US20150060475A1

US20150060475A1 - Anti-spillage beverage cozy

Info

Publication number: US20150060475A1
Application number: US14/018,338
Authority: US
Inventors: Jay Mellentine
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-09-04
Filing date: 2013-09-04
Publication date: 2015-03-05

Abstract

A cozy for holding beverage containers of different sizes, comprises a base member having an exterior and an interior. The interior forms a cavity with an open top and a bottom end wider than the top to receive and hold a receptacle member herein and provide resistance to tipping. The interior may further include a weighting mechanism proximate the bottom of the base member which may provide a lower center of gravity to offset the center of gravity created by liquid held in a beverage container. The exterior may also include a flat bottom to mitigate tipping of a beverage container held by the cozy.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of household utensils and, more specifically, to freestanding beverage container holders that stabilize beverage containers of different sizes in an anti-spilling fashion. A beverage may be usually consumed from a beverage container such as a pint glass, soda can, and a water bottle, etc. Naturally, beverage containers may be prone to tipping over and spilling due to the fact that the center of gravity of the container may be relatively high because the dimension of the height of the container may be designed to be greater than the dimension of the base of the container. Such predisposition may be further aggravated given the rigidness of the body of the containers affords no absorption or reduction of force of impact on the body of the containers. Further, beverages may oftentimes be consumed both indoors and outdoors. For example, when placed on the grass at a picnic or on the sand at a beach, beverage containers may be more subject to tipping over and spilling due to the uneven nature of the surfaces of the grass and the sand. Additionally, when placed indoors, for example, on a coffee table or a study desk, beverage containers may also be subject to accidents that cause the containers to tip over and spill thus preventing damage to what is spilled upon.
A number of beverage container holders exist in the prior art. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,600, an insulated cup holder is illustrated to have a bag-like flexible base secured to a rigid interior frame to form a holder that may be placed on uneven surfaces without spilling. In U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2007/0181766A1, a beverage container holder is shown to have a supporting member to support the container laterally and axially, and a stabilizing member to stabilize the holder, which has an outer dimension greater than at a lower end than at an upper end of the stabilizing member. In U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2007/0205205A1, a low center gravity holder includes a beverage container receptacle having a bottom with a high friction surface to resist skidding on a smooth surface and with a fabric hooking material to resist skidding on fabric. The holder also includes a stabilizing annular collar that is weighted by a gel material or weighted granular elements. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,096 discloses a beverage container stabilizing device for releasably holding various sized drink containers. The holder includes one or more biased members, each of which are secured to the inner surface of a frame, releasably holding various sized drink containers within a frame's interior region. The frame has a top end and a bottom end which rests upon the relatively horizontal surface when the drink container stabilizing device is in a resting position. A retaining member is used to further secure the one or more biased members proximate the top end of the frame, and a base plate may be attached to the bottom end of the frame so as to provide an underlying support for a drink container should the device be raised from its resting position. The base plate may further serve to secure the one or more biased members proximate to the bottom end of the frame. As can be seen, there is a need for beverage container holders that are freestanding and stabilize beverage containers of different sizes in a position and manner less prone to tipping over and spilling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a cozy for holding a beverage container comprises a base member having an exterior and an interior. The interior forms a cavity with an open top and a bottom end to receive and hold herein a receptacle member. The interior further includes a weighting mechanism. The base member further includes a flat bottom.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded side view of a cozy according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the cozy shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom end perspective side view of the cozy shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of a cozy according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention.
The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.
However, any single inventive feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or may only address one of the problems discussed above. Further, one or more of the problems discussed above may not be fully addressed by any of the features described below.
Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide a freestanding beverage container holder that stabilizes beverage containers of a variety of sizes and prevents the beverage containers from tipping over and spilling thus preventing damage to what is spilled upon.
FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of a cozy 10 for holding a beverage container (not shown) in accordance to the present invention. The cozy 10 includes a base member 30 and a receptacle 20. The base member 30 may be configured to have an exterior 34 and an interior 36. For sake of illustration, the base member 30 is shown both in an opened state to expose the interior 36 to view and a closed state where the interior 36 forms a cavity 32 with a top opening 322 and a bottom end 324. The interior 36 may also be configured to include a weighting mechanism that is not shown in FIG. 1 but in FIGS. 2 and 4. The receptacle 20 may be configured to include a top opening 22 and a bottom 24. In an exemplary embodiment, the receptacle 20 may be substantially cylindrical and have a depth 202, a top circumference 204, and a bottom circumference 206. The base member 30 may also have a height 302, a top circumference 304, and a bottom circumference 306. The bottom circumference 306 may be wider than the top circumference 304. In an exemplary embodiment, the base member 30 can be of any shape that has a broad bottom end towards the bottom end 324 of the cavity 32 and a small top end towards the top opening 322 of the cavity 32. In another exemplary embodiment, the receptacle 20 may accommodate a beverage container of a variety of sizes and shapes, such as a pint glass, a soda can, and a water bottle, etc. When the receptacle 20 is adapted to be fastened to the inside of the cavity 32, the top opening 322 of the cavity 32 may be coupled to a periphery of a wall of the receptacle 20 via glue, snap fasteners and the like.
In one exemplary embodiment, the receptacle 20 may be a tapered cup. In another exemplary embodiment, the tapered cup may have a height of, for example, 3.5 inches, a top circumference of 10 and ¾ inches, and a bottom circumference of 9 inches. The cavity 32 may match the shape and the dimensions of the receptacle 20 so that the top opening 322 of the cavity 32 may be coupled to an uppermost periphery of the top opening 22 of the receptacle 20 and the bottom end 324 of the cavity 32 may contact a bottom periphery of the bottom 24 of the receptacle 20 directly.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the cozy 10 shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the base member 30 may include a flat bottomed surface 38. A weighting mechanism 40 may be disposed inside the interior 36 of the base member 30 and adapted to substantially fill the lower end of the base member 30 proximate the bottom end 324 of the cavity 32. The weighting mechanism 40 may also be configured to substantially surround the bottom 24 of the receptacle 20, and may extend upwardly to any height that is less than the height of the cavity 32. By providing a weighted mass towards the bottom of the base member 30, the weighing mechanism 40 supplies a lower center of gravity and in conjunction with the tapered interior therefore stabilizes the top heavy beverage container held herein and prevents spills.
In an exemplary embodiment, the weighting mechanism 40 may include an annular bag 44 filled with granular articles 42 such as pebbles, beads, gravels, gel, liquid, or rocks. The annular bag 44 may be configured to have a center opening area that may have substantially the same size and shape as that of the bottom 24 of the receptacle 20. In another exemplary embodiment, the annular bag 44 may be configured to have a center opening area that is greater than that of the bottom 24 of the receptacle 20. The bottom 24 of the receptacle 20 comes into direct contact with the bottom end 324 of the interior 36, which may be configured directly atop of and against the flat bottom 38 of the exterior 34 of the base member 30. The flat bottom 38 may be adapted to contact a surface on which the cozy 10 rests. In use, it may be appreciated that wider bottom features of the cozy 10, for example the bottom circumference 306 may resist movement of the top of the receptacle 20 from tipping beyond a center of gravity.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a flat bottom 38 of the base member 30 may be configured to be disposed substantially in the center of the bottom of the exterior 34 where the cozy 10 comes into contact with a surface on which the cozy 10 is placed. In some embodiments, the flat bottom 38 may also include a displaying area for displaying marks, logos, quick response codes, images and texts, including a cozy manufacturer's logo or mark. A neck 50 may be at the uppermost periphery of the base member 30. The neck 50 may further include an area for displaying marks, logos, quick response codes, images and texts, including a cozy manufacturer's logo or marks. In an exemplary embodiment, the neck may be of a height of 2 inches.
FIG. 4 is a side view of a cozy 210 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a base member 230, a receptacle 220 and a weighting mechanism 240 may be one integral piece. Such integral piece may, for example, may be made of inexpensive materials such as plastic, metal or disposable materials. The base member 230 may further include an exterior 234 and an interior 236. Both the bottom 238 of the cozy 210 and the bottom 224 of the receptacle 220 may be configured to be flat.
Further, the bottom 224 of the receptacle 220 may be adapted to be disposed directly atop the bottom 238 of the exterior 234 of the cozy 210.
In yet another embodiment, the exterior of the base member of the cozy may be made of flexible materials such as thick cloth or leather for the purpose of absorbing force upon impact and further prevent tipping over and spills.
Additionally, the cozy may serve and function as a coaster so that cold beverage containers held inside the cozy would not leave undesirable condensation rings on a surface where they are placed.
It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. A cozy for holding a beverage container, comprising:

a base member having an exterior and an interior, the interior having a cavity with an open top and a bottom end;

a receptacle member inside the cavity of the interior of the base member;

a weighting mechanism coupled onto the interior of the base member, proximate a bottom of the base member; and

a flat bottom surface on the exterior of the base member, wherein the receptacle member is configured to receive and hold the beverage container herein.

2. The cozy of claim 1, wherein a depth of the receptacle and a depth of the cavity of the interior is substantially the same.

3. The cozy of claim 2, wherein a bottom of the receptacle and the bottom end of the cavity of the interior of the base member is of substantially the same size and shape.

4. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the bottom end of the cavity of the interior is lined directly atop and against the flat bottom of the exterior of the base member.

5. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is a tapered cup.

6. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the weighting mechanism is an annular bag that has a center opening area configured to surround the bottom of the receptacle, and is filled with granular weights, gel or liquid.

7. The cozy of claim 6, wherein the granular weights are pebbles, beads, gravel, rocks, or capsulated gel or liquid.

8. The cozy of claim 6, wherein the weighting mechanism extends upwardly from a bottom of the receptacle to a height that is less than a depth of the cavity.

9. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the exterior of the base member is made of materials such as thick cloth or leather.

10. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the base member, the receptacle and the weighting mechanism are integrated into a unitary piece.

11. The cozy of claim 11, wherein the integral piece is made of plastic, metal, or disposable material.

12. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the exterior of the base member further comprises a neck at an uppermost peripheral of the top opening of the cavity and an uppermost peripheral of a top opening of the receptacle.

13. The cozy of claim 12, wherein the base member, the receptacle and the weighting mechanism are of a unitary piece.

14. The cozy of claim 1, wherein the flat bottom of the base member further comprises an area for displaying marks, logos, quick response codes, images and texts.

15. The cozy of claim 12, wherein the neck further comprises an area for displaying marks, logos, quick response codes , images and texts.