US20060118561A1

US20060118561A1 - Cup and method for stacking the same

Info

Publication number: US20060118561A1
Application number: US11/290,963
Authority: US
Inventors: Chien-Jui Wang; Chun-Hsiung Yin; Jen-Feng Chen
Original assignee: BenQ Corp
Current assignee: BenQ Corp
Priority date: 2004-12-01
Filing date: 2005-11-30
Publication date: 2006-06-08
Also published as: TWI289435B; TW200618760A

Abstract

Cups and a method for stacking the same. A cup comprises a plurality of feet, and a plurality of cuts are formed between each foot. The shape of the feet and the shape of the cuts are complementary. By joining the feet of the first cup and the cuts of the second cup, the feet of the first cup and the cuts of the second cup are securely joined.

Description

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a cup, and in particular, to a cup and a method for stacking the same.
FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 b show conventional cups. Conventional cups are commonly divided into handled and handleless types. Cups with handles are typically called mugs 1 a as shown in FIG. 1 a. To use a mug, one must hold the handle and lift it up. The other type of cup is usually called a glass 1 b, and has no handle. To use a glass, one must hold the body of the glass and then lift it up.
Whether the cup is a mug, or a glass; however, one common characteristic is that they both have flat bases. When the cup is placed on a table, a contact surface, which helps stabilize the cup exists between the flat base and the table.
The flat cup surfaces, however, prevent them from being stacked, thus, storage space may be wasted if they have to be stored side by side. Moreover, a cup without a handle, filled up with hot liquid, may easily cause injury.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the invention provides cups with a plurality of feet extended from the base thereof. The cups can be stacked onto each other by their feet in order to reduce storage space. In addition, by thickening the base, the cup can be easily hold due to its low-heat conductivity.
An embodiment of a cup comprises a plurality of feet with a plurality of cuts formed between each foot. The shape of the feet and the shape of the cuts are complementary.
Cups further comprise a base and a body, wherein the thickness of the base is greater than the thickness of the body. A plurality of feet extend outward from the base.
A cup stacking method is also provided, wherein each cup has a plurality of feet, and a plurality of cuts are formed respectively between each foot. By joining the feet of a first cup and the cuts of a second cup, the feet of the first cup and the cuts of the second cup are securely connected. dr

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by the subsequent description and examples with references to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIGS. 1 a and 1 b are schematic views of conventional cups;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a cup;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view from line A-A′ of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 depicts the cup in FIG. 2 stacked on the same cup;
FIGS. 5 to 7 are schematic views of another embodiment of a cup, wherein FIG. 6 depicts an unfolded view of a base of the cup of FIG. 5;
FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are unfolded views of another embodiment showing a base of a cup; and
FIGS. 9 to 12 are schematic views of other embodiments of a cup.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 2 to 4 depict an embodiment of a cup, and FIG. 3 is the sectional view of the line A-A′ of FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, a cup 10 comprises a body 11, a base 12 and a plurality of feet 13. The plurality of feet 13 extend outward from the base 12, and form a plurality of cuts 12 a in between each foot 13, wherein the shape of each foot 13 and the shape of each cut 12 a are complementary. Thus, two of the cups 10 can be joined by their plurality of feet 13 and their plurality of cuts 12 a. In detail, referring to FIG. 4, when two cups 10 are joined, each of the plurality of feet 13 of the first cup 10 are placed between each of the plurality of the cuts 12 a of the second cup 10, and each of the plurality of the cuts 12 a of the first cup 10 are placed between each of plurality of the feet 13 of the second cup 10 as well for stacking the two cups 10. In other words, every foot 13 has a complementary cut 12 a.
Referring to FIG. 2 again, the plurality of feet 13 and the plurality of cuts 12 a together form continuous curves. Based on the complementary shapes of the foot 13 and the cuts 12 a, the curve of each foot 13 must match the curve of each cut 12 a. In this case, the radian of each foot 13 equals the radian of each cut 12 a, so that two of the same cups 10 can be joined together by their feet 13 and cuts 12 a.
Referring to FIG. 3, the thickness of the base 12 is greater than the thickness of the body 11. Because the base 12 is thicker, the base 12 is better insulated and has lower heat conductivity compared to the body 11.
On the other hand, the formation of the plurality of feet 13 causes the base 12 to be raised up from the table. When using the cup 10, the base 12 and the ring 14 of the cup 10 can be held together in order to lift the cup 10.
Thus, when two cups 10 are stacked together, not only the storage space can be reduced, but overturning can also be avoided when stored. Furthermore, one uses fingers to hold the ring 14 and the base 12 of the cup 10 at the same time to lift up the cup 10. Since one's fingers have no direct contact with the body 11 of the cup 10, the possibility to be injured by heat is greatly reduced.
FIGS. 5 to 7 depict another embodiment of a cup 20. FIG. 6 is an unfolded view of the cup 20. Referring to FIG. 5, the shape of the feet 23 and the shape of the cuts 22 a are still curved, but each foot 23 has a different radian, as does each cut 22 a. Yet each foot 23 must have a cut 22 a to be complementary with other feet 23 (shown in FIG. 6). The sum of the radian for the plurality of feet 23 equals the sum of is the radian for the plurality of cuts 22 a.
Referring to FIG. 7, there are three feet 23 and three cuts 22 a in the cup 20. The radians for each foot 23 are 30 degrees, 60 degrees and 90 degrees, wherein each foot 23 must have a cut 22 a with the same radian as the foot 23 for the shapes to match. Altogether, two of the same cups 20 can also be joined together by the feet 23 and cuts 22 a thereof.
FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are another embodiment of a cup. In this embodiment, there are two cups, the first cup 30 a and the second cup 30 b. The shape of each foot 33 of the first cup 30 a must match the shape of each cut 32 a′ of the second cup 30 b. When the radian and the shape of each foot 33 of the first cup 30 a matches the radian and the shape of each cut 32 a′ of the second cup 30 b, and the radian and the shape of each cut 32 a of the first cup 30 a matches the radian and the shape of each foot 33′, the first cup 30 a and the second cup 30 b (two different cups) can be joined by their complementary feet and cuts.
It is to be understood that the shape of the feet or cuts in the described embodiments is not limited to curves. The feet or cuts can be any complementary shape. Referring to FIG. 9, the feet 43 and the cuts 42 a are both square.
Furthermore, the shape for the body of the cup is not limited to the round shape described in the previous embodiments. Like shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the body of the cup 10 a and 10 b are shaped into a square column and a cylinder.
In addition, the feet of two or more cups can be designed to match each other, and be suitable for various embodiments of the cup. Referring to FIG. 12, each foot 53 of the cup 50 has a protrusion 53 a, and each cut 52 a has a recess 52 a′. The protrusions 53 a of one cup can be inserted into the recesses 52 a′ of another cup when two cups are joined. Thus, by lifting one cup, the other cup is also lifted.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such-modifications and similar arrangements.

Claims

1. A cup, comprising a plurality of feet, wherein a plurality of cuts are formed between each of the plurality of feet, and the shape of the feet and the shape of the cuts are complementary.

2. The cup as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of the plurality of feet is three, and the number of the plurality of cuts is three.

3. The cup as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shape of the plurality of feet and the shape of the plurality of cuts are both square.

4. The cup as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shape of the plurality of feet and the shape of the plurality of cuts are both curved, and each of the plurality of feet is corresponding to each of the plurality of cuts, and the plurality of feet and the plurality of cuts have the same radian, and the sum for the radian of the plurality of the feet equals the sum for the radian of the plurality of the cuts.

5. The cup as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a base and a body, wherein the thickness of the base is greater than the thickness of the body.

6. The cup as claimed in claim 5, wherein the plurality of feet are extended outward from the base.

7. The cup as claimed in claim 6, wherein the shape of the plurality of feet and the shape of plurality of cuts are both curved, the radian of the plurality of feet and the radian of the plurality of cuts are equal.

8. The cup as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of feet corresponds to each of the plurality of cuts for another cup of the same shape to be joined by their plurality of feet and plurality of cuts.

9. The cup as claimed in claim 8, wherein the plurality of feet further comprise protrusions, the plurality of cuts comprise recesses; the protrusions insert into the recesses to match the plurality of feet and the plurality of cuts.

10. A cup, comprising a plurality of feet, wherein a plurality of cuts are formed between each of the feet, when the plurality of feet of the cup is inserted to the plurality of cuts of another cup, the shape of the plurality of feet of the cup is complementary to the shape of the plurality of cuts of another cup.

11. The cup as claimed in claim 10, wherein the shape of the plurality of cuts of the cup is complementary to the shape of the plurality of feet of another cup.

12. The cup as claimed in claim 11, wherein the plurality of feet of the cup and the plurality of cuts of another cup are both curved, and both the curved plurality of feet and plurality of cuts have the same radian.

13. The cup as claimed in claim 11, wherein the shape of each of the feet of the cup is the same and the shape of each of the cuts of another cup is the same.

14. The cup as claimed in claim 11, wherein the number of the plurality of feet of the cup is three and the number of the plurality of cuts of another cup is three.

15. The cup as claimed in claim 11, wherein the cup and another cup are in the same shape.

16. A method for stacking cups comprising:

providing a first cup and a second cup, wherein the first cup and the second cup both have a plurality of feet, and a plurality of cuts formed between each plurality of feet; and

joining the plurality of feet of the first cup with the plurality of cuts of the second cup, wherein the plurality of feet of the first cup and the plurality of cuts of the second cup are complementarily in shape.