Pre-fillable and disposable sippy cup

Abstract

A pre-fillable and disposable sippy cup includes a one piece main body and a dispensing spout that can be easily configured for use by either toddlers or older children.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the general art of liquid containers and dispensers, and to the particular field of child and infant feeding cups.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The history of baby and toddler liquid feeding systems has remained essentially unimproved over a long period of time. The major improvement in baby bottles and toddler cups, formerly manufactured of glass, or other breakable materials, is the replacement of the breakable liquid housing, relatively recently, by plastic, or other non-breakable materials.

In the prior art baby bottle systems, the liquid storage “bottle”, or liquid housing, is usually sealed with a flexible latex or silicone rubber nipple. The nipple is usually removably-attached to the bottle by means of a threaded collar, which is designed to squeeze the nipple flange against the rim of the bottle. As the baby sucks on the nipple, the liquid in the bottle is removed by the baby's sucking. As the milk, or other liquid, is removed from the bottle, air will enter the bottle through the nipple, thereby resulting in an equalization of the pressure both inside and outside of the bottle, to that of normal atmospheric pressure.

One of the major problems inherent with the prior art liquid feeding system, is that the baby also ingests a very large amount of air during the difficult process of sucking the milk out of the bottle against the increasing pressures being developed in the bottle. This then results in a “bloating” of the baby's stomach, with the likelihood of concomitant vomiting of the mixture of ingested milk and large amounts of air. A partial “solution” to the ingestion of air during sucking, was arrived at by the use of bottles incorporating disposable, collapsible, polyethylene, or the like, baby bottle liners. However, this has proved to be an expensive alternative, having, as well, its own major problems. Aside from its greater costs, when a bottle utilizing a liner is held upside down, it drips or leaks profusely—the amount being essentially proportional to the size of the nipple liquid outlet. This major drawback, has led to the need for another, more suitable solution, to the vexing air-liquid ingestion problem. Another major problem inherent with the use of the conventional prior art baby bottles, capped by the conventional latex nipple, has been the often uncontrolled spilling or dripping, of large quantities of milk during its use.

As the baby grows into a toddler, the need for a dripless liquid feeding/training sipping cup becomes quite obvious. The previously designed prior art toddler sipping cups, have been usually constructed of a non-breakable plastic, or the like, material, incorporating a tightly-fitting, removable cup sealing lid. The cup's sealing lid, may be either of the ‘snap-on/off’ or ‘screw-on/off’/version. Generally, the prior art's cup sealing lid, incorporates a ‘nipple’- or ‘spout-like’ liquid outlet protuberance, allowing a child to suck or sip out the liquid contents of the cup.

Further, the cup's lid is usually vented, by means of air holes, in order to provide an adequate sucking or sipping liquid flow. The child then places the ‘nipple’ or ‘spout’ in his/her mouth, and then tilts the cup, and sucks or sips, in order to provide the desired liquid flow. However, this prior art design generally also has resulted in the dripping or ‘leaking’ of large volumes of liquid, when the liquid outlet is not located in the child's mouth.

Drinking cups for young children often include a cap with an aperture spout and a valve to prevent fluid from being spilled. However, traditional valve youth drinking cups are difficult and/or time consuming to clean such that the valve can potentially become unsanitary and/or not fully functional. This problem is compounded by the fact that some mothers forget or are too busy to spend the time necessary to thoroughly clean the valve, or do not realize how important a thorough cleaning is. Another problem is that, in many existing cups having valves, it is difficult to tell if or when their valve(s) is properly cleaned, particularly when the valve is positioned inside of a concave region in their cap where it is difficult to see and reach. There are also numerous additional functional requirements that are difficult to achieve simultaneously. For example, the valve must be fast acting in order to prevent spillage, yet must allow fluid to flow easily out the spout to a young child using the drinking cup. Also, the drinking cup must reliably prevent leakage, yet must also operate equally well at multiple angles. Also, it is preferable that the valve allow fluid still in the spout to redrain back into the drinking cup so that small spills do not occur. In the cost competitive industry of products for young children, the drinking cup must be mechanically non-complex with a minimum number of pieces to minimize cost. Where the cap and valve can be disassembled, the loose pieces must be large enough to prevent them from being lost and to allow easy reassembly, yet must fit into and operate in the relatively small interior of a cup sized for a young user. Further, the reassembly procedure must be apparent from the parts themselves.

Some known drinking cups have a cap that includes a first valve to control fluid flow out of the spout, and a second valve to control air flow into the drinking cup. However, this valving arrangement increases the number of pieces, doubles the sanitation and misfunction problems, and adds significant expense to the product. Another problem is that these known valving arrangements do not work properly if either of the valves becomes plugged or partially inoperative, which is more likely to occur with two valves than with a single valve.

Therefore, there is a need for a cup that is versatile as well as easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above-discussed disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by a pre-fillable and disposable sippy cup which includes a one piece main body having thereon a dispensing spout that can be easily configured for use by either toddlers or older children.

Using the sippy cup embodying the present invention will permit sale of a filled cup in a store and then disposal of the cup after use. This avoids the need for an adult to fill a cup before leaving on a trip, while trying to drive, or the like, and then for the adult to clean the cup after use.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an infant or toddler sippy cup embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detail of a top for the cup shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a cover for the dispensing spout of the cup shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in a disposable sippy cup 10 which can be sold in stores and which will contain liquid, such as juice, milk, or the like and which is to be discarded after use. Sippy cup 10 comprises a one-piece main body 12. The one piece nature of the body makes is easy and convenient for a manufacturer to pre-load liquid into the cup and seal it for storage and shipping. The one piece nature of the cup will allow sealing in a manner that prevents bacteria or the like from entering the cup whereby the storage of the cup will be safe. Still further, the one piece nature of the cup will prevent, or at least minimize, leakage and spillage during use of the cup. In one form of the invention, body 12 is plastic.

One piece body 12 includes a first end 14 which is a bottom end when the body is in use, with the use orientation being shown in FIG. 1. Body 12 further includes a second end 16 which is a top end when the body is in use. A cylindrical wall 20 connects first end 14 to second end 16, and a longitudinal axis 24 extends between first end 14 and second end 16.

A cover 30 can be plastic and is one piece with cylindrical wall 20 and is located on second end 16. Cover 30, wall 20 and second end 14 define a closed chamber 32 in which liquid L is located when the body is in use. Cover 30 has a liquid exit port 40 defined therethrough. A dispensing spout unit 44 is one piece with cover 30 and is located adjacent to liquid exit port 40. Dispensing spout unit 44 includes a body 46 which has a first end 48 which is one piece with cover 30 and which surrounds liquid exit port 40. Body 46 further includes a second end 50 with liquid dispensing holes, such as liquid dispensing hole 52, defined therethrough.

A break line 56 is defined in body 46. Body 46 includes a first portion 58 adjacent to first end 48 and a breakaway portion 60 located between break line 56 and second end 50 of the body. Breakaway portion 60 is one piece with first portion 58 and is removably attached to the first portion by the break line. Using the break line to break portion 60 off of portion 58 will remove the first portion from the second portion and leave a dispensing opening 62 in the spout unit through which liquid flows from chamber 32. The dispensing opening is defined by a rim 64 which will be exposed when the breakaway portion is removed from the first portion. A fluid passage 66 fluidically connects first end 48 of body 46 to second end 50 of the body. Removing first portion 58 from second portion 60 removes the liquid dispensing holes so a flow path between chamber 32 and dispensing opening 62 and via opening 40 and fluid passage 66 to the child is formed. This will permit older children to use cup 10 as well as children who require dispensing holes. This makes the cup amendable for use by both infants who require the dispensing holes and older children who do not require those liquid dispensing holes.

A one-piece cover 70 fits over plastic end cover 30 on the first end of body 12 and over spout unit 44 and is removably attached to cylindrical wall 20 of the body adjacent to second end 16 of the body. Cover 70 further ensures a sanitary cup during storage. Cover 70 has lip 72 thereon which is grasped to remove the cover from the body.

A spout unit cover 80 is removably mounted on spout unit body 46 and includes a pull portion 82 thereon. Cover unit 80 can be used to close the spout unit after cover 70 has been removed. This will permit the cup to be closed when a child has used only a portion of the liquid stored in the cup.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A disposable sippy cup comprising:

A) a one-piece main body having (1) a first end which is a bottom end when the main body is in use, (2) a second end which is a top end when the main body is in use, (3) a cylindrical wall connecting the first end to the second end of the main body, (4) a longitudinal axis which extends between the first end and the second end of the main body;

B) a cover which is one piece with the cylindrical wall of the main body and which is located on the second end of the main body, the cover, the wall and the second end defining a closed chamber in which liquid is located when the main body is in use, the cover having (1) a liquid exit port defined therethrough, (2) a dispensing spout unit which is one piece with the cover and which is located adjacent to the liquid exit port, the dispensing spout unit including a body having (a) a first end which is one piece with the cover and which surrounds the liquid exit port, (b) a second end with a liquid dispensing hole defined therethrough, (c) a liquid passage defined through the body of the dispensing spout unit from the first end of the body of the spout unit to the second end of the body of the spout unit, (d) a break line in the body of the spout unit, the body of the spout unit including a first portion adjacent to the first end of the body of the spout unit and a breakaway portion located between the break line and the second end of the body of the dispensing spout unit, the breakaway portion being one piece with the first portion of the body of the spout unit and being removably attached to the first portion of the body of the spout unit by the break line, (e) a dispensing rim being located at the break line to be exposed when the breakaway portion is removed from the first portion of the body of the spout unit, the liquid passage fluidically connecting the dispensing rim in the body of the spout unit to the closed chamber;

C) a one-piece cover which fits over the cover on the first end of the main body and over the spout unit and which includes a pull portion that is removably attached to the cylindrical wall of the main body adjacent to the second end of the main body; and

D) a spout unit cover which is removably mounted on the spout unit body and which includes a pull tab thereon.

2. A disposable sippy cup comprising:

A) a one-piece main body having (1) a first end which is a bottom end when the main body is in use, (2) a second end which is a top end when the main body is in use, (3) a cylindrical wall connecting the first end of the main body to the second end of the main body, and (4) an end cover which is one piece with the cylindrical wall of the main body, the wall and the cover and the second end defining a closed chamber in which liquid is located when the main body is in use, the cover having (a) a liquid exit port defined therethrough, and (b) a dispensing spout unit which is one piece with the cover and which is located adjacent to the liquid exit port, the dispensing spout unit including a body having (i) a first end which is one piece with the cover and which surrounds the liquid exit port, (ii) a second end with a liquid dispensing hole defined therethrough, (iii) a liquid passage through the body of the dispensing spout unit from the first end of the body of the dispensing spout unit to the second end of the body of the dispensing spout unit, and (iv) a break line in the body of the dispensing spout unit, the body of the dispensing spout unit including a first portion adjacent to the first end of the body of the dispensing spout unit and a breakaway portion located between the break line and the second end of the body of the dispensing spout unit, the breakaway portion being one piece with the first portion and being removably attached to the first portion by the break line, (v) a dispensing rim located on the body of the dispensing spout unit at the break line, the dispensing rim being exposed when the breakaway portion is removed from the first portion and being fluidically connected to the closed chamber of the main body by the liquid passage; and

B) a one-piece cover which fits over the end cover on the first end of the main body and over the spout unit and which is removably attached to the cylindrical wall of the main body.

3. The sippy cup defined in claim 1 wherein the main body is plastic.