Cup With Pour Spout And Circular Finish

Abstract

A cup having an inverted generally frusto-conical configuration is formed with a flattened surface area shaped to include a tapered channel extending between said surface area and the rim of said cup and constituting a pour spout disposed internally of the generally frusto-conical outline of said cup. An open handle attached to said cup near its rim, slanted at substantially the same angle as the cup side wall permits nesting of said cups in a compactly arranged stack. A bead formed on the circular rim or finish of the cup renders it adaptable for enclosure with a circular snap-on lid.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A cup intended for use as a measuring cup characteristically is formed with a pour spout to facilitate the pouring out of its contents. Providing a pour spout on a cup-like article has heretofore altered or modified the otherwise regular geometric shape of the cup's rim or finish, since the pour spout normally constitutes a rather isolated convexity in the finish of the article. This being so, the provision of a pour spout has heretofore militated against use of such a cup for other purposes requiring placement thereon of a lid, such as if the cup were to be used as a container for packaging a loose product or any product advantageously packaged in a sealed container. A reason for the foregoing would be the need for designing a lid especially for the particular configuration of the irregular finish in addition to the added problems and special mechanism which would be required on a filling and capping line for properly orienting such a container so that lids may be automatically affixed thereto. These considerations give rise to problems which would substantially increase manufacturing and processing costs and accordingly would also weigh against provision of measuring cups adapted to serve such a dual function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, a measuring cup is provided which has a general configuration of a regular geometric body, e.g., a frusto-conical shape, except for one side which is somewhat indented from top to bottom to produce a flattened surface approximating what may be considered a conic section. Fashioned from said flattened surface, starting near the bottom of the cup and extending to the circular rim of the cup, is a convexity the boundaries and crest of which all lie within the general frusto-conical outline of the cup. The upper terminus of said convexity merges into the circular finish of the cup and does not distort or deform the circular shape of the cup's finish. Thus the cup is adapted to receive a circular lid of a conventional type,and the securing of such a lid to the cup's finish can readily be accomplished on conventional automated capping equipment.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to adapt a measuring cup for use also as a sealed container.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a measuring cup having a circular finish with a pour spout which merges into said circular finish.

Further objects of the invention, together with the features contributing thereto and the advantages accruing therefrom, will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a measuring cup according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, a cup according to the invention may be made from any suitable material of a relatively rigid nature, such as glass, metal, plastic or the like, and has a main body portion 10 of which the bottom 11 and finish 12 are circular. Said main body portion presents a generally frusto-conical configuration having for its front side wall a flattened surface 13. The flattened surface 13 may be considered as representing substantially a conic section of the generally frusto-conical configuration, except for the formation therein of an incomplete or partial conical convexity 14, intended to serve as a pour spout, and flanges 15 bridging the upper limit of surface 13 with the circular finish 12 of the cup body.

As seen, the pour spout 14 represents a convex channel in the form of one side half of a hollow inverted cone, the vertex 16 of which lies near the bottom of said surface 13 and the base 17 of which terminates at the cup's finish 12 by merging therewith. With such a construction, it will be noted that the crest or outer border of the convex channel constituting the pour spout lies within the general frusto-conical configuration of the cup body such that the provision of the pour spout does not alter or in any way deform the circular configuration of the cup's finish. It will be apparent that when the cup contains a free-flowing product and is tilted in the direction of spout 14 to a product dispensing position, the relatively narrow pour spout will represent the lowermost surface area of the cup and, therefore, serve to guide or direct the product into a correspondingly narrow stream as it flows out over the rim of the cup. Preferably the cup's finish includes a bead 18 peripherally bounding the cup structure and serving as a means by which a conventional form of snap-on lid, not shown, may be securely attached to render the cup useable as a sealed container.

As shown, the cup may be provided with a handle 20 attached to the side wall of the cup body by a ribbed strut 21 just below bead 18 at a point diametrically opposite the pour spout 14. The handle preferably comprises an open sided tubular type body 22 opened at its upper end and closed by a web portion 23 at its bottom end. The side wall of the handle which, as aforesaid, is a tubular type design and extends along a substantially straight-line axis flares slightly outwardly from bottom to top, and the axis of the handle body is oriented to present substantially an angle of the same degree relative to vertical as that of the side wall of the cup body 10.

As will be evident, the construction as shown enables said cups to nest one inside the other when empty and unsealed. When thus nested, with both the cup body portion 10 and handle 20 of one container fitted telescopically into the same portions of the next container, the strut 21 of each bearing on the rim or finish of the next lower cup serves to limit the telescoping fitment and provides an abutment which will prevent unintentional wedging or jamming of one within the other when in nested stack arrangement. The abutment provided by strut 21 avoids the need for a separate stacking shoulder adjacent the rim of the container as is conventionally provided for this purpose.

While there has been shown and described what is considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that changes in form could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is, therefore, intended that the invention be not limited to the exact form herein shown nor to anything less than the whole of the invention as hereafter claimed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A measuring cup formed of relatively rigid packaging material and having a main body circular in cross section, except for one side thereof, and bounded by a circular bottom and a circular finish of a diameter at least as large as that of the bottom, the side wall of said main body at said one side being indented along a vertical section extending between said top and bottom and shaped to present a flattened surface interrupted by a convex channel extending longitudinally from a point in said surface near said bottom to said finish, said channel being flanked by opposed flattened areas of said one side wall and merging at its upper terminus with said finish to constitute a pour spout for said cup.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the general configuration of said main body is frusto-conical with the diameter of said finish being greater than that of said bottom.

3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein the indentation of said side wall section becomes progressively greater running from bottom to top of said section, whereby said convex channel becomes progressively deeper running in the direction toward said finish.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein said flattened areas lie in substantially the same plane and said indented wall includes flanges flaring outwardly in another plane and bridging the upper limit of said flattened areas with said finish.

5. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said finish includes a peripheral bead.

6. The invention according to claim 1 including a handle joined to the side wall of said main body by a strut projecting therefrom at a point diametrically opposed to said spout and immediately below said finish, said handle being an elongate open sided tubular member of which the longitudinal axis presents substantially the same angle relative to vertical as does the adjoining side wall of said main body.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein said main body is frusto-conical in configuration, except at said one side, with the diameter of said finish larger than that of said bottom, the longitudinal axis of said handle deviating from vertical at substantially the same angle as, but in the opposite direction from, the side wall of said main body facing said handle.

8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein said handle is open at its upper extremity, and the side wall of said handle flares outwardly running from the bottom to the top thereof.