AU6999001A - Edible drinking vessel - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT EDIBLE DRINKING VESSEL The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\WORD\Pursell, Wayne\Documents\Patents Applicationdoc 7 1 W" 6 I i, 7 i EDIBLE DRINKING VESSEL This invention relates to drinking vessels, particularly those used for small volume drinks such as "shots" of alcoholic beverages.

Glasses used for shots of liqueur (termed shot glasses) are typically quite small, having a capacity of approximately 30-60ml. Because of their small size, theft of liqueur glasses from liquor serving establishment is common, with as little as 2% of shot glasses being returned after the shot has been consumed.

The present invention resides in a small capacity, edible drinking vessel for shots, liqueurs and the like, the said drinking vessel having a capacity of less than approximately The preferred edible material for the drinking vessel is chocolate. Alternatively, ice or a flavoured ice confection or other edible material may be used.

Because the drinking vessel may be handled by multiple persons before the eventual consumer, the drinking vessel may have an outer cover of a non-edible S 15 product such as paper or foil than can be removed prior to consuming the vessel.

The cover also protects deterioration of the vessel such as by melting. The outside Ssurfaces of the vessel may also be eg candy covered to retard melting.

The invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an edible drinking vessel Fig. 1 is a schematic perspecti ve view of an edible drinking vessel Fig. 2 is a cross section view of an edible drinking vessel Fig. 3 is a disassembled view of a drinking vessel mould where the melted edible substance is poured from the top.

oo Fig. 4 is an assembled view of such a drinking vessel mould S 25 Fig. 5 is a cluster mould, where the substance is poured into the bases ooooo With reference to Figs 1 and 2, a shot vessel 10 according to the invention includes an edible body section 12 and a removable outer protective cover 13 of a non-edible or less edible material such as paper or foil.

A suitable mould for the manufacture of edible drinking vessels according to the invention is described with reference to Figs 3 and 4. Fig 3 shows a two part C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\WORD6\Pursell, Wayne\Documents\Patents Application.doc the bottom to the top of the body 33. The cavity 35 opens to the exterior of the top section 31 through opening 39. The base section 30 includes a projection 36 shaped to the desired internal shape of the drinking vessels.

Fig 4 shows the mould in an assembled form with the projection 36 of the base section 30 projecting into the cavity 35 of the top section 31.

To construct a drinking vessel, an edible food product such as chocolate, ice or an ice confection is poured in liquid form into the assembled mould through the top opening 39. The food product is then left to solidify, with refrigeration if required.

To retrieve the drinking vessel from the mould, the base 30 is removed and the drinking vessel is withdrawn from the top section, facilitated by the general taper of the cavity.

If the drinking vessel is to have a covering, the covering may be used as a liner within the mould prior to casting the vessel. Alternatively, the cover may be applied after the vessel has been removed from the mould.

The covers used on the vessel may have segments attached by perforated sections that are intended for easy removal prior to removal of the rest of the cover. For example, a cover for the inside of the vessel may be removed to allow the vessel to be filled with a liqueur whilst maintaining the cover on the outside of the vessel in place. The remainder of the cover is then removed prior to consuming the vessel.

~An alternative method to construct (mould) the vessel is described with reference to Fig 5, in which is shown a mass production mould 50. The mould includes a lower section 51 having a plurality of cavities 53 in the shape of the external surface of "the desired vessel. An upper mould section 52 includes a plurality of projections 54 in the shape of the inner surface of the vessel.

ooooo Drinking vessels may be cast by filling the cavities 53 of the lower section 51 with the required amount of edible product and then fitting the top section 52 onto the bottom section 51 with the projections 54 projecting into the cavities 53.

When the edible product has set to the point where the drinking vessels can sustain their own shape, the top mould section can be removed and replaced with a tearaway film-covering that hygienically seals the vessel in its mould until it is S•required.

Thus the drinking vessel outer mould becomes the packaging container for the drinking vessel. Frangible joins 55 between individual moulds allow the drinking vessels to be removed and dispensed one by one to the end users. In this way only the end consumers of the product need handle the edible product.

The edible body section is made of ice or chocolate or similar food product that C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\WORD6\Pursell, Wayne\Documents\Patents Application.doc i i :i i n pl does not adversely affect the taste of a beverage served in the vessel. The food products chosen should enable the shot vessel to be easily manufactured by mould and thus meltable products such as ice and chocolate are ideal.

Ice is particularly useful because once the beverage purchased, in an ice shot vessel has been consumed the vessel can serve as an ice block for a subsequent chaser drink.

When chocolate is used for the vessel, the melting point of the chocolate may be selected so that blending of the chocolate and liqueur is avoided. Alternatively, blending of the chocolate, either due to the chocolate melting or due to the chocolate dissolving in the liqueur, may be used to enhance the taste of the liqueur.

For this alternative, there may be a small initial pour into the mould of low melting point chocolate which becomes the rim of the vessel; followed when this has set by a second pour of high melting point chocolate to complete the vessel. Or the vessel may be a laminate of an outer layer of high melting point chocolate and an inner layer of a low melting point chocolate. This lamination is readily achieved in stages. First by lowering the top section so as to mould, by pouring low melting point chocolate, a wall only one half the desired final thickness; allowing this to set; and in the second stage raising the top section slightly to allow a further pour of high melting point chocolate which in turn is allowed to set so that the vessel now then has its full thickness of wall.

A very convenient way of conveying the edible chocolate vessel to the customers is to invert it while still in its mould over the cap and neck of a liqueur bottle and then 0: package the whole in a cardboard box to keep the assembly intact and rigid.

o While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, it will be 25 evident to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms, sizes and edible substances and suitable for other beverages without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. The present 0 embodiments and examples are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all modifications which would be within the competence of those skilled in the art are therefore to be embraced therein.

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Claims (6)

1. A small edible drinking vessel made of chocolate or ice for liqueurs.

2. The same, of various larger sizes and various shapes suitable for various other drinks.

3. The same, made of various other edible substances.

4. The same, where the edible substance (or just the inner, or alternatively the upper or rim part of the edible substance) melts slightly on filling with drink so as to impart its flavour (eg of chocolate) to the drink.

5. The same, that comes to the consumer still in its non-edible mould (or conjoined but detachable cluster of moulds) with a hygienic opaque (eg foil) or transparent (eg plastic) peelable seal.

6. The same, that comes to the consumer detached from the mould but hygienically wrapped. C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\WORD6\Pursell, Wayne\Documents\Patents Application.doc c- \h j i; r Ill~/-:i ~;l:jlld :h