US3037660A - Dripless saucer - Google Patents

Description

June 5, 1962 J. A. ROEHRIG 3,037,660

DRIPLESS SAUCER Filed May 26, 1960 INVENTOR. John A. Roehrig his ATTORNEY.

United States Patent F 3,037,660 DRIPLESS SAUCER John A. Roehrig, 311 Club Field Ridge Road, Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed May 26, 1960, Ser. No. 31,936 1 Claim. ((31. 220-2383) This invention relates to a dripless saucer and, more particularly to a saucer, or an insert therefor, for preventing the dripping of liquid from the bottom of a cup supported on the saucer as the result of spillage of liquid into the saucer.

An outstanding disadvantage of conventionally used cups and saucers is that when cofiee or other liquid is spilled from the cup into the saucer, it will accumulate on the bottom of the saucer and cup, so that upon lifting of the cup for drinking, coffee will drip from the bottom of the cup, oftentimes soiling the clothes of the wearer.

Attempts have been made in the past to provide a dripless saucer to overcome this disadvantage, but these have not been commercially successful or widely adopted because of the rather complicated construction involved and detraction from the appearance of the saucer, also the difiiculty of washing because of crevices etc.

An object of my invention is to provide a dripless saucer of a design closely simulating that of a conventional saucer, so as not to detract from its ordinary appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a dripless saucer embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a modification involving an insert rather than an integral part of the saucer, and;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the insert shown in FIG. 3.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, numeral 1 denotes, in dash and dot outline, a cup of conventional construction, such as one made of earthenware, hard plastic or any other suitable material and numeral 3 denotes a saucer, therefor, of the same material. Saucer 3 has a peripheral bead portion 2 and has a central bottom portion 4 which is preferably somewhat convex in shape and at an elevation somewhat higher than the surrounding circular well portion 7. An

integral rim portion 5 is provided for defining a well for receiving the bottom of the cup. A plurality of openings or interruptions are provided in the rim portion 5, three being shown, although it should be understood that 1, 2, 4 or any other desired number of openings may be used instead. These openings or passageways allow liquid which spills from the bottom of the cup to drain away from the convex portion 4 so as to collect in the annular well portion 7 and thus remain out of liquid contact with the bottom of the cup. In this way, the bottom of the 3,9375% Patented June 5, 1962 cup will be continually drained and kept relatively dry and will never have an accumulation of liquid therein which might otherwise spill onto the clothes of the wearer.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a modification of the invention which, in principle, is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except that a separate insert 10 is provided, having a lower disc-shaped projection 11 of reduced diameter which fits into a correspondingly shaped well portion in the bottom of the saucer to form a perfect fit to prevent lateral shift of the insert. Insert 10 is provided with a peripheral rim portion 13 which is interrupted at intervals (or at only one point) to provide openings 17 for drainage of liquid which would otherwise accumulate above the convex portion 12. The convex surface 12 of the insert is at a higher elevation than the lower portion of the annular Well portion 18 so that liquid which tends to spill from the bottom of the cup will be drained away by the central convex portion 12 so as to collect or accumulate in the annular well portion 18 and thereby prevent dripping of the cup. Of course, the insert and saucer may be made of earthenware or plastic material, or the insert alone may be made of plastic material, and of such shape so as to fit conventional saucers, such as shown in FIG. 3, so that it may be used as an insert for conventional saucers already widely used.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel dripless saucer which is of a construction very similar to that of a conventional saucer and which will effectively drain liquid from the bottom of the cup so that the cup will not rest in a well of liquid; furthermore I have provided an insert which may be fitted snugly into existing conventional saucers so as to convert them into dripless saucers and which insert is of relatively inexpensive construction.

Vfhile I have illustrated and described several embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that these are by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

In combination with a saucer having a shallow central depression of circular outline, an insert having a circular portion with a substantially fiat bottom surface which snugly fits said saucer depression, said insert having a convex top surface surrounded by an integral discontinuous, circular rim to form a seat for receiving a cup, the saucer portion immediately surrounding said insert being at a lower level than said convex top surface so that spilled liquid will drain from said surface through the discontinuous portion of the rim and into said surrounding portion of the saucer where it will accumulate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 117,766 Gibson Aug. 8, 1871 2,518,368 Peters Aug. 8, 1950 2,755,644 Watson July 24, 1956

Images