Abstract:
A carrier for one or a plurality of beverage containing cups such as those supplied to carry out customers of carry out restaurants, fast food restaurants and the like. The cup carrier constructed in accordance the present invention includes a one piece blank which can be folded to form a base with one or a plurality of openings for receiving a beverage cup to provide an easily set up cup carrier that stably suspends the cup or cups in an upright position when the carrier is supported by a handle structure positioned above the cups so that the force of gravity will maintain the cup or cups in an upright suspended position.

Description:
[0001]     This application is entitled to and hereby claims the priority of co-pending U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/552,194, filed Mar. 12, 2004. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention generally relates to a carrier for one or a plurality of beverage containing cups such as those supplied to carry out customers of carry out restaurants, fast food restaurants and the like. The cup carrier constructed in accordance the present invention includes a one piece blank which can be folded to form a base with one or a plurality of openings for receiving a beverage cup or cups to provide an easily set up cup carrier that stably suspends the cup or cups in an upright position when the carrier is supported by a handle structure positioned above the cups so that the force of gravity will maintain the cup or cups in an upright suspended position.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Spillage of beverages from hand carried cups is a well known problem to customers of carry out or fast food restaurants. Even when beverage cups are provided with a frictionally attached closure lid, it is difficult for a customer to carry a beverage cup or cups without spilling the beverage contents, especially when also carrying food products in a bag or the like during normal handling and transportation to a site of consumption of the beverage.  
         [0006]     Various efforts have been made to facilitate the transportation of multiple cups from a point of purchase to a point of use. Such efforts include, placing the cups in an upright position in a paper bag which frequently results in the beverage cup tilting over and spilling the beverage internally of the bag. Another effort includes the provision of a compartmented tray constructed of cardboard or similar material to receive and frictionally engage the bottom ends of a plurality of beverage cups. While the use of such trays is more effective than using a paper bag and more effective than a customer gripping and carrying a plurality of cups in their hands, such trays provide a somewhat unstable carrier since the cups tend to tilt out of the trays especially if the trays are tilted or come into contact with a door, door frame or other stationery building structure, vehicle body or the like.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The cup carrier in accordance with the present invention includes a one piece carrier preferably constructed of stiff cardboard, such as corrugated cardboard or the like formed from a a single blank having a planar base having at least one or a plurality of circular openings therein for receiving one or plurality of tapered beverage cups with the periphery of each circular opening engaging the beverage cup received therein intermediate the ends thereof in order to stably support the beverage cup in an upright position and to prevent the beverage cup from tilting out of the opening in the base since the frictional engagement between the cup and the periphery of the opening and force of gravity will retain the beverage cup or cups in the openings in the base. Opposite edges of the base include upwardly converging support members which terminate in a handle structure located above the center of the base and the center of any cup or cups being supported by the base with the weight of the cups and beverages and the force of gravity maintaining the base generally in a horizontal position below the handle structure to effectively support a beverage cup or cups in an upright suspended position within the opening or openings in the base of the carrier.  
         [0008]     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a one piece cup carrier constructed from a cardboard blank having a central circular opening or a plurality of circular openings formed in a rectangular central portion of the blank when the blank is folded in a manner to form a cup carrier.  
         [0009]     Another object of the invention is to provide a cup carrier in which a fold line is provided outwardly from the openings in the base of the cup carrier to enable upwardly extending portions of the blank to converge upwardly to form a handle structure with the upwardly converging handle structure being spaced from any upper lip on the beverage cups or container and also spaced from any closure lid placed thereon to enable suspension of the beverage cups in a vertical position in the base.  
         [0010]     A further object of the invention to provide fold lines in the upper portions of the handle structure to enable a short terminal end of each blank to be oriented in contacting relation with an opening formed therein to receive the fingers of a person carrying the cup carrier with the handle structure also being provided with a tab structure to retain the portions of the handles to be engaged by the fingers of a person carrying the carrier in contacting relation to maintain the carrier in a set up position to stably support the beverage cups when the cup carrier is being transported with a beverage cup or cups suspended through the openings in the base of the carrier.  
         [0011]     These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one form of cup carrier in a set up position with a beverage cup supported therein.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of the cardboard blank from which the cup carrier of  FIG. 1  is formed.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of another form of cup carrier in set up position.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a top plan view of the blank from which the cup carrier of  FIG. 3  is formed.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an additional form of the cup carrier of the present invention illustrating a handle structure that maintains the cup carrier in set up position.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a top plan view of the blank from which the cup carrier of  FIG. 5  is formed.  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the cup carrier of the present invention in which the base includes three circular openings to receive three beverage cups.  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the cardboard blank from which the cup carrier of  FIG. 7  is formed. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]     Although only four preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its scope to the details of construction and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, in describing the preferred embodiments, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. It is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.  
         [0021]     The cup carrier illustrated in  FIG. 1  is designated by reference numeral  10  and includes a flat base  12  having two circular openings  14  formed therein with upwardly extending support members  16  connected along fold line  17  to each of the side edges of the base  12 . The upper end of each support member  16  includes an upwardly extending handle member  20  connected to the support member  16  along fold line  21 . Each of the upwardly extending handle members  20  includes an elongated slot like opening  22  therethrough for receiving the fingers of a person carrying the cup carrier  10 . The handle structure generally designated by reference numeral  18  includes tabs  24  along at least one side edge of the upwardly extending handle members  20  that can be folded laterally to secure the handle members  20  in adjacent relation when the blank illustrated in  FIG. 2  is folded in a manner to form the set up cup carrier  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The tabs  24  are formed by a pair of inwardly converging cut lines  26  so that the tabs  24  are aligned with each other when the blank is set up to enable the tabs  24  to be folded into overlying relation to a surface of one of the handle members  20  or folded to a position generally perpendicular to the members  20  as illustrated in  FIG. 1  to retain the handle members  20  in adjacent relation to facilitate insertion of the fingers through the slot like openings  22 . A cup of cups  28  can be easily dropped into the openings  14  when the blank is flat or the support members  16  folded upwardly after which the handle members  20  are brought together in aligned relation with the support members  16  upwardly converging position. The tabs  24  then can be bent to the position illustrated in  FIG. 1  so that the cup carrier with the cups therein can be easily handed to a customer and the customer can easily carry the cup carrier and cups to a desired destination without the cups tilting over or spilling beverages from the cups  28 .  
         [0022]     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the cup lip normally provided at the upper end of the cup  28  which receives and frictionally secures a cover lid on the cup have a periphery that is spaced from the inner surfaces of the upwardly extending support members  16  thereby assuring that the cup lid will not become dislodged from the upper end of the cup  28  during normal handling of the cup carrier by a customer when carrying the cup carrier and cups to a desired destination.  
         [0023]     The embodiment of the cup carrier illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4  is generally designated by reference numeral  30  which includes a base  32  that includes two or more circular openings  34  for receiving beverage cups in a manner similar to that in  FIG. 1 . A portion of the base  32  outwardly of the outer circumference of each of the circular openings  34  is provided with a cut out area  35  with the outer periphery of an outer portion of the area of the base having the opening  34  formed therein being separated from the side edges and end edges of the opening  35  as illustrated in the blank shown in  FIG. 4  from which the cup carrier  30  is formed. Extending upwardly from portions of the base  32  outwardly from the cut out area  35  is a pair of support members  36  connected to the base  32  along fold lines  37  to enable the support members  36  to be folded upwardly into converging relation as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The outer end portions of support members  36  include handle members  38  connected to the upwardly converging support members  36  along fold lines  39 . The handle members  38  include a lower edge  33  which facilitate insertion of the fingers below the lower edges  33  of the handle members  38  and grip the handle members  38  for effectively carrying cups suspended in the openings  34 . The outwardly extending relation of fold lines  37  from the interior of the circular openings  34  provides space for the upper lip of the cup supported by the cup carrier  30  and also provides space for the closure lid provided on the cup so that the closure lid will not be contacted and possibly dislodged during normal transport of the cup carrier  30  and cups therein to a desired destination.  
         [0024]     The cup carrier illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6  of the drawings is generally designated by reference numeral  40  and includes a base  44  having two or more circular opening  42  therein with the side edges of the base  44  being connected to a pair of upwardly converging support members  46  connected to the side edges of base  44  along fold lines  47 . The upper edge area of one support members  46  includes an elongated slot like rectangular opening  48  adjacent the upper edge thereof with the slot like opening  48  being generally rectangular in configuration and of sufficient dimensions to receive the fingers of a person carrying the cup carrier  40 . The other support member  46  includes a cut out tab  50  having a bottom edge  52 , side edges  54  and a top edge connected to the support member  46  along a fold line  56  so that the tab  50  is larger in size than the slot like opening  48  and can be folded through the opening  48  and bent upwardly along the outer surface of a support member  46  as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . This structure forms an effective handle for carrying the cup carrier  40 . The tab  50  retains the upper ends of the support members  46  in adjacent relation to maintain the set up condition of the carrier  40 .  
         [0025]     The embodiment of the cup carrier illustrated in  FIGS. 7 and 8  of the drawings is generally designed by reference numeral  60  and includes a base  62  of rectangular configuration and elongated sufficiently to form three circular openings  64  therein. As illustrated three openings  64  are provided. However, it is pointed out that any number of cup openings can be provided but most take out orders do not exceed three or four beverage cups. If more cups are to be carried, a second cup carrier can be used to avoid a cup carrier being too large to handle. The carrier  60  includes a pair of upwardly converging support members  66  connected to the side edges of the base  62  by fold lines  67 . Each support member  66  terminates in a handle structure generally designated by reference numeral  68  and including a pair of handle members  70  oriented in contacting relation to each other. The side edges of the handle members  70  are provided with cut out bendable tabs  74  similar to the tabs  24  illustrated in  FIG. 1  and which functions in the same manner. Also, each of the support members  70  includes a slot like cut out members  72 . One of the slot like members  72  retains the cut out area as a tab  76  connected to the upper edge of the slot like opening along a fold line  78  so that the tab  76  can be pushed through the other slot like opening  72  to retain the handle members  70  in contacting relation when the handle member  70  is the opening  72  are aligned and tab  76  on one pushed through and folded upwardly along the outer surface of the other handle member  70  as illustrated in  FIG. 7 . If desired, the tab  76  can be slightly larger and provided with rounded ends so that it becomes locked in position to retain the handle members  70  in assembled relation to lock the handle structure in view of the large number of beverage cups being carried by the cup carrier  60 .  
         [0026]     The foregoing should be considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.