HEAT-INSULATING CUP

Abstract

A heat-insulating cup includes a cup, a ring, and a sleeve. The cup includes an open end, a closed end, and a body between the open end and the closed end. The open end has an edge bent outward to form a flange. The ring is securely mounted around an outer periphery of the body and has two open ends. The sleeve is mounted around the ring and includes upper and lower open ends. The upper open end of the sleeve abuts a bottom of the flange of the body. A heat-insulating space is provided between the sleeve and the body to effectively avoid a hand of a user from high heat.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heat-insulating cup and, more particularly, to a heat-insulating cup that can effectively avoid a hand of a user from high heat.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a conventional heat-insulating cup for receiving hot drink to avoid a hand of a user from high heat of the hot drink. The heat-insulating cup includes a main container 6 having an upper opening and an outer shield 7 mounted around the main container 6 and having a wavy outer periphery. The outer shield 7 is made of corrugated paper with a non-smooth, wavy surface. However, the outer shield 7 is not in intimate contact with the outer periphery of the main container 6 such that the main container 6 is liable to slide and wobble, resulting in the risks of splash of the hot drink and hence injury to the human body. Furthermore, the outer shield 7 mounted around the main container 6 caves in when gripped by a user such that the high heat of the hot drink is still directly transmitted to the hand of the user. Further, delicate, beautiful figures can not be printed on the wavy outer periphery of the outer shield 7. Further, the wavy outer periphery of the outer shield 7 requires paper of larger area and is, thus, not economic and not eco-friendly.

The present invention is intended to solve the above drawbacks.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A heat-insulating cup in accordance with the present invention includes a cup, a ring, and a sleeve. The cup includes an open end, a closed end, and a body between the open end and the closed end. The open end has an edge bent outward to form a flange. The ring is securely mounted around an outer periphery of the body and has two open ends. The sleeve is mounted around the ring and includes upper and lower open ends. The upper open end of the sleeve abuts a bottom of the flange of the body. A heat-insulating space is provided between the sleeve and the body to effectively avoid a hand of a user from high heat.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a heat-insulating cup of a first embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of the heat-insulating cup of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view of a heat-insulating cup of a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the heat-insulating cup of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of a conventional heat-insulating cup.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the conventional heat-insulating cup of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a heat-insulating cup of a first embodiment in accordance with the present invention includes a cup 1, a ring 2, and a sleeve 3. The cup 1 is a heat-resistant food-grade container made of paper, plastic, or other eco-friendly material. The cup 1 can be of any desired shape. The cup 1 includes an open end 11, a closed end 12, and a body 13 between the open end 11 and the closed end 12. An edge of the open end 11 is bent outward to form a flange 14.

The ring 2 includes two open ends 21 and mounted around the body 13 at a desired location of the outer periphery of the body 13. The ring 2 is made of resilient material such as a rubber ring or rubber band. The resilient ring 2 can be intimate contact with and secured to the outer periphery of the body 13 at the desired location according to the user's needs. The ring 2 includes a plurality of holes 22 such that a heat-insulting space 4 in the form of a gap is formed between the inner periphery of the sleeve 3 and the outer periphery of the body 13. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, in another embodiment, a plurality of rings 2 are mounted around the body 13 and spaced from each other, and the heat-insulating space 4 in the form of an annular gap between two rings 2 adjacent to each other.

The sleeve 3 is made of paper, plastic, or other eco-friendly material. The sleeve 3 is mounted around the ring 2 and includes two open ends 31. An upper edge of the upper open end 31 abuts a bottom of the flange 14 of the cup 1. A bottom edge of the sleeve 3 is bent inward to form an inner flange 32 such that a heat-insulating space 5 in the form of a gap is formed between the sleeve 3 and the body 13. With insulating effect provided by the heat-insulating space 5, the high heat of the hot drink in the cup 1 will not be directly transmitted to the outer periphery of the sleeve 3. A reliable heat-insulating effect is provided.

As mentioned above, since the ring(s) 2 can be in intimate contact with and secured to the outer periphery of the body 13 at a desired location according to the user's needs and since the upper edge of the upper open end 31 of the sleeve 3 abuts the bottom of the flange 14 of the cup 1 to provide reliable support, the cup 1 will not slide or wobble, avoiding splash of hot drink and injury to the user. Furthermore, the ring(s) 2 is(are) mounted between the body 13 and the sleeve 3 to stiffen the body 13. Furthermore, the heat-insulating space 4 formed by the holes 22 of a ring 2 or by a gap between two rings 2 avoids contact between the inner periphery of the sleeve 3 and the outer periphery of the body 13 even if the sleeve 3 caves in when gripped by a user. Thus, the user will not feel hot, for direction transmission of the high heat of the hot drink from the outer periphery of the body 13 to the sleeve 3 is effectively interrupted. Further, delicate, beautiful figures can be directly printed on the smooth outer periphery of the sleeve 3. Further, the smooth outer periphery of the sleeve 3 requires paper of a smaller area than conventional wavy outer periphery. Namely, the sleeve 3 is more economic and more eco-friendly.

While the principles of this invention have been disclosed in connection with the specific embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and that any modification and variation without departing the spirit of the invention is intended to be covered by the scope of this invention defined only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A heat-insulating cup comprising:

a cup including an open end, a closed end, and a body between the open end and the closed end, with the open end having an edge bent outward to form a flange;

a ring securely mounted around an outer periphery of the body, with the ring including two open ends, with the ring further including a plurality of holes; and

a sleeve mounted around the ring and including upper and lower open ends, with the upper open end of the sleeve abutting a bottom of the flange of the body,

with the plurality of holes of the ring forming a heat-insulating space between an inner periphery of the sleeve and the outer periphery of the body.

2. The heat-insulating cup comprising as claimed in claim 1, with the ring being made of resilient material.

3. A heat-insulating cup comprising:

a cup including an open end, a closed end, and a body between the open end and the closed end, with the open end having an edge bent outward to form a flange;

a plurality of rings securely mounted around an outer periphery of the body and spaced from each other, with each of the plurality of rings including two open ends, with an annular heat-insulating space being formed between two of the plurality of rings adjacent to each other; and

a sleeve including upper and lower open ends and mounted around the ring, with the upper open end of the sleeve abutting a bottom of the flange of the body.

4. The heat-insulating cup comprising as claimed in claim 3, with the rings being made of resilient material.