WO2003068037A1

WO2003068037A1 - A child's mug

Info

Publication number: WO2003068037A1
Application number: PCT/SE2003/000233
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joakim Liljedahl
Original assignee: Baby Björn Ab
Priority date: 2002-02-12
Filing date: 2003-02-12
Publication date: 2003-08-21
Also published as: SE0200396L; SE523422C2; AU2003206348A1; SE0200396D0

Abstract

A child’s mug comprising a perimeter wall (3), a bottom (4) and two handles (5) on mutually opposite outer surfaces of the wall (3). Each handle (5) has the form of a handle-forming body, which is connected to and spaced from the wall (3) by means of spacer means (6). Each handle-forming body is elongate and the longitudinal axis (9) of the body is orientated essentially vertical when the mug rests on a horizontal, flat support surface (10). The perimeter of the body (5) in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis is between 5 and 9 cm, so as to be greater than the length of the inside of an average child’s hand that can grip around the body, and smaller than two times said length.

Description

A CHILD'S MUG

The present invention relates to a child's mug of the kind defined in the preamble of Claim 1.

Children's mugs that include a peripheral wall provided with a bottom and an external gripping handle on each of two mutually opposite parts of the wall and also having a base or foot that ensures that the mug will stand stably on a flat undersurface. are commercially available. The mug bottom may form the base or foot.

One problem with these known mugs is that small children, or infants, have difficulty in obtaining a secure grip on the handles, which often consist of loops or lugs. Moreover, children also find it difficult to grip the handles evenly from one time to another, and also find it difficult to release the handles. These known handles also trigger a behavioural pattern in which the child tends to hammer the mug against the underlying surface/tabletop.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate these problems, either totally or partially.

This object is achieved by the invention.

The invention is defined in the accompanying independent Claim.

Further embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying dependent Claims.

In one particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the handles have the form of elongate bodies whose longitudinal axes are generally orientated vertically, wherein the bodies narrow towards their respective ends and have a length which preferably corresponds to the width of a child's hand, wherein the main portion of the body surface is spaced from the outer surface of the mug wall, with the object of ensuring that the largest possible part of the body perimeter can be grasped by the inside of the child's palm and fingers. In one particularly preferred embodiment, the handles have the form of diametrically opposed ellipsoidal bodies which are held spaced from the outside of the mug wall through the medium of circumferential thin fins or stabilising surfaces. The surface, or at least a large part of the surface of said bodies, is preferably comprised of a high friction enhancing material, for instance a rubber-like material.

The maximum periphery of respective bodies corresponds at least to the inner periphery of a child's hand, from its fingertips to the rear part of the palm of its hand, when the hand is closed around said body. However, a favourable grip is achieved by a child's hand when at least the periphery its hand embraces more than half of the maximum periphery of a handgrip. The inventive handle-forming bodies enable the child to grip and release said bodies securely and firmly, despite the child lacking a fully developed gripping/releasing motor activity. Moreover, these bodies provide a uniform grip from one time to another, and the elongate form of said bodies affords one and the same direction of the mug relative to the hand of the user. Moreover, because the handle-forming bodies taper towards their respective ends, there is a tendency for the hand to grip the body in a clean-cut fashion, since when the hand is closed its greatest diameter is in the centre region of the hand, and since the greatest diameter of the hand tends to seek the greatest diameter of respective handles. This tendency is amplified when the length of respective bodies corresponds roughly to the width of the hand. The rotational position of the hand around the body keeps within the limits governed by interference between fingertips, or wrist, and the body- carrying spacer and the outer wall of the mug respectively.

The hands of a small child or infant can repeatedly grip and release the handles in a simple, comfortable, and correct fashion, primarily through the common movement of the fingers (excluding the thumb) towards and away from the palm of his/her hand, thereby also reducing the risk of triggering the "hammering behaviour" of tiny children.

It will be understood, however, that the invention is not restricted to the features of the invention at present particularly preferred, and that modifications and variations can be made within the scope of the accompanying Claims.

In a further development of the invention, the mug may include a lid, which is releasably connected to the free edge of the mug wall through the medium of a bayonet connection or a screw-thread connection. The connection includes a pair of generally peripherally extending projections which project out from the outside of the mug wall in the vicinity of its free edge, these projections being disposed in the region above respective handle bodies. As will be understood, the edge of the lid includes formations, which co-act with said projections in a conventional manner such as to secure the lid to the mug.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Figs. 1 and 2 are respective right-angle side views of an inventive mug and lid.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the mug corresponding to Fig. 1, but in the absence of the lid.

Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line IV-IV in Fig. 3.

There is shown in the drawing a mug that includes a footplate 12 which enables the mug to stand stably on a flat, horizontal support surface 10. The mug includes a wall 3, which is substantially rotational-symmetrical about a centre axis that extends perpendicular to the support surface 10. The surface of the footplate 12 co-acting with the support surface 10 includes friction enhancing material. A lid 7 that includes a drinking spout 8 is releasably fitted to the upper edge 20 of the wall 3 with a connection that includes typically a first part (not shown) at the edge of the lid, and a part in the form of external, generally horizontal strips 21 on opposite sides of the wall 3 at its upper edge, said part co-acting with said first part.

Located approximately midway on two opposite sides of the wall 3 are a pair of gripping handles 5 which are adapted to be gripped by small children whose hand-motor activity/ gripping motor activity is still not fully developed and which thus often, and indeed in preference, grip objects between the palm and fingers of their hand (excluding the thumb). Each gripping handle 5 includes an elongate handle-fomiing body whose long axis is orientated generally parallel with the axis 11 of the wall 3 of the mug. The handle-fomiing bodies 5 are spaced at a small distance from the outside of the wall 3, e.g. by a distance of 0.5-1 cm, with the aid of a spacer 6 which has the form of a thin plate in the illustrated case, this plate extending in a plane axial to the axis 11. Each of the bodies 5 has an ellipsoidal shape, whose axis 9 lies in a plane axial to the axis 11 of the mug. In the case of the illustrated embodiment, however, the plane slopes some degrees, for instance 5 degrees, upwardly/outwardly from the axis 11, in other words each axis 9 defines an angle α of about 85 degrees with the plane 10.

Each body 5 has an axial length 1 of about 3 cm and a maximum diameter d of about 2 cm in a plane normal to the axis 9. The bodies have over the whole of their respective surfaces, or at least over part of the area thereof, a rubber-like surface layer of high friction with respect to the hand of the user. The ratio l:d is roughly 1.5:1. 1 and d are chosen to enable the inside of the hand of a small child to grip around the body 5, i.e. to engage more than half (and less than the whole) of the body perimeter. The bodies taper towards their respective ends, such that the shape of the bodies corresponds to the cavity formed by each hand of the child when closed. Because the length 1 of the bodies is adapted roughly to the normal width of the hand of a small child, centring of the hand to the largest periphery of the body in the horizontal plane is favoured.

In the case of an embodiment at present preferred, the largest body periphery is about 7 cm, although it may probably lie in the region of 5-9 cm, preferably in the region of 6-8 cm. In this specific embodiment, the body length is about 3.2 cm and the body has an ellipsoidal shape.

As will be seen from Figs. 3 and 4, the members 21 of the connection are located solely in the region above respective bodies 5, so that the mouth of a child drinking from the mug, with the lid removed, will not come into contact with these members 21 (one of which may consist of a bayonet joint or a screw joint between lid and mug). As a result of the design and orientation of the handles, when drinking from the mug the child will tend to lift the mug to his/her mouth, by manipulating the mug without essentially changing the angle in which his/her upper body is inclined in a forward/rearward direction, as distinct from the movement pattern that occurs frequently with known mugs provided with looped handles, with which a small child leans his/her upper body backwards in order to drink from the mugs. It appears that the inventive design and orientation of the bodies 5 contribute to the former effect.

Claims

1. A child's mug comprising a peripheral wall (3), a bottom (4), and two handle- forming bodies on mutually opposite outer sides of the wall (3), wherein the mug has an axis (11) which is essentially normal to the stand surface of the mug, wherein each handle- forming body (5) is elongate, characterised in that each handle-forming body (5) has a longitudinal axis (9) and a substantially circular cross-section shape, in that each handle- forming body is orientated with its longitudinal axis located in an axial plane of the mug and is directed substantially in parallel to the mug axis (11), in that each handle-forming body is spaced from the wall (3) by a spacer (6); in that each handle-forming body (5) narrows towards its ends; and that the largest perimeter of each handle-forming body (5) in a plane normal to its longitudinal axis lies between 5 and 9 cm.

2. A child's mug according to Claim 1 , characterised in that each body (5) has a length ofabout 3 cm.

3. A child's mug according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that each body (5) has a perimeter of about 7 cm.

4. A child's mug according to any one of Claims 1-3, characterised in that each body (5) has a length to diameter ratio of about 1.5:1.

5. A child's mug according to any one of Claims 1-4, characterised in that each body (5) is generally ellipsoidal in shape.

6. A child's mug according to any one of Claims 1-5, characterised in that each body (5) is kept at a distance of about 0.5 cm from the mug wall (3) by said spacer (6).

7. A child's mug according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the longitudinal axis of each body (5) is inclined upwards/outwards from the mug axis (11) by a small angle of about 5 degrees.

8. A child's mug according to any one of Claims 1-7, characterised in that both bodies (5) are situated in the same axial plane to the mug axis (11).

9. A child's mug according to any one of Claims 1-8, characterised by outwardly projecting formations on the outside of the mug wall (3) at its upper edge in the region above respective bodies (5), said formations forming part of a connector with which the lid (7) is releasably connected to the mug.