The Anywayup cup®, invented by the British mum, graphic artist, entrepreneur and multiple award-winning inventor Mandy Haberman, is more commonly known, in the USA, as the sippy cup….
This is the world’s totally spill-proof trainer cup that helps toddlers transition from feeding bottle to glass in view of building feeding independence!! This is also the cup that revolutionized baby products and for which Haberman received many awards (e.g.; The Tommy Award for the most parent-friendly innovative product in 1999 and 2000, the Best Product Design at the UK Design Industry Awards in 2000, the 3M Design Innovation Award at Design Effectiveness Awards in 2000, and the British Plastics Innovation Award for innovative use of plastics in 2000!).
This invention was disclosed in GB2266045 titled Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup, and granted to Mandy Haberman on 10-20-1993. The patent discloses a container for liquid and a lid fitted with a mouthpiece and a self-sealing valve that only opens to let the liquid contents out upon sufficient suction and pressure applied to the mouthpiece.
Although many mugs with spout-like mouthpieces, called trainer cups, existed prior to the Anywaycup®, none were fitted with a non-return valve to prevent the accidental or deliberate spill of liquid through the mouthpiece. It was only in the allied domain of feeding bottles that Haberman had already developed valved feeding bottles for children with suckling problems. Thus, the inventive leap for the Anywaycup® consisted in applying the teat valve to the training cup mouthpiece.
The patent describes different sorts of valves, lids, mouthpieces and seals between the container and the lid, and further extends the use of the trainer cup beyond young infants to the elderly or otherwise infirm. In this regards, another aspect of the invention includes the two opposing handles designed so that they can be easily grabbed both by young children and the elderly with arthritic difficulties.
The original GB2266045 patent is part of a family of 6 additional patents granted in the US, HongKong, Germany, Spain and via both the European Patent Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) :
WO9319718 (A1) ― 1993-10-14 - Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup or the like EP0634922 (A1) ― 1995-01-25 - Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup or the like
ES2117707 (T3) ― 1998-08-16 - Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup
DE69319109 (T2) ― 1998-12-24 - Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup
HK1007675 (A1) ― 1999-04-23 - Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup or the like
US6102245 (A) ― 2000-08-15 - Drinking vessel with valve
The abstract for GB2266045 titled Drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup is included below. Both a patent figure drawing and the image of the marketed Anywayup® cup are also included.
A drinking vessel suitable for use as a trainer cup or the like comprises an open-mouthed generally cup-shaped container (2) and a lid (5) for the open mouth of the container. The lid has a mouthpiece (7) associated with it. Valve means (18) are provided to prevent flow of liquid from the interior of the container through the mouthpiece unless a predetermined level of suction is applied to the mouthpiece. Suction alone may be sufficient to withdraw liquid from the trainer cup. [Abstract GB2266045]
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Please note that this inventor is a woman, and that this is still somewhat of an exception!
Mandy Haberman
http://www.mandyhaberman.com/
ttp://www.mandyhaberman.com/anywayup-cup
The Anywayup® cup
http://www.anywayup.com/
