US1002537A - Sanitary drinking-cup. - Google Patents

Description

M. L. NEPF.

SANITARY DRINKING 0UP. I. APPLICATION FILED MAY 15I 1911. 1,002,537. Patented Sept. 5 1911.

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M. L. NEFFJ SANITARY-DRINKING 0UP. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 16. 11:11.

Patented Sept. 5, 191,1.

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M. L. NEPP.

SANITARY DRINKING CUP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1911.

1,002,537, I Patented Sept. 5,1911.

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1 a I F I 1 II/ 32 33* I g I I l 0 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARY LAWSON NEFF, OF NEW YORK, N. 'Y.

SANITARY DRINKING-CUP.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

Continuation in part of application filed April 20, 1911, Serial No. 622,323. This application filed May 15,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY LAwsoN NEFF,

a citizen of the United States, and a resi- The object of the present invention is to produce a simple, cheap and convenient form of sanitary drinking cup which 18 1n-' tended to be used once and then thrown away. Such sanitary drinking cups are particularly adapted for distribution from automatic vending machines placed near public drinking fountains.

My improved sanitary drinking cup is formed of a single blank of suitable material folded upon itself in such manner as to form a double-walled body with integral ears presented in convenient position to serve as a handle for the cupand by which the cup is retained in shape for use. The blank from which the cup is made is preferably of such size and shape that it can first be folded upon its longest diameter to produce a double-walled body with edge flaps projecting from the body walls, so that upon folding the opposite wings of the double-walled body inwardly toward each other and then bending the extreme ends of said wings outwardly into handle ears, the said flaps can be bent downwardly upon the front and rear walls of the cup body to form a sanitary drinking edge for the front wall and a strengthening and retaining edge for the rear wall. The flap which is bent down upon the rear wall of the cup body is centrally divided to fit upon opposite sides of the integral handle cars so that in taking the cup between the thumb and first finger, these sections of the 'rear edging flap can be pinched at their corners against the handle ears with the result that the cup will be automatically sprung open in readiness to be filled with water. The 'flap which is turned down upon the front wall of the drinking cup forms a smooth folded drinking edge for the cup which cannot possibly injure the lips, and since the cup is auto- Serial No. 627,139.

matically opened in the manner explained, this drinking edge need not be touched with the fingers so that its sanitary condition can be absolutely insured. Aside from the downwardly folded front and rear flaps affording smooth edges to the walls of the cup, they serve to materially strengthen the cup by reason of the extra thickness of the material.

In the preferred form of my improved drlnking cup, the oppositely extending wings of the once folded blankare folded inwardly upon the body on lines inclined outwardly from the bottom, so as to produce a cup with outwardly flaring edges and with the open top 'of the cup of greater width than the closed bottom. This form of the cup is preferred not only because of the greater capacity of cup from a given size blank, but also because the cup in this form is more convenient to manipulate. While, however, the preferred form of cup has the peculiarities noted, I would have it understood that my invention in its simplest form includes essentially only the double-walled body having the integral inwardly folded wings with out-turned ends to constitute a handle for the cup.

In order that my invention may be fully understood,- I will first describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, and afterward point outthe novelty more particularly in the annexed claims.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating the preferred form of my improved sanitary drinking cup in position for use. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a cut blank from which the form of cup shown in Fig. 1 is produced, the folding lines being indicated by dotted lines. Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the successive stages of folding the blank of Fig. 2 into the completed cup shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modified form of blank for producing a simpler form of cup embodying my invention, the folding lines being indicated by dbtted lines. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a completely folded cup produced from the form of blank shown in Fig. 7.

, This blank is approximately square, with 7 two. f its diagonally opposite corners trimmed off, one in a; straight line as shown at 2, andthe other rounded off as shown at 3. These trimmed ofl' portions of the blank constitute the flaps for ,the front and rear walls of thecup by foldingthem u on the lines 7 and 8 respectively as hereina ter more fully explained. The rear wall flap is centrally cut on the line 5 between the edge '2 and the folding line 7 to form flap sections a and a.

In formingthe cup, the blank 1 is first folded upon its longest diameter indicated by'the dotted line 6, to produce a doublewalled or once folded blank as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In this once folded condition of the blank, the flap fold lines 7 fold line .6 to the end of the flap fold lines 7 and'8- will-be coincident and the front wall flap 4 will project beyond the rear Wall flap (1, a. The triangular end wing ABC of the once folded or double-walled blank is then folded inwardly upon the body on the line 9 which flares outwardly from the bottom and 8. The rear wall flap section a is then bent downwardly on line 7 upon the infolded wing ABC to place the partly folded blank in the form shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, The opposite end wing DEF is then folded inwardly upon the doublewalledbody on the line 10 flarin outwardly from the bottomfold line 6 to t e flap fold "lines 7 and'8 and the second rear wall. flap section a is bent over into engagement with said folded wing DEF. The extreme ends 6 and b of wings ABC and DEF are then bent outwardly upon the .lines 11 which in fingers,- as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

V openin readiness to be filled'with water, andstep in completing the cup is in folding down the front wall flap 4 uponthe .front wall of the folded cup as shown in Fig. 6.

.The completely folded cup produced as "described is presented to the person in folded flat form and is grasped with the handle ears I), bf and the adjacent; corners of the flapv sections a, a between the thumb and A slight pressure upon the corners of flap sectlons a, a will cause the cup to be'sprung when so filled, the cup, held as described,

can be'conveniently supported and placed to the'lips with the folded edge of thefront ,wall making'a smooth and convenient drinking edge. Since the cup is opened automaticallywhen it is picked up as described, it-is unnecessary for a person to' touch the drink- 'in'g edge of the cup sothat the sanitary con ditlonof the drinking'edge is maintained.

- be made of any suitable material, prefer to make it of a suitable-water-proofed In Figs. 7 and .8 I have shown the simplest form in which my improved drinking cup-j maybe made, embodying all of the essential features of my invention. In this form of cup. I take a rectangularblank such as 25, havingoblong flaps 26 and'27 projecting centrally from its 0 posite sides. The flap 26 is designed to be olde'd on the dotted line 26 while the flap 27 is designed to be folded on the dotted line 27?. The flap 27 is centrally divided by a slit 28. The blank is first folded upon the central longitudinal line 30,

then the opposite double-walled end wings are folded inwardly on the lines 31 and 32 and the extreme ends of these wings are folded outwardly upon the lines 33 and 34. These outwardly folded extreme ends constitute rectangular handle ears 35 and 36, each ofwhich is of a double thickness of material. The divided rear wall flap 27 is then folded down over the inwardly folded double end wings upon opposite sides of the outwardly presented ears or handles 35 and 36 and the front wall flap 26 is then folded downwardly upon the front wall of the folded cup to complete the same. Thecup thus produced is approximately square in shape, with the side edges extending at right an le's to the bottom edge. This cup embodies the essential features of my invention and will operate in the same manner as described with reference to the preferred form in which the cup has a flaring cup body, but because of the rectangular form of this modified form of the cup, it is not so convenient or satisfactory to manipulate.

'My improved folded sanitary drinking cups can be conveniently packed in a relatively small space until used. They can be readily handled in an automatic vending machine, they being substantially flat in shape when" collapsed and requiring a minimum amount of room to accommodate them. The improved cup is simple and-cheap to manufacture, very convenient to useand absolutely sanitary because of the facility for handling it without the necessity of placing the fingers upon the drinking edge of the cup. The downturned flaps for the front and rear walls of the cup do away with the objectionable sharp edges of the cut blank, they strengthen the cup, and in the case of the flap for the rear wall, serve as a means for automatically opening the cup to receive water by the act of taking hold of the handle ears.

My improved sanitary drinking cup) may ut I paper such as wax paper. The improved cup does not require adhesive or. other fastening means for holding it in shape for use, since the described folded formation insures the retention of the cup in proper shape to be filled and used when it is grasped by the handle ears. The absence of adhesive is important from both the manufacturing and sanitary standpoints.

So far as I am aware, Iam the-first to produce a folding cup made of a single blank of material folded upon itself and with its opposite double-walled wings folded inwardly upon the body portion and the ends of said infolded wings bent outwardly to constitute a handle. So far as I am aware, I am also the first to construct a folding cup with the edges formed by downwardly folded flaps upon the front and rear walls, or a cup with an integral handle and a split rear wall flap cooperating with the handle and serving as a means for automatically opening the cup. I desire to claim these features in a broad sense.

I would have it understood that in the formation of the improved cup, the angle upon which the end wings are folded in upon the body may be varied for changing the shape of the cup, and that the handle ears may be variously shaped by slightly changing the shape of the extreme ends of the double-walled wings. These minor details are not material to the scope of my invention. In the manufacture of the cup, the lines of fold may be scored to facilitate the folding operations.

What I claim is:

1. A drinking cup made of. a single piece of material folded upon itself to form a double-walled body, and having its oppositely projecting double-walled wings folded inwardly upon the body and bent outwardly at their ends to constitute a handle.

2. A drinking cup made of a single piece of material folded upon itself to form a double-walled body and having its oppo- 'sitely projecting double-Walled win s folded clined outwardly from the bottom to form a flaring cup and the ends of said wings bent outwardly from the body upon lines approximately at right angles to the bottom to form a handle.

3. A drinking cup comprising an elongated blank folded longitudinally upon itself to form a double-walled body having oppositely projecting double-walled wings, and integral flaps extending respectively from the front and rear walls, said doublewalled wings being folded inwardly upon the body portion and having their ends bent outwardly from the body portion to constitute handle ears, and the end flaps being bent downwardly upon the front and rear walls respectively of the body portion, the flap of the rear wall being split to rest upon opposite sides of said handle ears, substantially as set forth.

4. A drinking cup of the character described, formed of a substantially square blank folded diagonally upon itself, and the opposite triangular base Wings folded inwardly toward each other with the extreme ends 6, b folded outwardly to form a handle for the cup, whereby the foldingedges of said extreme ends I), b will be parallel and adjacent to each other, the remaining top portion a, a of the diagonally folded blank being split' intermediate the ends of and at right angles to its edge and each half being folded over the inwardly folded base wing adjacent to it.

7 MARY LAWSON NEFF.

Witnesses:

WM. E. KNIGHT, M. G. CRAWFORD.

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