US20100102070A1

US20100102070A1 - Inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20100102070A1
Application number: US12/259,686
Authority: US
Inventors: Kipp Miller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-10-28
Filing date: 2008-10-28
Publication date: 2010-04-29

Abstract

An inset grip-configured, drop-reducing, drinking apparatus, including a mug having an exterior surface and interior surface, a hand-configured depression in said mug, said depression including extension for fingers and thumb portions into interior of said mug, fitting the palm and fingers of the user, and wherein the exterior surface of said mug covers the finger and thumb portions of said hand-configured depression. An inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus, including a mug impressed with a hand-configured depression contoured to substantially match the natural gripping shape of a hand. A user's hand can be partially enclosed within the sidewall of a mug when gripping the mug. The partial enclosure can constitute pockets for receiving the fingers and thumb of a user, said pockets extending into the interior space of the mug. A mug having bottom and surrounding sidewalls, defining an interior volume, first and second opposing pockets formed through the sidewall and extending into the interior volume, said first pocket shaped for a thumb and said second pocket shaped for four fingers.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to easy grip, drop-reducing grip-configured drinking cups and mugs.

BACKGROUND

Coffee and liquid drinking is ubiquitous. Mugs are a part of every day life, in every household, in every business. Many consumers have a favorite mug from which they enjoy their morning coffee, afternoon tea, or weekend beer. Children are especially fond of the idea of having a personal cup for beverage drinking. Having friends over to watch the game or enjoy an evening coffee often calls for the use of several drinking mugs. Without personalization, these cups can become mixed up. Consumers are constantly searching for a more reliable way to keep track of their mug. Most mugs are larger than hand sized, so that the hand does not easily wrap around a coffee mug. Handles are typically smaller than palm sized and so they rest on the fingers or thumb. Wrapping a hand around a coffee cup, or handling a handle in the fingers or thumb, frequently leads to droppage and spillage. A mug is needed that comfortably allows gripping a mug without resting uncomfortably on narrow portions of the fingers and thumb, and which reduces the drop frequency.

SUMMARY AND ADVANTAGES

An inset grip-configured, drop-reducing, drinking apparatus includes a mug having an exterior surface and interior surface, a hand-configured depression in said mug, said depression including extension for fingers and thumb portions into interior of said mug, fitting the palm and fingers of the user, and wherein the exterior surface of said mug covers the finger and thumb portions of said hand-configured depression. An inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus includes a mug impressed with a hand-configured depression contoured to substantially match the natural gripping shape of a hand. A user's hand can be partially enclosed within the sidewall of a mug when gripping the mug. The partial enclosure can constitute pockets for receiving the fingers and thumb of a user, said pockets extending into the interior space of the mug. A mug having bottom and surrounding sidewalls, defining an interior volume, first and second opposing pockets formed through the sidewall and extending into the interior volume, said first pocket shaped for a thumb and said second pocket shaped for four fingers.
The inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus of the present invention presents numerous advantages, including: (1) provide users with a mug that is easy to handle and fun to use; (2) provides a decorative enhancement while also making the mug easier to hold and use; (3) provides a new vehicle for personalization, such as male or female grips, child or adult, right or left, human, animal or fantasy; (4) inset grip enable a user to hold the mug more comfortably; and (5) reduces droppage and breakage of coffee cups and mugs. Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Further benefits and advantages of the embodiments of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of Applicant's inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows a top down view of the inside of Applicant's inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of Applicant's inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows a top down view of the inside of the second embodiment of Applicant's inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of Applicant's inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows a top down view of the inside of the third embodiment of Applicant's inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus.

REFERENCE NUMBERS USED IN DRAWINGS

Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the figures illustrate the inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing figures:
10 Mug
12 Exterior surface
14 Interior surface
16 Hand configured depression
18 Thumb portion
20 Finger portion
110 Mug of second embodiment
112 Exterior surface of second embodiment
114 Interior surface of second embodiment
116 Hand configured depression of second embodiment
118 Thumb portion of second embodiment
120 Finger portion of second embodiment
210 Mug of third embodiment
212 Exterior surface of third embodiment
214 Interior surface of third embodiment
218 Thumb portion of third embodiment
220 Finger portion of third embodiment
I Interior of mug

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention, mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like reference materials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding, or similar components in differing figure drawings. The figure drawings associated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensional accuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus on clarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
An inset grip-configured, drop-reducing, drinking apparatus includes a mug having an exterior surface and interior surface, a hand-configured depression in said mug, said depression including extension for fingers and thumb portions into interior of said mug, fitting the palm and fingers of the user, and wherein the exterior surface of said mug covers the finger and thumb portions of said hand-configured depression. An inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus includes a mug impressed with a hand-configured depression contoured to substantially match the natural gripping shape of a hand. A user's hand can be partially enclosed within the sidewall of a mug when gripping the mug. The partial enclosure can constitute pockets for receiving the fingers and thumb of a user, said pockets extending into the interior space of the mug. A mug having bottom and surrounding sidewalls, defining an interior volume, first and second opposing pockets formed through the sidewall and extending into the interior volume, said first pocket shaped for a thumb and said second pocket shaped for four fingers.
As shown in FIGS. 1-2, an inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus is provided and includes a mug 10 having an exterior surface 12 and interior surface 14, and a hand-configured depression 16 in said mug, said depression including extension for thumb and finger portions 18 and 20, respectively, into interior of said mug, fitting the palm and fingers of the user. The exterior surface 12 preferably covers the thumb and finger portions 18, 20 of said hand-configured depression 16. The hand-configured depression 16 can be sized to suit male and female users of any age. The hand-configured depression can represent the user as right- or left-handed. The hand-configured depression can be sized and configured for hands of humans, animals (or paw or hoof configured), or, for novelty, for fantasy creatures (claw configured). The inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus can be ceramic, glass, plastic or other suitable and well known cup and mug materials.
As shown in FIGS. 3-4, a second embodiment of an inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus is provided and includes a mug 110 having an exterior surface 112 and interior surface 114, and a hand-configured depression 116 in said mug, said depression including extension for thumb and finger portions 118 and 120, respectively, fitting the palm and fingers of the user. The hand-configured depression 116 can be sized to suit male and female users of any age. The hand-configured depression can represent the user as right- or left-handed. The hand-configured depression can be sized and configured for hands of humans, animals (or paw or hoof configured), or, for novelty, for fantasy creatures (claw configured). The inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus can be ceramic, glass, or other suitable and well known cup and mug materials.
As shown in FIGS. 5-6, a third embodiment of an inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus is provided and includes a mug 210 having an exterior surface 212 and interior surface 214, and a partial hand-configured depression in said mug for thumb and finger pockets 218 and 220, respectively, into interior of said mug. The exterior surface 212 preferably covers the thumb and finger pockets 218, 220. The hand-configured depression thumb and finger pockets 218, 220, can be sized to suit male and female users of any age. The hand-configured depression can represent the user as right- or left-handed. The hand-configured depression can be sized and configured for hands of humans, animals (or paw or hoof configured), or, for novelty, for fantasy creatures (claw configured). The inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus can be ceramic, glass, or other suitable and well known cup and mug materials.
In operation in one embodiment, the user places his or her hand on said mug 10, inserting the hand onto and into the hand-configured depression 16, the fingers and into thumb and finger portions 18, 20 of said mug 10. The user can then hold the mug 10 for use in drinking, reducing frequency and likelihood that the mug will drop out of the users hand.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications and changes may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. It will, of course, be understood that modifications of the invention, in its various aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some being apparent only after study, others being matters of routine mechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, function or property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodiments are possible, their specific designs depending upon the particular application. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiments herein described but should be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. An inset grip-configured, drop-reducing, drinking apparatus, comprising:

a mug having an exterior surface and interior surface;

a hand-configured depression in said mug, said depression including extension for fingers and thumb portions into interior of said mug, fitting the palm and fingers of the user; and

wherein the exterior surface of said mug covers the finger and thumb portions of said hand-configured depression.

2. An inset grip-configured drop-reducing drinking apparatus, comprising a mug impressed with a hand-configured depression contoured to substantially match the natural gripping shape of a hand.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a user's hand is partially enclosed within the sidewall of a mug when gripping the mug.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said partial enclosure constitutes pockets for receiving the fingers and thumb of a user, said pockets extending into the interior space of the mug.

5. A mug having bottom and surrounding sidewalls, defining an interior volume, first and second opposing pockets formed through the sidewall and extending into the interior volume, said first pocket shaped for a thumb and said second pocket shaped for four fingers.