Drinking Cup Insert With Adjustable Flow-Limiting Rim Gaps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Infants and toddlers face difficulties transitioning from baby bottles to conventional drinking cups, leading to spills and inadequate training for drinking from open-topped cups, as sipper cups do not mimic the conventional drinking experience effectively.
Innovation Solution
An insert for a drinking cup that limits the rate of liquid flow by having two peripheral edges with different spacings from the cup's inner surface, allowing for adjustable flow rates and a design that allows the insert to pivot between orientations, providing a more conventional drinking experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a cup with a lid and valve arrangement is used to limit liquid flow and prevent spillage, then spillage is reduced, but the device complexity increases and it does not resemble a conventional open-ended cup
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the flow-limiting function from a complex lid-valve mechanism and implements it through a simple insert with peripheral edges that create gaps with the cup's inner surface. This removes the complicated moving parts while maintaining the spillage prevention function through static geometric constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert acts as an intermediary element between the liquid and the cup brim, using its peripheral edges to create controlled gaps that limit flow rate. This intermediary structure provides the flow control function without requiring complex valve mechanisms in the cup lid.
2Productivity
If a baffle with openings is used to control liquid flow, then flow rate is limited, but the device complexity increases and the appearance differs from a conventional cup
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the flow control function from a multi-disc baffle structure and implements it through a single insert with peripheral edges. This simplifies the structure from multiple components with openings to a single element that creates flow restriction through gaps with the cup surface.
3Productivity
If an insert with fixed peripheral edge spacing is used to limit liquid flow, then flow rate is controlled, but the adaptability to different drinking needs is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The insert is designed with mounting means that allow it to be positioned at different orientations within the cup, changing the spacing between its peripheral edges and the cup's inner surface. This dynamic positioning capability allows adjustment of the gap size, thereby controlling the flow rate to match different drinking needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The single insert structure serves multiple functions: it limits flow rate through gap control, can be positioned at different orientations for different flow rates, and maintains a simple appearance resembling a conventional cup. The mounting means enable the same insert to adapt to various drinking requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
An insert to limit the rate of flow of liquid from a drinking cup, the insert comprising mounting means to locate the insert within a cup above a liquid contained therein but below a brim of said cup so that a peripheral edge of the insert is spaced a predetermined distance from an inner surface of a cup such that, when a person drinks from the brim of a cup fitted with the insert, the rate of flow of liquid to the brim is limited by the insert.