Patent Application
20050269336
The present invention relates to drinking vessels and, more particularly, to a vented drinking vessel in the style of a racecar fueling tank.
Beverages are sold in large volume at sporting events, and the cups in which the beverages are served often serve as souvenirs for the fans. The cups also provide valuable advertising space which may be used by the sports team, the venue, team sponsors, or sold to others. Traditional drinking cups, however, suffer from a number of disadvantages. In particular, most cups have a standard shape that is not particularly eye catching. Although mugs, containers and cups having a variety of stylized shapes have been developed, there is an continuing need for need for drinking containers with distinctive shapes that find favor with sports fans. Fans of NASCAR® races, in particular, exhibit extraordinary enthusiasm and often purchase products that demonstrate their support for their sport, such as purchasing, wearing and carrying products carrying sponsor logos and the numbers, names, likenesses and signatures of the sport's drivers.
In addition, traditional drinking cups spill all too easily when they tip or drop because most cup lids come loose when the cup is squeezed, knocked over or jostled. This problem can be made worse by accident prone and mischievous children. Closed squeeze containers solve this problem to some extent, but they still leak and spill when knocked over or squeezed. Closed squeeze containers can also be difficult to drink from as vacuum collapses the container during drinking.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for a drinking vessel that evokes the imagery of popular sports, such as NASCAR® races. There is a further need for a non-spill drinking container that evokes the imagery of NASCAR® races and is adapted to carry sponsor logos and the numbers, names, likenesses and signatures of the sport's drivers.
The present invention meets the needs described above in vented drinking vessel in the style of a racecar fueling tank of the type used at pit stops during NASCAR® races. The vented drinking vessel includes a vent tube or solid handle that looks similar to the vent tube of a racecar fueling tank. The vented drinking vessel also includes a curved straw similar to the exit pipe on a racecar fueling tank, which the user may drink from in the usual manner. The curved straw typically extends from the top of a funnel portion at the top of the fuel container, which is also similar to the design of a racecar fueling tank.
To prevent spilling, the vented drinking vessel may include one or more valves in communication with the interior of the container, such as a one-way valve that is removable located within the vent tube, typically at the end of the tube. Alternatively or additionally, the vented drinking vessel may also include a check valve that is removable located within the curved straw, typically at the end of the straw. The vented drinking vessel may include an internal straw that extends from the bottom of the curved straw into and preferable to the bottom of the container. In this case, the check valve may be located in the internal straw. The funnel portion typically separates from the bottom portion of the container to make the container easy to fill and clean.
The vented drinking vessel may be a squeeze type container or it may be hard sided. In either case, logos, other advertising material and decorative material may be located on the outside of the container. A low cost option may be manufactured form plastic, while a more expensive collector's quality container may be manufactured from spun aluminum, stainless steel or another suitable material.
Generally described, the invention may be embodied as a vented drinking vessel including a cylindrical container closed at a bottom end, open at a top end, and including a vent opening adjacent to the bottom end. A funnel shaped cap is removably secured to the cylindrical container, and a curved straw extends from the funnel shaped cap. The vented drinking vessel also includes a vent tube in communication with the vent opening, located outside the container, and extending beyond the top end of the container. For example, the vent tube may extend to a point approximately even with the top of the funnel shaped cap.
The curved straw may also include a flared portion located away from the funnel shaped cap. The vent tube may be supported by an arm extending between the cylindrical container and the vent tube adjacent to the top end of the cylindrical container. The vented drinking vessel may also include one or more valves to prevent spillage from the vessel. For example, the vented drinking vessel may include a check valve associated with the curved straw and/or a one-way valve associated with the vent tube to prevent spillage from the vessel. The vented drinking vessel may also include an internal straw in communication with the curved straw and extending into the cylindrical container. The vessel may be fabricated substantially from plastic, and may have a rigid or flexible container. That is, the plastic container may be squeezable or not. Alternatively, the vessel may be fabricated substantially from aluminum (typically spun aluminum), in which case the container will not be squeezable.
The vented drinking vessel may also be embodied as a cylindrical container closed at a bottom end, open at a top end, and including a vent opening. The vessel also includes a one-way valve in communication with the vent opening and a funnel shaped cap removably secured to the cylindrical container. A curved straw extends from the funnel shaped cap, and a handle is located outside the container and extending from near the bottom of the container beyond the top end of the container. This embodiment may also include a check valve associated with the curved straw.
The specific techniques and structures for implementing particular embodiments of the internally switched electric power interrupter, and thereby accomplishing the advantages described above, will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the appended drawings and claims.
Turning now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like elements throughout the several figures,
A funnel shaped cap 16 is removably secured to the cylindrical container 12, and a curved straw 18 extends from the funnel shaped cap. Typically, the funnel shaped cap 16 screws onto the cylindrical container 12, but other removable attachment techniques, such as a friction seal or a “push and twist” connector may be employed. The vented drinking vessel also includes a vent tube 20 (in an alternative embodiment, the vent tube may be replaced by a solid handle) in communication with the vent opening 14, located outside the container 12, and extending beyond the top end of the container. For example, the vent tube may extend to a point approximately even with the top of the funnel shaped cap 16. In addition, the curved straw 18 typically includes a flared portion 22 located away from the funnel shaped cap 16. The vent tube 20 may be supported by an arm 24 extending between the cylindrical container 12 and the vent tube adjacent to the top end of the cylindrical container.
As shown in
Of course, the vented drinking vessel 10 may be used without any valve, in which case the fluid inside the vessel will flow feely when the vessel is tilted or inverted. For this type of free flowing mode, it may be desirable for the curved straw 18 to flex into different positions or rotate with respect to the funnel shaped cap 16, or to be fixed in an orientation curving away from the vent tube 20, to facilitate drinking from the vessel when the vent tube 20 is not regulated by a valve. To prevent spillage, the vented drinking vessel may also include a check valve 26 associated with the curved straw 18 and/or a one-way valve 28 associated with the vent tube 20.
Alternatively or additionally, the vessel 10 may include a one-way valve 28, such as a silicon or other suitable type of duck-bill valve, in communication with the interior of the vessel.
If the one-way valve 28 is located in the vent opening 14, the vent tube 20 may be replaced by a solid handle including a port adjacent to and in communication with the vent opening 14. Further, for the embodiment with a one-way valve 28 in the vent opening 14, the vent opening and one-way valve need not be associated with the handle, and could be located anywhere in communication with the interior of the container 12. For example, the vent opening 14 and one-way valve 28 could be located in the bottom of the container 12, side of the container, or in the funnel shaped cap 16.
The vessel 10 may be fabricated substantially from plastic, and may have a rigid or flexible container. That is, the plastic container may be squeezable or not. Alternatively, the vessel may be fabricated substantially from aluminum (typically spun aluminum), in which case the container will not be squeezable. Of course, other suitable materials may be used for the various components.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that present invention provides significant improvements in vented drinking vessels. It should be understood that the foregoing relates only to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and that numerous changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
