US3021977A - Bottle top drinking cup - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 20, 1962 D. H. HESTER 3,021,977

BOTTLE TOP DRINKING cu Filed April 14, 1960 172%72207: fizz/5 kt df. (ii ester jgM/M/MVM V and unusable.

United States Patent H 3,021,977 BOTTLE TOP DRINKING CUP Dwight H. Hester, 315 N. Lore] Ave, Chicago, Ill. Filed Apr. 14, 1960,'Ser. No. 22,227 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-904).

Many beverages, particularly such as soft drinks, cola drinks and fruit drinks usually non-alcoholic in character, aresold and disposed to the public in glass bottles generally of a form to receivea crimped cap, often referred to as a crown ap, for the purpose of sealing such bottles not only to prevent the contents from being con taminated but also to retain therein the carbon dioxide gas quite generally used in beverages 'tomake them leffervescent.

It is a common practice among users of such beverages to cool them and their contents by immersion in cold water or ice, without any particular care being taken to insure that the cooling medium is itself clean and pure.

Such beverages in their sealed containers are also fre quently cooled in refrigerator cooling compartments where, again, there is no special care to insure that the bottles themselves are not contaminated by dirt or other food.

When the beverages contained in such bottles are to be consumed, it is very common for the use simply to remove the crown cap and drink the contents directly from the bottle, making no effort whatsoever to wipe oif the neck or top of such bottles against which the users lips are commonly in contact during the consumption of the contents thereof.

It is not uncommon to pour the contents of such beverage bottles into separate glasses which must, however, be obtained from some other source, and it is also not uncommon for the consumption of such beverages in such bottles to be made by use of a straw or similar sip-controlling conduit.

However, direct contact of the lips of the consumer with the bottle top is very common in the consumption of such beverages and particularly so when a separate glass or straw is not available.

Sipping straws are quite often unavailable and are often unsatisfactory in use because they are frequently withdrawn and contaminated or become broken, crushed Separate glasses or other containers in which to dispense the beverage are also frequently unavailable, relatively expensive, and easily broken.

It is an object of my invention to provide an easy drinking cup which may be attached to the top of beverage bottles and containers and which permit the user to drink the beverage directly out of the bottle, but without direct contact between the top thereof and the lips of the user.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide a cup which is designed to snap on to the pouring opening, grasping the bottle firmly and yet easily removable therefrom, without necessity of having a bottle opener or other tool available for that purpose.

It is another object of my invention to have the user pour the contents out of the bottle into the container with a restrained flow of the contents, which will avoid splashing and gushing flow such as would ordinarily take place if such a beverage bottle were turned at too abrupt an angle for easy drinking.

A desirable embodiment of my invention is shown in the attached drawings which will be later described.

FIG. 1 is a View partially in section and showing the positioning of my bottle top cup relative to a bottle of the general nature contemplated;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the structure of my invention;

3,021,977 Patented Feb. 20, 1962 FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lin 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view looking downward along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3. Referring first to FIG. 1, it will be observed 'that'there 1s shown, in fragment, the neck of a bottle 10 having a top cap neck 12 around which the lower lip 14 of my cup is shown to be engaged. The body of the cup 16, appearing above the bottle and surrounding the neck, may desirably be made of polyethylene or any other suitable material having characteristics which lend themselves to the function and design of such receptacle. It is desirable that the cup and all of the portions related thereto be molded in one piece, although it is obvious that it could be constructed by a combination of metal and plastic, or of metal alone.

A section of the cup acting as a baflle 18 is located centrally of the cup and also desirably above the center of the opening of the bottle or beverage container. The baffle 18 is held in this position by a plurality of struts, desirably four in number, one of which I have designated as element 20. These struts are desirably the same in size and inclination, extending from a lip 22 overlying the top edge of the bottle and formed at the base of the cup, the struts extending from the portion 22 to support the baffle 18 without affording any appreciable obstruction in the bottle opening.

At the base of the cup, there is provided an extension 24 which is designed to snap over the pouring opening of the bottle and to grasp the top cap neck 12. The baffle 18 is slightly less in diameter than the opening in the bottle 10 as appears particularly in FIG. 2.

To use the drinking cup will be clear from its construction. After the cap is removed from a beverage bottle, the cup is snapped on to the top of the bottle, grasping the bottle top at the pouring opening where it is maintained in fairly stable position because of the elastically of the cup material and because of the form of the capreceiving ring at the top of the bottle.

In use, when the bottle is tipped into pouring position, the beverage will flow out of the top of the bottle and will be diffused in its flow by the bafile and by the struts holding the same so that the liquid will be directed to one side of the drinking vessel and will not gush forth in such a great stream as will not readily be drinkable by the user.

After the contents of the bottle have been consumed the cup may readily be removed from the top of the bottle for such washing and reuse.

The easy drinking cup which I have described clearly meets the objects of my invention since it will be readily available and will be very small in size as compared with an ordinary drinking glass and will not be easily broken or contaminated in use. It will give to the user the desirable characteristics of the use of the bottle itself as a drinking cup for the liquid to be consumed and, at the same time, will permit its consumption without contamination from the container. The baflie, preferably an integral part of the cup, will avoid excessive outpouring of liquid from the bottle when it is tipped into pouring position.

It will be noted from the description of my invention taken with the accompanying drawings that the removable bottle top drinking cups of my invention may be nested one within the other when not in use and will, therefore, required relatively little shelf space for storage or for current use. This feature of my invention also permits the structures to be packaged in relatively small packages for purposes of sale and greatly reduces the cost of shipment or transportation from the place of manufacture to the ultimate customer. This result is achieved by particularly designing the interior struts and bafiies as well as the body of the structure to meet that particular end while also aecomplishing the other objects of the invention as set forthlherein. r I

While there are obviously many variations which may be made in my invention to achieve the same results in substantially the same manner, it will be unnecessary to describe such alternate constructions herein, and I desire to be limited as to the scope of protection only by the following claims.

I claim:

l. A drinking cup attachment for a bottle, comprising a cup having means on the bottom thereof to' engage the neck of a bottle in substantially liquid-tight relation and.

support said cup-upright upon the neck of said bottle,- said cup having an aperture in the bottom thereof to receive liquid from said bottle when said bottle is inclined, a bafiie aligned with and upwardly of said aperture and a plurality of struts supporting said battle in said position extending from said baffle to the bottom of said cup adjacen-t said aperture to restrain the flow of liquid thereinto through said aperture. r

'2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein said bottle neck engaging means comprises a resilient sleeve having an interior conformation complementary to the exterior conformation of the mouth of a bottle.

3. The combination set forth in claim I wherein the sides of said cup taper to diverge upwardly and said struts taper from said bafiie toward said aperture to diverge downwardly, whereby a plurality of said drinking cup attachments may be nested one within another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,725,732 7 Somoza Dec. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 505,207 Great Britain May 8, 1939

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