GB2516069A

GB2516069A - A stackable drinking vessel & kit containing a plurality of stakable drinking vessels

Info

Publication number: GB2516069A
Application number: GB201312380A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Macaulay; Barnabas Macaulay
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-07-10
Filing date: 2013-07-10
Publication date: 2015-01-14
Also published as: GB201312380D0

Abstract

A drinking vessel includes a bowl 7 for receiving a liquid and a foot 3 for supporting the drinking vessel. The inside of the bowl includes a support surface 9 configured to support the foot 3 of another drinking vessel placed within the bowl 7 and to define a further liquid receiving volume 4 underneath the foot of the other drinking vessel. There may be an elongate stem 5 between the bowl and the foot of the drinking vessel, and the support surface 9 can either be a continuous or intermittent raised or recessed portion extending around the inside of the bowl.

Description

A Stackable Drinking Vessel & Kit Containing a Plurality of Stackable Drinking Vessels.

Background to the Invention

Drinks glasses, such as champagne glasses, typically include a foot, a stem extending vertically from the foot, and a bowl at the top of the stem in which the drink is held. During celebrations, for example, it is possible to create a pyramid' of glasses by placing a number of glasses adjacent to one another on flat surface and subsequently placing the foot of one or more further glasses on the rim of the bowls of the glasses on the lower layer. Further layers of glasses can be added as desired.

Subsequently one or more bottles of a desired drink, such as champagne, is poured in to the upper most glass and is allowed to over flow the top of that glass so that the drink flows down the stem and fills the glasses below on which the upper glass is supported.

As the foot of each glass is supported by the rim of a lower glass, each glass must be supported by at least two lower glasses and more typically, for increased stability and minimised spillage, the foot of each upper glass is supported by four lower glasses arranged in a square. It therefore requires a great many glasses to construct a pyramid' of any appreciable height and the balancing of vessels on the rims of other vessels remains fundamentally unstable; consequently, such champagne pyramids' are very rare and tend only to be created at large gatherings for special occasions Also, for any one glass in a lower layer to commence filling with the poured drink, the upper glasses must be filled to the point of over flowing their bowls. Consequently, when the full glasses are removed from the pyramid for serving to people, the glasses are completely filled, making it very likely for some of the drink to be initially spilled.

The present invention seeks to overcome problems associated with the prior art by providing stackable drinking vessels which allow for flow of fluid between vessels while minimising spillage of fluid and creating a safer and more stable solution. It can also be used at much smaller scale than a traditional pyramid.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a drinking vessel including a bowl for receiving a liquid, a foot for supporting the drinking vessel, wherein the inside of the bowl includes a support surface configured to support the foot of another drinking vessel placed within the bowl and define a further liquid receiving volume underneath the foot of the other drinking vessel.

Preferably the drinking vessel includes an elongate stem extending between the foot and the bowl.

It is envisaged that the support surface is provided as a continuous or intermittent ledge formed by a raised portion or portions extending around the inside of the bowl.

Alternatively, the support surface may comprise a continuous or recessed portion extending around the inside of the bowl.

The further liquid receiving volume, would preferably be located at the bottom of bowl. Additionally or alternatively, the further liquid receiving volume may be at least partly defined by a recess formed in a portion of the stem.

In either case, it is optional whether the further liquid receiving volume is initially isolated by a fluid tight seal between the support surface and the foot of the other drinking vessel.

The drinking vessel preferably comprises a transparent material.

The volume of the liquid receiving portions is preferably a whole fraction of the volume of an industry standard drink bottle.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a kit including a plurality of drinking vessels according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein combined volume of the plurality of glasses is equal to the volume of an integer number of industry standard drink bottles.

The kit may further include an integer number of industry standard drink bottles.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 illustrates a drinking vessel according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a plurality of the drinking vessels shown in Figure 1 vertically stacked; Figure 3 illustrates a drinking vessel according to a further embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 illustrates a drinking vessel according to yet a further embodiment of the invention where there is no stem.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention Figure 1 schematically illustrates a glass 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The glass includes a foot 3, an elongate stem 5 extending from the foot, and a bowl 7 supported by the stem. In this respect, the shape of the glass is the same as conventional glasses. The bowl has an opening 2. However, on the inside of the bowl 7 a continuous support surface provided by a horizontal ledge 9 is formed extending around the inner circumference of the bowl. The ledge is located within the bowl 7 at a point where the diameter of the bowl is at least equal to the diameter of the foot 3. If the ledge 9 is formed further up the bowl 7 towards the rim then the ledge should have a width such that the distance between the inner edges of the ledge is less than the diameter of the foot 3. The ledge 9 allows the foot 3 of another glass to be placed within the bowl 7 and be stably supported. Below the ledge is an area 4 forming the lower part of the bowl 7.

Figure 2 illustrates six glasses (forming a kit of glasses 10) of the kind illustrated in Figure 1 stacked one inside another vertically, the foot of each glass being supported by the ledge within the bowl of the glass immediately below. In this configuration a drink may be poured into the top glass la and allowed to over flow the bowl of the top glass, at which point the drink will tend to flow down the outside of the bowl and down the stem into the bowl of the glass immediately below until the bottom glass lb is also full. If sufficient drink is poured into the top glass then each glass will become filled with the drink. However, with reference back to Figure 1, the position of the ledge 9 is such that when the foot of a further glass is placed on the ledge volume 4 of the glass bowl remains beneath the foot of the upper glass. In some embodiments, when stacked, the weight of the upper glasses will tend to be sufficient to form a fluid tight seal between the ledge 9 and the foot 3 of the glass above, such that when the upper portion of the bowl is filled, no drink fluid is present in the volume of the bowl below the foot of the upper glass. In other embodiments, the volume of the foot 3 alone will displace fluid. Consequently, when the upper glass is removed from the glass immediately below, some of the drink held in the bowl of the glass below can flow into any void that previously existed below the foot of the upper glass and/or the volume which was displaced by the foot 3. This has the effect that the bowl 7of the lower glass is no longer full to brim and the glass can thus be more easily passed to an intended recipient without spilling any of the drink and more easily initially drunk from.

Depending on the position of the ledge within the glass, it may be desirable for there to be a greater volume defined beneath the foot of a stacked glass into which the drink can flow when the upper glass is removed. In some embodiments a portion of the stem 5 may include a drink receiving volume as an extension of the glass bowl, such that some of the drink fluid held within the bowl of a stacked glass can flow down into the stem, thus further reducing the level of the drink in the glass relative to the rim of the bowl.

Figure 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention in which rather than being formed as a raised contour relative to the inner surface of the glass bowl 7, the ledge is formed as an indentation 90 within the inner surface of the bowl.

In this embodiment the thickness of the glass of the bowl must be sufficient to allow an indentation of the appropriate dimensions to be formed.

As can be seen in Figure 4, rather than having an elongate stem, the glass may have a bowl 7 and foot 3 without the stem. There is still a ledge/indentation in the bowl to receive the foot of another vessel and form a seal for a volume 4 beneath the foot.

As a further embodiment, a number of glasses may be sold as a kit, with or without a bottle of drink. The combined total volume of the glasses within the kit is preferably equal to the volume of the drink bottle within the kit, or an integer number of bottles of standard volume. For example, for a kit containing a 75c1 bottle of a drink, such as champagne, and six glasses, each glass will have an individual volume of 12.5c1.

In preferred embodiments, the material of each drink vessel is transparent, such as glass or acrylic, so that the full visual effect of the drink flowing from glass to glass when stacked can be fully appreciated. However, any other suitable non-transparent material, such as metal, pottery or wood may also be used.

It should be noted that the above mentioned embodiment illustrates rather than limits the invention and that alterations or modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as described. It is to be noted that the invention covers not only individual embodiments described but also combinations of those embodiments.

Claims

Claims 1. A drinking vessel including a bowl for receiving a liquid, a foot for supporting the drinking vessel, wherein the inside of the bowl includes a support surface configured to support the foot of another drinking vessel placed within the bowl and which may define a further liquid receiving volume underneath the foot of the other drinking vessel.
2. A drinking vessel according to claim 1, wherein there is an elongate stem extending between the foot and the bowl.
3. A drinking vessel according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the support surface comprises a continuous or intermittent ledge formed from a raised portion extending around the inside of the bowl.
4. A drinking vessel according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the support surface comprises a continuous or intermittent recessed portion or portions extending around the inside of the bowl.
5. A drinking vessel according to any preceding claim, wherein the further liquid receiving volume is located at the bottom of bowl.
6. A drinking vessel according to any preceding claim, wherein the further liquid receiving volume is at least partly defined by a recess formed in a portion of the stem.
7. A drinking vessel according to any preceding claim, wherein the drinking vessel comprises a transparent material.
8. A drinking vessel according to any preceding claim, wherein the volume of the liquid receiving portions is a whole fraction of the volume of an industry standard drink bottle.
9. A kit including a plurality of drinking vessels according to any one of claim 1 to 8, wherein combined volume of the plurality of glasses is equal to the volume of an integer number of industry standard drink bottles or the volume of any bottle which is included with the kit
10. A kit according to claim 9 further including an integer number of industry standard drink bottles or a non-industry standard bottle corresponding to the volume of the plurality of glasses included in the kit.
11. A drinking vessel substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying figures.
12. A kit of drinking vessels substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying figures.