Drinking glass with integral bottle opener

Abstract

A drinking glass with integral bottle opener. The drinking glass is of otherwise typical configuration having a generally open cylindrically hollow contour with an open end for drinking from and a closed end to retain a beverage. The outer surface of the closed end includes a bottle opener formed therein. The bottle opener is positioned in the drinking glass such that a bottle can be opened with the drinking glass while the drinking glass contains liquid without spilling the liquid in the glass or in the bottle.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of the Thai application No. 064636 filed Mar. 28, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The invention relates to the field of household drinking utensils and in particular to a drinking glass with an integral bottle opener.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Many popular beverages are supplied in bottles. In many cases, the beverages have a pleasing color, effervescence, and/or aroma. As bottles typically have a relatively small opening, the surface area of an open bottle available for diffusion of a pleasant aroma of a beverage contained therein is limited. Bottles are also often provided in a dark and/or opaque material to protect the contents against degradation due to impinging light, however they thus obscure the contents from true-color view. In addition, in many cultures and/or social situations, it is considered in poor taste to drink directly from a bottle. Therefore, many people will pour the beverage from a bottle into a drinking glass for consumption. These glasses are typically generally cylindrical and hollow with a closed end and a relatively large open end and are transparent to facilitate enjoyment of the pleasing aspects of the beverage, such as color, aroma, effervescence etc.

[0006] The bottles are typically filled with the beverage at a bottling plant and sealed with a removable cap. The caps are typically configured to secure to the bottle with either a screw type closure or a crimp closure. The screw type caps are generally removed from the bottles by gripping the cap by hand and applying a generally counterclockwise rotation. The crimp type caps typically are formed of a deformable metal crimped over a lip at the opening of the bottle and are removed by applying a tool, known as a bottle cap remover or bottle opener, to deform the cap to facilitate loosening of the cap and subsequent removal from the bottle. As significant force is generally required to unscrew a screw type cap, many people will use a bottle opener to open screw type caps in the same manner as with a crimp cap. Bottle openers have the utility of being useable with crimp or screw type caps.

[0007] In many applications, crimp type caps and corresponding bottles are preferred over screw type bottles and caps. The crimp type bottles and caps are of simpler design and are typically less expensive to manufacture. The crimp type bottles have a smoother outer contour at the lip where the cap attaches, whereas the screw type bottles have threads molded into an outer surface of the bottle. These threads are of smaller structure than the lip of a crimp type bottles and are more susceptible to chipping and breakage.

[0008] Bottle cap removers can be hand held tools or fixed to a structure such as a bench or kitchen counter. A difficulty with known bottle cap removers is that, in the case of a fixed bottle cap remover, a user must locate themselves and the bottle to be opened adjacent the remover. It can be appreciated that being required to return to a fixed location whenever one wishes to open a bottle can be an inconvenience to a user.

[0009] The hand-held bottle openers offer the increased convenience of portability, however they also impose some drawbacks. Firstly, portable bottle openers require that the user carry or transport the opener from place to place that they may wish to open a bottle at. This typically means that the user must carry a bottle opener in a pocket or purse with other items such as keys, change, etc. The additional mass and bulk of an opener can be burdensome to a user. Secondly, a portable opener can also be misplaced or lost thus depriving the user of the tool to open bottles with.

[0010] Ad hoc methods of opening a crimp type bottle without a bottle opener, such as knocking the cap against a sharp ledge or using another type of tool such as pliers, a knife, or screwdriver to pry open the cap can readily lead to injury, breakage of the bottle, and/or spillage of the beverage contained in the bottle due to the abrupt motion often employed in ad hoc methods.

[0011] From the foregoing it can be appreciated that there is a need for a device to enable a user to open a bottle and pour the beverage contained therein into a glass for drinking without the inconveniences mentioned of known bottle openers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The aforementioned needs are satisfied by the invention which is, in one aspect, is a drinking glass comprising a hollow container, open on a first end and closed on the opposite second end, the container defining an outer surface and a bottle opener fixed in the outer surface of the closed end of the container. In particular aspects, the container and the bottle opener are formed integrally from the same material or the bottle opener is formed of a first material and is secured in the outer surface of the closed end of the container, the container being formed of a second material. In certain aspects, the bottle opener is molded in the container. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drinking glass with integral bottle opener;

[0014] FIG. 2 is a side view of a drinking glass with integral bottle opener;

[0015] FIG. 3 is a top view of a drinking glass with integral bottle opener showing the interior of the glass;

[0016] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a drinking glass with integral bottle opener showing the exterior of the glass and the bottle opener secured therein; and

[0017] FIG. 5 is a side section view of a drinking glass with integral bottle opener in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0018] Reference will now be made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. FIGS. 1 through 4 provide various views of a drinking glass with integral bottle opener 100 referred to hereafter as “glass 100” for brevity and ease of understanding. The glass 100 comprises a container 102 and a bottle opener 104 secured thereto. The container 102 is adapted to hold a liquid beverage for drinking. The container 102 in this embodiment is generally cylindrical with a slight outward taper from a closed end 106 towards an open end 110. The container 102 is hollow and materially continuous so as to retain, without leaking, a liquid beverage within the interior thereof. The container 102 is preferably made of a transparent, strong material such as glass or plastic. A transparent aspect of the container 102 will facilitate enjoyment of beverages contained therein having pleasing coloring and/or effervescence.

[0019] The open end 110 of the container is preferably formed with a smooth contour to allow comfortable drinking therefrom as well as a relatively large opening as compared to a bottle to facilitate diffusion of pleasing aroma from beverages contained therein. The taper or wedge from the closed end 106 to the open end 110, i.e. from the bottom towards the top, of the container 102 of this embodiment provides an increased security of grip to a holder of the glass 100 by inducing a “wedging” effect as gravity draws the glass 100 downwards in a holders hand.

[0020] The bottle opener 104 preferably comprises a rigid, tough material such as plastic or steel. The bottle opener 104 defines a broad “horseshoe” shaped opening 112 as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The opening 112 defines opening sidewalls 114 and a lip 116. The opening 112 is adapted to receive and engage with a bottle cap as secured to a bottle. The lip 116 preferably comprises a tapered end 120 to facilitate placement of the lip 116 and between a bottle cap and a bottle having a protrusion formed on the neck of the bottle.

[0021] A combined distancing and rotation movement 124 applied transverse to the major bottle axis 126 between the bottle opener 104 and the bottle and bottle cap will deform the bottle cap and the remove the bottle cap from the bottle in a well understood manner.

[0022] In the embodiment of the glass 100 illustrated herein, the bottle opener 104 is a separate member and is fixedly attached to the closed end 106 of the container 102 such as by gluing. In alternative embodiments, the bottle opener 104 is secured to the container 102 by being formed within the container 102 such as by molding. In yet other alternative embodiments, the bottle opener 104 and the container 102 together are a unitized assembly forming the glass 100 and the bottle opener 104 and the container 102 are comprised of the same material such as plastic.

[0023] In use, as shown in FIG. 5, a user grasps the glass 100 and positions the glass 100 over a bottle such that the bottle cap thereof is positioned within the opening 112 of the bottle opener 104. Specifically, the lip 116 is placed under the edge of the cap. The user then applies the rotation and lifting movement 124 transverse to the major bottle axis 126 between the glass 100 and the bottle so as to deform the bottle cap thereby removing the same from the bottle. The user can then pour the contents of the bottle into the container 102 of the glass 100. A particularly advantageous aspect of the invention is that due to the placement of the bottle opener 104 on the outside of the bottom, closed end 106 of the glass 100, the glass 100 can already contain liquid yet still be used to remove a bottle cap in the previously described manner.

[0024] Although the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has shown, described, and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the detail of the apparatus as illustrated, as well as the uses thereof, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A drinking glass comprising:

a hollow container, open on a first end and closed on the opposite second end, the container defining an outer surface; and

a bottle opener fixed in the outer surface of the closed end of the container.

2. The drinking glass of claim 1, wherein the container and the bottle opener are formed integrally from the same material.

3. The drinking glass of claim 1, wherein the bottle opener is formed of a first material and is secured in the outer surface of the closed end of the container, the container being formed of a second material.

4. The drinking glass of claim 3, wherein the bottle opener is molded in the container.

5. A beverage container comprising:

a base member having an upper and a bottom surface wherein an opening is formed in the bottom surface of the base member that is sized so as to receive the neck of a bottle having a bottle cap positioned thereon wherein the neck of the bottle defines a first axis with the bottle cap having a planar surface that is substantially perpendicular to the first axis and wherein the bottle cap has an inwardly crimped portion that extends over the neck of the bottle that extends in a direction that is substantially parallel to the first axis so as to secure the bottle cap to the neck of the bottle;

sidewalls that extend upward from the upper surface to an open end so as to define an interior volume adapted to receive a quantity of beverage;

a lip formed within the opening in the bottom surface of the base member wherein the lip is sized and contoured so as to be positionable adjacent the interface between the crimped portion of the bottle cap and the neck of the bottle and wherein the opening is dimensioned so that rotation of the beverage container transverse to the first axis results in the lip exerting a force against the crimped portion of the bottle cap to disengage the bottle cap from the neck of the bottle.

6. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the sidewalls of the beverage container define a wedge shaped cross-section.

7. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the lip is tapered at its end so as to be interposable between the crimped portion of the bottle and a protrusion formed on the neck of the bottle.

8. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the opening in the bottom surface of the base section of the beverage container includes opening sidewalls that extend inward from the bottom surface a first distance to an inner surface and wherein the lip extends from the side wall a distance from the inner surface of the opening so as to define a gap that is sized so as to receive the bottle cap.

9. The beverage container of claim 4, wherein the lip is formed on the opening sidewalls so as to be substantially co-planar with the bottom surface of the base of the beverage container.

10. A method of consuming beverages provided in bottles having a major axis and having a bottle cap secured thereto so as to seal the beverage within the bottles, the method comprising:

a) positioning a first bottle within a cavity of a container such that a lip of the container engages under the bottle cap;

b) exerting a rotation and lifting movement to the container transverse the major axis of the bottle so as to deform and remove the bottle cap from the bottle;

c) pouring the beverage from the bottle into the container;

d) consuming the beverage from the container;

e) positioning at least a second bottle within the cavity of the container such that the lip of the container engages under the bottle cap;

f) repeating steps b) and c).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step e) is performed before the beverage is completely consumed from the container.