U.S. patent application number 12/801364 was filed with the patent office on 2011-02-24 for drink cup.
Invention is credited to Jen Hao Chang.
Application Number | 20110042374 12/801364 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43604487 |
Filed Date | 2011-02-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110042374 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chang; Jen Hao |
February 24, 2011 |
Drink cup
Abstract
A drink up consists of a lower cup body, an upper cup body, and
a lid. The top of the lower cup body has an opening for holding
drink and ice. The upper cup body connects to the lower cup body,
with a cup opening for drinking or for a straw to be inserted. The
lid closes the cup opening. One adds a drink or ice via the opening
into the lower cup body. After the combination of the upper cup
body and the lower cup body, one can directly have the drink via
the cup opening or a straw. The addition of ice can elongate the
keep time of soda gas. The drink therein can be kept at a better
taste and coldness for a longer time. By opening the upper and
lower cup bodies, the user can readily clean and reuse them. The
invention is recyclable.
Inventors: |
Chang; Jen Hao; (Taipei
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 SLATERS LANE, FOURTH FLOOR
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314-1176
US
|
Family ID: |
43604487 |
Appl. No.: |
12/801364 |
Filed: |
June 4, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/4.27 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 1/265 20130101;
B65D 2543/00351 20130101; B65D 11/04 20130101; B65D 23/00
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/4.27 |
International
Class: |
B65D 6/28 20060101
B65D006/28 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 20, 2009 |
TW |
098215374 |
Claims
1. A drink cup comprising: a lower cup body with an opening on the
top to form an accommodating space for holding a drink and ice
cubes; and an upper cup body to be connected with the lower cup
body to seal the opening thereof.
2. The drink cup of claim 1, wherein the upper cup body has a
drinking opening that is closed by a sealing element.
3. The drink cup of claim 2, wherein the drinking opening of the
upper cup body is in the shape of a bottle opening.
4. The drink cup of claim 2, wherein the sealing element of the
drinking opening is a lid.
5. The drink cup of claim 3 or 4, wherein the bottle opening of the
upper cup body and the lid are sealed via threads.
6. The drink cup of claim 1, wherein the junctions of the lower cup
body and the upper cup body have connecting sections,
respectively.
7. The drink cup of claim 6, wherein connecting section of the
lower cup body and the connecting section of the upper cup body are
formed with threads.
8. The drink cup of claim 6, wherein the connecting section of the
lower cup body and the connecting section of the upper cup body are
formed with a groove and hooks, respectively.
9. The drink cup of claim 6, wherein the connecting section of the
lower cup body and the connecting section of the upper cup body are
formed with a protruding rim and an annular groove, respectively.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a drink cup and, in particular, to
a drink cup that can elongate the keep time of soda gas in order to
maintain a better taste and coldness for the soda therein for the
longer time. The invention is also recyclable and
environment-friendly.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Current drinks on the market are often contained in a
plastic bottle, which is an integrally formed bottle 11 as shown in
FIG. 1. The bottle 11 has an accommodating space to hold a drink.
The upper part of the bottle 11 has a bottle opening 12 for its
user to directly enjoy the drink or use a straw to drink.
[0005] In practice, one can add ice to soda to reduce the loss of
carbon dioxide and thus maintain a higher gas concentration in the
drink. The soda in this case has a better taste and coldness.
However, the bottle opening of a conventional plastic bottle is too
narrow for ice cubes to go through.
[0006] Besides, the sofa from a normal soda machine is usually
dispensed into a paper cup. Even though the user can add ice in
this case, the use of paper cups is a waste of recourses.
[0007] Usual drink cups for takeout have sealed openings or lids.
Both of them cannot be recycled, also a waste of natural resources.
In the latter case, the connection between the lid and the
container may not be strong enough and result in leaks. This is
extremely inconvenient. It would be a win-win if the takeout drink
cup can be recycled after rinse and the vendor advertises a
discount when people re-use the takeout drink cup for next
purchases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] An objective of the invention is to provide a drink cup that
is convenient for its user to add ice, thereby elongating the keep
time of gas in soda and thus maintaining its taste and
coldness.
[0009] Another objective of the invention is to provide a drink cup
that is recyclable and environment-friendly, avoiding waste of
natural resources.
[0010] To achieve the above objectives, the disclosed drink cup
includes a lower cup body, an upper cup body, and a lid. The top of
the lower cup body has an opening for holding drink and ice cubes.
The upper cup body is connected to the lower cup body. Its top part
has a bottle opening for its user to drink or a straw to be
inserted. The lid closes the bottle opening. One adds a drink or
ice via the opening into the lower cup body. After the combination
of the upper cup body and the lower cup body, one can directly have
the drink via the cup opening or a straw. The addition of ice can
elongate the keep time of soda gas. The drink therein can be kept
at a better taste and coldness for a longer time. By opening the
upper and lower cup bodies, the user can readily clean and reuse
them. The invention is recyclable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the
invention will become apparent by reference to the following
description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of
illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention,
and wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a conventional drink
cup;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view of the drink cup
according to a first embodiment of the invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded structural view of the drink cup
according to a first embodiment of the invention;
[0015] FIG. 4 is an exploded structural view of the drink cup
according to a second embodiment of the invention;
[0016] FIG. 5 is an exploded structural view of the drink cup
according to a third embodiment of the invention; and
[0017] FIG. 6 shows how the disclosed drink cup is used.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The present invention will be apparent from the following
detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the
accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the
same elements.
[0019] Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3. The disclosed drink cup 20
includes a lower cup body 21, an upper cup body 22, and a closing
element such as a lid 23.
[0020] The top of the lower cup body 21 has an opening 211 for
forming an accommodating space to hold a drink and ice cubes.
[0021] The upper cup body 22 is connected to the lower cup body 21
to seal the opening 211 of the lower cup body 21. The top part of
the upper cup body 22 has a drinking opening for the user to drink
or a straw to be inserted. In this embodiment, the drinking opening
has the shape of a bottle opening 221 that can be closed by a
sealing element such as a lid 23.
[0022] The lower cup body 21 and the upper cup body 22 can be
integrally formed using molds separately. They have the advantages
of light weight, resistance to external forces, air-tightness, high
flexibility, transparency, and being recyclable.
[0023] The lid 23 is fastened onto the bottle opening 221 of the
upper cup body 22 via conventional threads, thereby sealing the
bottle opening 221.
[0024] The junctions of the lower cup body 21 and the upper cup
body 22 further have connecting sections 212, 222 to enhance the
sealing between the upper and lower cup bodies 22, 21.
[0025] In practice, the connecting section 212 of the lower cup
body 21 and the connecting section 222 of the upper body 22 have
threads 213, 223, respectively. The upper cup body 22 and the lower
cup body 21 are thus connected by fastening.
[0026] As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting section 212 of the lower
cup body 21 and the connecting section 222 of the upper cup body 22
are formed with a groove 214 and hooks 224. The upper cup body 22
and the lower cup body 21 are then connected by catching.
[0027] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the connecting section
212 of the lower cup body 21 and the connecting section 222 of the
upper cup body 22 are formed respectively with a protruding rim 215
and an annular groove 225. The upper cup body 22 and the lower cup
body 21 are then connected by pressing.
[0028] Since the upper cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 in the
embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5 are connected by catching or pressing,
the junctions of them do not need to have a circular cross
section.
[0029] After adding the drink and ice via the opening of the lower
cup body into the disclosed drink cup 20, one connects the upper
cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 as shown in FIG. 6. Ice cubes
30 and one or more drinks 40 are thus sealed inside the drink cup
20. There will not be any leakage even if the drink cup 20 is put
sideways or topples over.
[0030] To drink the drink, the user only needs to open the lid on
the bottle opening and drinks it directly or uses a straw to drink.
Since the drink is kept with ice cubes inside the drink cup, the
low temperature of ice and the sealing effect of the drink cup can
elongate the keep time of the carbon dioxide. The drink therein can
thus maintain its taste and coldness for a longer time.
[0031] The user can open the upper and lower cup bodies and clean
them. They are reusable. The invention is thus recyclable and more
environment-friendly.
[0032] Although the invention has been described with reference to
specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed
in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed
embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent
to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that
the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within
the true scope of the invention.
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