Layered sippy cups
AssigneeWow Gear LLC
InventorDavid Tognarelli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An all-around drinking edge sippy cup includes a body to store a liquid. The body can have an inner surface and a rigid outer shell. The inner surface includes silicone. A collar is coupled with the body and includes a hard plastic base and a silicone layer over the hard plastic base. The silicone layer of the collar can cover portions of the drinking cup that contact the liquid and the user. A valve is sealingly disposed within the collar and includes silicone. The valve can have an upper surface that contacts the user. The valve is configured to separate from the collar to dispense liquid in response to pressure from the user's mouth on the upper surface. The liquid is dispensed such that it contacts only silicone along its flow path from the body through the collar.
Claims20
A 360° sippy cup comprising:
- a body configured to receive a liquid, the body comprising an inner surface and a rigid outer shell, the inner surface comprising silicone such that the liquid contacts only the silicone of the body;
- a collar coupled with the body, the collar having a first user-contact portion, the collar comprising a rigid plastic base and a silicone layer over the rigid plastic base, the silicone layer covering an inside of the collar, wrapping around an upper lip of the collar, and extending down an outside of the collar;
- and
- a valve sealingly disposed within the collar, the valve comprising silicone, the valve having an upper surface and a lower surface, the upper surface having a second user-contact portion, the valve having a lip configured to move relative to the collar to dispense the liquid in response to pressure from a user's mouth on the upper surface;
- the cup configured such that, during dispensing of the liquid out of the cup, the liquid contacts only silicone.
A sippy cup, comprising:
- a body configured to store a liquid, the body having a shell comprising an inner silicone layer;
- a collar coupled to the body, the collar comprising a rigid core and a silicone layer over the rigid core;
- and
- a valve having an upper surface and a lower surface, the valve connected to the collar, the valve having a lip configured to move between a first position and a second position in response to pressure from a user's mouth on the lip, wherein in the first position the lip is sealingly engaged with the silicone layer of the collar and wherein in the second position the lip is separated from the collar to enable dispensation of the liquid, and wherein during dispensation the liquid contacts only silicone during travel from the body to the user's mouth.
A method of making a drinking cup, the method comprising:
- obtaining a hard plastic outer shell for a body of the drinking cup;
- molding a silicone inner surface onto the hard plastic outer shell such that the silicone inner surface lines the body of the drinking cup;
- obtaining a hard plastic base for a collar of the drinking cup;
- molding a silicone layer onto portions of the hard plastic base of the collar that contact liquid and a mouth of a user;
- obtaining a valve that includes a silicone surface;
- inserting the valve in the collar;
- and
- coupling the collar to the body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.