U.S. patent application number 11/342310 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-28 for insulated cup or container.
Invention is credited to Daniel H. Kling.
Application Number | 20060289610 11/342310 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37566139 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060289610 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kling; Daniel H. |
December 28, 2006 |
Insulated cup or container
Abstract
A cup or container having a sidewall which is layered multiple
times from single sheet is disclosed. At least a portion of the
sheet is textured to provide insulation functionality. Preferably,
the textured portion comprises a multidirectional folded
pattern.
Inventors: |
Kling; Daniel H.; (Ringoes,
NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FOX ROTHSCHILD LLP;PRINCETON PIKE CORPORATE CENTER
997 LENOX DRIVE, BUILDING #3
LAWRENCEVILLE
NJ
08648
US
|
Family ID: |
37566139 |
Appl. No.: |
11/342310 |
Filed: |
January 26, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60647352 |
Jan 26, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
229/4.5 ;
229/403 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 81/3865 20130101;
B65D 3/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
229/004.5 ;
229/403 |
International
Class: |
B65D 3/00 20060101
B65D003/00 |
Claims
1. A container comprising a bottom and sidewall having multiple
layers wherein at least a portion of the sidewall is textured.
2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the multiple layers
of the sidewall are formed from a single sheet.
3. The container of claim 2, wherein an interior surface of the
sidewall is smooth.
4. The container of claim 2, wherein the textured portion of the
sidewall is positioned between interior and exterior layers.
5. The container according to claim 1, wherein the sidewall is
fabricated from paper material.
6. The container according to claim 1, wherein the textured portion
of the sidewall comprise a multidirectional folded pattern.
Description
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.
119(e) to U.S. provisional application No. 60/647,352 filed Jan.
26, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention provides an efficient part pattern and
method for manufacturing insulated cups or other containers,
preferably from a sheet material such as paper or plastic.
Containers such as cups are produced rapidly through automated
processes. The cup manufacturing machines wrap the cup walls, shape
the bottom, insert the bottom, and roll the lip, in addition to
moisture-proofing the cup liner and printing on the cup and other
operations. The cup design of the present invention may be
assembled on existing cup manufacturing equipment with inexpensive
adaptations. In one aspect, the invention comprises a cup or
container having a sidewall which is layered multiple times from
single sheet wherein at least a portion of the sheet is textured to
provide insulation functionality.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] FIG. 1 shows a design according to the present invention
which would be wrapped to form a two layer container wall.
[0004] FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show patterns for forming a three layer
container wall.
[0005] FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross section of the cup through a
three-layer container wall design such as in FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0006] With reference to FIGS. 1 through 4, the container and
container wall design of the present invention are disclosed.
[0007] The inner layer portion 10 of sidewall sheet 20 provides the
surface that is in contact with the beverage and preferably is
coated with a moisture proofing material that is suitable for hot
and cold beverages or foods. The inner layer portion 10 preferably
is smooth with an overlap region 27 for gluing and sealing. The
interior layer portion 15 of sheet material 20 is textured to give
thermal insulation. The texturing may be accomplished through
embossing, corrugate folding, multi-directional patterned folding,
expanding with patterned slitting, thermal or chemical operations,
relief applications to the paper, perforations, attaching
additional thickening material, attaching additional insulation
material, other texturing processes, and/or combinations of these.
Multiple textured layer portion 15, 17 may be wrapped and have the
same or different texturing patterns. Preferably, if multiple
layers are used with multiple patterns, the patterns of each layer
portion are coordinated to compliment each other structurally and
thermally. An optional outer smooth layer portion 12 of sidewall
sheet 20 may be included. Preferably, this layer 12 overlaps at
overhang 25 for a gluing.
[0008] Since the layer portions are connected end-to-end on the
original container sidewall sheet 20, their assembly may be
performed with great speed on existing wrapping machines by
increasing the angular turn. The remaining operations in assembling
the cup, such as inserting bottoms or rolling lips, may be
performed with minor adjustments. For instance, the lip may be
rolled by just rolling the inner layer portion 10 as before in
designs where the multiple layers do not extend to the full height
of the container sidewall, or the lip may be rolled by having one
or more of the textured and/or outer layer portions extend to the
rolling area of the inner layer portion and rolled in the operation
together. The bottom of the cup may be inserted on existing
machines with adjustment for the layered thickness of the cup. The
bottom may be the same one layer design or added insulation may be
cut from other materials.
[0009] The multi-layer design provides an opportunity for
functional and decorative textures on the interior or exterior
surfaces of the container sidewall. These textures may designed to
look and feel appealing. The part may be printed before wrapping to
incorporate color in the textural effect. The structure in the
multi-layer container sidewall design may be dynamic with moving or
hinging elements. For example, it may be preferred for the cups to
nest closely for shipping, but to have the wall thickness thicken
for use after dispensing. In this case, it may be preferred to use
a corrugated type material with the folds running vertically
(radially) for the outer layer of the sidewall, or other outer
layer design that expands to accommodate the difference in the
radius of the thin walled shipping configuration and the thickened
wall use configuration.
[0010] Depending on the texturing technique and the desired
coverage of the textured layers on the inner layer portion 10, the
width (outer radius minus inner radius of the sidewall sheet) and
circumference length of the textured layers before texturing may be
different than the width of the inner layer. The possible various
layers may have different widths and circumference lengths. For
example, if the texturing is done through slitting the material and
expanding it, it may be preferred that a textured layer starts with
a wider width and shorter circumference length so that, when it
expands, it provides the desired coverage around the inner layer.
The texturing may also be accomplished by multi-directional pattern
folding such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/952,057 filed Sep. 14, 2001, which is incorporated herein by
reference.
[0011] The sidewall sheet design may be applied to many types of
containers such as soup bowls and other containers and lids as well
as cups.
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