EP1876107A1

EP1876107A1 - Glass and gift item kit

Info

Publication number: EP1876107A1
Application number: EP06425456A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Luca Marletto
Original assignee: Marpe Srl
Current assignee: Marpe Srl
Priority date: 2006-07-03
Filing date: 2006-07-03
Publication date: 2008-01-09

Abstract

A kit comprising a gift item (11) associated to a glass (2) which has a bottom wall (3) and a side wall (4) extending from the bottom wall (3) to an upper mouth (6). Advantageously, the kit (1) further comprises a container (5), which is removably attached to the glass (2) at its bottom wall (3) and is conformed in such a manner as to define a housing (10) in which the gift item is removably received, without interfering with the bottom wall (3) of the glass (2).

Description

The present invention relates to a kit comprising a glass and a gift item.
Without limitation, reference will be particularly made herein to disposable, i.e. one-use glasses, such as the non-returnable glasses in which beverages are served in bars or in which beverages are delivered by drinks machines, the term "glass" being used herein to intend any container or cup adapted to contain a consumable substance, such as a beverage, an ice-cream, a fruit-salad, a cream or else.
In the retail sale of products such as beverages, Italian water ice, home-made ice-cream, as well as other retail goods, a need is felt of possibly accompanying the glass that contains the beverage and/or the consumable substance with a gift item, such as a novelty, an accessory, or the like. This need is not easily fulfilled in the retail sale of loose products.
This mainly depends on that the lack of an enclosure, or package, for containing both the glass and the accompanying gift item, poses the question on how the gift item may be associated to the glass. Particularly, one of the main issues to be addressed is to assure that the gift item does not come out of the glass cone during transportation thereof.
Another non negligible problem is the size increase possibly caused by the presence of the gift item. In this respect, it shall be appreciated that glasses are stacked together before use, which dramatically decreases their size. Apparently, the presence of a gift item in combination with a glass may involve the impossibility of stacking multiple glasses together.
Therefore, this invention is based on the issue of conceiving and providing a kit as described hereinbefore, allowing to fulfill the above need, while obviating the above prior art drawbacks.
This problem is solved by a kit according to claim, which comprises a glass and a gift item.
Further features and advantages of the kit of this invention will be apparent from the following description of one preferred embodiment thereof, which is given by way of illustration and without limitation with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 is a simplified perspective view of a kit of the invention, comprising a glass with a gift item associated thereto;
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the kit of Figure 1 after removal of the external film and
Figure 3 is a partially broken away plan view of three kits of the invention in stacked relationship.

Referring to the accompanying figures, numeral 1 generally designates a kit according to the invention.
The kit 1 comprises a glass 2 and a gift item 11 in combination.
The glass 2 has a bottom wall 3 and a side wall 4 extending from the bottom wall 3 to an upper mouth 6.
Advantageously, the kit 1 comprises a container 5 which is removably attached to the glass 2 at the bottom wall 3.
In the example of the figures, the glass 2 has an essentially truncated cone shape, extending in a prevailing axial direction X-X from the bottom wall 3.
The container 5 is shaped in such a manner as to define a housing 10 in which the above gift item 11 is removably received without interfering with the bottom wall 3 of the glass 2.
The container 5 preferably has an upper opening 7 through which the gift item 11 may be introduced in or removed from the housing 10.
The upper opening 7 of the container 5 is removably closed by the bottom wall 3 of the glass 2, which has the function of a closure plug for the upper opening 3 of the container 5.
Advantageously, the upper opening 7 of the container 5 has such a shape as to provide a form fit with the bottom wall 3 of the glass 2. Particularly, at the upper opening 7, the container 5 has:

a circumferential inner shoulder 8, which forms an abutment surface for the bottom wall of the glass 2 and
an end edge 9, which extends circumferentially to a predetermined height from said inner shoulder 8.

The circumferential edge 9 is designed to contact a corresponding portion of the side wall 4 of the glass 2, next to the bottom wall 3.
Thanks to the above conformation of the container 5, the bottom wall 3 of the glass 2 may be introduced in the upper opening 7 of the container 5 with a slight interference fit.
The gift item is slightly force fitted into the housing 10 of the container 5, in such a manner as to be easily removable through the upper opening 7. Nevertheless, the gift item 11 may be of course also removably fixed within the container 5 by other means, e.g. snap fit means, retaining means, gluing or the like. Particularly, the container 5 may have engagement means such as a plurality of retaining teeth or tabs (not shown), for removably holding the above gift item 11 in the housing 10 and preventing it from being accidentally released therefrom.
It will be understood that the gift item 11 to be introduced in the housing 10 may be of any nature and have any purpose, e.g. a food product, a candy or else, such as a novelty, a toy, or picture cards.
In a preferred embodiment, the gift item 11 platelike member 11 is enclosed in a substantially egg-shaped capsule.
Advantageously, the use of such a capsule, particularly of a capsule made of a food-grade plastic material, prevents any hygienic or sanitary problem associated to the contact possibly occurring between the glass 5 and the gift item.
Advantageously, the kit 1 comprises a plastic film, preferably a heat shrinkable film (see Figure 1), which is adapted to wrap the container 5 and at least one side portion of the glass 2, to ensure both retention of the container 5 against the glass 2 and integrity of the kit 1 of the invention. As an alternative, an adhesive label, or another equivalent element, may be used.
As shown in Figure 3, the glass 2 and the container 5 associated thereto are shaped in such a manner that the kit 1 of the invention may be partly inserted in the glass 2 of an identical kit 1 to be supported thereby.
The glass 2 is made from a food-grade material, e.g. a plastic material such as polystyrene (PS), glass, or others.
In use, the kit 1 of the invention is sold to the buyer/consumer in the condition as shown in Figure 1, i.e. with the capsule containing the gift item 11 received in the container 5 and with the container 5 associated to the glass 2.
Before or after consuming the beverage or the other substance contained in the glass 2, the user/consumer may take the gift item 11 from the housing 10 by simply removing the protective film, by separating the container 5 from the glass 2 and by taking out the egg-shaped capsule.
It shall be noted that the kit 1 allows a gift item 11 to be accommodated therein without involving any space problem and without preventing the stackability of several kits 1 in mutually inserted relationship.
The above description clearly shows that the kit according to the invention meets the above need while obviating the above prior art drawbacks.
It shall be noted that by placing the gift item 11 in the container 5, such item is safely held in a protected position.
The kit according to the invention may be fabricated by using well-known manufacturing processes, e.g. by injection or molding if the glass and the container are made of plastic.
Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the kit as described hereinbefore, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.
In this respect, it shall be noted that different shapes and sizes of the container 5 may be provided, to comply with the size of the objects to be accommodated therein.

Claims

A kit comprising a glass (2) and a gift item (11), wherein said glass (2) has a bottom wall (3) and a side wall (4) extending from said bottom wall (3) to an upper mouth (6), characterized in that it comprises a container (5), which is removably attached to said glass (2) at said bottom wall (3), said container (5) being conformed in such a manner as to define a housing (10) in which said gift item (11) is removably received, without interfering with the bottom wall (3) of said glass (2).
A kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said container (5) has an upper opening (3) through which said gift item (11) may be introduced in or removed from said housing (10), said upper opening (3) of the container (5) being removably closed by said bottom wall (3) of said glass (2).
A kit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said glass (2) has an essentially truncated cone shape, extending in a prevailing axial direction (X-X) from said bottom wall (3).
A kit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said gift item is force fitted into said housing (10) of said container (5).
A kit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said gift item (11) is enclosed in a substantially egg-shaped capsule.
A kit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the upper opening (7) of the container (5) can provide a form fit with the bottom wall (3) of the glass (2).
A kit as claimed in claim 6, wherein the upper opening (7) of the container (5) comprises:
- an inner shoulder (8), which forms an abutment surface for said bottom wall (3) of the glass (2) and

- an end edge (9), which extends to a predetermined length from said inner shoulder (8) to contact a portion of the side wall (4) of the glass (2) next to said bottom wall (3).
A kit as claimed in claim 6 or 7, wherein the bottom wall (3) of the glass (2) is introduced in the upper opening (7) of the container (5) with a slight interference fit.
A kit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising a plastic film, which is adapted to wrap said container (5) and at least one portion of said glass (2), to ensure retention of the container against the glass.
A kit as claimed in claim 9, wherein said film is a heat-shrinkable film.
A kit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising an adhesive label which is adapted to engage at least one portion of said container (5) and said glass (2), to ensure retention of the container against the glass.
A kit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said glass (2) is adapted to contain a portion of an identical kit, several kits (1) being thus stackable in a mutually inserted relationship.