US2428056A

US2428056A - Drinking cup cover and baffle

Info

Publication number: US2428056A
Application number: US606554A
Authority: US
Inventors: William P Wachsman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-07-23
Filing date: 1945-07-23
Publication date: 1947-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 1964-09-30

Description

Sept, 30, 1947 w. P. WACHSMAN DRINKING CU? COVER AND BAFFLE Filed July 2:, 1945' 1N VEN TOR.

Patented Sept. 30, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to improvements in drinking cups, having particular reference to an insert for such a cup which will function as a bafile device to prevent spilling of the liquid contents of the cup when in use during service on 3 transportation vehicles of various kinds.

It is well known that during transportation on trains, airplanes, ships, and the like, beverages which are contained in various types of drink ing cups are subject to being spilled during service. It would be very desirable to overcome the difi'iculties and disadvantages attendant upon such conditions and this has been accomplished by means of the present invention.

A principal object of the invention is to provide an insert for a drinking cup having a plurality of wing members connected in spaced apart relationship with respect to each other and adapted to be inserted in the cup to provide bafile plates to prevent spilling of the liquid contents thereof.

Itis another object of the invention to provide an insert for a drinking cup having a plurality of wing members connected together centrally by means of a cover plate having a drinking opening therein, the plate being secured to the top edges of the wing members to hold them in radially spaced apart position.

Another feature of the invention is to provide such an insert with a cover plate of the type herein described wherein the cover plate will provide a suitable planular surface for advertising and display indicia.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of one form of insert for a drinking cup;

Fig, 2 is a plan view of a conventional flat bottom paper cup, having an insert, of the type shown in Fig. 1, placed therein;

Fig. 3 is a transverse elevational view of the combination shown in Fig. 2, taken along the lines 3-3 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

2 Claims. (01. 65'13) Fig. dis a plan view of a cover type of insert placed in a cup; and

Fig. 5 is a, transverse elevational view of "the combination depicted in Fig. 4,taken along the line 5-5 thereof, and locking in the direction of the arrows.

A preferred type of insert is indicated generally at In in Fig. 1. Preferably, such aninsert is made from any suitable paper stock and can be a two or three piece arrangement connected centrally in any desirable manner to form wing members II.

The wing members ll preferably are slightly tapered inwardly from top to bottom so that they will wedgingly, or frictionally, engage the walls of a cup when inserted therein. Generally, however, they may be of substantially rectangular configuration.

It will be appreciated that the wing members can be made from either two or three pieces of paper stock, secured together, for example, as by gluing, in which event the arrangement can readily be collapsed for packaging. This is a decided advantage because of the number of such inserts which can be placed into one large carton for dispensing purposes. However, it is also-within the contemplation of the invention to provide such an arrangement as a single unit, such as by molding paper pulp into preformed shapes. In such a construction the wing members can be provided with vertical crease lines adjacent their area of connection, if necessary, so that they readily can be made to collapse for packaging purposes and easily opened into spaced apart position for use.

When such an insert is placed into a paper drinking cup [2, as shown in Fig. 3, it forms an excellent baflle arrangement which will prevent spilling of the liquid contents of the cup during service. It will be observed that the insert need not necessarily extend to the bottom of the cup but it is desirable that it extend a substantial distance toward the bottom thereof. Because the insert wing members all have tapered edges substantially in accordance with the taper of paper cup walls, such as those herein illustrated, they can readily be made frictionally to engage the side walls of the cup which tends to hold them in fixed position.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, an insert of a similar nature is provided having wing members 13 which are held in spaced apart position by a cover plate M which can be secured to the tops of the wing members in any suitable manner. The cover plate, it will be observed, covers the top spaces between two sections only formed by the three wing members so that an opening is left, as indicated generally at l5, to permit drinking from the cup. This type of arrangement provides an excellent planular surface for printing advertising and display indicia because the cover plate is always exposed to the view of the person being served with some beverage and it is obviously inevitable that such indicia must be seen during use of the cup.

The invention is not limited to inserts'of the type which can be accommodated by fiat bottom drinking cups, or conventional drinking cups of the type shown in Fig, 5. which will readily fit into the so-called vortex or cone-type of cup as well as other drinking receptacles of various shapes and configurations.

It will be seen that an insert of the type shown in Fig. 1 can readily be placed in the cup by the user or by the person serving a beverage in a drinking cup by merely spreading the wing members and placing the same in the cup or receptacle before or after the same has been filled with a beverage. The cup is thus divided into a plurality of compartments and the user can drink from any one of them. g

In the embodiment depicted in Figs. 4 and 5, the user can readily drink from the opening indicatedgenerally atlE.

It is also within the contemplation of the invention that wing members permanently attached to the side of the cup can be utilized in such a manner that they may be folded toward the center and joined or not at the center as desired. Folded, a cup of this type would lose none of its packaging qualities.

It should also be understood that the present invention can be used on motor buses as well as by roadside eating places rendering curb service.

Inserts can be made It will thus be seen that the objects hereinbefore set forth may readily and eii'iciently be attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the followin claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture an insert for a drinking cup comprising a plurality of wing members connected together centrally and extending radially, which wing members will extend vertically into said cup so that vertical edges of the wings frictionally engage the side walls thereof, and a cover plate having a drinking opening therein between two adjacent sides of two of said wing members and which overlies the space between opposite sides of said wing members, said cover plate being secured to the top edges of said wing members to hold them in radially spaced apart position, and said wing members providing baffle plates to prevent spilling of the liquid contents of the cup when said insert is placed therein.

2. The combination of a drinking cup and a removable insert frictionally engaging the walls of the cup and extending a substantial distance into the bottom thereof, said insert comprising a plurality of radially extending and vertically disposed wing members connected together centrally and having a cover plate with a drinking opening therein secured to the top edges of said wing members to hold them in radially spaced apart position, said wing members providing baffle plates to prevent spilling of the liquid contents of the cup when said insert is placed therein.

WILLIAM P. WACHSMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,362,354 Clovis Nov, '7, 1944 562,440 Vandersall June 23, 1896 220,155 King Sept. 30, 1879 563,640 Bauer July '7, 1896 584,937 Hilliary June 22, 1897 276,031 Hoif Apr. 17, 1883 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 502,009 England Mar. 9, 1939 554,823 France Mar. 10, 1923