Pub. No.: US 2011/0260440 A1 HAFF Et Al
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US 20110260440A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2011/0260440 A1 HAFF et al. (43) Pub. Date: Oct. 27, 2011 (54) DISPOSABLE CUP WITH INTERNAL AND (52) U.S. Cl. ........................................ 283/67; 206/459.1 EXTERNAL FLUID LEVEL INDICATORS AND METHOD (57) ABSTRACT A method for using an associated visual implementing appa (76) Inventors: Maurice HAFF, Bethesda, MD ratus with which a first person may audibly or otherwise (US); John M. White, Bethesda, specify, e.g., a head nod, to a second person the amount of MD (US) unoccupied volume or void to be available in an illustrated cup when partially filled with coffee or other liquid, in (21) Appl. No.: 12/955,409 response to an easily understood inquiry by the second per son. The method includes the steps of a first person exhibiting (22) Filed: Nov. 29, 2010 the illustrated cup to a second person while inquiring as to the unoccupied Volume desired to remain while making refer Related U.S. Application Data ence to the illustrated cup. The visual implementing appara (60) Provisional application No. 61/327,887, filed on Apr. tus cup includes repeating vertically oriented illustrations, the 26, 2010. illustrations being at least one of representations of human fingers, cows, text based words describing cow Sounds, num bers, geographic shapes, logos, and/or indentations. The Publication Classification repeating illustrations being representative of the relative (51) Int. C. remaining proportional Void levels in the cup and residing on B42D IS/00 (2006.01) at least one of the exterior and/or the interior of the cup near B65D 85/00 (2006.01) the rim thereof. Patent Application Publication Oct. 27, 2011 Sheet 1 of 4 US 2011/0260440 A1 Patent Application Publication Oct. 27, 2011 Sheet 2 of 4 US 2011/0260440 A1 Solicit instructions from customer with an inquiry such as "leave room for Cream" Dispense coffee in cup with minimum unfilled volume Yes Exhibit a Cup or a graphical image of a Cup, annotated with fill-level markers such as a depiction of human fingers visible to the 27 Customer; induire as to unoCCupied Cup volume desired referencing fill-level markers Receive customer response to inquiry; fill Cup to requested level leaving Customer 26 Specified unoccupied volume in Cup Dispense filled Cup to Customer 28 Patent Application Publication Oct. 27, 2011 Sheet 3 of 4 US 2011/0260440 A1 Patent Application Publication Oct. 27, 2011 Sheet 4 of 4 US 2011/0260440 A1 Fig. 4 Top RB Crown X-20 Chin Hair -40 (GAEREFLUL US 2011/0260440 A1 Oct. 27, 2011 DISPOSABLE CUP WITH INTERNAL AND (Korea, Japan and Malaysia); Hudsons Coffee (Australia); EXTERNAL FLUID LEVEL INDICATORS Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea (USA); It's a Grind Coffee House AND METHOD (USA); Nairobi Java House (Kenya); Java U (Canada); Jittery Joe's (USA); Juan Valdez Cafe Colombia; Kaffebrenneriet (Norway); Kotowa Coffee House (Panama); Krispy Kreme 0001. This application claims the benefit of U.S. provi (USA); Lavazza (Europe); Lettieri (Canada); McCafe sional application Ser. No. 61/327,887, filed Apr. 26, 2010. (owned by McDonald's Corporation); Mecca Espresso (Aus tralia); Mokador Concept Bars (Italy & Worldwide); MUD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Coffee; Mugg & Bean (South Africa); MuZZ Buzz (Austra lia): Narasus coffee (India); New World coffee (New York, 0002 1. Field of the Invention USA); Old Town White Coffee (Malaysia); Pacific Coffee 0003. The present invention is related to simultaneously Company (Hongkong); Peaberry Coffee (USA); Peet's Cof extracting explicit instructions from a customer and provid fee & Tea (USA); Port City Java (USA); PT's Coffee Roast ing those instructions reliably to a server providing coffee ing Co.; Robin's Donuts (Canada); Harris Coffee Roasters service using a graphical depiction of the instructions to aid in (New Zealand); Second Cup (Canada); Segafredo Zanetti the information transfer. More particularly, the invention is (Italy); Starbucks; Sen Karde Sler Kiraathanesi (Originated directed to an apparatus and associated method(s) of obtain in Turkey, very big Franchising); Pasqua Coffee: Seattle's ing specificity as to the Volume of coffee to be placed in a cup Best Coffee (USA); Secret Recipe (MALAYSIA); Sleepless or the unoccupied Volume (void) to remain for Subsequent In Seattle (South Korea); Torrefazione Italia (USA); Stump addition of a diluting agent, after partial filling of a cup with town Coffee Roasters (USA, originated in Portland, Oreg.); coffee, tea, syrup, etc. Tchibo (Germany); Tim Hortons (also owns Bess Eaton) 0004 2. Background of the Invention and Related Art (Canada); Timothy's World Coffee (Canada); Trung Nguyen 0005 According to the National Coffee Association, cof Coffee (Vietnam): Tully's Coffee (USA); Ueshima Coffee fee consumption in the United States reached 400 million Company (Japan); Van Houtte (Canada); Wayne's Coffee cups per day in 2008. Growth in the out-of home specialty (Originated in Sweden, locations throughout Scandinavia); coffee market has remained strong, even in a down economy. Williams Fresh Cafe (Canada); Woyton (Germany); Ya Kun The specialty coffee industry has grown dramatically over the Kaya Toast (a chain of kopitiams based in Singapore); Zarraf two decades beginning in 1990. A good example of this fas Coffee. Given the immensity and the widespread appeal of growth is that experienced by the Starbucks company. After coffee and the accompanied dilution thereof, the scope for completing a public stock offering in the 1990s, Starbucks has application of this invention is accordingly large as well. grown to more than 15,000 stores worldwide, each store serving 100s if not 1000s of cups of coffee each day. Some 0007. Many of these coffee chains attempt to differentiate estimates of annual disposable cup usage by Starbucks their coffee products by various roasting methods that pro (alone!) are reported to be about 4 billion units. According to duce differing degrees of bold flavor. Companies such as Wikipedia, there are 100s of other coffee service chains doing Starbucks are known for their heavily roasted coffees. For business around the world as well. Estimates of total dispos those customers that prefer dilution of such bold flavored able cup usage by the retail coffee service industry exceed coffees with liquids such as cream, “half & half or milk, the 200 billion units. serving portions often leave insufficient room in the cup in 0006. The following are identified as a partial listing of which to place the personally desired quantity of Such dilut coffee service chains: Allann Brothers (Oregon, USA); AMT ing agents. Coffee (mostly at railway stations); Aroma Espresso Bar (Is 0008 Instructions regarding the amount of “room for rael); Au Bon Pain; Bagels and beans (Netherlands); Balzac cream’ given to a server by a customer purchasing a cup of Coffee (Germany); Barnie's Coffee and Tea Company; Bar coffee often lack sufficient specificity to produce adequate ista Coffee (India); Biggby Coffee; Blenz (Canada); Blue remaining unoccupied Volume in the cup to accommodate the Castle Coffee (Battle Ground, Wash., USA); Bridgehead Cof amount of diluting agent desired by the customer. This often fee (Ottawa, Canada); Cafe Coffee Day (India); Café Hillel results in the outcome where the customer, after noting that (Israel); Café du Monde (USA); Caffè Nero (UK); Caffe there is insufficient unoccupied Volume remaining in the cup, Ritazza; Cafe Rouge: Campus Suite; Caribou Coffee (USA) pouring out a portion of the coffee. This disposal is usually Clements Café (Belfast, Northern Ireland); CC's Coffee done in a conveniently in-store located trash can lined with a (Based in Baton Rouge); The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (USA); thin walled plastic bag that is potentially Subject to melting Coffee 1: Coffee Beanery; CoffeeBull Pty Ltd (Perth, Aus when exposed to a the extremely hot beverage. tralia); Coffee-Inn (Lithuania); Coffee People; Coffee 0009. The result of the foregoing sequence of events is Republic (UK); Coffee Heaven (operates in several countries wasted coffee and the potentially excessive mess of a melted in Eastern Europe); coffee Planet Corporation; Coffee Time liner in a trash can also filled with trash. The wasted coffee (Canada); Country Style Donuts (Canada); Costa Coffee represents significant lost revenue and lost profit to a retail (UK); Cuppy's Coffee; Davinci Coffee (South Korea); establishment doing large retail Volume Such as Starbucks. Diedrich Coffee (also owns Coffee People, Coffee Plantation Had the cup, and 1,000s like it, not been over filled, the (Arizona) and US Gloria Jean's locations); Dome (Australia); dumped coffee could have been used to fill 100s of other cups Double Coffee (in the Baltic states and Ukraine); Doutor sold to Subsequently served customers. From a per-unit-of (Japan); Douwe Egberts (Netherlands); Dunkin' Donuts product sold perspective, the amount of coffee beverage that (USA); Dunn Bros (USA); Duran Coffee Store (Panama); must be produced to fill the cups sold would be reduced by Dutch Bros. Coffee; 85C Bakery Cafe (Republic of China eliminating over-fill waste. Such elimination of waste would (Taiwan)); Fanzin Coffee & Tea (Turkey); Figaro (Philip also reduce the “cost of goods sold and increase the amount pines); Flocafé (Greece); Frans Café (Brazil); Gimme Coffee of profit obtained from the sale of each cup of coffee. In (USA); Gloria Jean's; Havanna (Argentina); Hollys Coffee addition, if the plastic liner in a trash can is melted by hot US 2011/0260440 A1 Oct. 27, 2011 coffee dumped in the can, the liner may fail when removed 0017. In another preferred embodiment, the present inven from the can, creating a mess on the floor that must be cleaned tion is directed to providing a method for training serving up by an employee. This situation represents increased oper staff personnel to mix beverages served in a cup, including ating costs due to lost productivity.