Temperature-storing cup/pot structure

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6213336
  • Patent Number
    6,213,336
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, September 14, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 10, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Pollard; S M
    Agents
    • Pro-Techtor International Services
Abstract
The temperature-storing cup/pot structure mainly comprises a cup/pot and a seat. The bottom face of the cup/pot is disposed with a temperature-storing conducting element. A temperature-storing acting body of the seat is fixed by an insulating member and is pushed by a resilient member. The temperature-storing acting body should be preheated to a desired temperature and then is moved on the seat. The resilient member will make the temperature-storing acting body close contact with the temperature-storing conducting element of the cup/pot to keep the cup/pot hot or cold for a period of time. It does not need the plug. It has no electrical wire connection problem. And, it can be used for a hot or cold drink.
Description




BACKGROUND OF INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention is related to a temperature-storing cup/pot structure. It does not need the plug. It has no electrical wire connection problem. And, it can be used for a hot or cold drink.




2. Description of the Prior Art




As shown in

FIGS. 7 and 8

, it is a conventional detachable insulating cup. It mainly comprises a ceramic cup


91


and a ceramic seat


92


. They are detachable. When they are assembled, the electrical circuit is close (ON) to activate the heating process. Once the ceramic cup


91


is taken out, the electrical circuit is open (OFF). An electrical heater


93


is disposed on the bottom of the cup


91


. The electrical heater


93


includes an outer electrical ring


931


, an insulating seat


932


, a large outer electrical plate


933


, an inner electrical ring


934


, a small inner electrical ring


935


and an ceramic electrical resistance


936


. The outer electrical ring


931


and large outer electrical plate


933


form the first electrical route. The inner electrical ring


934


and the small inner electrical ring


935


form the second route. These two routes are connected with the ceramic electrical resistance


936


so that it will produce heat. And, the ceramic insulating seat


932


is used for separated these two routes and avoid the electrical short circuit.




Although the detachable insulating cup can keep the drink hot, it must have certain electrical wire connection to provide power. There must be some socket for plug, and the wire connection cannot be too long. In addition, it only can be used for hot drinks. It is impossible to used for a cold drink.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The first object of the present invention is to provide a temperature-storing cup/pot structure. It does not need any electrical power. It has no electrical wire connection problem. And, the present invention can be used or moved anywhere.




The second object of the present invention is to provide a temperature-storing cup/pot structure. It is suitable not only for a hot drink, but also for a cold drink.




Another object of the present invention is to provide a temperature-storing cup/pot structure. Once the cup/pot is moved out, the temperature-storing conducting element can keep the cup/pot hot or cold for a period of time.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective exploded view of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a cross-sectional assembled view of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is an enlarged view of a portion of the present invention.





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of the present invention.





FIG. 5

is a separated cup and seat of the present invention.





FIG. 6

is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 7

is a front view of the conventional electrical cup.





FIG. 8

is a perspective disassembled view of the heating device of the conventional electrical cup.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




The present invention is related to a temperature-storing cup/pot structure. It does not need the plug. It has no electrical wire connection problem. And, it can be used for a hot or cold drink.




Referring to

FIG. 4 and 5

, a temperature-storing cup/pot structure mainly comprises a cup


10


and a seat


20


. Normally, the user can take the cup


10


out of the seat


20


for drinking (as shown in FIG.


5


). After drinking it, the user will put the cup


10


back to the seat


20


(shown in FIG.


4


).




Referring to Fogs.


1


to


3


, they are a perspective exploded view, a cross-sectional assembled view and an enlarged view of a portion of the present invention.




In which, the seat


20


includes an insulating pad


31


, a ring portion


32


, a base portion


33


, a resilient member


34


, an insulating member


35


, a temperature-storing acting body


40


, a disk portion


50


and a plastic pad


51


. The temperature-storing acting body


40


can be made by metal with a suitable wall thickness. The temperature-storing acting body


40


contains certain volume of the temperature-storing liquid. The ring portion


32


is disposed on the insulating pad


31


. The base portion


33


is formed in a central hole of the ring portion


32


. The ring-shaped insulating member


35


is disposed on a predetermined height of the base portion


33


. The resilient element


34


is disposed inside the insulating member


35


and the base portion


33


for pushing the temperature-storing acting body


40


. And, the insulating member


35


is used for preventing the temperature-storing acting body


40


sliding out. The inner space of the insulating member


33


can be vacuumed or be filled with formed material. After assembling the above-mentioned elements, they are fixed on the disk portion


50


and extended up from the central hole of the disk portion


50


. Based on a protruded flange


52


, both the insulating pad


31


and ring portion


32


are fixed in the bottom of the disk portion


50


. A plastic pad


51


around the central hole of the disk portion


50


is disposed between the seat


20


and the cup


10


so as to reduce the heat transfer between them.




The cup


10


can be made of metal and coated with enamel. A temperature-storing conducting element


11


is disposed on a bottom face of the cup


10


. The temperature-storing conducting element


11


is made by a metal with a suitable wall thickness and contains a temperature-storing liquid.




Based on the above-mentioned assembled elements, the insulating pad


31


, the ring portion


32


, the base portion


33


, the resilient member


34


, the insulating member


35


, the disk portion


50


and the plastic pad


51


are fixed as an integral unit. Depending on the user's need (keep hot or keep cold), the temperature-storing acting body


40


can be placed in a refrigerator or in a hot baking oven. Therefore, the temperature-storing acting body


40


will absorb the heat or coldness. For example, if the user wants to drink a cup of hot coffee, the user can take out a pre-heated 150° C. to 200° C. temperature-storing acting body


40


and put it on the resilient member


34


inside the insulating member


35


of the seat


20


. After which, the user puts the cup


10


on the seat


20


. At this moment, the resilient element


34


pushes the temperature-storing acting body


40


closely contacting with the temperature-storing conducting element


11


of the cup


10


. The temperature of the temperature-storing conducting element


11


is approximately 120° C. to 150° C. By means of the temperature-storing conducting element


11


, the coffee inside the cup


10


can remain 80° C. to 60° C. about 20 to 30 minutes. If the user wants to re-fill a cup of hot coffee, the user can replace a new pre-heated temperature-storing acting body


40


so that the hot coffee can be remained at a desired temperature. No plug is needed. No electrical wire connection problem will be bothered. And, it is suitable for a cold drink or hot drink. In addition, when the user takes the cup


10


out (leaving the seat


20


), the temperature-storing conducting element


11


still can keep the coffee hot for a while (lasting for a period of time). Thus, the coffee will not be cooled down soon and the taste of hot coffee is kept.




When the cup


10


is put on the seat


20


, the insulation pad


51


will closely contact with the cup


10


for sealing and reducing heat loss.




Referring to

FIG. 6

, it is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention. In which, the bottom face of the pot


60


is disposed with a temperature-storing conducting element


61


. The shape of the seat


70


is designed according the shape of the pot


60


. Also, the seat


70


has an insulating member


72


for holding the temperature-storing acting body


71


and a resilient member


73


. The insulating pad


74


is disposed on the seat


70


. The insulating member


72


and the disk portion


50


are integrally formed. The plastic pad


75


is disposed on the surface of the pot


60


so that the heat or coldness will not be lost too quickly. Of course, the inner space of the insulating member


72


can be vacuumed or be filled with formed material for better insulating effect.




The usage of the pot


60


is similar to the usage of the above-mentioned cup


10


. Before filling the drink into the pot


60


and put on the seat


70


, the temperature-storing acting body


71


which is preheated to 150° C. is moved on the resilient member


73


inside the insulating member


72


of the seat


70


. Then, put the pot


60


on the seat


70


. The resilient member


73


will push the temperature-storing acting body


71


to closely contact with the temperature-storing conducting element


61


of the pot


60


. It can keep the temperature of the pot on 80° C. to 60° C. about 20 to 30 minutes. After the pot


60


is taken out from the seat


70


, the storing conducting element


61


of the pot


60


win keep the pot


60


hot for a while.




Thus, the present invention has the temperature-storing function. It has no electric wire connection problem. It is suitable for a hot or cold drink. And, once the cup/pot is taken out, the cup/pot still can remain hot/cold for a while. So, the utility of the present invention is excellent.



Claims
  • 1. A temperature-storing cup/pot structure comprising:a cup and a seat for holding said cup, said cup can be used independently, said seat being formed with a disk-shaped periphery; wherein a temperature-storing conducting element is disposed on a bottom face of said cup, said temperature-storing conducting element contains a temperature-storing liquid, a replaceable temperature-storing acting body is disposed on said seat, and said temperature-storing acting body contains the temperature-storing liquid; so that the hot or cold temperature-storing acting body can provide a hot or cold source to the temperature-storing conducting element on the bottom of the cup, and allowing a temperature of a drinking liquid inside the cup/pot's remaining unchanged for a period of time.
  • 2. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cup is replaced by a pot, said pot can be used independently, and said pot has the temperature-storing function.
  • 3. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom face of the cup is disposed with an insulation pad for insulating heat loss, so as to protect a user's hand while lifting the cup and prevent scratching on a table surface.
  • 4. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein an insulating member is disposed around the temperature-storing acting body on the bottom of the cup.
  • 5. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein an inner space of the insulating member is vacuumed.
  • 6. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein an inner space of the insulating member is filled with formed material.
  • 7. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein an resilient element is disposed inside the seat for pushing said temperature-storing acting body close contacting with the temperature-storing conducting element of the cup.
  • 8. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 7, wherein said resilient element is a spring.
  • 9. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plastic pad is disposed between the seat and the cup/pot so as to reduce the heat transfer therebetween.
  • 10. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said seat has a disk portion, a base portion and a ring portion for supporting and sealing said temperature-storing acting body.
  • 11. The temperature-storing cup/pot structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cup is made of metal and coated with enamel.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
2191434 Alder Feb 1940
2526165 Smith Oct 1950
4383422 Gordon et al. May 1983
5119800 Roberts et al. Jun 1992
5125391 Srivastava et al. Jun 1992
5611328 McDermott Mar 1997