US 5,842,353 · Granted 1998-12-01

The Electric Cup That Heats and Cools Your Drink in Seconds

Imagine a mug that can warm up cold coffee or chill hot tea just by flipping a switch. This patent covers a cup with a special heating and cooling chip inside, powered by a base you snap on the bottom—kind of like how a phone sits on a charging dock, except it controls temperature instead.

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The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a container-and-base system where a thermoelectric device inside the cup heats or cools liquid, and a removable base supplies power while letting you flip the direction of that power to switch between heating and cooling modes. What's protected here is specifically the combination of the cup-shaped container, the thermal device mounted inside it, and the docking base that controls polarity to reverse the heating/cooling function.

Why it matters

This patent represents an early approach to solving a real consumer problem—drinks reaching the wrong temperature too fast. By using reversible thermoelectric cooling (the same solid-state tech in car seat coolers and wine fridges), the inventor created a self-contained, portable beverage climate control. The removable base design makes it practical for everyday kitchen use rather than requiring plumbed-in infrastructure.

Real-world use

Every time someone wants iced coffee in winter or a hot drink in summer without waiting, they'd plug their mug into this powered base and let the thermal device do the work.

Original USPTO abstract

An liquid heating and cooling apparatus for heating or cooling liquid such as drinks is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a cup-shaped container for loading the liquid, a thermo device installed in the container for heating or cooling the liquid, and a base removably attached to the lower end of the container for supplying DC power to the thermo device and controlling the cooling or heating of the liquid by controlling the direction of the DC power supplied to the thermo device when the container is attached to the base.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,842,353
Filing date: 1996-12-13
Grant date: 1998-12-01
Assignee: Kuo-Liang; Lin
Inventor(s): KUO-LIANG; LIN
CPC class: F25B21/04

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