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  Drinking cup and cover with flow directing assemblyUSPTO Application #: 20080073363Title: Drinking cup and cover with flow directing assembly Abstract: A drinking cup that includes a container base for holding a liquid to be consumed, and lid having a drinking spout that is removable attachable to the container baseband a flow directing assembly that is coupled to the lid which flow directing assembly allows liquid in the container base to be extracted through the drinking spout when the drinking cup is tilted so that the drinking spout is located at an upper position on the lid. (end of abstract)
Inventors: USPTO Applicaton #: 20080073363 - Class: 220717 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080073363. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001]The present invention relates to drinking cups that are designed to transition young children from drinking liquids from nippled bottles to drinking liquids from open top cups, glasses, bottles, etc. BACKGROUND ART [0002]The use of spill-proof cups having drinking spouts and separate air vents is well known. Such spill-proof cups typically include drinking spouts and air vents that are arranged in somewhat similar structural configurations. Other than visual design changes, improvements in spill-proof cups have focused on valving mechanisms and the air vent arrangements that respond to suction generated during drinking to open and allow liquid to pass through the spout and to allow air to enter the air vent when a vacuum is developed in the interior of the cup. [0003]Some examples of spill-proof cups can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,230,923 to Hung, 6,102,245 to Haberman, U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,445 to Manganiello, U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,425 to Yehl et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,89.0,620 to Belcastro, U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,973 to Robbins, III et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,670 to Morano. [0004]As shown in FIG. 1 taken from U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,620 to Belcastro, and known to most parents who have raised young children, generally all spill-proof cups have at least spouts if not spout/air vent arrangements that are configured so that, when in use, a child has to hold the cups directly in front of his or her face, blocking his or her vision. [0005]The present invention is directed to spill-proof cups that are designed and configured to allow children to drink put of the cups, without having the cups block the children's vision. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION [0006]According to various features, characteristics and embodiments of the present invention which will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds, the present invention provides a drinking cup that includes: [0007]a container base for containing a liquid to be consumed; [0008]a lid that is removable attachable to the container base and includes a drinking spout; and [0009]a flow directing assembly that is coupled to the lid which flow directing assembly allows liquid in the container base to be extracted through the drinking spoilt when the drinking cup is tilted so that the drinking spout is located at an upper position on the lid. [0010]The flow directing assembly includes a flow channel that comprise a flow chamber and a flow directing element that can be coupled together to form a fluid passageway that has a liquid inlet oh an end portion which is in fluid communication with me interior of the base container and is in fluid communication with the spout on an opposite end. [0011]According to embodiments of the present invention, the flow chamber is made of a rigid or semi-rigid material and the flow directing element is made from a resilient or flexible material. [0012]According to other various embodiments of the present invention, the flow directing assembly can provide for venting and ambient pressure equalization of the drinking cup and one-away control of fluid through the fluid passageway. [0013]The present invention further provides an improvement for drinking cups that have bases for containing liquids to be consumed and lids that are removable attachable to the bases and include a drinking spouts, the improvement comprising a flow directing assembly that is coupled to the lids which flow directing assembly allows liquid in the container bases to be extracted through the drinking spout when the drinking cups are tilted so that the drinking spouts are located at an upper position on the lids. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0014]The present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings which are given as non-limiting examples drily, in which: [0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a young person drinking from a conventional spill-proof cup in a conventional manner. [0016]FIG. 2 is a perspective cut-away view of a spill-proof cup according to one embodiment of the present invention; [0017]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the top portion of the spill-proof cup of FIG. 2. [0018]FIG. 4 is a perspective cutaway view of a spill-proof cup according to another embodiment of the present invention. [0019]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the top portion of the spill-proof cup of FIG. 4. [0020]FIG. 6 is a perspective cut-away view of a spill-proof cup according to another embodiment of the present invention. Continue reading... Full patent description for Drinking cup and cover with flow directing assembly Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Drinking cup and cover with flow directing assembly patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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