GB2134374A

GB2134374A - Multi-purpose drinking/eating vessels

Info

Publication number: GB2134374A
Application number: GB08403471A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ali Nassiri-Motlagh
Original assignee: NASSIRI MOTLAGH ALI
Current assignee: NASSIRI MOTLAGH ALI
Priority date: 1983-02-09
Filing date: 1984-02-09
Publication date: 1984-08-15
Also published as: GB8403471D0

Abstract

A multi-purpose drinking or eating vessel comprises two bowl portions (10,12) of the same or different shapes and/or sizes joined together base part to base part, directly or indirectly via a decorative junction piece (16), whereby the vessel may be used for different drinking or eating purposes according to whichever bowl portion is selected to stand uppermost for the time being, the lower inverted bowl portion acting as a stand for the upper bowl portion. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Multi-purpose drinking/eating vessels Technical field This invention relates to drinking and eating vessels, that is to say, to vessels of the kind constructed and intended for the purpose of temporarily holding served portions of drink or food which are to be consumed from the vessel.

Background art It has been common practice to construct such vessels for peforming one specific purpose only; namely, for holding food on the one hand, or beverages on the other hand, the shaped and configuration of the vessel having been selected to suit the intended mode of use, i.e. for lifting to the lips for drinking, or for use in conjunction with eating utensils for conveying food to the mouth.

Such vessels have commonly been provided with a base standard or portion having an integral flat base surface for supporting the bowl portion of the vessel. That base standard or portion has been commonly constructed as a mere basal support which did not have, and was not intended to serve, any function otherthan that of providing mechanical supportforthe bowl portion of the vessel .

There have been many examples of such vessels, and one document in particular, UK patent specification 1 398595 (published 1975), shows a drinking vessel constructed in a then-noval way to produce a uni-function drinking vessel.

For convenience in what follows, vessels that are intended for use in eating and/or drinking will be referred to simply as 'drinking vessels', and the term 'drinking' will be used as covering wherever appropriate the term 'eating' as well.

According to the present invention, a drinking vessel comprises two drinking bowl portions secured together, one being inverted relative to the other and acting as a base support for the said other bowl portion, and each bowl portion being intended for and capable of being used as a drinking bowl when disposed uppermost.

Such bowl portions may be of the same shape and/or size, though more conveniently and advantageously they are of different shapes and/or sizes, so as to serve different intended functions in social activities.

By tradition or local custom, in the serving and drinking of alcholic beverages, for example, certain shapes and/or sizes of drinking glass have become associated with the drinking of different sorts of alcholic beverage, so that there is a common social practice of serving such beverages in glasses of appropriate shape and size. Thus, the many different varieties of drinking glass include specialised glas sesforthe serving and drinking of sherry. port, whisky, brandy, liqueurs, cocktails, champagne, table wines, and soon.

Multi-purpose drinking/eating vessels according to the present invention have the advantage, that the number of different varieties of vessels can be greatly reduced, with consequent desirable savings in first cost, and the need for storage space.

The two bowl portions constituting a vessel according to the present invention may be joined directly to one another, orjoined indirectly by way of a decorative junction piece or insert.

Other features of the present invention will appear from the description that follows hereafter, and from the claims appended at the end of that description.

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings Figures 1 to 6 show side elevations of six different drinking glasses constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Description ofthe embodiments ofthe invention In each of those glasses, an upper drinking bowl 10 is carried on and secured to a lower inverted drinking bowl 12, the respective bowls being shaped after the bowl portions of various traditional lines of specialised drinking glasses, and the lower bowl for the time being acting as a basal support for the upper bowl. Each such drinking glass is capable of being used for drinking with one or the other drinking bowl, as desired, uppermost.

In each of the Figures 1 and 2, the upper and lower bowls merge smoothly one into the other at their junction region 14, whereas in the glasses of Figures 3 and 4 the upper and lower bowls are joined to one another indirectly by way of a decorative speherical junction piece 16, which merges smoothly into each of the upper and lower bowls. Other forms of decorative junction piece 16 may be used instead of the spherical one shown.

In the Figures 5 and 6, upper and lower drinking bowls are combined in a common structure which incorporates a partition which is common to and forms a base for each such drinking bowl. The external surfaces of the two bowls are constituted by a single cylindrical or conical wall 20 or 22.

In the Figure 1, the drinking glass comprises uppermost a bowl portion in the form of that of the common rounded, balloon-shaped table wine glass or goblet, and lowemost a bowl portion in the form of that of a glass commonly used for serving long drinks, such as gin and tonic water.

In the Figures 2 and 4, the drinking glass comprises uppermost a bowl portion in the form of that of a common conical champagne or cocktail glass, and lowermost a conical bowl portion similar to that of the Figure 1.

In the Figure 3, the drinking glass comprises uppermost a bowl portion in the form of that of a shallow rounded champagne glass, and lowermost a bowl portion similar to that of the Figure 1.

In the Figures 5 and 6, the drinking glass comprises uppermost a bowl portion in the form of that of a tumbler or whisky glass, and lowermost a bowl portion in the form of that of a sherry or port glass.

Drinking vessels as described may be made out of glass, or of any suitable plastics material, or of any suitable sheet metal such as stainless steel or anodised aluminuim.

In constructing other embodiments of the present invention, the upper and lower bowl portions may be of the same or different shapes and/or sizes, the same or different materials, and the same or different surface finishes, textures, patterns and/or colorations.

In each embodiment of the present invention, the base portion for the time being has always two specific functions, namely when disposed lowermost to provide a stable support for the bowl portion above it, and when disposed uppermost to constitute a bowl for receiving a portion of a beverage or food.

All of the glasses shown in the figures are of circular configuration in plan view.

Claims

1. A multi-purpose drinking or eating vessel comprising two bowl portions (10, 12) shaped and sized to serve respective drinking andior eating functions, which bowl portions are joined base part to base part together in a manner such that when one of the bowl portion stands uppermost to serve a desired drinking or eating function, the other, lower bowl portion acts as a base for the upper bowl portion, and vice versa.

2. A vessel according to claim 1, wherein the two bowl portions are joined together indirectly via a junction piece (16).

3. A vessel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one bowl portion is of conical shape.

4. A vessel according to claim 3, wherein the other bowl portion is also of conical shape.

5. A vessel according to claim 3, wherein the other bowl portion is of rounded balloon shape.

6. A vessel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one bowl portion is of cylindrical shape.

7. A vessel according to claim 6, wherein the other bowl portion is of rounded balloon shape.

8. A vessel according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the two bowl portions are defined by a common cylindrical wall (20).

9. A vessel according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the two bowl portions are defined by a common conical wall (22).

10. A vessel according to any preceding claim, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by any single figure of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.