Beverage sipper

Device for beverage drinking for use by a plurality of drinkers. The device comprises a base mountable on a beverage container opening, such as the mouth of a beer mug with the base defining plural bores through which flexible drinking tubes extend into the container. Short posts or pegs are provided on the base onto each of which the drinking end of a tube can be placed, thus serving as a tube-retaining means when the tube is not in use. An elongate handle is additionally provided to facilitate handling of the device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to drinking devices for use in the 
consumption of beverages, and more particularly relates to a novel device 
which is designed for simultaneous use by a plurality of drinkers. 
In any typical social gathering of people, such as a fraternal meeting, a 
party, or a get-together at the neighborhood tavern, it is most common 
that some liquid refreshment will be consumed by those in attendance. This 
refreshment may be served in quantity and some volume, being contained in 
a punch bowl or a pitcher, for instance. 
Although the use of cups or glasses supplied for each drinker is not 
ordinarily viewed as a problem in need of rectification, the number of 
cups and glasses can be reduced among a group of compatriot drinkers 
through the use of a drinking device used communally, whereby all can 
partake of the beverage directly from a single container. 
An immediate problem presented by such a communal drinking device is the 
need for maintaining individualized access to the container in order to 
promote a sanitary condition in its use. 
A drinking device used in common would also lend a certain amount of sport 
to the consuming, to the amusement of all. More practically, a drinking 
device to be used by a plurality of drinkers would tend to increase the 
consumption of beverage through its basic novelty as well as through the 
aforementioned sporting element induced in the drinkers. This is a 
consideration not lost upon the wholesalers and retailers of beverages. 
Additionally, such a device would serve as a ready platform for carrying 
advertisements for such beverages. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is with these considerations in mind that the present invention was 
devised. A principal object of the invention is to provide a drinking 
device which can be used by a plurality of drinkers having individualized 
drinking means and which is simply mountable on a beverage container. 
A further object is to make the device so mountable through the use of a 
base adapted to receive the lip of a container mouth to thereby promote 
stability of the apparatus, and provision of a handle for the device which 
facilitates mounting and handling thereof. 
Yet another object is to construct the device with materials which are 
readily cleaned to thereby promote sanitary use. 
Still another object is to make the device out of materials which promote 
the simple and expedient use of the device with convenient storage when 
the device is not in use. 
These, together with other objects and advantages, are accomplished by the 
instant invention which provides a drinking device or beverage sipper for 
use by a plurality of drinkers to be used in conjunction with a beverage 
container having an open top, such as a beer mug. An exemplary beverage 
sipper comprises a base which is roughly configured to the same peripheral 
shape as that of the portion of the container defining the opening which 
the base communicates with. In a preferred form, the base is oversize so 
that it can be simply set in place on the container opening, such as the 
lip of a mug. An annular recess in the bottom of the base sized to receive 
such a lip facilitates mounting and promotes the overall stability of the 
beverage sipper. 
The base has a small vertical height in which a plurality of through bores 
are defined in spaced relation around the base. A flexible drinking tube 
extends through each of the bores and into the container. A sufficient 
length of tubing is provided for the use of each drinker. The tubing in 
the preferred embodiment is made of a flexible, transparent plastic for 
aesthetic effect. 
Since it is undesirable to have the drinking ends of the tubing left loose 
when not in use, tube retaining posts are provided on the base. These 
posts take the form of pegs fixed on the base or molded integrally 
therewith which are sized to permit the opening of the free end of the 
tube to be simply slid thereon. Tubing retained in this manner adds to the 
appearance of the device while also facilitating storage of the beverage 
sipper. 
A handle is additionally provided for the base to facilitate mounting of 
the beverage sipper on the beverage container opening. The handle, which 
is elongate and extends substantially vertically from the center of the 
top surface of the base, in the preferred embodiment, promotes easy 
handling of the apparatus in general. 
Cleaning of the beverage sipper is simply accomplished through known 
techniques, such as immersion of the entire device in a suitable bath with 
subsequent rinsing of the drinking tubes. 
Although this invention has been summarized in terms of an apparatus which 
is usable with any appropriate and available common beverage container, it 
may also be embodied in a special container adapted solely for use with 
the beverage sipper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now in particular to FIG. 1, the beverage sipper of this 
invention is generally indicated at 8 and is shown mounted upon an 
appropriate beverage container, such as an oversized beer mug 11 having an 
opening 9 defined by a lip 10. 
The beverage sipper comprises a base 12 which has a plurality of holes or 
bores 13 formed therein. The base has a generally planar surface 14 and a 
bottom generally planar surface 15 through and between which the bores 13 
pass. In its preferred form, the base 12 has a small vertical height and 
is configured such that its periphery roughly corresponds to the general 
shape of the periphery of the beverage container 11 which is a circular 
projection in this instance. The base 12 is, therefore, substantially 
disc-shaped, with a vertical axis 16 extending roughly through its center. 
The base 12 can be made of any suitable inexpensive material, such as wood 
or plastic through which the bores 13 can be drilled or formed by molding. 
It is advantageously made in the above-described disc-shaped form which is 
simple yet pleasing in design. The shape of the base 12 of course is no 
limitation herein, since neither the top surface 14 nor the bottom surface 
15 need be planar, nor need the base 12 itself be solid in vertical 
thickness, its major attribute being its simple mountability over the 
container opening 9. 
Preferably, the bores 13 through the base 12 are spaced apart from one 
another and generally located nearer the axis 16 than the peripheral edge 
of the base. In the preferred form, the bores 13 are radially spaced an 
equal distance from the axis 16 of the base in even spaced relation around 
that axis. 
A flexible drinking tube 17 extends through each of the bores 13 into the 
container 11 and into the liquid contained therein so that a drinker may 
imbibe the same. The tubing 17 is of sufficient length such that a first 
end 18 may extend into the bottom of the container with a second end 19 
extending a sufficient length beyond the base 12 to promote easy sipping. 
It has been found advantageous to provide the tubing 17 in a transparent, 
flexible plastic which lends itself to the inherent novelty of this 
invention. Such transparent tubing also facilitates thorough cleaning of 
the tubing in that the interior of the drinking tube is readily observed. 
For purposes of retaining the loose second, or drinking, ends 19 of each 
tube 17 when not in use, such as for storage, posts or pegs 20 are 
provided. The posts 20, which may be fixed to the base 12 or molded 
integral therewith, extend from the top surface 14 of the base 12 in a 
pattern similar to that of the bores 13. The posts 20 are located nearer 
the periphery of the base 12 than the bores 13 and are attached to the 
base in any convenient manner. The posts 20 are cylindrical and are 
relatively short in an axial direction. Each post has a diameter sized to 
be received in the opening in the drinking end 19 of the tubing 17. The 
end 19 of the tubing is simply slid onto and over the sides of the post 20 
to be thereby releasably retained in place. 
A handle 26 fixed to the base 12 permits easy handling of the beverage 
sipper 8, such as for washing, and further facilitates mounting of the 
base 12 on the container 11. The elongate handle 26 centrally fixed 
substantially along the axis 16 of the base lends itself to these 
functions as well as benefiting the general appearance of the device as a 
whole. The handle 26 can be simply fixed to the base such as by an 
appropriate rust-resistant screw 27, shown extending vertically upwardly 
through the bottom surface 15 of the base in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the 
handle 26 can be molded integral with the base 12. 
As further shown in FIG. 2, an annular recess 28 is formed in the base 
which receives the lip 10 defining the container opening 9 onto which the 
base is mounted. One or more such recesses may be provided to thereby 
adapt the base 12 for use on one or more beverage containers having 
different lip diameters. The annular recess 28 promotes positioning and 
centering of the beverage sipper 8 on the container 11 and also promotes 
general stability of the entire device. 
In operation, a container 11 is provided with a quantity of appropriate 
beverage therein. The base 14 with the drinking tubes 17 extending 
therethrough a distance sufficient to reach the bottom of the container is 
then placed over the opening 9 of the container 11 through the use of the 
handle 26 such that the lip 10 of the container 11 seats within the recess 
28 provided in the bottom surface 15 of the base 12. Each of the plural 
drinkers can employ one of the drinking tubes 17 by taking up the second 
or drinking end 19 of the tube and utilizing the same as a straw. When the 
drinker is finished, or when it is desired to store the device, the tube 
end 19 is placed over a retaining post 20 to thereby secure the loose end. 
While the principles of this invention have been described above in 
connection with a specific and preferred device, it is to be clearly 
understood that this description is made only by way of an example and not 
as a limitation on the scope of the invention.