U.S. patent application number 12/647534 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-30 for structure of crystal-bead-contained glass.
Invention is credited to YEN PIN SU.
Application Number | 20110155744 12/647534 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44186204 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110155744 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SU; YEN PIN |
June 30, 2011 |
STRUCTURE OF CRYSTAL-BEAD-CONTAINED GLASS
Abstract
A crystal-bead-contained glass has a circumferential wall in
which a hermetical hollow chamber is formed. The glass forms a
filling opening in communication with the hollow chamber for
receiving crystal beads and water that are mixed according to a
given ratio into the hollow chamber. The crystal beads, after mixed
with water, expand and fill up the hollow chamber to form a
sparkling visual effect. The crystal beads are mixed with water in
a ratio of 7 gram of crystal beads added with 240 cc water, which
provides the best resiliency and toughness. The crystal beads can
be made with various colors to provide a colorful vision after
mixed with water to attract the attention of consumers. The glass
can be deposited in a freezer chamber to freeze the crystal beads
so as to extend the time period of cold-keeping in using the glass
to enjoy beverages.
Inventors: |
SU; YEN PIN; (Yongkang CIty,
TW) |
Family ID: |
44186204 |
Appl. No.: |
12/647534 |
Filed: |
December 27, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/592.17 ;
215/13.1; 220/62.12; 220/62.14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 19/2288 20130101;
A47G 19/2227 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/592.17 ;
215/13.1; 220/62.12; 220/62.14 |
International
Class: |
B65D 88/74 20060101
B65D088/74; A47G 19/22 20060101 A47G019/22; B65D 8/04 20060101
B65D008/04 |
Claims
1. A container assembly comprising a container, crystal beads, and
water, the container having a circumferential wall forming therein
a hollow chamber and defining a filling hole in communication with
the hollow chamber and sealed by a removable plug, the crystal
beads being of a diameter of approximately 1-2 mm and being made of
polymer of acrylic acid, characterized in that the beads and water
are filled through the filling hole into the hollow chamber in such
a ratio of every 7 gram of crystal beads is added with 240 cc of
water.
2. The container assembly according to claim 1, wherein the crystal
beads are made with various colors.
3. The container assembly according to claim 1, wherein the crystal
beads absorb water and expand to a diameter of approximately 6-8 mm
having excellent resiliency and toughness.
Description
(a) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to a structure of
crystal-bead-contained glass, which comprises a circumferential
wall forming therein a hollow chamber into which a mixture of
crystal beads and water in a given ratio is filled to provide a
sparkling glass structure.
(b) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
[0002] A conventional container, such as glass, is decorated by
adding patterns and textures on an outside surface thereof to make
the container distinctive for attracting consumers. Containers with
a function of cold keeping are also available in the market, of
which an example is shown in FIG. 1 of the attached drawings,
wherein a glass 1 has a circumferential wall 10 in which a hollow
chamber 100 is formed. The glass forms a filling hole 101 in
communication with the hollow chamber 100. Water is filled through
the filling hole into the hollow chamber 100 and then the filling
hole 101 is closed by fitting therein a plug 11, or alternatively
the filling hole 101 is directly sealed. To use, the glass 1 is
first positioned into a freezer chamber to freeze the water into
ice. When the glass is removed from the freezer chamber, the glass
can be used to receive and hold therein beverage or drink. The ice
that forms inside the hollow chamber 100 may take up external heat
transferred into the glass to provide a long time cold keeping
effect, and this is particularly good for enjoying beverage in hot
time. However, it takes quite a long time for freezing the water
inside the hollow chamber 100 into ice and due to high rate of heat
absorption of water, when beverage is poured into the glass, the
ice inside the hollow chamber 100 may quick melt, losing the effect
of cold keeping and turning the cold-keeping glass into a regular
glass.
[0003] Another type of container is also available in the market
and the container has a hollow chamber formed in the wall thereof
for receiving therein "magic ball" that is made of a chemical
composition capable of water absorption and cold keeping, and can
shorten the time required for getting frozen and reduces the rate
of defrosting and thus elongates the time of cold keeping. Although
such a container has improved effects, but still shows the
following drawbacks:
[0004] (1) When the magic ball is mixed with water in an improper
ratio, the magic ball will absorb an excessive amount of water,
making the magic ball over-expanding and thus breaking, eventually
leading to a reduced effect of freezing.
[0005] (2) Over absorption of water not only leads to over
expansion and breaking of the magic balls, but also makes the color
of magic ball fading and colorless, affecting the visual effect of
the container and reducing the intention of using the
container.
[0006] In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to
provide a container that overcomes the drawbacks of the
conventional glasses and cups.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention relates to a structure of a
crystal-bead-contained glass, wherein the glass has a
circumferential wall in which a hollow chamber is formed and the
glass forming a filling opening in communication with the hollow
chamber for receiving crystal beads and water into the hollow
chamber. The filling opening is then closed by fitting a plug
therein or is directly sealed. The crystal beads and the water are
mixed inside the hollow chamber and expand to form a sparkling
visual effect on a surface of the glass. The crystal beads can be
made with various colors to provide a colorful vision. The crystal
beads are made of a composition of polymer of acrylic acid, sodium
hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide (this being similar to the
composition of paper diapers). The mixture ratio is 7 grams of
crystal beads for 240 cc of water. When frozen, the crystal beads
produce a sparkling vision on an outside surface of the glass and
with the expansion of the crystal beads that absorb water, the
crystal beads may completely fill the whole space of the hollow
chamber to provide an effect of accelerating freezing, shortening
the time for getting frozen. Further, the expanded and thus puffed
iced objects inside the hollow chamber slow down heat transfer,
namely the rate of absorbing heat from the glass is reduced. Thus,
the time in which cold of the beverage inside the glass is kept is
extended.
[0008] The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief
introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these
and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention
itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the
art, the following detailed description of the invention and the
claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical
reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
[0009] Many other advantages and features of the present invention
will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making
reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets
of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment
incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by
way of illustrative example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional
cold-keeping glass.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a container
according to the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 schematically shows mixture of crystal beads and
water according to the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates expansion of crystal beads
according to the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 5 schematically shows filling water into the container
of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 6 schematically shows filling crystal beads into the
container of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 7 schematically shows fitting a plug to seal a filling
opening of the container of the present invention.
[0017] FIG. 8 schematically shows the crystal beads after mixed
with water start to expand.
[0018] FIG. 9 schematically shows the process of the expansion of
the crystal beads as being mixed with water according to the
present invention.
[0019] FIG. 10 schematically shows the crystal beads according to
the present invention in a fully expanded condition.
[0020] FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of another embodiment
of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only,
and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or
configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following
description provides a convenient illustration for implementing
exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the
described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement
of the elements described without departing from the scope of the
invention as set forth in the appended claims.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 2, which shows a schematic cross-sectional
view of a container, such as a glass, generally designated at 2,
according to the present invention, the glass 2 has a
circumferential wall 20 in which a hollow chamber 200 is formed.
The hollow chamber 200 can be of any desired shape and
configuration and is hermetically sealed, but is in communication
with a filling opening 201 formed in the glass at a suitable
location. A sealing plug 21 is removably fit into the filling
opening 201 for sealing the opening. Also referring to FIG. 3,
which schematically illustrates mixture of crystal beads 3 and
water 4 according to the present invention, the crystal beads 3 are
made of a composition of polymer of acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide,
and potassium hydroxide, which is similar to the composition of
paper diapers. The crystal beads 3 have a diameter of about 1-2 mm
and possess excellent water absorbability, so that when mixed with
water, the crystal beads 3 quickly absorb water and expand.
[0023] Further illustration of the expansion of the crystal beads 3
due to absorption of water after being mixed with will be given
with reference to FIG. 4. The crystal beads 3, which have an
original diameter of about 1-2 mm, will expand due to absorption of
water after being mixed with water for one to two hours. For
crystal beads 3 of 7 grams mixed with water 4 of 240 cc, the
crystal beads 3 will expand to a diameter of about 6-8 mm, which
features excellent resilience and toughness and has a vivid color.
However, if an excessive amount of water is added, the crystal
beads 3 will continuously absorb the excessive amount of water and
get further expanded to have the diameter thereof as great as more
than 20 mm. Due to the limited amount of space of the hollow
chamber 200, the excessively expanded crystal beads 3 will be
compressed and get broken, and the color thereof fades, making it
very ugly.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 5, which schematically shows how the
present invention is assembled, first, the crystal beads 3 and
water 4 are mixed in such a ratio that each 7 gram of crystal bead
added with 240 cc water and a total amount of the mixture is
determined according to the volume of the hollow chamber 200 of the
glass 2. The sealing plug 21 is removed off the filling hole 201
and a portion of the water 4 is first filled through the filling
hole 201. Then, the crystal beads 3 are deposited into the hollow
chamber 200 through the filling hole 201 (as shown in FIG. 6), so
that the water 4 that has already been filled into the hollow
chamber 200 is mixed with the crystal beads 3 received in the
hollow chamber 200 (as shown in FIG. 7). Slight shaking is carried
out to have the water and the crystal beads uniformly mixed and
then the remaining portion of water 4 is completely filled into the
hollow chamber 200. Afterwards, the sealing plug 21 is put back
into the filling hole 201 to seal the hole, or alternatively, other
measures can be taken to directly seal the filling hole 201 to
prevent the crystal beads 3 and/or water 4 from leaking out of the
hollow chamber 200.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 8, when the crystal beads 3 and water 4
are mixed according to the desired ratio, the crystal beads 3
gradually takes up the water and expands absorbs. During the course
of expansion, the beads increase the total volume thereof, which
causes the beads to gradually creep upward (as shown in FIG. 9)
until the water 4 is completely absorbed and the beads completely
fill up the hollow chamber 200 of the glass (as shown in FIG.
10).
[0026] When the crystal beads 3 are mixed with water 4, the crystal
beads absorb water and the volume expands by several times.
According to the ratio given in the embodiment, the beads will
eventually get a diameter of about 6-8 mm and become semi-solid
spheres that completely fill up the hollow chamber 200 of the glass
2. Based of the ratio of 7 gram crystal beads mixed with 240 cc
water given in the embodiment of the present invention, the crystal
beads 3 will expand to such a size that gives excellent resiliency,
strength, and toughness, which make the beads hard to break. If an
excessive amount of water is added, the crystal beads 3 will
excessively expand, which leads to poor strength and being easy to
break and the color of the beads fades, get blurred, and is not
vivid. When positioned in a freezer chamber, the crystal beads 3
absorb and disperse water so that time for getting frozen is
shortened. Further, the crystal beads 3 can be selectively made
with various colors, providing a colorful vision after being mixed.
Particularly, the crystal beads 3, after absorbing water, become
translucent, such translucent beads and the glass, which can be
made transparent, induce a fantastic refraction of light, giving a
vision of sparkling. Consequently, besides the original function of
containing, the glass 2 is added with a unique visual effect.
[0027] Further, when the crystal beads 3 completely absorb water 4
and expand, the water is spread with the crystal beads 3 in the
whole space of the hollow chamber 200 of the glass 2. This not only
shortens the time for getting frozen, but also reduces the rate of
heat transfer so that the beads have a reduced rate of taking up
heat from the glass 2. Consequently, the crystal beads 3 inside the
hollow chamber 200 have a low rate of defrosting, which helps
keeping the drink inside the glass in low temperature in a longer
time.
[0028] FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of another embodiment
of the present invention. In this embodiment, a beer glass 5 forms
a hollow chamber 50 therein and crystal beads 3 and water 4 mixed
in accordance with a given ratio are filled into the hollow chamber
50, so that the crystal beads 3 that are translucent provide a
sparkling visual effect, making the beer glass 5 more beautiful and
attractive and also providing an effect of cold keeping.
[0029] While certain novel features of this invention have been
shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is
not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be
understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and
changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in
its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without
departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
* * * * *