A cup formed of a cylindrical vessel and a hollow carrying handle attached to the vessel containing a liquid fuel reservoir from which fuel in a gaseous state is conducted to a burner located beneath a domed portion of the bottom wall of the vessel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to self-heating containers for beverages and the 
like, such as coffee, tea, soups, etc., and has particular reference to a 
container in the form of a self-heating cup which may also be used for 
drinking purposes. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Self-heating cups have long been desired by travelers, outdoorsmen, 
sportsmen and others who do not always have the convenience of ready 
availability of electricity or other sources of heat whereby to heat 
beverages and other liquids and to maintain the same in heated condition 
until or while being consumed. 
Attempts have been made in the past to provide such self-heating cups but 
in general they have been unsatisfactory. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 
2,893,376 to A. J. Pasqua discloses a self-heating cup wherein liquid fuel 
is contained within a combined reservoir and burner attached to the bottom 
of the cup. However, in order to prevent such cup from becoming unwieldy 
to handle, the base must be restricted in size so that only a small amount 
of liquid fuel can be contained therein. Also, such arrangement is 
considered hazardous since the highly volatile fuel is stored directly 
adjacent the burner. 
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,844 to A. J. Wilkens discloses a self-heating 
cooking utensil in which liquid fuel is carried in a hollow handle which 
extends outwardly from the utensil. Although this arrangement may be 
satisfactory for cooking foods, it cannot be satisfactorily used as a 
drinking cup because of the displacement of the handle which would make it 
distinctly awkward and unsatisfactory to be held for drinking purposes. 
Further, although the liquid fuel container is located remotely from the 
burner, the fuel, which is normally stored in liquid form, would run 
directly to the burner in its liquid state and would therefore be burned 
in an inefficient and wasteful manner. Also, of course, heat from the 
burner could be conducted directly to the fuel container which is 
considered hazardous in view of the volatility of liquid fuels. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a self-heating 
cup or the like having a handle which may be comfortably gripped and which 
contains liquid fuel within the handle. 
Another object is to provide a self-heating cup which uses highly volatile 
liquid fuel, with means for protecting the fuel from the heat of 
combustion. 
Another object is to provide a self-heating cup of the above type which 
utilizes a stored liquid fuel and wherein the amount of fuel remaining at 
any time may be readily ascertained. 
Another object is to provide a self-heating cup of the above type utilizing 
a combustible liquid fuel which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture 
and assemble.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Although this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different 
forms, there is shown in the drawings and will be described in detail one 
specific embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is 
to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention 
and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. 
The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims. 
Referring to the drawing, the self-heating cup, generally indicated at 11, 
comprises a cylindrical metal vessel 12 for containing a beverage or other 
liquid to be heated or to be maintained at an elevated temperature. The 
upper end of the vessel has a rounded lip 13 formed thereon and the bottom 
wall 14 thereof has a centrally located upwardly bowed or concave portion 
15 which is located directly over a burner unit comprising a gas burner 
16, the latter having jet orifices 17 through which a combustible gas fuel 
is fed. 
A metal skirt 18 having the same diameter as the vessel 12 is welded or 
otherwise integrally secured to the bottom wall 14 and has a plurality of 
small vent openings 20 extending therethrough to permit air heated by the 
burner 16 to vent outwardly to the atmosphere. The skirt 18 can also 
support the vessel 12 on a suitable supporting surface 21. 
A vertically extending elongate handle 22 is provided for handling the cup 
for drinking purposes. The handle is formed of molded plastic or other 
heat insulating material and has upper and lower stand-offs or spacers 23 
and 24, respectively, integrally molded therewith for attachment to the 
side of the vessel 12 by means of press-in rivets or pins 25. The spacers 
23 and 24 maintain the handle 22 in spaced-apart relation to the vessel 12 
so that the handle may be readily gripped by the user when drinking or 
pouring from the vessel. 
As seen in the various figures, the handle 22 is hollow, having a 
substantially cylindrical shape and having a cylindrical cavity 26 therein 
to receive a close fitting transparent container 27 for liquid fuel, such 
as butane or propane stored therein under pressure. 
A second cavity 28 for receiving a conduit tube is formed in the handle 22. 
The latter cavity extends mainly parallel to the length of the handle and 
receives a conduit tube 30, preferably of metal, which is connected at its 
upper end to a valve 31. The latter is screw threaded at 32 into the top 
of the container 27 to communicate the inlet thereof with the upper end of 
the conduit tube. A manually adjustable knob 34 having indicia graduations 
35 formed thereon is located on top of the handle 22 and is connected by a 
short shaft 36 to the valve 31 whereby the user may control the flow of 
fuel to the burner 16. 
The conduit tube 30 fits snugly within the cavity 28 and extends through 
the lower spacer 24 and into the center of the skirt 18 where it supports 
a suitable air mixing unit 37 which, in turn, supports the burner 16 in a 
position spaced below the domed portion 15 of the bottom wall 14 of the 
vessel 12. 
The air mixing unit 37 forming part of the burner unit, may not be needed 
when using certain types of fuels, in which use, the conduit tube 30 may 
be used to directly support the burner 16. 
The handle 22 is formed of two halves 40 and 41 which are joined together 
along a plane 42 (FIGS. 2 and 3) passing vertically through the center of 
the handle. However, the handle portion 41 extends only to a parting line 
43. The two halves 40 and 41 are preferably cemented together with a 
suitable adhesive after the fuel container 27 and conduit tube 30 are 
assembled. 
An elongated inspection slot 44 is formed in the wall of handle 22 through 
which the fuel content within the transparent container 27 may be readily 
viewed. 
A suitable one-way fuel filling valve 45 is screw threaded into the lower 
end of the fuel container 27 and is accessible through an aligned opening 
46 in the bottom of the handle 22 for the purpose of replenishing the 
container 27 with fuel by means of a suitable filler device, not shown. A 
protective screw cap 47 is screw threaded in the opening 46 in line with 
the filler valve 45 to protect the latter. 
In use, liquid fuel, such as butane or propane, is injected into the 
container 27 under pressure through the filler valve 45 to a suitable 
level which may be readily ascertained by viewing the same through the 
slot 44. 
When a liquid or semi-liquid placed in the vessel 12 is to be heated, the 
valve 31 is opened a desired amount by the knob 34, permitting the fuel in 
the upper end of the container 37, which has changed to a gaseous state, 
to be conducted through the conduit tube 30 to the burner 16. The gas 
exiting from the burner orifices 17 is suitably ignited and the resulting 
flame is directed upward against the domed portion 15 of the vessel wall 
14, thereby heating particularly the central portion of the food or liquid 
contained in the vessel 12. Since the cup 11 is normally maintained in an 
upright position, the fuel will normally be conducted to the burner 16 in 
a gaseous state so that it will be burned in the most efficient and least 
wasteful manner. By adjusting the knob 34, the temperature of the vessel 
contents may be controlled and maintained as desired. 
It will be noted that the vent openings 20 do not extend completely around 
the skirt 18 but terminate outside the area occupied by the handle 22 to 
protect the handle and the liquid fuel contained therein from the heating 
effects of the air being vented through such openings. 
FIG. 6 illustrates a modified form of the invention in which an annular 
heat insulating cover 45 of thermo setting or thermo plastic material is 
mounted over the rim 13 of the vessel 12 to prevent heat transmitted 
through the wall of the vessel from burning one's lips while drinking from 
the cup. 
The insulating cover 45 comprises an inner ring 46 snugly fitted against 
the inner surface of the vessel and over the vessel rim 13. An outer ring 
47 is snugly fitted against the outer surface of the vessel and both rings 
are bonded to each other at 48 and to the vessel wall by a suitable 
adhesive. 
From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and 
modifications may be effected without departing from the true spirit and 
scope of the novel concept of the invention. It is, of course, intended to 
cover all such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended 
claims.