Thermally insulated collapsible cup for hot or cold beverages
A thermally insulated collapsible cup for hot or cold beverages. The collapsible cup includes a flexible inner liner and a multi-segmented outer shell including a top segment, a base segment, and one or more intermediate segments. Each segment of the outer shell includes an insulation layer adhered thereto. An integral rubber sleeve extends around the periphery of each intermediate segment. The flexible inner liner extends from the top to the bottom of the collapsible cup and is secured and sealed at the bottom of the base segment and at the rim of the top segment. In an expanded configuration, internal screw threads at the bottom of the top and intermediate segments engage external screw threads on the adjacent segment there below and thereby maintain the cup in an expanded configuration. The screw threads can be unscrewed in order to convert the cup to a collapsed configuration.
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The present invention relates to containers and particularly to a an insulated drinking container for hot or cold drinks that includes a rigid outer shell and a flexible inner liner that enables the container to be folded or collapsed when not in use to enable more efficient storage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHot beverages, such as coffee or tea, are consumed by people on a daily basis. Many people frequently visit convenience stores or specialty coffee shops in order to obtain their favorite hot beverage. Although these stores provide disposable cups for the hot beverages, many of them sell their hot beverages at a lower price if the customer provides their own container. Thus many regular coffee drinkers carry their own hot beverage containers into the store in order to obtain their drink at a lower price. After being filled, many hot drink containers are carried into the workplace or the home where they are then stored and used in those locations. Over a period of time, a large number of hot drink containers tend to accumulate in the home or the office.
One problem that arises with the accumulation of a large number of hot drink containers is the large amount of space that is required to store the containers. In current times, many of these hot drink containers are quite a large size and require a significant amount of shelf space during storage.
It would therefore be beneficial to reduce the amount of shelf space taken up by hot or cold beverage containers. Although collapsible containers have been proposed in the prior art, many are for dry food storage items such as powders and others do not include the ability to thermally insulate the materials held within.
Thus, what is needed is a drink container that will keep hot beverages hot and cold beverages cold while in use and that also can be reduced in size to conserve shelf space when not in use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention, there is provided a thermally insulated collapsible cup for hot or cold beverages. The thermally insulated collapsible cup includes a flexible inner liner and a multi-segmented outer shell including a top segment, a base segment, and one or more intermediate segments. Each segment of the outer shell includes an insulation layer adhered thereto. An integral rubber sleeve extends around the periphery of each intermediate segment. The flexible inner liner extends from the top to the bottom of the collapsible cup and is secured and sealed at the bottom of the base segment and at the rim of the top segment. In an expanded configuration, internal screw threads at the bottom of the top and intermediate segments engage external screw threads on the adjacent segment there below and thereby hold the cup in an expanded configuration. The screw threads can be unscrewed in order to place the cup in a collapsed configuration. The flexible liner is a liquid-tight inner liner that holds liquid therein in both the collapsed and expanded configurations. The insulation layers in each segment thermally insulate any liquid within the liner, maintaining the temperature of hot liquids or cold liquids within the inner liner and mitigating heat transfer to the outer shell thereby protecting the hands of a user while operating the cup.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGESSeveral advantages are achieved with the thermally insulated collapsible cup of the present invention, including:
-
- (1) The collapsible cup of the present invention is thermally insulated, thereby maintaining hot liquids or cold liquids at the desired temperature.
- (2) The collapsible cup of the present invention can be folded into a significantly smaller size for storage thereby greatly reducing the amount of required storage space.
- (3) The collapsible cup of the present invention maintains its shape when expanded to its unfolded state.
- (4) As the liner is molded in one-piece, the collapsible cup of the present invention is capable of supporting liquids in both the collapsed and expanded configurations.
- (5) The collapsible cup includes rubber sleeves for providing proper friction for the hand and for controlling the speed at which the cup converts from the collapsed to the expanded configuration.
- (6) A screw thread locking mechanism prevents unintentional collapsing of the cup.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following description along with reference to the drawings.
The following is a listing of part numbers used in the drawings along with a brief description:
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As the invention has been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Any and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A collapsible cup comprising:
- a plurality of rigid interlocking tubular outer shell segments, said outer shell segments including an inner side and an outer side;
- said outer shell segments including a base segment, a top segment, and one or more intermediate segments with said base segment including a bottom, said top segment including a rim, and said intermediate segments including a lower outer periphery;
- a flexible inner liner secured to said rim of said top segment and extending there from to said bottom of said base segment;
- a tubular insulating layer on said inner sides of each of said outer shell segments;
- a tubular integral sleeve secured around said lower outer periphery of each of said intermediate outer shell segments; and
- screw threads on each of said each of said outer shell segments, said screw threads for engaging complementary screw threads on the adjacent segment there below and holding said collapsible cup in an expanded configuration.
2. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said top segment of said outer shell includes
- an inturned wall portion adjacent said rim, said inturned wall portion including an outer periphery; and
- a peripheral flange extending outward from said outer periphery of said inturned wall portion.
3. The collapsible cup of claim 2 wherein
- said inner liner includes a top portion with a peripheral groove therein; and
- said peripheral flange of said top segment extends into said peripheral groove of said top portion of said inner liner thereby securing said top portion of said liner to said top segment of said outer shell.
4. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein
- said bottom of said base segment of said outer shell includes an inner periphery; and
- a peripheral flange extending inward from said inner periphery of said base segment.
5. The collapsible cup of claim 4 wherein
- said inner liner includes a base portion with a peripheral groove therein; and
- said peripheral flange of said base segment extends into said peripheral groove of said base portion of said inner liner thereby securing said base portion of said liner to said base segment of said outer shell.
6. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein
- said integral sleeves include an inner periphery and screw threads on said inner periphery; and
- said screw threads of said integral sleeves engaging said screw threads on said top of said intermediate segments.
7. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein each of said tubular insulating layers are secured to said outer shell segments with adhesive.
8. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said tubular outer shell segments are constructed of materials selected from the group including metal and plastic.
9. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said tubular insulating layers are constructed of polyurethane.
10. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said flexible inner liner is constructed of silicone rubber.
11. The collapsible cup of claim 10 wherein said silicone rubber includes a Shore A hardness of 0.
12. The collapsible cup of claim 11 wherein said silicone rubber is a food grade or FDA approved silicone rubber.
13. The collapsible cup of claim 3 wherein
- said top portion of said inner liner includes a throat and screw threads on said throat; and
- a lid threaded into said screw threads of said throat of said inner liner.
14. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said lid includes
- a hinge thereon; and
- a flip up cover pivotally attached to and rotatable about said hinge.
15. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said integral sleeves include whereby said lower legs of said integral sleeves provides friction against said outer shell segments for controlling the rate of expansion of said collapsible cup from the collapsed configuration.
- an inward extending lower leg; and
- said inward extending lower leg is in contact with said outer side of said outer shell segments,
16. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said integral sleeves are constructed of silicone rubber.
17. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said tubular outer shell segments are of steadily decreasing diameter from said top segment to said base segment.
18. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein said cup in said collapsed configuration includes said base segment within said intermediate segments and said intermediate segments within said top segment.
19. The collapsible cup of claim 1 wherein
- said collapsible cup includes an inner volume;
- the entire inner volume of said collapsible cup is bound by said inner liner; and
- said inner liner is constructed of food grade or FDA approved silicone rubber.
20. The collapsible cup of claim 15 wherein
- said integral sleeves include an outer periphery; and
- said outer periphery of said sleeves includes an indent therein.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 8, 2010
Publication Date: Oct 13, 2011
Applicant:
Inventor: Duncan C. Fung (Richmond, VA)
Application Number: 12/798,654
International Classification: B65D 81/38 (20060101); B65D 6/16 (20060101);