This patent specification relates to the field of food and beverage serving systems. More specifically, this patent specification relates to food and beverage serving systems that are able to adhere to surfaces.
There are many situations in which it is desirable to provide food and beverage to an individual in a serving container that is able to resist tipping over. These situations can include feeding infants and young children, disabled adults, and the elderly. By preventing a food and beverage container from tipping over, wasting of food and beverage can be prevented and the length of feeding times may be reduced. While there have been attempts to use suction cups which are attached to food and beverage containers to prevent the containers from tipping over, many of the suction cups used for bowls in the market today fail to keep the needed suction and are easily removed or come off unexpectedly. Rather than utilizing a vacuum seal they are simply creating suction by applying pressure to whatever surface they are adhered to. Further, many of the products using suction cups and bowls come pre-attached to the bowl or plate and don't allow for interchangeable accessories such as different bowl sizes and colors.
Therefore, a need exists for novel food and beverage containers that are able to resist tipping over. There is a further need for novel food and beverage serving systems that are able to adhere to a plurality of surfaces. Finally, there exists a need for novel food and beverage serving systems that are able to accept interchangeable accessories such as different bowl sizes and colors.
A vacuum adhering serving system that is able to adhere to a plurality of substrate surfaces to resist tipping over is provided. In some embodiments, the system may include a vacuum cup having a suction cup and a suction aperture. The suction aperture may be coupled to a vacuum nozzle of a vacuum pump. A housing including a male container engaging element may be coupled to the vacuum cup. A serving container with a male housing engaging element and a serving surface may be coupled to the housing by coupling the male housing engaging element of the serving container to the male container engaging element of the housing. By placing the suction cup in contact with a substrate surface, such as a table top, counter top, bar top, and the like, and then actuating the vacuum pump, air may be removed from between the substrate surface and the suction cup through the vacuum nozzle to adhere the system to the substrate surface.
In further embodiments, the serving container may be removably coupled to the housing by rotating the male housing engaging element into contact with the male container engaging element to rotatably couple the housing to the serving container.
Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which:
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “rear”, “front”, “side”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
New food and beverage serving systems that are able to adhere to surfaces are discussed herein. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
The present invention will now be described by example and through referencing the appended figures representing preferred and alternative embodiments.
Turning now to
In some embodiments, the vacuum cup 11 may comprise a skirt 16 into which the suction cup may be formed into. The skirt 16 may be joined to a mounting surface 17 to which other elements of the system 100 may be mounted or coupled, such as the housing 40 and/or vacuum pump 20. The skirt 16 may comprise one or more release tabs 18 which may be manipulated to break the suction seal between a suction cup 12 and the substrate surface 200 to which it is adhered to. The release tabs 18 may be of various sizes and shapes to allow a user to press or pull on a release tab 18 to break the suction seal of the suction cup 12. In further embodiments, the vacuum cup 11 may comprise two release tabs 18 which may be positioned on opposite sides of the vacuum cup 11, such as on opposite sides of the skirt 16.
In some embodiments, the vacuum cup 11 may comprise one or more mounting depressions 19 which may be used to couple, optionally with a fastener or adhesive, an element of the system 100, such as the housing 40 and/or vacuum pump 20, to the vacuum cup 11. In further embodiments, a mounting depression 19 may comprise a recess which may be formed into the mounting surface 17 and which may receive a portion of an inner support ring 60, housing 40, and/or vacuum pump 20. In further embodiments, a mounting depression 19 may comprise a protrusion which may be formed to extend out and away from the mounting surface 17 and which may mate with or contact a portion of an inner support ring 60, housing 40, and/or vacuum pump 20. Optionally, the vacuum cup 11 may comprise one or more reducing depressions 91 which may be complementary in shape to one or more elements of the system 100 and/or which may reduce the amount of material required to make a vacuum cup 11.
The vacuum cup 11 may comprise a suction aperture 13 which may pass through the suction cup 12 from the suction cup surface 14 to the mounting surface 16. A suction aperture 13 may allow air to be removed from within the suction cup 12. In preferred embodiments, when the suction cup surface 14 is in contact with a substrate surface 200, air may be removed from within the suction cup 12 through the vacuum nozzle 21 (
Turning now to
In some embodiments, the inner support ring 60 may comprise a top surface 64, bottom surface 65, inside surface 66, and an outside surface 67. The bottom surface 65 may be coupled to the mounting surface 17 of the vacuum cup 11 with each major support protrusion 61 mating with a mounting depression 19. Preferably, one or more minor support protrusions 62 of the bottom surface 65 may also contact the mounting surface 17 of the vacuum cup 11. One or more support apertures 63 of the inner support ring 60 may receive a fastener, such as a threaded fastener, which may also pass through a housing aperture 42 (
As perhaps best shown in
Many different types of vacuum pumps comprising many different elements and assemblies may be used with the system 100 with the assembly of
Turning now to
In some embodiments, the housing 40 may comprise a plunger groove 47 which may be complementary in shape to the plunger housing 22 and/or plunger 30 to allow the plunger 30 of the vacuum pump 20 to extend through the plunger groove 47 when portions of the vacuum pump 20 is received within the cavity 44 of the housing 40. In further embodiments, the vacuum pump 20 may be received within the cavity 44 so that the plunger 30 may extend through the plunger groove 47 to allow a user to actuate the plunger 30. In still further embodiments, the vacuum nozzle 21 and suction aperture 13 may be enclosed within the housing 40 such as within the cavity 44 between the housing 40, the vacuum cup 11, and optionally within the inside surface 66 (
Referring to
In further embodiments, a container sloped surface 54 may have a slope that is complementary to the slope of a housing sloped surface 49. Each housing sloped surface 49 and container sloped surface 54 may comprise a similar length. By rotating the serving container 50 relative to the housing 40 while the sloped surfaces 49, 54, are in contact with each other, the sloped surfaces 49, 54, may draw the serving container 50 and the housing 40 together thereby functioning as threaded coupling which is configured to convert between rotational and linear movement or force. In further embodiments, a serving container 50 may comprise a housing abutment surface 55 and the housing 40 may comprise a container abutment surface 71. The abutments surfaces 55, 71, may be positioned to come into contact with each other as the sloped surfaces 49, 54, rotate relative to each other to arrest the rotation and provide a stable engagement between the housing 40 and serving container 50.
In some embodiments, a serving container 50 may comprise one or more optional container guides 56 and the housing 40 may comprise one or more optional housing guides 72. One or more male container engaging elements 41 may be coupled to a housing guide 72 and one or more male housing engaging elements 51 may be coupled to a container guide 56. The housing guide 72 and container guide 56 may function to align the housing 40 and serving container 50 when they are brought together to facilitate the removable coupling engagement of a male container engaging element 41 with a male housing engaging element 51. In further embodiments, a housing guide 72 and/or a container guide 56 may be annular in shape.
In some embodiments, a serving surface 52 may be formed by a container sidewall 57. One or more container sidewalls 57 may bound and separate one serving surface 52 from another serving surface 52. In further embodiments, the male housing engaging elements 51, container sloped surface 54, housing abutment surface 55, and optional annular container guide 56 may be molded or otherwise coupled to the container sidewall 57. Optionally, a container lip 58 may be coupled to one or more container sidewalls 57 which may be configured to be removably coupled to a lid 80 (
In some embodiments, a container sidewall 57 may extend up and away from the male housing engaging elements 51 to form a serving surface 52 which is generally bowl shaped. By extending the container sidewall 57 a greater distance from the male housing engaging elements 51 the serving surface 52 may be configured as a deeper bowl. Conversely, by decreasing the distance that a container sidewall 57 may extend from the male housing engaging elements 51 the serving surface 52 may be configured as a shallower bowl or even as a plate or serving tray. A serving container 50 may be configured in any shape or size that is able to store or dispense food and/or beverage items. The example of
In some embodiments, a lid 80 and/or a serving container 50 may comprise one or more grip tabs of any shaped or size which may be grasped or otherwise manipulated by a user to attach or to remove a lid 80 from a serving container 50. In further embodiments, a serving container 50 may comprise one or more serving container grip tabs 58 (
While some materials have been provided, in other embodiments, the elements that comprise the system 100 such as the vacuum cup 11, vacuum pump 20, housing 40, serving container 50, optional inner support ring 60, optional lid 80, and/or any other element discussed herein may be made from durable materials such as aluminum, steel, other metals and metal alloys, wood, hard rubbers, hard plastics, fiber reinforced plastics, carbon fiber, fiber glass, resins, polymers or any other suitable materials including combinations of materials. Additionally, one or more elements may be made from or comprise durable and slightly flexible materials such as soft plastics, silicone, soft rubbers, or any other suitable materials including combinations of materials. In some embodiments, one or more of the elements that comprise the system 100 may be coupled or connected together with heat bonding, chemical bonding, adhesives, clasp type fasteners, clip type fasteners, rivet type fasteners, threaded type fasteners, other types of fasteners, or any other suitable joining method. In other embodiments, one or more of the elements that comprise the system 100 may be coupled or removably connected by being press fit or snap fit together, by one or more fasteners such as hook and loop type or Velcro® fasteners, magnetic type fasteners, threaded type fasteners, sealable tongue and groove fasteners, snap fasteners, clip type fasteners, clasp type fasteners, ratchet type fasteners, a push-to-lock type connection method, a turn-to-lock type connection method, slide-to-lock type connection method or any other suitable temporary connection method as one reasonably skilled in the art could envision to serve the same function. In further embodiments, one or more of the elements that comprise the system 100 may be coupled by being one of connected to and integrally formed with another element of the system 100.
Although the present invention has been illustrated and described herein with reference to preferred embodiments and specific examples thereof, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functions and/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the spirit and scope of the present invention, are contemplated thereby, and are intended to be covered by the following claims.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/159,587, filed on May 11, 2015, entitled “INTERLOCKING BOWL WITH PUMP AND INTEGRATED HOUSING AND CUP SYSTEM”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62159587 | May 2015 | US |