IMPROVED TODDLER CUP

[0001] This application claims benefit from a U.S. Provisional Patent Application Attorney Docket No. 201051-0001 -Pl -US, entitled "IMPROVED SPILL-PROOF CUP," filed on April 23, 2008, and from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/914,007, filed on April 25, 2007, the entire contents of each being incorporated herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention:

[0002] The present invention provides an improved spill-proof cup, commonly referred to as a "sippy cup." More particularly, the present invention provides a sippy cup having an internal partition that is angled toward the mouth of the sippy cup to decrease the amount of tilt required to dispense the entirety of the liquid from the sippy cup.

Description of the Related Art:

[0003] Sippy cups are used to help transition babies from bottles to regular cups. Typically, the biggest challenge in transitioning babies to regular cups is teaching them to not dump the fluid all over themselves by tipping the cup as far back as the bottle, to which they have come accustomed, to empty the cup.

[0004] Sippy cups usually come in two varieties, a cup with lid and spout (sippy cup) to drink while tilted towards the mouth, or a cup with lid and straw to drink by sucking through the straw. One problem with the straw cup is it does not train the baby's motor skill habits to handle a regular cup. On the other hand, with the lid and spout sippy cup, the baby will usually tip the cup almost completely upside down and thus need to tip his or her head back to finish the fluid. This creates discomfort for the baby, and also provides no training for transistion to using regular adult type cups. [0005] Accordingly, a need exists for an improved sippy cup.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] These and other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be more readily appreciated from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a sippy cup according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0008] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1 without its lid; [0009] FIG. 3 is a side view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1 taken in a direction facing the side of the sippy cup along which the inclined internal partition is positioned;

[0010] FIG. 4 is a side view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1 taking in a direction opposite to that of FIG. 3;

[0011] FIG. 5 is a side view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1 taken in a direction facing the side of the sippy cup transverse of the inclined internal partition; [0012] FIG. 6 is a side view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1 taken in a direction facing the side of the sippy cup opposite to that shown in FIG. 5; [0013] FIG. 7 is a top view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1; [0014] FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1; [0015] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the sippy cup shown in FIG. 1 taken along lines 9-9 as indicated in FIG. 3;

[0016] FIG. 10 is a side view of the sippy cup as shown in FIG. 5 tipped at an angle with respect to the horizontal;

[0017] FIG. 1 1 is a side view of an example of a variation of the sippy cup as shown in FIG. 1;

[0018] FIG. 12 is a side view of an example of another variation of the sippy cup as shown in FIG. 1 ; and

[0019] FIG. 13 is a side view of the variation of the sippy cup as shown in FIG. 12 taken in a direction facing the side of the sippy cup along which the inclined internal partition is positioned.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] FIGs. 1-10 illustrate an example of a sippy cup 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As with conventional sippy cups, the sippy cup 100 includes a cup 102 and a cap 104. The cup 102 and cap 104 can be made of any suitable non-toxic, shatter-resistant material such as plastic, polycarbonate, polypropylene or the like, which can be clear, transparent or have any desired coloring.

[0021] The cap 104 can be snap-fit, screwed on, or removably coupled to the cup 102 over the top opening 105 in the cup 102 in any suitable manner. The cap 104 typically includes a mouthpiece 106 having one or more openings 108 therein which communicate with the interior chamber 1 10 of the cup 102. The cap 104 can further include one or more openings 1 12 therein which are in communication with the chamber 1 10 and allow, for example, air to enter the chamber 1 10 as fluid flows out of the openings 108, thus facilitating the flow of the fluid through the openings 108. As can be understood, the fluid can be any type of liquid that is typically consumed by a baby or infant, such as formula, milk, water, juice and so on. As further shown, the cap 104 can include handles 1 14 to assist in the removal of the cap 104 or to assist with handling of the sippy cup 100.

[0022] As shown in more detail in, for example, FIGs. 5, 6 and 9, the cup 102 further includes an angled partition 1 16 can be made, for example, of the same material as the cup 102. The angled partition 1 16 can be formed (e.g., molded) integral with the cup 102, or can be removably installed in the cup 102. The angled partition 1 16 has one end 1 16-1 that is integral with or connected to an inner bottom surface of the cup 102 and another end 1 16-2 that integral with or connected to an inner surface of the side wall of the cup 102 and is proximate to the top surface 124 of the cup 102. In either event, the angled partition 1 16 divides the chamber 1 10 into a fluid housing chamber 1 18 and one or more isolated chambers 120. The angled partition 1 16 can have, for example, one or more supports 122 as shown in FIG. 9 which provides added rigidity to the partition 1 16 and, along with the inner surface of the wall of the cup 102, define the isolated chambers 120. The isolated chambers 120 can be enclosed within the wall of the cup 102, or alterative can be open to the environment outside of the cup 102. For example, the bottom of the cup 102 below the isolated chambers 120 can be

-A-

open so that the isolated chambers 120 vent into the outside environment, while still being isolated from the fluid housing chamber 1 18 inside the cup 102. Also, the isolated chambers 120 can be solid or substantially solid (e.g., completely or partially filled with the material with which the cup 102 is made).

[0023] Accordingly, when cap 104 is removed and fluid such as the type described above is placed (e.g., poured, taken from a faucet, etc.) into the chamber 1 10, the fluid is contained in the fluid housing chamber 1 18 and does not enter the isolated chamber 120. Hence, the isolated chamber 120 is isolated or substantially isolated from the fluid housing chamber 1 18. The top surface 1 17 of the angled partition 1 16 can be planar or substantially planar (e.g., flat or substantially flat), or can have any other suitable shape (e.g., a trough or groove-like shape) to facilitate flow of the liquid. [0024] As further shown in FIG. 5, the top surface 1 17 of the angled partition 116 is at an angle θl with respect to the wall of the cup 102, and thus is at an angle θ2 with respect to the top surface 124 of the cup 102 which defines the opening 105 in the cup 102. The angles θl and θ2 in this example are within any suitable ranges of degrees sufficient to enable the liquid in the fluid housing chamber 1 18 to flow along the top surface 1 17 of the angled partition 1 16 and out of the opening 105 in the cup 102 and ultimately out of the openings 108 in the mouthpiece 106 without having to tip the cup 102 upside-down, and more particularly, without having to tip the cup 102 much if any amount of degrees beyond the horizontal as shown in FIG. 10. For instance, the angle θl and θ2 each be at or about 45 degrees, or within any other suitable range of angles (e.g., θl can be within at or about 30 degrees to 60 degrees with θ2 being at a corresponding angle of at or about 90 degrees minus θl). As can be appreciated, as the height of the cup 102 increases with respect to the diameter if the cup, a smaller angle for θl may be sufficient to achieve the desired flow.

[0025] It also be should be noted that the wall of the cup 102 need not be normal (e.g., at or about 90 degrees) with respect to the top surface 124 of the cup 102, but can be slanted or have curves or recesses for ease of handling or design. For instance, the cup 102 can have one or more flattened areas 126, and the cap 104 can likewise have one or more flattened areas 128, to insure that when the cap 104 is placed on the cup 102, the mouthpiece 106 is positioned with respect to the angled partition 1 16 as

shown in the figures so as to maximize the effectiveness of the angled partition 1 16 with regard to fluid flow as discussed above. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the openings 108 are aligned such that a line passing through the center opening 108 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cup passes through a central portion of the partition 1 16 when the cap 104 is coupled to the cup 102.

[0026] Alternatively, the cup 102 can be cylindrical or substantially cylindrical, and the cap 104 can likewise be round or substantially round, in which even the cap 104 can have an alignment notch therein and the cup 102 can have an alignment groove therein, or vice-versa, to insure that when the cap 104 is placed on the cup 102, the mouthpiece 106 is positioned with respect to the angled partition 1 16 as shown in the figures so as to maximize the effectiveness of the angled partition 1 16 with regard to fluid flow as discussed above. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 1, the one or more handles 1 14-1 (e.g., tabs) can be made present at the top of the cup 102 (instead of on the cap 1 14 as in FIG. 1) and thus one or more corresponding notches 1 15 can be in the cap 104 to insure that when the cap 104 is placed on the cup 102, the mouthpiece 106 is positioned appropriately with respect to the angled partition 1 16 as discussed above. Alternatively, an area by the top surface 124 of the cup 102 can include threads, which can engage with threads inside the portion of the cap 104 that mates with the cup 102, such that when the cap 104 is screwed completely or substantially completely onto the cup 102, the mouthpiece is positioned appropriately with respect to the angled partition 116 as discussed above.

[0027] Accordingly, as can be appreciated from the above, when a baby, for example, tips the sippy cup 100 to drink from the sippy cup 100, the surface 117 of the partition 1 16 will facilitate flow of the liquid to the mouthpiece 1 16. Due to the presence of partition 1 16, the sippy cup 110 can be emptied, or at least substantially emptied, when the sippy cup 100 is tilted so that the surface 1 17 of the partition 1 16 is at an angle θ3 which can be substantially zero degrees with respect to the horizontal H or any suitable degree with respect to the horizontal H which is sufficient to enable the liquid in the fluid housing chamber 118 to flow along the top surface 1 17 of the angled partition 1 16 and out of the opening 105 in the cup 102 and ultimately out of the openings 108 in the mouthpiece 106 without having to tip the cup 102 upside- down, and more particularly, without having to tip the cup 102 much if any amount of

degrees beyond the horizontal. Therefore, the baby need not tip the sippy cup 100 substantially vertical to empty the sippy cup 100. Hence, the sippy cup 100 provides improved comfort for the baby since the baby need not tip his or head as far back as with a typical sippy cup to empty the sippy cup, and also help to teach the baby good drinking habits which can be applied to an adult type cup.

[0028] As can further be appreciated from the above, the sippy cup 100 can include additional features or enhancement that can improve its use. For instance, as shown in FIGs. 12 and 13, the cap 104 can include larger handles 130 that that baby can use to better handle the sippy cup 100.

[0029] While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, the preferred embodiments described above are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.