US20110042374A1

US20110042374A1 - Drink cup

Info

Publication number: US20110042374A1
Application number: US12/801,364
Authority: US
Inventors: Jen Hao Chang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-08-20
Filing date: 2010-06-04
Publication date: 2011-02-24
Also published as: TWM375067U; JP3162106U

Abstract

A drink up consists of a lower cup body, an upper cup body, and a lid. The top of the lower cup body has an opening for holding drink and ice. The upper cup body connects to the lower cup body, with a cup opening for drinking or for a straw to be inserted. The lid closes the cup opening. One adds a drink or ice via the opening into the lower cup body. After the combination of the upper cup body and the lower cup body, one can directly have the drink via the cup opening or a straw. The addition of ice can elongate the keep time of soda gas. The drink therein can be kept at a better taste and coldness for a longer time. By opening the upper and lower cup bodies, the user can readily clean and reuse them. The invention is recyclable.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a drink cup and, in particular, to a drink cup that can elongate the keep time of soda gas in order to maintain a better taste and coldness for the soda therein for the longer time. The invention is also recyclable and environment-friendly.
2. Related Art
Current drinks on the market are often contained in a plastic bottle, which is an integrally formed bottle 11 as shown in FIG. 1. The bottle 11 has an accommodating space to hold a drink. The upper part of the bottle 11 has a bottle opening 12 for its user to directly enjoy the drink or use a straw to drink.
In practice, one can add ice to soda to reduce the loss of carbon dioxide and thus maintain a higher gas concentration in the drink. The soda in this case has a better taste and coldness. However, the bottle opening of a conventional plastic bottle is too narrow for ice cubes to go through.
Besides, the sofa from a normal soda machine is usually dispensed into a paper cup. Even though the user can add ice in this case, the use of paper cups is a waste of recourses.
Usual drink cups for takeout have sealed openings or lids. Both of them cannot be recycled, also a waste of natural resources. In the latter case, the connection between the lid and the container may not be strong enough and result in leaks. This is extremely inconvenient. It would be a win-win if the takeout drink cup can be recycled after rinse and the vendor advertises a discount when people re-use the takeout drink cup for next purchases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide a drink cup that is convenient for its user to add ice, thereby elongating the keep time of gas in soda and thus maintaining its taste and coldness.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a drink cup that is recyclable and environment-friendly, avoiding waste of natural resources.
To achieve the above objectives, the disclosed drink cup includes a lower cup body, an upper cup body, and a lid. The top of the lower cup body has an opening for holding drink and ice cubes. The upper cup body is connected to the lower cup body. Its top part has a bottle opening for its user to drink or a straw to be inserted. The lid closes the bottle opening. One adds a drink or ice via the opening into the lower cup body. After the combination of the upper cup body and the lower cup body, one can directly have the drink via the cup opening or a straw. The addition of ice can elongate the keep time of soda gas. The drink therein can be kept at a better taste and coldness for a longer time. By opening the upper and lower cup bodies, the user can readily clean and reuse them. The invention is recyclable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a conventional drink cup;

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view of the drink cup according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded structural view of the drink cup according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded structural view of the drink cup according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded structural view of the drink cup according to a third embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 shows how the disclosed drink cup is used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.
Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3. The disclosed drink cup 20 includes a lower cup body 21, an upper cup body 22, and a closing element such as a lid 23.
The top of the lower cup body 21 has an opening 211 for forming an accommodating space to hold a drink and ice cubes.
The upper cup body 22 is connected to the lower cup body 21 to seal the opening 211 of the lower cup body 21. The top part of the upper cup body 22 has a drinking opening for the user to drink or a straw to be inserted. In this embodiment, the drinking opening has the shape of a bottle opening 221 that can be closed by a sealing element such as a lid 23.
The lower cup body 21 and the upper cup body 22 can be integrally formed using molds separately. They have the advantages of light weight, resistance to external forces, air-tightness, high flexibility, transparency, and being recyclable.
The lid 23 is fastened onto the bottle opening 221 of the upper cup body 22 via conventional threads, thereby sealing the bottle opening 221.
The junctions of the lower cup body 21 and the upper cup body 22 further have connecting sections 212, 222 to enhance the sealing between the upper and lower cup bodies 22, 21.
In practice, the connecting section 212 of the lower cup body 21 and the connecting section 222 of the upper body 22 have threads 213, 223, respectively. The upper cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 are thus connected by fastening.
As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting section 212 of the lower cup body 21 and the connecting section 222 of the upper cup body 22 are formed with a groove 214 and hooks 224. The upper cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 are then connected by catching.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the connecting section 212 of the lower cup body 21 and the connecting section 222 of the upper cup body 22 are formed respectively with a protruding rim 215 and an annular groove 225. The upper cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 are then connected by pressing.
Since the upper cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 in the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5 are connected by catching or pressing, the junctions of them do not need to have a circular cross section.
After adding the drink and ice via the opening of the lower cup body into the disclosed drink cup 20, one connects the upper cup body 22 and the lower cup body 21 as shown in FIG. 6. Ice cubes 30 and one or more drinks 40 are thus sealed inside the drink cup 20. There will not be any leakage even if the drink cup 20 is put sideways or topples over.
To drink the drink, the user only needs to open the lid on the bottle opening and drinks it directly or uses a straw to drink. Since the drink is kept with ice cubes inside the drink cup, the low temperature of ice and the sealing effect of the drink cup can elongate the keep time of the carbon dioxide. The drink therein can thus maintain its taste and coldness for a longer time.
The user can open the upper and lower cup bodies and clean them. They are reusable. The invention is thus recyclable and more environment-friendly.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A drink cup comprising:

a lower cup body with an opening on the top to form an accommodating space for holding a drink and ice cubes; and

an upper cup body to be connected with the lower cup body to seal the opening thereof.

2. The drink cup of claim 1, wherein the upper cup body has a drinking opening that is closed by a sealing element.

3. The drink cup of claim 2, wherein the drinking opening of the upper cup body is in the shape of a bottle opening.

4. The drink cup of claim 2, wherein the sealing element of the drinking opening is a lid.

5. The drink cup of claim 3 or 4, wherein the bottle opening of the upper cup body and the lid are sealed via threads.

6. The drink cup of claim 1, wherein the junctions of the lower cup body and the upper cup body have connecting sections, respectively.

7. The drink cup of claim 6, wherein connecting section of the lower cup body and the connecting section of the upper cup body are formed with threads.

8. The drink cup of claim 6, wherein the connecting section of the lower cup body and the connecting section of the upper cup body are formed with a groove and hooks, respectively.

9. The drink cup of claim 6, wherein the connecting section of the lower cup body and the connecting section of the upper cup body are formed with a protruding rim and an annular groove, respectively.