Patent Document

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 302,447, filed Jan. 27, 1989, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a carrier for carrying up to a predetermined number of drink cups, and more particularly to a cup carrier which is adaptable to carrying drink cups of different sizes. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Food services facilities generally provide cups of paper, plastic, styrofoam or cardboard for carryout drink service. When more than one drink is purchased by a customer, the difficulty of carrying several drink cups from the food service facility becomes apparent, particularly when the cups are of different sizes. Customers often attempt to balance or hold the drinks cups individually, frequently resulting in spills. On occasion, the drink cups are placed in a paper bag for carryout; however, paper bags lack stability to maintain the drink cups upright and spills occur within the paper bag, the paper weakens and the drink cups fall through the bottom of the paper bag. 
     Multiple drink orders may also be served with a cardboard tray for holding the drink cups. The drink cups rest on a bottom floor of the tray, and the sides of the cups near the bottom are engaged by a second portion of the tray. Such trays are generally insufficiently strong to adequately support drink cups full of liquids. Also, by engaging the drink cups at points near the bottom of the cup, instability during carrying results, often leading to tipping of cups and spilling of the contents. When smaller cups are carried in such trays, they are held less tightly than larger cups due to their smaller bottom diameters. 
     A related cup caddy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,647, issued Dec. 27, 1988. The cup caddy has cup carrier portions with circular openings that engage the side walls of the cup by sliding up the sides until the cup engaging portion reaches a point that diameter of the cup wall matches the diameter of the opening. Although cups of somewhat different sizes can be carried therein, more widely ranging cup sizes cannot be carried effectively in one size cup caddy. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a drink cup carrier which is adaptable to carry drink cups of many different and widely ranging sizes. This and other objects of the invention are achieved in a cup caddy or cup carrier for drink cups of many different sizes which supports each of the cups individually in an upright position to reduce the chance of spilling the contents of the cups. Up to a predetermined number of drink cups, including cups of mutually different sizes, may be carried in a single carrier, the carrier being particularly adapted for carrying less than a predetermined number of drink cups while resisting the tendency of the cups to tip or otherwise become unstable. 
     The cup carrier of the present invention is formed from a single sheet of material and includes a plurality of cup engaging portions, each for encircling a cup in an engaging relationship. The cup engaging portions each include one or more removable concentric sizing rings by which the cup engaging portions are adapted for engagement with cups of a wide range of different sizes. For smaller cups, the sizing rings are left in place, while for larger cups they are removed to accommodate the larger diameters thereof. The number and size of the sizing rings will depend on the range and number of sizes of cups to be carried. 
     In a preferred embodiment, support webs or straps extend generally from opposite sides of the cup engaging portions for independently supporting each of the cup engaging portions in a level position when a cup is held therein. A bail is included spanning the cup engaging portions and is affixed to each of the support webs or straps. It is also possible to include a handle generally at the center of the bail by which the cup carrier of the present invention is held and suspended. 
     Thus, there is provided a cup carrier or cup caddy for drink cups and the like by which an individual can carry one, two, three, four or more drink cups of different sizes and even of mutually different sizes, each in a level position. The present cup carrier is strong, light, and easy to manufacture from a single sheet of material, such as plastic material. In a preferred embodiment, it is made from a photo-degradable plastic so that it does not become a litter problem. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cup carrier which has been cut from a single sheet of plastic, includes sizing rings according to the principals of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cup carrier of Figure shown holding four drink cups of different sizes; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross section along line III--III of FIG. 2 showing the relationship of the cups held in suspension in the cup carrier; and 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the single cup engaging portion of the cup carrier of FIG. 1 showing removal of a sizing ring. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In FIG. 1 is shown a cup carrier 10 of a preferred embodiment including four cup engaging portions 12, 14, 16 and 18. The cup engaging portions 12 through 18 are joined to one another by linking webs 20, 22 and 24. A bail 26 is provided which is linked at a first end to the cup engaging portion 14 by a linking strap 28. This same end of the bail 26 is connected to one side of the cup engaging portion 12 by a linking strap 30, which is doubled back on itself when in the flat position and which extends, as shown in FIG. 2, when supporting a cup. The opposite end of the bail 26 contains a like arrangement of a linking strap 32 connected to one side of the cup engaging portion 16 and a doubled back linking strap 34 connected to one side of the cup engaging portion 18. By way of the supporting straps 28 through 34, the bail 26 supports the cup engaging portions 12 through 18 at four outside support points. 
     In order to provide level support of the cup engaging portions 12 through 18, a central portion of the bail 26 including means for supporting the inside edges of the cup engaging portions. This is provided by a center support strap 36 extending from the web 24 toward a mid point of the bail 26, as well as first and second folded back center support straps 38 and 40. The main center strap 36 and the folded center straps 38 and 40 extend to a lower end of an expansion element 42 formed by first and second arms 44 and 46. The arms 44 and 46 each include an elbow extending in opposite directions so that longitudinal tension on the expansion element 42 causes the arms 44 and 46 to be drawn inward, thereby lengthening the expansion element 41. Other shapes and arrangements of expansion elements are, of course, possible. The arms 44 and 46 are connected at spaced locations along the central portion of the bail 26. Opposite the expansion element 42 is provided a slot 48 which forms a handle 50 in an upper portion of the bail 26. The handle 50 also provides some longitudinal expansion, as can be seen in FIG. 2. 
     In one embodiment, the linking webs 20 and 22 include punched out openings 52 which increase the flexibility of the linking webs 20 and 22 as well as reducing weight and material in the device. The corners at each folded back portion includes a circular stress relieving punch out 54 to avoid tearing. 
     The present invention is particularly characterized by removable sizing rings 56 in each of the cup engaging portions 12 through 18. The sizing rings 56 are formed by increasing the width of the cup engaging portions 12 through 18 and by forming one or more perforated circular cuts 58 concentrically about the body of the cup engaging portion. In this way, a smaller size cup can be inserted directly into the cup engaging portion as shown in FIG. 1 yet the device can still be used to hold larger cups by removing the sizing ring 56 from the corresponding cup engaging portion. Although is possible to make provide several sizing rings in each of the cup engaging portions 12 through 18, a preferred embodiment includes only a single sizing ring 56 as shown in the cup engaging portions 12, 16 and 18. 
     To illustrate the possibility of providing more than one sizing ring in a cup engaging portion, the cup engaging portion 14 includes two sizing rings 56A and 56B arranged concentrically in the portion 14. When a very small cup, relative to the sizes of the other cups, is to be held, it is inserted directly into the central opening of the sizing ring 56A. When it is desired to hold a medium size cup, the first, inner sizing ring 56A is removed, leaving the second sizing ring 56B in place. This is accomplished by tearing along the perforation 58A. Both sizing rings 56A and 56B are removed when a large cup is to be held in the cup engaging portion 14 by tearing on the perforation 58B. To ensure that only the inner ring 56A is removed when desired, the perforations 58B are more resistant to tearing than the perforations 58A, such as by being less closely spaced. Of course, the same number of sizing rings is provided in each cup engaging portion of a single cup carrier. 
     The preferred embodiment, however, has only one sizing ring 56 since may still be possible to inadvertently remove the wrong number of rings. By providing only one sizing ring 56, the cup engaging portions may be adjusted to two different diameters. Due to the tapered sides of most drink cups, these two sizes fit most commonly used sizes of drink cups currently available. It is contemplated to match the diameters of the sizing rings to the cups with which the device will be used. 
     To assist in removal of the sizing rings 56, a finger tab 60 is provided for grasping to initiate tearing along the perforated cut line 58. In the embodiments having two or more sizing rings 56A and 56B, the finger tabs 60 are provided on each ring, aligned as shown in FIG. 1. 
     In FIG. 2 is shown the embodiment of the cup caddy 10 holding four cups in a suspended engagement by lifting on the handle 50. As the handle is lifted, the folded straps 30, 34, 38 and 40 straighten out to support the cup engaging portions 12 and 18 from the bail 26. The cup engaging portions 14 and 16 are supported by the straps 28, 32 and 36. To insure that the center sides of the cups are supported in a position level with the outsides, the lengthening element 42 provides expansion of the center support straps by the flexing of the arms 44 and 46 toward one another and as well as the sagging of the central portion of the bail 26 below the handle 50. 
     As can be seen in FIG. 2, both small cups SC and large cups LC may be held together in the cup engaging portions 12 through 18 of a single embodiment. The small cup SC is inserted directly into the cup engaging portion 12 while the sizing ring 56 remains in place so that the sides of the small cup SC are pressed against the inner circumference of the sizing ring 56. To mount the large cup LC in the cup engaging portions, the sizing ring 56 for the corresponding cup engaging portion is removed by tearing along the perforated line 58 and the large cup LC inserted thereinto so that the side walls of the large cup LC are pressed against the inner circumference formed by the perforated line 58. Depending upon the size of the drink cup, the taper of the walls of the drink cup, and the diameters of the cup engaging portions and the sizing rings, cups in a very wide range of sizes may be held in a single embodiment of the present invention. All small cups may be held, all large cups may be held, or, as can be seen in FIG. 2, cups of mixed sizes can even be held in one cup carrier unit. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a view looking into the cups LC and SC shows that each of the cups is supported independently of one another irrespective of their size and irrespective of whether the sizing rings 56 are in place or have been removed. As a result, the different weights of larger and smaller size cups in the device will not affect the ability to carry the cups in a level condition without tipping and spilling. 
     In FIG. 4 is shown the cup engaging portion 14 in which the sizing ring 56 is being removed by tearing along the perforated line 58 so that the diameter of the cup engaging portion is increased for carrying larger cups. As described above, it is of course possible to provide a plurality of concentric sizing rings, one or more of which may be removed at a time for adapting to different sized cups. 
     Although other modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the inventors to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of his contribution to the art.

Technology Category: 7