US20090092711A1

US20090092711A1 - Instant Beverage Product

Info

Publication number: US20090092711A1
Application number: US11/868,951
Authority: US
Inventors: Andy Ninh; Hai Quach
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-10-08
Filing date: 2007-10-08
Publication date: 2009-04-09

Abstract

An instant beverage product includes a disposable cup, a soluble ingredient disposed in a bottom portion of the disposable cup, and a sealing layer sealed at an inner surface of the disposable cup at the bottom portion thereof to seal and enclose the soluble ingredient in said disposable cup, wherein the sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup for a predetermined volume of water being added into the disposable cup to mix with the soluble ingredient to form an instant beverage. The instant beverage product is adapted to be stacked up with another instant beverage product when the bottom portion of said disposable cup is placed in the upper portion of another disposable cup through the top opening thereof to minimize a space for packing two or more the instant beverage products together.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention
The prevent invention relates to an instant beverage. More particularly, the instant beverage product comprises a sealing layer removably sealed at a bottom portion of a disposable cup to seal a soluble ingredient therein so that the instant beverages product can be stacked up to minimize the space for storage and can be ready to serve that the instant beverage product only requires the addition of water.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Current instant beverage product, such as instant coffee, hot chocolate or instant tea, is packed in a small packet. It generally comprises a bag containing a soluble powder therein so that the drinker is able to carry the instant beverage everywhere. In order to prepare the instant beverage, the drinker must open up the bag and put the soluble powder into a cup. After adding hot water into the cup, the soluble powder will dissolve in the how water to form the instant beverage. However, the instant beverage product has several drawbacks.
The drinker must find the cup or other containers to contain the hot water for dissolving the soluble powder. Therefore, the instant beverage cannot be made without the cup. In addition, the drinker may also need a stir to well-mix the soluble powder with hot water. By only adding hot water into the cup, the soluble powder cannot be totally dissolved into the hot water so that some residues of the soluble powder will be sunk at the bottom of the cup. Therefore, the flavor of the instant beverage will be obviously much stronger and/or sweeter at the last drop of the instant beverage.
Similar to the instant noodle product, an improved instant beverage product includes a cup containing the soluble powder and a cover sealed at a top opening of the cup so that the drinker is able to peel off the cover and to add hot water into the cup for dissolving the soluble powder to form the instant beverage.
As it is mentioned above, the drinker also needs to find the stir to stir the soluble powder with hot water. Another major disadvantage of the instant beverage product is that the manufacturer must pack each of the instant beverage products individually for shipping and handling. The drinkers or the retailers must store the instant beverage products individually as well. Even though the instant beverage products are in light weight, they require a relative larger space for storage and transportation.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks and limitation that the instant beverages product can be stacked up to minimize the space for storage and can be ready to serve that the instant beverage product only requires the addition of water.
An instant beverage product comprises a disposable cup, a soluble ingredient disposed in a bottom portion of the disposable cup, and a sealing layer sealed at an inner surface of the disposable cup at the bottom portion thereof to seal and enclose the soluble ingredient in said disposable cup, wherein the sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup for a predetermined volume of water being added into the disposable cup to mix with the soluble ingredient to form an instant beverage.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide the instant beverage product adapted to be stacked up with another instant beverage product when the bottom portion of said disposable cup is placed in the upper portion of another disposable cup through the top opening thereof to minimize a space for packing two or more the instant beverage products together.
The second objective of the present invention is that the stirring handle provides two different functions of assisting the sealing layer being removed from the disposable cup and stirring the instant beverage.
The third objective of the present invention is that the disposable cup can be Styrofoam cup, a plastic cup, or paper cup wherein the manufacturing cost of the present invention can be minimized.
The fourth of the present invention is that the disposable cup comprises a sealing ridge to support and seal with the sealing layer. Therefore, the user must intentionally peel the sealing layer off the disposable cup.
The fifth objective of the present invention is that the soluble ingredient can be either in liquid form, gel form, or solid form that the soluble ingredient is concealed at the bottom portion of the disposable cup via the sealing layer. The soluble ingredient can be instant coffee composition, hot chocolate powder, water dissolvable medicine, or tea leaves.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention with its objectives and distinctive features and advantages, reference is now made to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention, wherein the instant beverage products are stacked up with each other.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a first alternative of the disposable cup of the instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention, showing the soluble ingredient as water dissolvable medicine disposed in the disposable cup.

FIG. 5 is a second alternative of the disposable cup of the instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention, showing the soluble ingredient as hot chocolate powder disposed in the disposable cup.

FIG. 6 is a third alternative of the disposable cup of the instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an alternative of the instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention, showing the soluble ingredient as tea leaves disposed in the disposable cup.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an instant beverage product in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. The instant beverage product can be instantly prepared by adding water thereinto to form an instant beverage. The instant beverage comprises a disposable cup 100, a soluble ingredient 200, and a sealing layer 300.
The disposable cup 100 has a top opening 101, an upper portion 102, and a bottom portion 103, wherein a size of the bottom portion 103 is smaller that a size of the upper portion 102. The disposable cup 100 can be a Styrofoam cup, a plastic cup, or a paper cup for containing water, especially hot water, in the disposable cup 100. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the disposable cup 100 has a cone shape that a circumferential size of the disposable cup 100 is gradually reducing from the top opening 101 to the bottom portion 103. The disposable cup 100 further has a water level guide 105 provided at the inner surface of the disposable cup 100 at a position close to the top opening 101, wherein the water level guide 105 is a guidance for the user to add the water into the disposable cup 100 until the water level reaches the water level guide 105.
The soluble ingredient 200 is disposed in the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100. The soluble ingredient 200 can be an instant coffee composition 201 comprising at least one of instant coffee powder, sugar powder, and milk powder. Alternatively, the soluble ingredient 200 can be an instant hot chocolate powder, water dissolvable medicine 202, or tea leaves 203.
It is worth mentioning that the soluble ingredient 200 can be either in powder form such as the instant coffee composition 201 or hot chocolate powder, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, or in tablet form of the water dissolvable medicine 202, such as “Alka Seltzer”, as shown in FIG. 4.
The sealing layer 300 has a peripheral edge 301 sealed at an inner surface of the disposable cup 100 at the bottom portion 103 thereof to seal and enclose the soluble ingredient 200 in the disposable cup 100. The sealing layer 300 is adapted to be removed from the disposable cup 100 for a predetermined volume of water being added into the disposable cup 100 to mix with the soluble ingredient 200 to form the instant beverage.
As shown in FIG. 3, the sealing layer 300 further has a peeling portion 302 integrally extended from the peripheral edge 301 so that the user is able to hold the peeling portion 302 of the sealing layer 300 to remove the sealing layer 300 from the disposable cup 100.
Preferably, a sealing element 303 is applied at the peripheral edge 301 of the sealing layer 300 to seal with the disposable cup 100. The sealing element 303 should be safe to eat when water is added into the disposable cup 100, wherein when the sealing layer 303 is removed from the disposable cup 100, the sealing element 303 is preferred to remain at the peripheral edge 301 of the sealing layer 300. The sealing element 303 can be syrup to seal the sealing layer 300 with the disposable cup 100.
As shown in FIG. 2, the instant beverage product further comprises an elongated stirring handle 400 extended from the sealing layer 300 towards the top opening 101 of the disposable cup 100. The stirring handle 400 has an affixing end 401 affixing to a portion of the peripheral edge 301 of the sealing layer 300 and an opposed enlarged handling end 402 extended towards the top opening 101 of the disposable cup 100. In particularly, the affixing end 401 of the stirring handle 400 is affixed to the peeling portion 302 of the sealing layer 300.
Accordingly, the stirring handle 400, which functions as a pulling stick, is pulled upwardly to remove the sealing layer 300 from the disposable cup 100 so that the user is able to hold the stirring handle 400 and to apply an upward pulling force at the stirring handle 400 to remove the sealing layer 300 from the disposable cup 100. Since the sealing layer 300 is sealed at the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100, the user may have difficulty to reach the peeling portion 302 of the sealing layer 300, especially if the user has a bigger hand size.
Preferably, the handling end 402 of the stirring handle 400 is positioned below the top opening 101 of the disposable cup 100. After the sealing layer 300 is removed, the stirring handle 400 forms a stir for well-mixing the soluble ingredient 200 with the water. Therefore, the stirring handle 400 provide two unique functions for the instant beverage product of the present invention to let the user not only to easily remove the sealing layer 300 at the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100 but also to stir the instant beverage.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the stirring handle 400 further has a breakable notch 403 provided at a position close to the affixing end 401 so that after the sealing layer 300 is removed from the disposable cup 100, the stirring handle 400 is detached from the sealing layer 300 at the breakable notch 403 for stirring the soluble ingredient 200 with the water.
The stirring handle 400 further contains a temperature tester 404 provided thereat for checking the temperature of the instant beverage. The temperature tester 401 comprises a testing layer coated with thermochromatic ink provided at the handling end 402 of the stirring handle 400. Therefore, after the stirring handle 400 is separated from the sealing layer 300 to stir the instant beverage, the user is able to put the handling end 402 of the stirring handle 400 to check the temperature of the instant beverage whether the temperature thereof is suitable for drink. The temperature tester 404 will change its color from the room temperature when heat is applied. Therefore, the user is able to check the color of the temperature tester 404 before drinking the instant beverage. Preferably, the temperature tester 404 is sealed and coated at the stirring handle 400 via a sealing layer to prevent the composition of the temperature tester 404 directly contacting with the instant beverage while the heat of the instant beverage can be transmitted to the temperature tester 404 through the sealing layer.
In order to support the sealing layer 300 at the inner surface of the disposable cup 100, the disposable cup 100 further has a sealing ridge 104 integrally protruded from the inner surface of the disposable cup 100 to define the bottom portion 103 below the sealing ridge 104 and the upper portion 102 above the sealing ridge 104. The peripheral edge 301 of the sealing layer 300 is sealed at the sealing ridge 104 to enclose the soluble ingredient 200 in the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100. Preferably, the sealing ridge 104 has a top flat surface to seal with the peripheral edge 301 of the sealing layer 300.
As shown in FIG. 2, the sealing ridge 104 is a ring shaped member integrally formed at the inner surface of the disposable cup 100. Therefore, the thickness of the disposable cup 100 is increased at the sealing ridge 104. Alternatively, during the molding of the disposable cup 100, such as a Styrofoam cup or a plastic cup, the presser is pressed on the outer surface of the disposable cup 100 that a loop of the inner surface is protruded to form the sealing ridge 104A as shown in FIG. 4. Therefore, the disposable cup 100 has a uniform thickness. For the disposable cup 100 made of paper, a longitudinal section thereof can be folded to form the sealing ridge 104C as shown in FIG. 5.
As shown in FIG. 6, an alternative sealing ridge 104B is shown for the disposable cup 100B. The disposable cup 100B has a zigzag configuration to define a stepping shoulder between the upper and bottom portions 102B and 103B of the disposable cup, wherein the sealing ridge 104B is formed at the stepping shoulder. The upper portion 102B of the disposable cup 100B has a cone shape that a circumferential size of the top opening 101B is larger than a circumferential size of the stepping shoulder.
As it is mentioned above, the soluble ingredient 200 can be tea leaves 203 disposed in the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100, as shown in FIG. 7. Since the tea leaves 203 cannot be dissolved in the hot water, the tea leaves 203 may float on top of the water after infusion. Therefore, the instant beverage product of the present invention further comprises a sieving layer 500 having a plurality of water holes 502 and a peripheral edge 501 affixing to the inner surface of the disposable cup 100 at a position below the sealing layer 300, so that when the sealing layer 300 is removed from the disposable cup 100, the sieving layer 500 is adapted for not only letting the water entering into the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100 through the water holes to infuse with the tea leaves 203 but also blocking the tea leaves 203 being floated to the upper portion 102 of the disposable cup 100.
As shown in FIG. 7, the peripheral edge 501 of the sieving layer 500 is permanently sealed at the sealing ridge 104, wherein the peripheral edge 301 of the sealing layer 300 is removably sealed at the peripheral edge 501 of the sieving layer 500 so that the sealing layer 300 is normally overlapped on the sieving layer 500 to cover the water holes 502 thereof. Therefore, after the user removes the sealing layer 300 by the stirring handle 400, he or she is able to pour the hot water into the disposable cup 100 to make a cup of tea.
One aspect of the present invention is that the instant beverage product is adapted to be stacked up with another the instant beverage product when the bottom portion 103 of the disposable cup 100 is placed in the upper portion 102 of another the disposable cup 100 through the top opening 101 thereof to minimize a space for packing two or more the instant beverage products together.
Therefore, the instant beverage products of the present invention can be stacked up with each other and can be held in a conventional disposable cup dispenser without alternating the original structure of the disposable cup dispenser. Therefore, the user is able to pull out one of the instant beverage products from the disposable cup dispenser and to add water into the disposable cup 100 to form the instant beverage after removing the sealing layer 300. It is no hassle of looking for a cup and a stir as the requirement of the conventional instant beverage product.
While the embodiments and alternatives of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An instant beverage product, comprising:

a disposable cup having a top opening, an upper portion, and a bottom portion, wherein a size of said bottom portion is smaller that a size of said upper portion;

a soluble ingredient disposed in said bottom portion of said disposable cup; and

a sealing layer having a peripheral edge sealed at an inner surface of said disposable cup at said bottom portion thereof to seal and enclose said soluble ingredient in said disposable cup, wherein said sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup for a predetermined volume of water being added into said disposable cup to mix with said soluble ingredient to form an instant beverage, wherein said instant beverage product is adapted to be stacked up with another said instant beverage product when said bottom portion of said disposable cup is placed in said upper portion of another said disposable cup through said top opening thereof to minimize a space for packing two or more said instant beverage products together.

2. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 1, further comprising an elongated stirring handle having an affixing end affixing to a portion of said peripheral edge of said sealing layer and an opposed handling end extended towards said top opening of said disposable cup, wherein said stirring handle is pulled upwardly to remove said sealing layer from said disposable cup, wherein after said sealing layer is removed, said stirring handle forms a stir for well-mixing said soluble ingredient with said water.

3. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 2, wherein said stirring handle further has a breakable notch provided at a position close to said affixing end so that after said sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup, said stirring handle is detached from said sealing layer at said breakable notch for stirring said soluble ingredient with said water.

4. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 1, wherein said disposable cup further has a sealing ridge integrally protruded from said inner surface of said disposable cup to define said bottom portion below said sealing ridge, wherein said peripheral edge of said sealing layer is sealed at said sealing ridge to enclose said soluble ingredient in said bottom portion of said disposable cup.

5. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 2, wherein said disposable cup further has a sealing ridge integrally protruded from said inner surface of said disposable cup to define said bottom portion below said sealing ridge, wherein said peripheral edge of said sealing layer is sealed at said sealing ridge to enclose said soluble ingredient in said bottom portion of said disposable cup.

6. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 3, wherein said disposable cup further has a sealing ridge integrally protruded from said inner surface of said disposable cup to define said bottom portion below said sealing ridge, wherein said peripheral edge of said sealing layer is sealed at said sealing ridge to enclose said soluble ingredient in said bottom portion of said disposable cup.

7. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 4, wherein said disposable cup has a cone shape that a circumferential size of said disposable cup is gradually reducing from said top opening to said bottom portion.

8. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 6, wherein said disposable cup has a cone shape that a circumferential size of said disposable cup is gradually reducing from said top opening to said bottom portion.

9. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 4, wherein said disposable cup has a zigzag configuration to define a stepping shoulder between said upper and bottom portions of said disposable cup, wherein said sealing ridge is formed at said stepping shoulder.

10. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 6, wherein said disposable cup has a zigzag configuration to define a stepping shoulder between said upper and bottom portions of said disposable cup, wherein said sealing ridge is formed at said stepping shoulder.

11. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 1, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises at least one of instant coffee powder, sugar powder, and milk powder.

12. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 8, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises at least one of instant coffee powder, sugar powder, and milk powder.

13. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 11, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises at least one of instant coffee powder, sugar powder, and milk powder.

14. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 1, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises water dissolvable medicine.

15. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 8, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises water dissolvable medicine.

16. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 11, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises water dissolvable medicine.

17. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 1, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises tea leaves.

18. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 8, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises tea leaves.

19. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 11, wherein said soluble ingredient comprises tea leaves.

20. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 17, further comprising a sieving layer having a plurality of water holes and a peripheral edge affixing to said inner surface of said disposable cup at a position below said sealing layer, so that when said sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup, said sieving layer is adapted for not only letting said water entering into said bottom portion of said disposable cup through said water holes to infuse with said tea leaves but also blocking said tea leaves being floated to said upper portion of said disposable cup.

21. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 18, further comprising a sieving layer having a plurality of water holes and a peripheral edge affixing to said inner surface of said disposable cup at a position below said sealing layer, so that when said sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup, said sieving layer is adapted for not only letting said water entering into said bottom portion of said disposable cup through said water holes to infuse with said tea leaves but also blocking said tea leaves being floated to said upper portion of said disposable cup.

22. The instant beverage product, as recited in claim 19, further comprising a sieving layer having a plurality of water holes and a peripheral edge affixing to said inner surface of said disposable cup at a position below said sealing layer, so that when said sealing layer is removed from said disposable cup, said sieving layer is adapted for not only letting said water entering into said bottom portion of said disposable cup through said water holes to infuse with said tea leaves but also blocking said tea leaves being floated to said upper portion of said disposable cup.