Sippy Cup Replacement

Abstract

a regular, spoutless cup that provides more of the convenience of bottles and sippy cups to parents looking to wean their children off or avoid spouts from bottles and sippy cups. The cup has a lid, a body and optional legs. The lid has squeeze tabs that allow removal from the body portion. The lid and the body cooperate to provide flow control through at least one hole in the lid leading to the spout and at least one hole in a cover over the body. By rotating the lid and either alighing or not aligning the holes, the user can achieve flow control. The optional legs are attached to a ring that fits on the body. The legs can be laterally concave to provide superior properties that prevent tipping.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A child's cup comprising a lid and a body portion;
 the lid having a rim and a base, with at least one lowered spout location on said rim, the rim having a plurality of first holes constructed to mate with protrusions on the body portion; the base of the lid also having at least one through-hole, the through-hole providing a liquid flow path from the body portion; the lid also having a plurality of flexible finger tabs;   the body portion including a cavity for holding liquid and a lip, the lip having the plurality of protrusions constructed to mate with the first holes in the rim; the body portion also having a closed cover with at least one flow hole in said closed cover;   the lid and the body portion constructed so that when the flexible finger tabs on the lid are squeezed, the first holes on the lid separate from the protrusions on the body portion allowing the lid to be removed, and when the lid is placed on the body portion, and the flexible finger tabs are released, the lid mates to the body portion forming a liquid seal;   the lid and body portion being constructed so that when the lid is rotated with respect the body portion, the through-hole on the lid either aligns or fails to align with the flow hole in the closed cover of the body portion therein allowing flow control by rotating said lid.   
     
     
         2 . The child's cup of  claim 1  further comprising a legs portion, the legs portion including an upper ring with at least three downward pointing legs attached to the ring, the legs portion having a plurality of tabs that mate with a plurality of second holes in the body portion allowing the legs to be attached to the body portion. 
     
     
         3 . The child's cup of  claim 2  wherein each downward pointing leg is laterally concave. 
     
     
         4 . The child's cup of  claim 1  further comprising the lid having a plurality of through holes. 
     
     
         5 . The child's cup of  claim 4  further comprising the closed cover having a plurality of flow holes. 
     
     
         6 . The child's cup of  claim 1  wherein the spout is silicon rubber. 
     
     
         7 . The child's cup of  claim 6  wherein the rim is flexible plastic. 
     
     
         8 . The child's cup of  claim 1  wherein the body portion is rigid plastic. 
     
     
         9 . The child's cup of  claim 2  wherein the legs portion is rigid plastic. 
     
     
         10 . A child's cup comprising a lid, a legs portion, and a body portion;
 the lid having a rim and, a base, with at least one lowered spout location on said rim, the rim having a plurality of first holes constructed to mate with protrusions on the body portion; the base of the lid portion also having at least one through-hole, the through-hole providing a liquid flow path from the body portion; the lid also having a plurality of flexible finger tabs;   the body portion including a cavity for holding liquid, the body portion also have a lip, the lip including the plurality of protrusions constructed to mate with the first holes in the rim; the body portion also having a cover with at least one flow hole in said cover;   the lid and the body portion constructed so that when the flexible finger tabs on the lid are squeezed, the first holes on the lid separate from the protrusions on the body portion allowing the lid to be removed, and when the lid is placed on the body portion and the flexible finger tabs are released, the lid mates to the body portion forming a liquid seal;   the legs portion including an upper ring with at least three downward pointing legs attached to the ring, the legs portion having a plurality of tabs that mate with a plurality of second holes in the body portion allowing the legs to be attached to the body portion;   the lid and body portion being constructed so that when the lid is rotated with respect the body portion, the through-hole on the lid either aligns or fails to align with the flow hole in the cover of the body portion therein allowing flow control by rotating said lid.   
     
     
         11 . The child's cup of  claim 10  further comprising the lid having a plurality of through holes. 
     
     
         12 . The child's cup of  claim 10  further comprising the closed cover having a plurality of flow holes. 
     
     
         13 . The child's cup of  claim 10  wherein the spout is silicon rubber. 
     
     
         14 . The child's cup of  claim 10  wherein the rim is flexible plastic. 
     
     
         15 . The child's cup of  claim 10  wherein the body portion is rigid plastic. 
     
     
         16 . The child's cup of  claim 10  wherein the legs portion is rigid plastic. 
     
     
         17 . A method for providing a child's cup comprising:
 providing a cup having a lid and a body portion;   constructing the lid to have a rim and a base with at least one lowered spout location on the rim;   also constructing the rim to have a plurality of first holes that mate with protrusions on the body portion;   constructing the base of the lid portion to have at least one through-hole, the through-hole providing a liquid flow path from the body portion, and constructing the lid to have a plurality of flexible finger tabs;   constructing the body portion to include a cavity for holding liquid and constructing the lip to have the plurality of protrusions that mate with the first holes in the rim,   also constructing the body portion to have a cover with at least one flow hole in said cover;   constructing the lid and the body portion so that when the flexible finger tabs on the lid are squeezed, the first holes on the lid separate from the protrusions on the body portion allowing the lid to be removed, and when the lid is placed on the body portion and the flexible finger tabs are released, the lid mates to the body portion forming a liquid seal;   constructing the lid and body portion so that when the lid is rotated with respect the body portion, the through-hole on the lid either aligns or fails to align with the flow hole in the cover of the body portion therein allowing flow control by rotating said lid.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising providing a legs portion, the legs portion including an upper ring with at least three downward pointing legs attached to the ring, the legs portion having a plurality of tabs that mate with a plurality of second holes in the body portion allowing the legs to be attached to the body portion; 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein, the lid has a plurality of through holes. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein, the closed cover has a plurality of flow holes.