Container Interconvertable Between Glass and Bottle

This US non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 USC § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0069471, filed on May 28, 2024, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a container, and more particularly, to a container convertible between a cup and a bottle.

A container stores contents such as beverages or alcoholic drinks for drinking and has various shapes depending on the kinds of contents.

The container generally has a different function depending on shapes. In recent years, technologies and products that are convertible between a cup and a bottle have been released.

The present applicant also filed patents related to the technologies and products, including Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1424096 titled “a container for drinking” and Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1424381 titled “Container which is changed into cup (or glass) type”.

Korean Patent Registration Nos. 10-1424096 and 10-1424381 disclose technologies for the purpose of improving convenience of drinking by converting a bottle into a cup or glass for use.

Although Korean Patent Registration Nos. 10-1424096 and 10-1424381 have an advantage in a technical feature of converting a bottle into a cup, the patents have a room for improvement in that the container may not be reused as the bottle once the bottle is converted into the cup.

Korean Patent Registration Nos. 10-1424096 and 10-1424381 have a weakness in marketability because a base of the cup is used as a cover, which results in reduced aesthetic feature when converted into the cup. In order to solve the above-described limitation, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1424381 discloses an example of embedding the base in the cover. However, the patent is required to improve stability because the cup may be tilted and fallen down due to a limitation in center of gravity.

The present disclosure provides a container convertible between a cup and a bottle.

The present disclosure also provides a container that is purchased (or sold) in the form of a bottle, used in the form of a cup for drinking, and then reused in the form of a bottle after drinking is completed.

The present disclosure also provides a container that is convertible into a cup having a shape capable of improving external visibility as a bottle in consideration of manufacturing characteristics of a glass bottle.

The present disclosure also provides a container that is convertible into a cup with improved standing stability when 180° position conversion is performed in consideration of manufacturing characteristics of a glass bottle and a shape of a bottle.

Technical objects to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the aforementioned technical objects and unmentioned technical objects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a container convertible into a cup, the container including: a main body having a closed knob and an opened opposite portion; a base connecting cap inserted and coupled to the knob; a cover coupled to the opposite portion of the main body; and a base member disposed below the cover. Here, the container is converted into the cup by fastening the base connecting cap to the base member in a state in which the main body is rotated by 180° and the base member is taken out.

In an embodiment, the base connecting cap, which has a hat-like shape, may have one side at which a knob fitting part fitted to an outer side of the knob of the main body is disposed and the other side at which an inner fastening part and an outer fastening part, which are fastened to the base member, are disposed, and the base member, which has a disk shape, may include: an outer rim; a circular hollow part having an inner hollow; and a groove part that forms a predetermined space between the outer rim and the hollow part, which have lower ends connected to each other.

In an embodiment, double fastening may be performed such that the inner fastening part of the base connecting cap is engaged with an inner side of the hollow part through a projection, and the outer fastening part is fitted to the groove part.

In an embodiment, the base connecting cap may have a first inclined surface extending from one end of the knob fitting part at a predetermined inclined angle to have a hat-like shape, the base member may have a second inclined surface extending inward from the outer rim at a predetermined inclined angle, and the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface may form an integrated base shape by one predetermined radius of curvature through fastening between the base connecting cap and the base member.

In an embodiment, the base connecting cap may have a cap shape when the container has a bottle shape, and the base connecting cap may form an external curvature image of a base shape of a wine glass when the container has a glass shape as the base connecting cap is coupled with the base member.

In an embodiment, the cover and the base member may be wrapped together with a portion of the main body by a film.

In an embodiment, the base connecting cap may have one side at which a knob fitting part fitted to an outer side of the knob of the main body is disposed, the other side at which a fastening part fastened to the base member is disposed, and an outer rim on which a fastening projection is disposed, and the base member, which has a disk shape, may have an outer side at which a hollow part to which the base connecting cap is inserted is formed and an inner side at which a fastening protrusion fastened with the fastening projection is formed.

Hereinafter, a container convertible into a cup according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The detailed description on the specific embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings should be read in relation with the accompanying drawings, and the drawings are regarded as a part of the description of the entire invention. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are used for convenience of description and are not intended to limiting of the invention.

When it is described that an element is “coupled to”, “engaged with”, or “connected to” another element, it should be understood that the element may be directly coupled or connected to the other element but still another element may be “coupled to”, “engaged with”, or “connected to” the other element between them.

is a perspective view illustrating a container convertible into a cup according to the present disclosure,is an exploded perspective view illustrating the container convertible into the cup according to the present disclosure, andis a view illustrating a state in which the container convertible into the cup is converted to the cup.

As illustrated in, a containerconvertible into a cup according to the present disclosure is freely converted between a bottle shape as illustrated inand a cup shape as illustrated in.

In particular, in the case of the bottle shape as in, the container is manufactured in a state in which contents (alcoholic beverages or drinks) are already filled and an inlet (or outlet) is sealed. The container has a liquor bottle shape or drink bottle shape which is generally sold on a market and in which alcoholic drinks or beverages are stored, instead of an empty bottle for the purpose of filling liquids. Although the contents are preferably in a liquid state, the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, for clarity in the following description, the upper portion of the drawing inwill be referred to as “upper,” “upward,” “top,” or “upper side,” and the lower portion will be referred to as “lower,” “downward,” “bottom,” or “lower side.”

The containermay include: a main bodycontaining contents such as alcoholic beverages or drinks and accommodating the contents; a base connecting capthat is fitted to an upper portion of the main body; a coversealing a lower portion of the main body; and a filmwhich covers the lower portion of the main bodyand on which a label or product information is printed.

The main bodymay be made of a glass or plastic material and have a bottle shape having a narrow upper portion and a wide lower portion, to have a bottle shape at a position inand a cup shape (particularly, a wine glass) at a position in.

Although the main bodypreferably has an approximately circular cross-sectional shape, the embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the main bodymay have a polygonal cross-sectional shape or other cross-sectional shapes.

The base connecting capis a member fitted to a projectiondisposed at an upper end of the main bodyand fastened to a base member.

In general, a bottle is manufactured by a ‘blow molding process’ that is a (injection molding) method of injecting (blowing) air and pressing in a mold frame. Since a product manufactured by the blow molding method has an ‘empty’ space obtained by blowing air thereinto, the blow molding method is generally used to manufacture a container for storing contents.

Since air is injected from a knob (i.e., a mouth of the bottle) in a conventional bottle container, the knob is opened to form an inlet, and the opposite side forms a bottom.

However, the container according to the present disclosure has a structure that is reversed from that of the conventional bottle container, i.e., a structure in which a knob is closed, and the opposite side is opened.

This is because, when converted into a cup (based on a shape of a wine glass), the opposite side becomes an inlet instead of the knob.

Thus, unlike the conventional bottle container, the base connecting capserves as a fastening member that is fastened with the base memberduring rotation to secure standing stability in the glass shape in addition to as a cap that improves visibility of a bottle shape with a cap closed before the cap is closed in the bottle shape instead of serving to block an opened portion (generally, an inlet).

The term ‘knob’ may refer to both a mouth of the bottle and a thin and long handle of a wine glass when converted into the glass.

The coveris rolled by a filmand easily exposed to the outside when the filmis removed.

A sealing memberis fitted inside the coverfor sealing purposes, and a base memberthat serves as a base when converted into the cup is disposed on a bottom surface of the cover. Similarly, the base membermay be also rolled by the filmand exposed to the outside when the filmis removed.

Preferably, the filmis rolled until a lower portion and a lower end corner of the main bodyto cover the coverand the base memberand prevent the coverand the base memberfrom being separated when the filmis not removed.

is a detailed view illustrating a cap for connecting a base and a base member of the container convertible into a cup according to the present disclosure.

Referring to, (A) is a detailed structure view illustrating the base connecting cap, (B) is a detailed structure view illustrating the base member, and (C) is a cross-sectional view illustrating fastening of the base connecting capand the base member.

The base connecting capserves as a fastening member that is fastened to the base memberduring rotation to secure standing stability in the glass shape in addition to as a cap that improves visibility of the bottle shape.

To performed the above-described two roles, the base connecting caphas a hat-like shape to improve external visibility in the bottle state (refer to) and maintains a wine glass shape in the glass state (refer to).

The hat-like-shaped base connecting caphas one side at which a knob fitting partfitted to an outer side of the knob of the main bodyis disposed and the other side at which an inner fastening partand an outer fastening part, which are fastened with the base member, are disposed.

In the knob fitting part, cut portionsmay be defined at predetermined positions to allow easy radial expansion and contraction.

The inner fastening parthas a cylindrical shape, and the outer fastening partis spaced a predetermined gap from the inner fastening partto have a first inclined surfacethat extends from one end of the knob fitting partat a predetermined inclined angle to have a hat-like shape.

The base memberhas a disk shape and includes: an outer rim; a second inclined surfaceextending inward from the outer rimat a predetermined inclined angle; a circular hollow parthaving an inner hollow; and a groove partthat forms a predetermined space between the second inclined surfaceand the hollow part, which have lower ends connected to each other.