Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CUPPING DEVICE
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a paper cup and, more particularly, to a
cupping device including a paper cup equipped with an insulating unit.
2. Related Prior Art
Many drinks such as coffee, juice and tea are contained in disposable
containers and sold. In consideration of convenience, drinks are often
contained in paper cups. A paper cup includes an upper edge that is rolled,
pressed and then coated with a plastic layer. Thus, the upper edge of the
paper cup is made with a multi-layered configuration for providing an adequate
rigidity. The processing of the upper edge of the paper cup is however
complicated and therefore expensive.
Moreover, paper cups are poor in insulating and actually not good for
containing hot drinks. That is, heat is easily transferred to a user's hand
from
a hot drink via a paper cup. Thus, a user feels hot in his or her hand and
might get burnt in the worst scenario. Moreover, heat is easily transferred to
the environment from a hot drink via a paper cup. Thus, the drink gets cold
easily. On the other hand, heat is easily transferred to a cold drink from the
environment through a paper cup. Thus, the cold drink gets hot easily. As
discussed above, the drink, hot or cold, loses its favor soon after it is
contained
in the paper cup. Moreover, paper cups are weak generally and could be
deformed easily. In that case, a hot or cold drink could be spilt or leaked
easily. A spilt hot drink could burn a user in the hand.
To overcome the foregoing problems, there has been devised at least one
cupping device including a paper cup located in a paper sleeve, with an
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insulating space defined between the paper cup and the paper sleeve. The
paper cup includes a tubular element attached to a bottom element by
adhesion. The paper sleeve includes an internally retroflex lower edge.
Thus, transfer of heat is not easy because of the insulating space. Moreover,
the paper cup is reinforced by the paper sleeve. The use of the conventional
cupping device is however not without any problem. An upper edge of the
paper sleeve is in contact with an upper edge of the paper cup. In fact, an
upper portion of the paper sleeve is located very close to an upper portion of
the paper cup so that the insulating space is thin near the upper portion of
the
paper sleeve. Hence, the insulating effect of the insulating space is poor
near
the upper portion of the paper sleeve. However, the user tends to hold the
upper portion of the paper sleeve while drinking the hot drink from the
cupping
device and feels hot or might get burnt in the worst scenario. Moreover, heat
is transferred to the environment from the hot drink or transferred to the
cold
drink from the environment at a considerable rate.
When a paper cup is used to contain hot coffee or tea, a paper sleeve is
often provided around the paper cup and a cap is often provided on the paper
cup for insulating. The cap has to be removed from the paper cup so that
sugar and/or coffee mate can be added into the coffee or tea. Generally, a
user holds the paper sleeve against the paper cup with the left hand and
removes the cap from the paper cup with the right hand. The user has to hold
the paper sleeve against the paper cup really hard with the left hand so that
he
or she can remove the cap from the paper cup. Otherwise, the user might
remove the cap and the paper cup from the paper sleeve. The user however
might squeeze the paper cup and spill the hot coffee or tea from the paper
cup,
and this is both a waste and danger.
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The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate
the problems encountered in prior art.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a convenient
cupping device.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the cupping device includes a cup and
an insulating unit. The cup includes an upper edge and a mouthpiece
provided on the upper edge of the cup. The insulating unit extends from the
mouthpiece. The mouth piece and the insulating unit are made of a same
plastic material.
Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will be
apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described via detailed illustration of eighth
embodiments referring to the drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cupping device in accordance with the
first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cupping device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of several cupping devices as the cupping
device shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a cupping device in accordance with the
second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a cupping device in accordance with the
third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a cupping device in accordance with the
fourth embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a cap provided on a cupping device in
accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a cap provided on a cupping device in
accordance with the sixth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cap and a cupping device in accordance
with the seventh embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cap provided on the cupping
device shown in FIG. 9; and
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a cap and a cupping device in accordance
with the eighth embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a cupping device in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The cupping
device includes a cup 1, a mouthpiece 13 and an insulating unit.
The cup 1 includes a tubular element and a bottom element. The tubular
element and the bottom element may be made of PE-coated paper for
example. The tubular element is formed with a lower edge 11 and an upper
edge 12. The lower edge 11 of the tubular element is an internally retroflex
edge engaged with a bent edge of the bottom element, thus securing the
tubular element to the bottom element.
The mouthpiece 13 is provided on the upper edge 12 of the tubular
element. The mouthpiece 13 is directly provided on the upper edge 12 of the
tubular element without having to roll the upper edge 12 of the tubular
element
beforehand. The mouthpiece 13 may be made of a conventional plastic
material, a biodegradable plastic material or a bio-plastic material. The
mouthpiece 13 is provided on the tubular element by plastic injection molding,
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hot pressing, high-frequency waves or ultrasonic waves.
The insulating unit includes two insulating strips 2. Each of the insulating
strips 2 includes protrusive portions 20 formed on an internal side thereof so
that the protrusive portions 20 are located against the paper cup 1 in use.
The protrusive portions 20 formed on each of the insulating strips 2 may be
bosses or ribs extending perpendicular or parallel to a length of the
insulating
strip 2. The protrusive portions 20 are preferably bosses. Each of the
insulating strips 2 further includes two parallel fold lines 21 and 22 and a
flexible portion 23 all formed on an external side thereof. The fold lines 21
and 22 are made by cutting two grooves into each of the insulation strips 2.
The first fold line 21 is located between each of the insulating strips 2 and
the
mouthpiece 13. The flexible portion 23 of each of the insulating strips 2 is
located next to the second fold line 22. The flexible portion 23 of each of
the
insulating strips 2 is made by cutting a serious of narrow, shallow grooves in
the insulating strip 2.
Like the mouthpiece 13, the insulating strips 2 may be made of a
conventional plastic material, a biodegradable plastic material or a bio-
plastic
material. Preferably, the insulating strips 2 and the mouthpiece 13 are made
one.
In use, a hot drink such as coffee and tea is filled in the paper cup 1 and
the insulating strips 2 are located against the tubular element of the paper
cup
1 with one hand of user's. Thus, heat cannot easily be transferred to the
user's hand from the hot drink because of tubular element of the paper cup 1
and the insulating strips 2.
Referring to FIG. 3, stacked are three cupping devices as the one shown
in FIGS. 1 and 2. The insulating strips 2 of the first cupping device are bent
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along the first fold lines 21. The tubular element of the paper cup 1 of the
second cupping device is partially inserted in the tubular element of the
paper
cup 1 of the first cupping device. The insulating strips 2 of the second
cupping device are bent along the second fold lines 22. The tubular element
of the paper cup 1 of the third cupping device is partially inserted in the
tubular
element of the paper cup 1 of the second cupping device. The insulating
strips 2 of the third cupping device are bent along the first fold lines 21.
The
insulating strips 2 of the third cupping device can be bent for the provision
of
the flexible portions 23. Hence, the cupping devices can be stacked without
encountering any interference from the insulating strips 2.
Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a cupping device in accordance with a
second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is
identical to the first embodiment except the insulating unit includes two
insulating strips 2a instead of the insulating strips 2. The insulating strips
2a
are like the insulating strips 2 except two things. Firstly, each of the
insulating
strips 2a includes a wavy configuration. Secondly, each of the insulating
strips 2a does not include any flexible portion like the flexible portion 23.
The
insulating strips 2a are flexible because of the wavy configuration.
Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a cupping device in accordance with a
third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment is like the
first embodiment except that the insulating unit includes two insulating
strips
2b instead of the insulating strips 2. The insulating strips 2b are like the
insulating strips 2 except that each of the insulating strips 2b includes
protrusive portions 20b formed on the external side thereof. The protrusive
portions 20b formed on each of the insulating strips 2b may be bosses or ribs
extending perpendicular or parallel to a length of the insulating strip 2b.
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Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a cupping device in accordance with a
fourth embodiment of the present invention. The fourth embodiment is like
the third embodiment except that the insulating unit includes a single
insulating
sleeve 2d instead of the insulating strips 2b.
Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown a cupping device in accordance with a
fifth embodiment of the present invention. The fifth embodiment is identical
to
the first embodiment except that the insulating unit includes two insulating
strips 2c instead of the insulating strips 2. The insulating strips 2c is like
the
insulating strips 2 except that each of the insulating strips 2c does not
include
any fold lines like the fold lines 21 and 22 but extends from the mouthpiece
13
transversely. Hence, a cap 3 can be provided on the mouthpiece 13 without
encountering any interference from the insulating strips 2c.
Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a cupping device in accordance with a
sixth embodiment of the present invention. The sixth embodiment is like the
fifth embodiment except that the insulating unit includes a single insulating
sleeve 2e instead of the insulating strips 2c. The insulating sleeve 2e
extends
from the mouthpiece 13 transversely. Hence, the cap 3 can be provided on
the mouthpiece 13 without encountering any interference from the insulating
strips 2e.
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, there is shown a cupping device according to
a seventh embodiment of the present invention. The seventh embodiment is
like the first embodiment except a few things. Firstly, a first engagement
unit
is provided on the mouthpiece 13. The first engagement unit includes several
tabs 131 extending from an internal side of the mouthpiece 13. Secondly,
there is provided a cap 3 for closing the cup 1. A second engagement unit is
provided on the cap 3. The second engagement unit includes several blocks
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31 each including a recess 32 defined therein for receiving a related one of
the
tabs 131. By rotating the cap 3 on the paper cup 1 in a direction, the blocks
31 are engaged with the tabs 131 so that the cap 3 is kept on the paper cup 1.
By rotating the cap 3 on the paper cup 1 in an opposite direction, the blocks
34
are disengaged from the tabs 131 so that the cap 3 is removed from the paper
cup 1.
Referring to FIG. 11, there is shown a cupping device according to an
eighth embodiment of the present invention. The eighth embodiment is like
the first embodiment except a few things. Firstly, a first engagement unit is
provided on the mouthpiece 13. The first engagement unit includes at least
one thread 134. Secondly, there is provided a cap 3 for closing the cup 1. A
second engagement unit is provided on the cap 3. The second engagement
unit includes a thread 34 corresponding to the threads 134. By rotating the
cap 3 on the paper cup 1 in a direction, the thread 34 is engaged with the
thread 134 so that the cap 3 is kept on the paper cup 1. By rotating the cap 3
on the paper cup 1 in an opposite direction, the thread 34 is disengaged from
the thread 134 so that the cap 3 is removed from the paper cup 1.
As discussed above, the cupping device of the present invention exhibits
several advantages. At first, it is inexpensive because the mouthpiece is
directly formed on the upper edge of the paper cup without having to roll the
upper edge of the paper cup beforehand. Secondly, storage-related and
transportation-related costs of cupping devices are low because the cupping
devices can be stacked compactly without encountering any trouble from the
insulating units. Thirdly, the use of the cupping device together with the cap
is
reliable because the cap can easily be removed from the cupping device by
rotating them relative to each other.
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The present invention has been described via the detailed illustration of
the embodiments. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the
embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Therefore, the embodiments shall not limit the scope of the present invention
defined in the claims.
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