GB2426241A

GB2426241A - A vessel carrier adaptable to form a periscope

Info

Publication number: GB2426241A
Application number: GB0510284A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Michael Brown; Christopher Malcolm Gle Stuart
Original assignee: BLUE OYSTER Ltd
Current assignee: BLUE OYSTER Ltd
Priority date: 2005-05-19
Filing date: 2005-05-19
Publication date: 2006-11-22
Also published as: GB0510284D0

Abstract

A carrying device arranged to receive at least one vessel such as a drinks bottle or cup is adaptable to form a periscope. The device 1 may take the form of a substantially hollow cuboid, having apertures 7 in a top face thereof to receive the vessels. A light inlet 14 and viewing opening 12 are provided in opposite sides of the device at opposite ends. Mirrors 11, 9 are mounted on flaps 10, 8 provided inside the device and are initially folded over the inlet 14 and opening 12 respectively. In order to adapt the device to form a periscope, the flaps 10, 8 are folded within the device at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the inlet 14 and opening 12, so that the mirrors are directed towards each other. Flap 10 is maintained at a 45 degree angle by locking flap 16. Flap 8 is maintained in position under the influence of gravity. Light entering the inlet 14 is reflected by mirror 11 towards mirror 9. Mirror 9 reflects the light out of opening 12. A person looking through opening 12 will therefore 'see' the image that has entered opening 14.

Description

87002.627 A Vessel Carrier The present invention relates to a vessel

carrying device.

When a person purchases several beverages or food items at a bar or fast food outlet, for example, they will need to be carried away from the point of sale to the point of consumption This is a particular issue at large-scale events such as music festivals, where the beverages may need to be carried a significant distance To facilitate easy carrying of beverage or food containers, a vessel canying device is often given to the customer. Many different types of vessel carrying device are known, for example US 6679380 discloses a rigid cany tray having a number of openings, each able to hold a cup. US 6230882 discloses a carrier formed from a cardboard blank, into which a number of beverage containers can be placed. This is then carried by a handle An alternative type of carrier is disclosed in JP 11130128 wherein bottles are suspended by their necks from a plurality of holes in a cardboard carrier One thing that many vessel carriers have in common is that they are intended to be disposable. Once used to transport the drink/food containers, the carrier will normally be thrown away, having no further use.

Quite separately, a problem that can occur at events such as music festivals is that many people, particularly shorter people, cannot see the stage. This could be overcome by using a device such as a periscope, although up until now this is not normally done, probably due to the cost and time involved in finding and purchasing a periscope The inventors of the present invention have recognised that it would be desirable to provide a drinks carrier with an additional function so that it is not immediately thrown away They have recognised that a drink carrying device can in fact be constructed so that it is adaptable to provide a periscope function, thereby bringing these two features together in a single device According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a vessel carrying device arranged to receive at least one vessel, wherein said device is arranged to form a periscope The device may be provided in a condition which is suitable both for canying vessels and for functioning as a periscope Preferably, the device is adaptable by the consumer between a vessel carrying mode and a mode forming a periscope Either way, the consumer is given two useful features in a single device The periscope feature also adds value to a vessel carrying device from a commercial point of view The device would normally be given to customers buying several drinks or food items, and thus the prospect of receiving such a device would encourage customers to buy more items Furthermore, advertising material can be printed on the device, and the dual functionality would mean greater advertising exposure than if, for example, the carrier was immediately thrown away.

The device can take any suitable form, but in one preferred embodiment it is substantially hollow thus allowing easy conversion into a periscope Preferably it is a cuboid shape, again to allow easy conversion into a periscope, to make it simple to manufacture and easy to carry At least one aperture is preferably provided in one side of the device to receive the at least one vessel A separate aperture may be provided for each vessel, or a single aperture could be provided into which several vessels can be placed. In a preferred embodiment, a row of longitudinally spaced vessel receiving locations are provided, each for receiving a respective vessel The receiving locations may be apertures or indentations in the side of the device into which vessels are placed.

The apertures or receiving locations may be of any shape, but preferably are manufactured to be the correct size to fit the type of vessel the device is intended to carry. Any type of vessel may be carried, for example drinks bottles, drinking glasses or food cups Narrower apertures may be provided for bottles, whilst wider apertures may be provided for cups. The apertures may be of the same or different sizes The device may even be manufactured to have apertures of adjustable sizes, that could be custom ised for example by staff at the bar or fast food outlet according to the item sold For example, a series of perforations could be provide d in the device each defining a different sized aperture Staff or the consumer could then adjust the aperture to the correct size by tearing along the perforations.

A first opening may be provided in one side of the device to create a light inlet, and a second opening provided in the opposite side of the device to create a viewing opening These may be present in the carrier condition, or may be created at the time the device is adapted into the periscope condition, for example by tearing out perforated sections Further, a first reflective element may be provided within the device at an angle to the light inlet and a second reflective element provided within the device at an angle to the viewing opening, such that light entering through the inlet is reflected from the first to the second reflective element and out through the viewing opening.

In one embodiment, the reflective elements may be inserted into the device when it is adapted to form a periscope. More preferably, the reflective elements ar e disposed in the vessel carrying device when it is constructed The reflective elements may be moveable between respective positions for the carrier and periscope conditions. Preferably, the reflective elements are arranged to move from one position in the carrier condition to the correct position to provide the periscope function under the influence of gravity when the device is held in a generally vertical position In a one embodiment, when in the carrier condition, the first reflective element is hinged to the inside of the device and is folded over the light inlet, and the second reflective element is folded over the viewing opening These may be kept in position by vessels held in the carrier In order to adapt the device to form a periscope, the reflective elements can be folded away from the openings to form an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the light inlet and viewing opening respectively The reflective elements may then each be held at the correct angle by a locking flap provided on a wall of the device. Alternatively, the first reflective element is manually folded to 45 degrees and is held in place by a locking flap, but the second reflective element simply drops into place and is held there by the action of gravity, when the device is turned upright. A locking flap is then not required to hold the second reflective element at the correct angle In a further embodiment, when in the carrier condition, the first reflective element is folded against the inside of the device on the opposite side to the light inlet and so does not cover the light inlet The second reflective element covers the viewing opening These may be kept in position by vessel(s) held in the carrier In order to adapt the device to form a periscope, the reflective e lements can be folded to form an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the light inlet and viewing opening respectively Alternatively, the reflective elements need not be manually folded into place but simply fall into place by the action of gravity when the device is turned vertically In either of the above embodiments, when adapted to form a periscope, light entering through the inlet is reflected from the first to the second reflective element and out through the viewing opening.

Preferably, the light inlet and viewing opening are provided at opposite ends of the device More preferably, they are provided in the faces adjacent to the face in which the apertures or receiving locations are formed The angle of the first reflective element will normally be at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the light inlet, and the second reflective element will normally be at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the viewing opening This enables the periscope to function in an optimum manner. The reflective elements are preferably acrylic mirrors, but they can be made of any kind of suitable plastic material. They may also be glass mirrors, although this may be less desirable in some situations due cost and to safety issues.

With regard to materials, the device can be made of any suitable material but is preferably made from fluted cardboard. This provides the required strength, whilst being inexpensive and having minimum environmental impact The device can therefore be considered disposable. Easily disposable devices are particularly desired at large events such as music festivals where there will be a very large number of devices to dispose of at the end of the event. The material must also not pose any danger to consumers, for example it should be light so that if the device is dropped then it will not hurt anyone.

Cardboard is therefore desired for this reason as well. Alternatively, plastic could be used.

A blank cut-out may be provided from which the vessel carrying device can he made up Preferably, the blank consists of a single piece for ease of manufacture This means that it is made from a single piece of material, e g cardboard or plastic, with the mirrors attached thereto. However the blank may also be made from more than one piece and attached together, for example in one embodiment, a flap for holding the first reflective element is separately manufactured to the rest of the blank and is then adhered to the blank at the correct position The mirrors can be attached to the blank using double sided tape, although any suitable adhesive means can be used Whether manufactured from a single piece of material or a plurality of pieces which are then fixed together, the blank is preferably provided to the user as a single unit for ease of supply, storage and assembly Preferably, the blank can be made into the vessel canying device by folding panels to form the e g cuboid shape and inserting flaps into slots to hold the device together Fold lines and/or instructions may be printed on the blank Perforations or indented lines may be provided at the fold lines for ease of folding. An adhesive would not normally be necessary to hold the device together, although in some embodiments adhesive may be applied to flaps or other parts of the device According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a blank that can be made up to provide a vessel carrying device arranged to receive at least one vessel, wherein said device is adaptable to form a periscope It is envisaged that blanks would be provided to bars or food outlets and that staff at the outlets or consumers would make up the devices from the blanks, as required This would minimise the space required to ship and store the devices Alternatively, the blanks could be provided part assembled but flat-packed, for example assembled into a rectangular shape and then flattened To complete the assembly they would then be squared up' into the cuboid shape A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the device in the vessel canying mode, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the device when adapted to form a periscope, Figure 3 is also a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the device when adapted to form a periscope, Figure 4 is a plan view of the inside of a one-piece blank from which the first preferred embodiment of the device can be made, Figure 5 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment in the vessel carrying mode, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the second preferred embodiment when adapted to form a periscope, and Figure 7 is a plan view of the inside of a blank from which the second preferred embodiment can be made Figure 8 is a plan view of the inside of a one-piece blank from which a third embodiment of the invention can be made Figure 9 is a plan view of the inside of a one-piece blank from which a fourth embodiment of the invention can be made.

As shown in Figure 1, a cuboid vessel carrying device I of a first embodiment of the invention comprises side walls 2, 3, end walls 4, 5; top face 6 and base 13. Apertures 7 are provided in the top face 6 to receive vessels (not shown) Light inlet 14 is provided in side wall 3, whilst viewing opening 12 is provided in side wall 2. In the vessel carrier mode illustrated, flaps 10, 8 are disposed inside the device and are hingedly attached at the end of walls 3, 2 respectively They are folded over light inlet 14 and viewing opening 12 respectively On the inward facing side of each flap 10, 8 is disposed a mirror 11, 9 When the device is to be used as a vessel carrier, vessels are placed in the apertures 7. The device can then be held at each end and carried When it is desired to adapt the device to form a periscope, the vessels are firstly removed Locking flap 16 is pressed inwards Flap lOis folded inwards away from the light inlet 14, this can be done by simply pressing the centre of the flap through the inlet Alternatively, the end 5 of the device can be opened to enable the flap to be grasped from inside the device and folded away from the inlet. The far edge of flap 10 engages with locking flap 16 to hold flap 10 at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of inlet 14.

When the device is turned upright, with the light inlet at the top and the viewing opening at the bottom, flap 8 will automatically flip downwards into the position shown in Figure 2 under the influence of gravity The far edge of flap 8 rests on the inside of panel 3 to form an angle to the plane of the viewing opening and the flap is sized such that the angle is approximately 45 degrees The flap will remain at a 45 degree angle to the plane of the viewing opening 12 without the need for a locking flap To assist the flap 8 reaching the correct position, it may be necessary to follow a procedure similar to that described in relation to flap 10 above Thus constructed, light inlet 14 and viewing opening 12 are exposed, and mirrors 11, 9 are directed towards each other This periscope mode' is illustrated in Figure 2, which shows the internal elements in dotted lines Figure 3 also illustrates the device in the periscope mode' as would be seen by a user, without showing the internal elements In use, the user holds the device vertically with the light inlet 14 facing in the direction it is desired to view The user then looks through viewing opening 12. Light enters inlet 14 and is reflected by mirror 11 towards mirror 9.

Mirror 9 then reflects the light out through opening 12 to be observed by the viewer.

Thus, the viewer can effectively see' at the height of inlet 14, allowing, for example, the viewer to see the stage at a music festival over the crowd A blank 20 for forming the device of the above described embodiment is shown in plan view in Figure 4. The inside of the device is shown Fold lines are indicated by dotted lines The blank is ideally made from a single piece of cardboard, with the mirrors being subsequently attached using an adhesive In order to assemble the blank, folds are made along the dotted lines. Flaps 10, 8 holding mirrors 11, 9 are folded flat against side panels 3, 2, over inlet 14 and opening 12 respectively. The blank is then folded in on itself so that panels 13a and 13b are placed over each other to form the base 13 of the device Flap 18 is inserted into slot 22 to hold the blank together in a rectangular cuboid shape In this s tate, the device may be flattened and supplied flat-packed. To complete the construction, panels 15 are folded over each end of the device respectively and end wall panels 5, 4 are folded over the top. Flaps 24, 25 are tucked in and flaps 17 are tucked into slots 21, 23 respectively to keep the end wall panels in position Flaps 17 are formed integrally with the blank and are arranged to be pushed out' from the panels I 3a, 1 3b, remaining attached and hinged at I 7a This enables the flaps to be easily inserted into slots 24, 23. The blank is then in the assembled initial vessel-carrying mode illustrated in Figure 1. It can be adapted to form a periscope as described above in relation to Figures 2 and 3 The second embodiment illustrated in Figures 5-7 is similar the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are used for the same parts The second embodiment is different in that mirror 11 is not provided on a flap 10, but is instead provided on a flap 26, hingedly fixed at portion 26b to the ins ide of side panel 2 opposite to the light inlet 14 Locking flap 16 is not provided When the device of the second embodiment is used as a vessel carrier, flap 26 remains folded back against the inside of side panel 2 In order to adapt the device to form a periscope, it is simply turned vertically and flap 26 flips downwards from hinged portion 26b into the position shown in Figure 6 under the influence of gravity. The far edge of the flap rests on the inside of panel 3 to form an angle to the plane of the light inlet and is sized and positioned such that the angle is approximately 45 degrees Light inlet 14 is situated further from the far end of the device than in the first embodiment To assist flap 26 in reaching the correct position, it may be necessary to open the end of the device and manually bend it down. The configuration and adaptation of the rest of the device is the same as the first embodiment.

Figure 7 illustrates a blank for forming the device of the second embodiment The inside of the device is shown Fold lines are indicated by dotted lines. Flap 26 is manufactured separately to the main body of the blank and is hingedly attached to panel 2 at portion 26b Minor 11 is attached to flap 26.

A blank for forming the device of a third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 8 The inside of the device is shown. Fold lines are indicated by dotted lines The blank is ideally made from a single piece of cardboard, with the mirrors being subsequently attached using an adhesive. The blank has back panel 46, side panels 44 and 45 having viewing opening 43 and light inlet 42 disposed therein respectively and a top panel having vessel carrying openings 41 disposed therein it also comprises end flaps 50 and 55 having locking flaps 5 1 and 56, additional end flaps 49 and 54 and locking flaps 47 and 48 Lower mirror flap 52 has a mirror 53 affixed thereto, and upper minor flap 57 has a mirror fixed to the reverse side thereof (not shown) Upper mirror flap 57 is attached to side panel 46 at part 59 In order to assemble the blank, folds are made along the dotted lines. Flap 52 to which minor 53 is attached is folded flat against the inside of side panel 44 over viewing opening 43 Flap 57 is folded upwards at line 58 and inwards at line 59. Panels 46 and 44 are brought towards each other and locking flaps 47 and 48 are tucked inside against panel 44 and are affixed to panel 44 with an adhesive In this state, the device may be flattened and supplied flat-packed To complete the construction, the device is squared up' into a rectangular cuboid shape. End flaps 54 and 49 are folded over each end of the device respectively, and flaps 55 and 50 are then also folded over each end of the device Locking flaps 56 and 51 are tucked in to hold the end flaps in place.

The blank is then in an assembled initial vessel-carrying mode. A benefit of this embodiment is that the device can be adapted to form a periscope simply by being turned vertically Minor flaps 57 and 52 will automatically flip downwards under the influence of gravity, so that the mirrors face each other The far edge of each flap rests on the inside of the opposing panel to form an angle to the plane of the light inlet and viewing opening respectively The flaps are sized and positioned such that the angle is approximately 45 degrees A blank for forming the device of a fourth embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 9. It is substantially the same as the blank of Figure 8 for forming the third embodiment The differences lie in the features provided to assemble the blank Instead of locking flaps 47 and 48 being provided to be glued to the inside of panel 44, an additional panel 61 is provided which folds inside the device adjacent panel 46. Locking flaps 62 and 63 are provided to tuck inside slots 64 and 65 respectively In this way the device is advantageously held together without the need for an adhesive

Claims

Claims 1. A vessel carrying device arranged to receive at least one

vessel, wherein said device is arranged to form a periscope.
2 A vessel carrying device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device is adaptable between a condition in which it functions as a vessel carrying device and a condition in which it forms a periscope.
3 A vessel canying device as claimed in claim 2, wherein first and second reflective elements are provided within the device and are moveable between respective positions for the carrier and periscope conditions
4 A vessel canying device as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein when iS forming a periscope, a first opening is provided in one side of the device to create a light inlet, and a second opening is provided in the opposite side of the device to create a viewing opening.
5. A vessel carrying device as claimed in claim 4 when dependent on claim 3, wherein when in the carrier condition the reflective elements cover the openings
6 A vessel canying device as claimed in claim 4 when dependent on claim 3, wherein when in the carrier condition the first refle ctive element is folded against the inside of the device on the opposite side to the light inlet so as not to cover the light inlet, and the second reflective element covers the viewing opening
7 A vessel carrying device as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein when in the periscope condition the first reflective element is at an angle to the light inlet, and the second reflective element is at an angle to the viewing opening, such that light entering through the inlet is reflected from the first to the second reflective element and out through the viewing opening -11 -
8 A vessel canying device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first reflective element is at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the light inlet, and the second reflective element is at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the viewing opening.
9 A vessel carrying device as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8, wherein the reflective elements are arranged to fall into the correct position to provide the periscope function under the influence of gravity when the device is held in a generally vertical position
10 A vessel canying device as claimed in any preceeding claim, wherein at least one aperture is provided in one side of the device to receive the at least one vessel.
11. A vessel carrying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a row of longitudinally spaced vessel receiving locations are provided, each for receiving a respective vessel.

12 A vessel carlying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the device is made of fluted cardboard 13 A vessel carrying device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the vessel is a drink bottle.

14 A blank for making a vessel carrying device as claimed in any preceding claim I 5. A blank that can be made up to provide a yes sel carrying device arranged to receive at least one vessel, wherein said device is arranged to form a periscope 16 A blank as claimed in claim 14 or 15 wherein the blank consists of a single piece 17 A vessel carrying device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings 18. A blank substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4, 7,8or9