Abstract:
A stabilising drinking device, including a handle ( 21 ) attached within a set range of points to an outer ring ( 20 ) that pivots about a middle ring ( 30 ) that orthogonally pivots about a cradle ( 40 ) within which a cup ( 50 ) resides, and all parts made at such dimensions to enable the mechanism to lock when the handle is sufficiently turned to pour drinks into users&#39; mouths.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a mechanism for holding a cup in such a way as to enable people with the neurological disorder of tremor to hold the cup while reducing the risk of spilling a drink from the cup. 
         [0003]    2. Background of the Invention 
         [0004]    Tremor is the uncontrollable rhythmic shaking of limbs. All humans experience a slight tremor, which can be seen, for instance, when hands are put out and this is called Physiological tremor. However, at least 1 in 50 people experience Pathological tremor which is tremor of inappropriate size that may interfere with normal functioning or be a ‘cosmetic nuisance’. Tremor can be a common symptom of a neurological disease and may also be due to trauma, tumor, stroke or degenerative disease such as Parkinsons Disease or Essential Tremor. Tremor can affect many parts of the body, but most often it affects the hands. Holding a cup, for example, exagerates the tremor and usually manifests itself in an oscillating twisting of the forearm. This causes drinks to spill resulting in scolding, pain, dirtying of clothes, frustration and embarrassment. 
         [0005]    Sufferers of tremor currently use straws which result in burning of the mouth for hot beverages, and cups with lids, which are difficult to bring to the lips due to the cups oscillating motion caused by the tremor. These are no adequately suited for this activity of daily living. 
         [0006]    3. Description of Prior Art 
         [0007]    Cup holders using gimbals to stablise cups are known in the prior art, however, they do not provide a gimbal mechanism (a) that enables cups to remain stabilised when held or when brought to the mouth through free space and (b) that subsequently locks the cup relative to the holder by simply tilting the mechanism, thereby enabling a user to tip the contents of the cup into his/her mouth. In summary, the prior art focuses on stabilising cups at a time when they are not being held by the user and fails to solve the problem being addressed by this invention. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,636, issued to Anthory Mazzurco &amp; Richard L. Miller on Mar. 20, 1984, discloses a Self-Orientating Fluid Container Device which includes a handle and a pair of gimbals that stabilise the cup when resting on a surface. It also includes a locking mechanism that locks the gimbals when the device is lifted vertically by the handle, i.e. when a user wants to drink from a cup, he/she lifts the handle at a 0 degrees tilt to the vertical, which locks the gimbal to allow drinking. Unlike the present invention, the invention of the &#39;636 patent only stabilises the cup when it rests on a surface and locks the mechanism only at 0 degree tilt. The handle is also situated along the axis of the outer ring gimbal. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,843, issued to Hiromichi Nakayama on Apr. 11, 1989, discloses a Drink Container Holder which includes a mounting ring having a gimbal structure within it with a middle ring and a cradle. The mounting ring can be attached to a vehicle so that the drink does not spill from the container due to movement of the vehicle, e.g. when it travels over bumps. To drink from the container, the user simply lifts the container completely out from the holder and tips it into his/her mouth. The device can not be lifted to drink from, it has no handle, and the attachment between the mounting ring and the vehicle lies along one of the gimbal axes; finally, it does not include a locking mechanism for restricting the movement of the gimbals. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,006, issued to Tianhou Li on Aug. 23, 1994, discloses a Head-Supported Cup Holder which includes apparatus strapped to the user&#39;s head that supports a middle ring and an inner ring acting as a drink holder. Unlike the present invention, the invention of the &#39;006 patent allows the cup to turn 360 degrees towards the user, which would cause the drink the spill if used by a person with a tremor to drink from and also would cause much discomfort to the user. It has no handle and has no lock to enable pouring. 
         [0011]    The following patent documents pertaining to cup holders with gimbals don&#39;t include handles to hold the device and all fail to lock the cup in both degrees of freedom for pouring into the mouth. Even when they have shafts for holding the gimbal mechanism, and even if such shafts were used as handles, they would not operate in the same way as the present invention because the shafts are aligned with one of the gimbal axes. These patents are U.S. Pat. No. 2003/0,197,104, which issued to Randy Heybl &amp; Brett Keshtkar on Oct. 23, 2003 and discloses a Gimballed and Adjustable Beverage Holder; U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,718, which issued to Michael P. Vine on Sep. 9, 2007 and discloses a Drink Holder; U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,055, which issued to Dror Levy on Feb. 6, 1996 and discloses a Cup Holder for Automobile. 
         [0012]    None of the above inventions and patents, take either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Their respective defects as mentioned above are overcome by our invention as described forthwith. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    The present invention discloses a mechanism for holding a cup in such a way that the cup is stabilised using gravity when held in mid-air and locks when the mechanism is tilted beyond a particular angle to enable pouring (e.g. drinking) from the cup. 
         [0014]    One embodiment according to the present invention, comprises an outer ring, which may incorporate a handle on the external face, a middle ring and an inner ring for holding a cup. The rings need not be circular and need not form a closed loop. The rings may be connected by means of arms on one ring engaging in holes in the adjacent ring. In one arrangement, the outer and inner rings each includes a pair of arms extending towards the middle ring and the middle ring includes corresponding holes for receiving the arms and forming a gimbal mechanism. The two arms connecting the outer ring to the middle ring are situated opposite to each other and are not aligned with or orthogonal to the handle or indicia indicating where to grasp the outer ring. The arms connecting the middle ring to the inner ring may be orthogonal to the arms connecting the middle and the outer rings. This arrangement creates a two-axis gimbal and uses gravity to keep the cup upright. 
         [0015]    To stop the arms coming out of the holes in use, projections may be provided on the ends of the arms and the holes may have corresponding openings so that the arms with their projections can be pushed into the holes to assemble the mechanism but in use the projections are not in register with the openings so that the mechanism does not fall apart. Such an arrangement enables the device to be assembled by a simple process, without the need for glue. When the cup enters the cradle it tensions the mechanism in place, so that the device can not be dismantled when in use. 
         [0016]    In the above mechanism, the arms support one of the rings and allow it to pivot. The part of each arm supporting the other ring may have a knife like profile to maintain a low coefficient of friction between the two rings. 
         [0017]    The outer ring is free to move in relation to the gimbal mechanism and the vessel supported by it until it reaches a limit set by the dimensions of the rings and the diameter of the vessel, which causes the middle ring and the outer ring to push against the vessel and cause it to tip, thus allowing a user to pour its contents into the his/her mouth. 
         [0018]    Another embodiment of the devise according to the present invention is particularly suitable for holding wine glasses instead of normal sized cups. It comprises of an outer ring with no handle but indications of where to hold between the thumb and the fingers. This is connected in the same way to the middle ring which in turn connects with an inner ring. The inner ring is shaped as such to hold a wine glass. 
         [0019]    The present invention also provides a mechanism as described herein which includes a vessel that is either integral with the inner ring or separable from the inner ring. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the device in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the device in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the device in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the device in  FIG. 1  when the handle has been tilted to cause the outer ring and middle ring to push against the vessel in order to pour the contents in the user&#39;s mouth; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0027]      FIGS. 1-5  show one embodiment of the device  10  in accordance with the present invention which is arranged for holding a standard sized tumbler. The device according to the present invention can be arranged for use with many varieties of cup sizes and shapes. 
         [0028]    The device  10  comprises an outer ring  20 , a middle ring  30 , a cradle  40  and a cup  50 . The device is held in the hand of the user by the handle  21  and liquid for drinking resides in the cup  50 . 
         [0029]    The middle ring  30  is attached to the outer ring  20  by positioning the outer ring  20  orthogonally to the middle ring  30 , then pushing notch  26 , which is attached to the arm  22  which in turn is attached to the inner face of the outer ring  20 , through the appropriately shaped hole  34  in the middle ring  30 . The middle ring  30  is then moved further down the arm  22  so that the hole  33 , on the opposite side of the middle ring  30  to hole  34 , can be pushed over the notch  27  and along the arm  23 , until the external face of the middle ring  30  is equal distance from the outer ring  20 . The middle ring  30  is then rotated 90 degrees to lock it on the arms  22  and  23  of the outer ring  20 . In turn, the notches  26  and  27  prevent the middle ring  30  from coming away from the outer ring  20 . If so desired, the order of assembly could be reversed so that the notch  27  instead of the notch  26  of the outer ring  20  can be first pushed through the holes  33  or  34  of the middle ring  30 , as desired. 
         [0030]    The arms  22  and  23  are designed such that there is a knife like profile pointing upwards. This connects with an arched shape groove in holes  33  and  34 . These holes, like holes  35  and  32  are designed so that the arms  22 ,  23 ,  45  and  44  have minimal contact with the middle ring, are allowed to move by an angle of at least a on both directions, are shaped to prevent the notches  26 ,  27 ,  46  and  47  from coming through the holes when the cup  50  is inside the device. To provide additional structural strength there is more material above the holes  33  and  34  as gravity pulls the middle ring  30  down whilst the outer ring  20  is pulled upwards against gravity by the user using handle  21 . The notches  26  and  27  are designed such that they fit through the holes  33  and  34  when the middle ring  30  is orthogonal to the outer ring  20 . As will be discussed later, the cup  50  in the final set-up of the device prevents the middle ring from moving beyond angle α which is significantly below 90 degrees. 
         [0031]    The middle ring  30 , with attached outer ring  20 , is then attached to the cradle  40  by positioning the cradle  40  at 45 degrees to the middle ring  30  so to align notch  46  on the cradle  40  to the hole  32  in the middle ring  30 . The notch  46  is positioned at 45 degrees to the arm  44  so that the cradle  40  can be attached to the middle ring  30 . The notch  46  of the cradle  40  is then pushed through the hole  32  of the middle ring. The middle ring  30  is then moved further down the arm  44  of the cradle  40 . The middle ring  30 , with attached outer ring  20 , is then rotated 90 degrees so to align notch  47  on the cradle  40  to the hole  35  on the opposite side of the middle ring  30  to hole  32 . The notch  47  is then pushed through the hole  35  and along the arm  45  until the middle ring  30  is equally distanced from both notches  46  and  47 . The cradle  40  is then rotated by 45 degrees so that the ring  43  of the cradle  40  is concentric with the middle ring  30 . If so desired, the order of assembly could be reversed so that the notch  47  instead of the notch  46  is first pushed through holes  35  or  32  of the middle ring  30 , as desired. 
         [0032]    The arms  45  and  44  are designed such that there is a knife like profile pointing downwards. This connects with an arched shape groove in holes  35  and  32 . To provide additional structural strength there is more material below the holes  35  and  32  than above in the middle ring  30 . The crest of the arches of the holes  45 ,  44 ,  33  and  34  in the middle ring  30  are level with each other, so to ensure the two axis of motion of the gimbal aspect of the device intersect at the axis of gravity going through the cup  50  in the centre. Gravity pulls the cradle  40  downwards against the middle ring  30  and for this reason arms  45  and  44  have a sharp profile in a downward direction. 
         [0033]    A cup  50  is then inserted into the cradle  40  and this is held in place by gravity. The cup  50  prevents the middle ring  30  and outer ring  20  from coming apart as discussed previously with the orientation of the notches  26 ,  27 ,  46  and  47 . The device as a whole then works as a 2-axis gimbal, with minimal friction due to the profile of the arms  22 ,  23 ,  44  and  45 . The diameter and height of the middle ring  30  and the outer ring  20  are such that they have sufficient space to allow the handle  21  to move about the cup  50  in both axis to an angle α, in the plane orthogonal to the ground and about axis  24 , when the top edge  39  of the middle ring  30  touches the cup  50  at point  55  and the top edge  29  of the outer ring  20  touches the cup  50  at point  56  which causes the cup  50  to adequately lock in both dimensions to enable the user to pour the contents of the cup  50  into their mouth. In other words, the cup or cradle abuts against both the middle and the outer rings and this abutment prevents further movement of the middle and inner rings relative to the outer ring, even if the outer ring is tipped further and angle α is increased. When the cup abuts the middle and outer rings in this way, the middle and inner rings and the cup are tipped with the outer ring to enable a user to pour the contents of the cup, e.g to drink from the cup. 
         [0034]    That said, in another embodiment of the current invention the bottom edge  28  of the outer ring  20  can come into contact with the cup  50  when the handle is tilted by an angle α at the same time as the bottom edge  38  of the middle ring  30  making contact with the cup  50  so to again lock the cup and enable pouring of the contents into the users mouths. For additional structural strength, A further embodiment could enable both the top edges  29  and  39 , and the bottom edges  28  and  38  to come into contact with the cup  50  when the handle  21  is tilted by an angle α. Furtherstill, another embodiment of the present invention has a cradle  40  designed such that the edge  28 ,  29 ,  38  and  39  come into contact with the cradle  40  (or indeed any part attached to the inner ring that projects above or below the plane of the inner ring) as opposed to the cup  50 . 
         [0035]    In the case of the embodiment  10 , the angle α is 30 degrees from the vertical line. This is chosen because the severest amplitude of tremor is 30 degrees. The position of the handle  21  is at an angle β from the axis  49 . In the case of embodiment  10  this is 45 degrees and is at this position to enable drinking of the contents of the cup  50  from 90 degrees to the handle  21  in the top plane, at a point when the handle  21  is tilted by an angle of α. 
         [0036]    In further embodiment,  11 , as drawn in  FIG. 6 , the outer ring  60  has no handle, however in this case there are markings  63  and  64  to indicate where to put your fingers and thumb, and markings  61  and  62  to indicate where to drink from. This embodiment is particularly useful when the outer ring  60  is small enough in diameter to make holding it comfortable for the user. Again, markings  63  and  64  are situated such that their mid-point is at an angle β in same way as embodiment  10 .