Room For System
A beverage cup having a measuring cavity and inverted indicia denoting a volume of at least a portion of the measuring cavity when measured down from the top of the measuring cavity. Said indicia is placed inside, outside, or both inside and outside the measuring cavity. Said indicia may denote a plurality of different types of volume measurements and may denote a plurality of different volumes for each one of said different type of volume measurements. Said indicia may be printed, embossed, or both, on an insulating sleeve configured for beverage cups without said indicia. Said indicia may be printed with pigment-based inks, dye-based inks, or with temperature sensitive inks. Said insulating sleeve may also function as base for said beverage cup when rotated.
Latest Patents:
- Plants and Seeds of Corn Variety CV867308
- ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH THREE-DIMENSIONAL NANOPROBE DEVICE
- TERMINAL TRANSMITTER STATE DETERMINATION METHOD, SYSTEM, BASE STATION AND TERMINAL
- NODE SELECTION METHOD, TERMINAL, AND NETWORK SIDE DEVICE
- ACCESS POINT APPARATUS, STATION APPARATUS, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD
Water connects the physical and living environment. Fresh water is critical for economic and agricultural development. Unlike many other natural resources, society cannot exist without access to fresh water supplies. One of the fundamental challenges humanity currently faces is preservation of a fresh water supply. With ever increasing human demand and fluctuating precipitation due to climate change, corporations, consumers, and governing bodies must work together to reintegrate water into our culture. Ensuring a reliable water supply for personal consumption, agriculture, and industry may be the most significant issue of our time.
Today, ⅕ of the world's population is without access to safe drinking water. Regions with access are experiencing extreme drought levels, which has forced their governments to implement strict water rationing protocols. Yet, every day millions of people waste more water per day than some people can access all year.
Every year the coffee industry wastes billions of a gallons of water, coffee, electricity, and other resources, because coffee drinkers make room for cream. The Room For system eliminates the waste associated with “making room for cream” by giving customers a simple and intuitive system for indicating exactly how much room they need.
Coffee production has an voracious appetite for water and other natural resources. In fact, it takes about 2500 gallons of water to grow and process a single pound of coffee beans. In other words, it takes 1000 ounces of fresh water for each ounce of coffee.
Unfortunately very few coffee drinkers actually know just how much water and energy is wasted when they pour a few ounces of hot coffee in the garbage when they make room for milk or cream. Retailers have known about the problem for many years, yet there is still no solution. The Room For system specifically address this problem by eliminating the need for coffee drinkers to make room for cream. This uniquely American habit wastes billions of gallons of fresh water, coffee, electricity, fuel, time, and other natural resources.
Most coffee retailers ignore the problem because the waste seems insignificant, while others address it by under-pouring every cup. In either case, the retail coffee experience is compromised.
Until now, there has been no solution to the problem, and it costs small- to medium-sized coffee shops thousands of dollars every year; while large coffee retailers, simply let their customer dump millions of dollars worth of coffee down the drain.
Ordering
Customers need only say, “may I have a large coffee with room for 2?” This lets the employees know exactly when to stop dispensing coffee, thus the need for customers to make room is eliminated. Furthermore, the retailer saves 2 ounces of coffee, which can be dispensed to the next customer in line.
SUMMARYBeverage cups having a measuring cavity and inverted indicia denoting a volume of at least a portion of the measuring cavity when measured down from the top of the measuring cavity allow customers to express exactly how much room should be left for milk, cream, or other liquids added to enhanced the flavor of beverages. Said indicia provides a simple and effective method for customers to indicate precisely the level at which a barista should should stop filling the cup. This configuration eliminates the need for customers to pour a portion of their beverage into a waste receptacle or drain in order to make room for milk or cream. The system can be easily adopted by coffee retailers, with little to no integration costs. Said indicia may be printed, embossed, or both, on any beverage container or insulating sleeve. This simple solution can significantly improve the customer experience, increase yields, and save water and energy.
The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
While particular preferred and alternative embodiments of the present intention have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that many various modifications and extensions of the above described beverage cup may be implemented using the teaching of this invention. All such modifications and extensions are intended to be included within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A beverage cup, comprising: a cup body having a measuring cavity; and inverted indicia denoting a volume of at least a portion of the measuring cavity when measured down from the top of the measuring cavity.
2. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is outside the measuring cavity.
3. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein: said indicia denotes a plurality of different types of volume measurements; and said indicia denotes a plurality of different volumes for each one of said different type of volume measurements.
4. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is inside the measuring cavity.
5. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is inside and outside the measuring cavity.
6. The beverage cup of claim 2 wherein the cup body is formed from a substantially non-transparent material.
7. The beverage cup of claim 4 wherein said cup is formed from a substantially transparent material.
8. The beverage cup of claim 2 wherein said indicia is printed with color sensitive ink.
9. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is embossed.
10. The beverage cup of claim 1 where in said indicia is embossed and printed.
11. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein the cup body is formed from a biodegradable material.
12. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said indicia is printed on an insulating sleeve.
13. The beverage cup of claim 1 wherein said insulating sleeve functions as a base for said cup when inverted.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 14, 2009
Publication Date: Aug 11, 2011
Applicant:
Inventor: Daniel Edward Kokin (San Francisco, CA)
Application Number: 12/579,320
International Classification: B65D 85/00 (20060101); B65D 25/22 (20060101);