the child may either drink traditionally (without sucking) through the drinking spout 134 or treat the drinking spout 134 as a straw.
If the self-righting sipper cup 100 is dropped or tipped, the liquid will remain in the interior space 126 and the channel 130 due to the removable lid 150 and the valve 136. The shapes of the rounded base portion 112 and the handles 160 and the weight of the ballast 111 bias the self-righting sipper cup 100 to the upright position.
A self-righting sipper cup 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The float 140 fits inside the inner cup member 120 for limiting movement of any liquid contained in the self-righting sipper cup 200. By limiting the liquid's movement, the center of gravity remains relatively constant whether the self-righting sipper cup 200 is upright or tipped. The weight of the liquid does not increase the weight of the cup's sidewalls since the float 140 keeps the liquid from shifting to the sidewalls. The float 140 includes a seal 142 and has a sufficient wall thickness 144 perpendicularly adjacent the inner cup member 120 to ensure the float 140 only moves along the vertical axis A1 of the inner wall 124 (
In use, liquid is placed in the interior space 126 of the inner cup member 120 through the open top 125. The float 140 is then inserted in the interior space 126 of the inner cup member 120 through the open top 125 and rests atop the liquid. The removable lid 150 is then attached to the inner cup member 120. As the liquid is drawn out of the interior space 126 through the outlet port 123, the float 140 is drawn to the bottom of the interior space 126 and a vacuum is established to bias the liquid to the outlet port 123.
If the self-righting sipper cup 200 is dropped or tipped, the liquid will stay at the bottom of the interior space 126 and in the channel 130 due to the float 140 and the valve 136. The shapes of the rounded base portion 112 and the handles 160, along with the weight of the ballast 111 and the location of the liquid, bias the self-righting sipper cup 200 to the upright position.
It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.
