US20110174641A1

US20110174641A1 - Cup

Info

Publication number: US20110174641A1
Application number: US12/737,579
Authority: US
Inventors: Piero Claudio Burato; Maurizio Castellani; Salvatore Fusari
Original assignee: Duetto Srl
Current assignee: Duetto Srl
Priority date: 2008-07-29
Filing date: 2008-07-29
Publication date: 2011-07-21
Also published as: EP2330952B1; WO2010012287A1; PT2330952E; EP2330952A1

Abstract

There is provided a cup (1) adapted to hold a drink, the cup having, at its opening, a compartment (4) holding an auxiliary drink, made up, for example, of milk, which, due to the special shape of the wall (5) which delimits the compartment, is intended to flow in a very gradual manner into the central compartment of the cup, which holds the main drink (8), made up, for example, of coffee. In this manner, very gradually the user mixes the milk with coffee, as desired by many users and not in a single solution as it currently occurs pouring a given amount of milk directly into the coffee.

Description

The present finding regards a cup adapted, in particular, to be used for consuming drinks to be mixed; for example, the cup could be used for taking a coffee/milk, tea/mil or coffee/hard liquors mixtures.
It is known that the term cup is used to indicate a small container, generally made of ceramics or porcelain or even made of metal or plastic material, held in which is a drink, which is then sipped by the user after being raised to his lips tilting it slightly to facilitate its flowing into his oral cavity. Very often, cups are provided with a small handle for facilitating the user in his action of tilting the same.
In most cases, these cups are used for holding drinks such as coffee and tea which, in turn, are often mixed with other substances such as milk, milk cream and the like. At times, coffee is also mixed with hard liquors such as grappa.
Currently, these “additional” substances are simply poured into the liquid mass of the drink intended to be drunk. Generally, the latter has quite a high temperature, while the “additional” substance has a tepid temperature if not even relatively low temperature. It is clear that, once the mixing is performed, there will be a given drop of global temperature of the liquid mass. However, at times the user would prefer not mixing the two drinks immediately and completely, but only “covering” the main drink with a layer of additional substance; in practice, the user would like to pour the additional drink into the main drink little by little, but that is a quite complicated task.
An object of the present finding is that of providing a cup, using which, the mixing of the two drinks occurs in a gradual and automatic manner, by simply tilting the cup in the usual manner as performed when the cup is taken to the lips to drink its contents.
According to the invention, this is obtained by providing for the presence of a small compartment for accommodating the auxiliary drink in proximity to the opening; said compartment is delimited externally by the inner surface of the cup while externally, this compartment is delimited by a curved wall whose two side ends are connected to said inner surface of the cup with curved sections descending towards the bottom of the cup itself. This is capable of allowing the gradual exit of the auxiliary drink from the abovementioned compartment, ending up flowing into the main drink.

These and other characteristics of the finding shall now be described in detail hereinafter, referring to one particular embodiment, provided for exemplifying and non-limiting purposes, with the help of the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall view of the device subject of the finding;

FIG. 2 illustrates the device subject of the finding, holding the drink therein, at the stage in which a small amount of auxiliary drink is poured into the main drink.

Shown in the attached drawings is a cup 1 subject of the finding having, globally, a shape of the usual type; in the illustrated embodiment, in the drawings, the cup 1 is substantially a frusto-conical-shaped with the larger surface open, wherefrom the user sips the drink held in the cup itself.
By means of equally usual modes, such cup shall advantageoulsy be provided with a handle 2 for allowing easy grabbing by the user employing the fingers 3.
The main drink 7 is poured into the cup at its central part, also in this case according to the usual modes; the main characteristic of the device subject of the finding is represented by the fact that present is a curved wall 4, at a portion of the inner side wall of the cup; said wall is adapted to delimit, between itself and the corresponding side surface of the cup, a compartment 6 in which an auxiliary drink can be held, made up, for example, of milk. The ends 5 of the curved wall 4 are bent towards the bottom of the cup in such a manner that, when the cup holding, for example, coffee, is tilted to sip its content (see FIG. 2), the auxiliary drink 8, made up, for example, of milk, held in the compartment 6 descends gradually (drop by drop it might be said) into the main compartment of the cup, obviously mixing with the main drink. In this manner the previously preset object, represented by the possibility of having a non-immediate and non-complete mixture of the drinks, but a very gradual pouring of the auxiliary drink into the main drink as desired by the users, is attained.
In the meanwhile, the use of the device subject of the finding is immediate and free of any complications whatsoever; furthermore, the fact of providing for a wall 4 inside the cup 1 does not create any particular construction problems when making it, thus avoiding considerable cost increases for the production of the cup subject of the finding, with respect to similar cups of the known type.
Lastly, it should be taken into account that the cup subject of the finding can also advantageoulsy be used for obtaining drinks such as tea, tisanes, infusions and the like. For this purpose, it is sufficient to arrange a series of small holes on the wall 5, then add hot water or the like into the compartment 6, while the substance to be infused (powder, small holes or the like) is provided where the main drink 7 was initially held, the cup is then tilted as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Obviously, the drink held in the compartment 6 is intended to pass, through small holes present in the wall 4, thus infusing the substance held in the main compartment of the cup, thus determining the infusion and the creation of the desired infused drink.
The present finding may also be of shapes and aspects different from the ones described now, maintaining its essential characteristics, without for this reason departing from the scope of the patent.

Claims

1. CUP, characterized in that present inwards, at its opening and in proximity to a portion of its interior side surface, is a curved wall (4), integral with said surface and which delimits, in connection with the abovementioned, a compartment (6) in which an auxiliary drink (8) is adapted to be held, one said wall (4) being shaped in a manner such that its side ends (5) are curved and directed towards the bottom of the cup, in such a manner that the auxiliary drink, held in the compartment (6) remains inside the abovementioned compartment when the cup is arranged horizontally, while it is intended to descend gradually into the central compartment of the cup, provided in which is the main drink (7), when the cup is slightly tilted by the user to drink the contents by positioning one of its edges against the mouth.

2. CUP, according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a handle (2) integral with the exterior wall of its side surface.

3. CUP, according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a plurality of small holes at the upper part of the wall (4).