Cup collar

Abstract

A cup collar for a cup or other beverage container to allow milk or cream, an additional flavoring, sugar or sweetener, or any other additive to be added to a beverage such as coffee or tea without having to pour out and waste the coffee or tea or other beverage to make room for the additive. The cup collar avoids wasting coffee or tea or other beverage and conserves water.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 203,640 filed on Jul. 6, 2016, entitled CUP COLLAR, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to the field of conserving natural resources. Generally, the present invention relates to conserving water, and, more particularly, conserving water used in beverages such as coffee, tea, or the like.2. Description of the Prior Art[0003]Currently, in the case of a typical paper cup which is in use at coffee and tea shops, customers pour out coffee or tea into a garbage can to make room for milk, cream, or any other additive, such as flavoring, and condiments, such as sugar or sweetener. This is a waste of coffee or tea and money, but, more fundamentally, is a waste of water used to make the coffee or tea. With the use of a typical pape...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a device to conserve water by reducing unnecessary water wasted when adding milk or cream to coffee or tea in a paper beverage cup. The device is a cup collar that is securely attached to the cup and has a skirt with a gasket and sealing ring to prevent leakage. The collar also has graduated markings to indicate the level to which the cup should be filled to add milk or cream without wasting water, coffee or tea, and money. The cool effect of this invention is to save water and provide customers with more room to add additives to their coffee or tea without having to pour out the beverage and waste water.

Problems solved by technology

This is a waste of coffee or tea and money, but, more fundamentally, is a waste of water used to make the coffee or tea.

With the use of a typical paper cup, coffee and tea shop employees may ask customers if they need room for milk or cream, but the amount of room that is selected by the employee may be not enough, resulting in the customer pouring out coffee or tea, or is too much, resulting in customer dissatisfaction because the amount of coffee or tea in the cup is less than what the customer desired.

Furthermore, having the lid on the cup so close to the customer's hand increases the chance of the lid becoming dislodged, spilling coffee or tea and increasing the risk of hot coffee or tea spilling onto the customer's hand.

Additionally, the typical lid does not provide a dependable seal, so coffee or tea may drip out of the cup onto the customer's clothes, damaging expensive clothing.

In any event, when coffee or tea is discarded by the customer, water used to make the coffee or tea is wasted.

It is estimated that every month across the country there is a lot of wasted water at coffee and tea shops or other businesses, as much as the volume of the Great Lakes combined.

Additionally, when the cup is only partially filled or the customer pours coffee or tea into the garbage can, the cost of the coffee or tea per the volume that is consumable by the customer increases.

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