Drinking Container Ice Retaining Structure to Prevent Flow Blockage
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Solution Overview
Problem
The issue with conventional drinking containers is that ice cubes float and impede the flow of beverages, often causing spills when tilted, especially when consuming the last sips of expensive liquors, and using straws can be undesirable and wasteful.
Innovation Solution
A drinking container design featuring a base and sidewall with an ice retaining structure, including a ring member and gaps that allow liquid to pass through while retaining ice, even when the container is tilted, preventing ice from rushing towards the drinker.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If ice cubes are placed in a conventional drinking container, then the beverage is cooled, but the ice cubes float and impede the flow of beverage into the drinker's mouth
Solution Approach 1:
The container is segmented into two functional zones: an upper chamber for liquid beverage and a lower chamber for ice cubes, separated by a partition wall with flow channels. This segmentation allows the ice to remain in the lower chamber while beverage flows freely in the upper chamber, solving both cooling and flow impediment issues simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
A partition wall with flow channels acts as an intermediary structure between the ice chamber and beverage chamber. This intermediary allows thermal energy transfer (cooling) while maintaining physical separation that prevents ice from blocking beverage flow, thus resolving the contradiction between cooling function and flow ease.
2Ease of operation
If the container is tilted to enhance beverage flow, then the beverage flows more easily, but the ice rushes toward the drinker and causes spills
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall with flow channels segments the container so that ice and beverage are separated into different chambers. When tilted, the beverage can flow through the channels and over the rim while the ice remains confined to the lower chamber by the partition, preventing ice from rushing toward the drinker and causing spills.
Solution Approach 2:
The partition wall extends vertically from the base to the rim, creating a three-dimensional separation that constrains ice movement in the vertical dimension while allowing beverage flow in horizontal dimensions. This dimensional approach allows tilting for easy flow while maintaining ice containment reliability.
3Ease of operation
If a straw is used to avoid ice contact, then the drinker can consume beverage without ice interference, but it is less desirable for some and potentially wasteful and not environmentally friendly
Solution Approach 1:
The container segments the beverage and ice into separate chambers, allowing the drinker to consume beverage directly from the upper chamber without needing a straw. This eliminates the environmental issues associated with single-use straws while maintaining ease of operation by preventing ice contact through the partition wall design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively prevents ice from interfering with beverage flow, reducing spills and waste, especially when consuming the last sips, and is environmentally friendly compared to traditional straw usage.
Implementation Method 1
ice cubes float on the surface of the beverage
Data Source
AI summary
A drinking container includes a base and a sidewall extending upwardly from the base. The base and the sidewall define a cavity. The drinking container includes an ice retaining structure in the cavity, with the ice retaining structure including a ring member held adjacent an inner surface of the sidewall. The ring member and the sidewall define at least one laterally extending gap therebetween. The ice retaining structure is positioned and configured to retain ice in the cavity and to permit liquid to pass through the at least one gap when the drinking container is tilted relative to vertical.