Beverage container lid having liquid cooling effect

Abstract

Disclosed is a lid for a beverage container including external and internal covers, which may be coupled together to define a cooling reservoir there between to receive and cool hot liquids that may be held in the beverage container. The external cover having ventilation holes and a dispensing spout for dispensing the liquid therein to the user. The internal cover includes a plurality of walls used for directed the hot liquid that enters from the beverage container. A plurality of entrance apertures are disposed in the interior cover, allowing the hot liquid to enter the reservoir. A plurality of dispensing walls cooperate to direct the hot liquid entering through the entrance apertures and to separate the hot liquid from cooled liquid exiting the reservoir through a dispensing aperture disposed in the spout.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a lid for a beverage container. More particularly, the present invention relates to a biodegradable or otherwise decomposable lid having an internal wall and reservoir system that provides a cooling effect to the liquid being dispensed from the container.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

There are various types of beverage containers on the market today that provide an individual user with a means for consuming a liquid beverage such as, for example, water, tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. Some are reusable, while others are provided in a disposable form. In many cases, the beverage is placed in a cup-like container having a large opening at the top. It is common that the individual is mobile while consuming the beverage, so the large opening lends itself to spilling and other hazards.

It may be necessary to employ a lid to mostly enclose the large opening, leaving an opening in the lid of a predetermined and sufficient size through which the individual can drink from. Such a lid may be designed to prevent spillage or leaks that may occur from various types of movement, such as walking, driving, shaking, etc. This spilling or leaking could ruin clothing, create a mess in cars or other areas, or potentially cause a burn injury if the beverage is sufficiently heated. Therefore, the predetermined opening created in the lid may avoid such mishaps.

Furthermore, where the beverage may be extremely hot, such as with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc., the individual cannot immediately enjoy the beverage, because they may risk burning their mouth. Several lids have been designed that cooperate with a beverage container to create a reservoir that holds a portion of the hot liquid separate from the majority of the liquid until it cools.

Related art lids having such a reservoir, however, have several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the reservoir is not large enough to hold an amount that is satisfying to the individual. A second disadvantage of the related art lids is that the hot liquid inlet apertures are of a height that does not allow sufficient liquid to flow into the reservoir. Another disadvantage is that the reservoir is not designed so that it urges the liquid to a location, which makes it easier for the individual to consume once the liquid is cooled.

The related art also has the disadvantage that there is insufficient suction release between the reservoir and the beverage container. This situation makes it difficult for the hot liquid to easily flow from the beverage container into the reservoir, since the suction created by the fluid displacement is not compensated for. In the event that there is insufficient suction release, the beverage container may buckle under the negative pressure imposed by the fluid displacement, and the container may be compromised, which may result in spillage causing damage or injury.

Finally, the related art lids have commonly been made from a polymer material. These polymers are typically used because they are easy and cost effective to manufacture, however, they are not biodegradable or otherwise decomposable, and therefore may be harmful to the environment.

Accordingly, what is needed is a biodegradable or otherwise decomposable beverage container lid having a cooling reservoir that is of a size and shape that provides a sufficient amount of cooled liquid in a controlled and stable manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a beverage container having a liquid cooling effect that obviates one or more of the aforementioned problems due to limitations in the prior art.

Accordingly, one advantage of the exemplary embodiment of the invention is that it provides increased volume in the cooling reservoir

Another advantage of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is that it urges the cooled liquid toward a location from which the liquid will be consumed.

Another advantage of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is that it provides enhanced suction release for liquid displacement from the beverage container to the cooling reservoir.

Yet another advantage of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is that it is made of a cost effective biodegradable or decomposable material.

Additional advantages of the exemplary embodiment of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these and other advantages, the present invention involves a beverage container lid comprising, an exterior cover including a dispensing aperture, and an interior cover including a lower wall, an angled wall connected to and extending below a height of the lower wall, the lower wall and angled wall substantially defining a bottom portion of interior cover, and at least one dispensing guide wall extending upwardly from the angled wall, wherein the exterior cover and the interior cover cooperate to define a main cooling reservoir.

In another aspect of the present invention beverage container lid comprising, an exterior cover including, a dispensing aperture, and an interior cover including a lower wall, an angled wall, a pair of dispensing guide walls extending upwardly from two sides of the angled wall, the lower wall and the angled wall defining a bottom of the interior cover, wherein the lower wall and angled wall are non-coplanar, and wherein the exterior cover and the interior cover are coupled together to define a main cooling reservoir.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross sectional view along line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, where the cooling lid is opened and laid flat.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross sectional view of along line 4-4 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the exemplary cooling lid on a beverage container in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an exemplary cooling lid 100 according to the present invention. Cooling lid 100 includes an exterior cover 105, which cooperates in a mating relationship with an interior cover 110 to enclose and create a main cooling reservoir 160. Cooling lid 100 may be sealingly fitted onto a beverage container 135. Cooling lid 100 may facilitate the cooling of a portion of hot liquid 170 that is transferred to main and dispensing cooling reservoirs 160, 161 before it is consumed by an individual. One of skill in the art will appreciate that a typical beverage may include hot or cold liquids. When viewed from above, the exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110 are shown here to be circular in shape, however, one having skill in the art will appreciate that this is only an exemplary embodiment and that the cooling lid 100 may be made in various shapes and sizes in order to accommodate the various shapes and sizes of openings on beverage containers and beverages dispensed therefrom.

Exterior cover 105 includes an upper wall 117 having a dispensing spout 125, and a plurality of ventilation holes 113 disposed thereon. Dispensing spout 125 may be raised or substantially flush with upper wall 117 and includes a dispensing aperture 130. Dispensing spout 125 allows the individual to consume cooled liquid 175 disposed inside main reservoir 160 and dispensing reservoir 161. Ventilation holes 113 allow for the transfer of heat from a quantity 173 (FIG. 4) of hot liquids 170 that enter into main and dispensing reservoirs 160, 161 to the air external to the cooling lid 100. The ventilation holes also provide a suction release function as the liquids are drawn from main and dispensing reservoirs 160, 161 by the consuming individual. The ventilation holes may be of a predetermined size and placed at a location on exterior cover 105 substantially opposite that of spout 125. This may be done to avoid spilling of the cooled liquid 175 as the beverage container 135 and cooling lid 100 are tilted so to dispense the cooled liquid 175 through dispensing hole 130 into an individual's mouth in a dispensing direction B.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the interior cover 110 includes a lower wall 137 defining a bottom surface of the main reservoir 160 and an angled wall 139 defining a bottom surface of dispensing reservoir 161. As illustrated in FIG. 3, two dispensing guide walls 140 may extend upwardly on two sides of angled wall 139 and cooperate with front wall 142 to define the volume of dispensing reservoir 161. As illustrated in FIG. 2, angled wall 139 may extend downwardly from lower wall 137 at a predetermined angle. The angle may range from greater than zero degrees to about 90 degrees with respect to lower wall 137. In one exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the angle may range from about 25 to 35 degrees. Increasing the angle of angled wall 139 with respect to lower wall 137 increases the volume of the cooled liquid 175 waiting to be consumed from the main and dispensing reservoirs 160, 161. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the size and shape of the angled wall 139 with respect to the lower wall 137 may vary and the illustrated embodiment is only exemplary. For example, the angled wall 139 may be longer than half the diameter of interior cover 110 in order to further control the flow of liquid contained therein, and such is within the scope of the present invention.

Furthermore, angled wall 139 also serves to urge the cooled liquid 175 to collect in an area below the dispensing aperture 130, making it accessible for dispensing and cooling purposes. Dispensing aperture 130 may be the largest opening to penetrate upper wall 117. Placing the deepest portion of the main and dispensing reservoirs below, and according to one embodiment substantially directly below, the dispensing aperture 130 may lead to faster cooling of the liquid. One having skill in the art will recognize that a variety of angles and lengths may be employed for angled wall 139 in order to accommodate the design needs of various beverages, beverage containers, etc., without departing from the scope of the invention. The length of front wall 142 may be extended or reduced. The length of front wall 142, angled wall 139 and the angle at which angled wall 139 extends downwardly from lower wall 137, are factors in determining the volume of liquid accommodated by the dispensing reservoir 161. At least one other factor is the width of front wall 142, as it spans the distance between dispensing guide walls 140. The juncture between angled wall 139 and front wall 142 may be of any cross-sectional shape, such as, for example, a curve, semicircle, or an acute or obtuse angles.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, exterior cover 105 further includes a circumferential lip 115 and a circumferential protrusion 120. Interior cover 110 further includes a circumferential edge 131 and a circumferential seat 133. Exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110 fit in a mating and sealing engagement as illustrated in FIG. 2. More particularly, the exterior cover 105 may be fitted over interior cover 110 and the circumferential protrusion 120 comes to rest upon circumferential seat 133, while the circumferential lid 115 comes to rest on circumferential edge 131. A sealed connection is created here, which will prevent leaks between the exterior cover 105 and the interior cover 110. One of skill in the art will appreciate that various structures may be used to create a mating engagement between exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110. For example, a snap-fit or other similar engagement, or a washer or a sealing material disposed between the two covers, may alternatively provide a sufficiently leak resistant seal for the purposes of the cooling lid 100, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110 may be connected to one another via a hinge portion 150 or may be provided completely separate from one another. Where hinge portion 150 is used, it may be integrally formed with or otherwise fixed to exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110. Hinge portion 150 allows the cooling lid to be opened for cleaning or for other reasons, without the risk of displacing one of the exterior cover 105 or interior cover 110. It will also be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110 may be made in a one-piece construction without departing from the scope of the invention in order to cut-down assembly time. Hinge portions 150 may be designed to allow a connected exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110 to be separated from one another by, for example, pulling or twisting, without damage to the formerly connected covers.

Once exterior cover 105 and interior cover 110 are coupled together as described above they may be fitted on top of a beverage container 135. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the top edges of the beverage container 135 may be inserted between circumferential edge 131 and circumferential lip 115. One having skill in the art will recognize that this arrangement may be modified to accommodate different beverage containers without departing from the scope of the invention.

Interior cover 110 further includes a suction release port 155, which may be formed as a through-hole in seat 133, at a location substantially opposite dispensing reservoir 161. Suction release port 155 defines a passageway between beverage container 135 and the enclosure defined by the mated exterior and interior covers 105, 110. Suction release port 155 is preferably disposed at a height sufficient to avoid leaking of cooled liquid 175 back into beverage container 135. The suction release port may be of various shapes and sizes, and may include a plurality of ports or apertures, as long as it functions to relieve the negative suction or vacuum pressure that may be created in beverage container 135 when cooling lid 100 is fitted thereto in a sealing relationship. More specifically, as liquid 170 located in the beverage container 135, is displaced and moved into the main reservoir 160 during consumption, air will then pass from the main reservoir 160 through suction release port 155 and into the beverage container 135 to release the negative pressure caused from the liquid displacement.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the dispensing system of the cooling lid 100. Interior cover 110 includes two dispensing guide walls 140 that may extend in an upward direction from both sides of the base of dispensing reservoir 161. The top surface 145 of dispensing guide walls 140 may contact a bottom surface 119 of upper wall 117 of exterior cover 105 when interior cover 110 and exterior cover 105 are coupled together as described above. In one embodiment, the top surface 145 of dispensing guide walls 140 is in contact with a bottom surface 119 of upper wall 117 of exterior cover 105 when interior cover 110 and exterior cover 105 are coupled together. The contact between top surface 145 and bottom surface 119 creates a barrier between the liquid entrance apertures 143 and the dispensing aperture 130 to prevent hot liquid 170 from flowing directly to the dispensing aperture 130 when the beverage container 135 is tilted.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, two raised inlet walls 141 may be disposed on the external sides of dispensing guide walls 140. An exemplary liquid entrance aperture 143 is located along a top edge of raised inlet wall 141 to allow liquid 170 to flow from the beverage container 135 into the main and dispensing reservoirs 160, 161. The liquid entrance apertures 143 may be located at a height that is substantially equivalent to the height of circumferential seat 133. This height or lower is preferable to ensure that a sufficient amount of hot liquid 170 enters the main reservoir 160 when the beverage container 135 is tilted at an angle sufficient to cause the surface of the hot liquid 170 to rise above the height of the liquid entrance apertures 143. One having skill in the art will appreciate that the dispensing guide walls may be of various lengths in order to accommodate certain design constraints, so long as dispensing guide walls are greater than a length of liquid entrance apertures 143 and less than a diameter of interior cover, thus allowing liquid to properly flow around dispensing guide walls 140.

When the cooling lid 100 is in use it may be coupled with a beverage container 135 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The cooling lid 100 may initially be empty. The beverage container 135 may contain an amount of liquid, such as hot liquid 170. The user may pick up the beverage container 135 and tilt the dispensing spout 125 toward the user's mouth (not shown). A quantity of hot liquid 173 (FIG. 4) will then flow in a direction “A” through liquid entrance aperture 143, into main reservoir 160, and then into the dispensing reservoir 161 once the liquid is able to flow around dispensing guide walls 140. Dispensing guide walls 140 may act to block or delay the flow of the hot liquid 170 from entering the dispensing reservoir 161, while at the same time acting to guide the already cooled liquid 175 in a direction “B” through dispensing aperture 130, and into the user's mouth (not shown). As the beverage container 135 is leveled, the quantity of hot liquid 173 that has entered will spread out along the lower wall 137 on interior cover 110, increasing the surface area of the liquid to be cooled. The angled design of dispensing reservoir 161 allows a larger portion of the cooled liquid 175 to collect there, ready for the user sip again. Positioning the dispensing reservoir 161 substantially under the dispensing aperture 130 may permit heat from liquid at the greatest depth in the cooling lid 100 to directly travel up and out of the dispensing aperture 130.

One having skill in the art will appreciate that the liquid entrance apertures 143 may be located in various locations within the main reservoir 160. The liquid entrance apertures 143 may be of various sizes and shapes. The liquid entrance apertures 143 may be in various orientations and need not be aligned with the direction of tilt of the beverage container 135. One or more liquid apertures 143 may be designed and placed in a location that will allow the liquid to enter the reservoir 160 when the beverage container 135 is tilted, regardless of the tilt direction. In the exemplary embodiment described herein, the liquid apertures 143 are oriented and shaped to allow the liquid to enter the reservoir 160 in the course of consuming the liquid or beverage.

The cooling lid 100 may be made from a variety of materials, such as polymers, paper products, and the like. In one embodiment, the cooling lid 100 may be manufactured from a starch based thermoplastic material, such as polylactic acid, which is a biodegradable or otherwise decomposable polymeric material. In one embodiment, the cooling lid 100 may be manufactured from combination of materials including polylactic acid.

A cooling lid 100 as described and illustrated in the exemplary embodiments above, may be manufactured by injection molding, blow molding, or other methods known in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. In one embodiment, an injection molding machine may be used to manufacture cooling lids 100 as described above. A method of manufacturing may include injecting a material comprising polylactic acid into a mold having an enclosure defining the cooling lid 100 as described above; cooling or curing the material; and releasing the material from the mold.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A beverage container lid comprising:

an exterior cover including: a dispensing aperture; and

an interior cover including: a lower wall; an angled wall connected to and extending below a height of the lower wall, the lower wall and angled wall substantially defining a bottom portion of interior cover; and at least one dispensing guide wall extending upwardly from the angled wall,

wherein the exterior cover and the interior cover cooperate to define a main cooling reservoir.

2. The beverage container lid of claim 1 wherein the container lid is made from a biodegradable or otherwise decomposable material.

3. The beverage container lid of claim 2, wherein the material comprises a starch based thermoplastic material.

4. The beverage container lid of claim 2, wherein the material comprises polylactic acid.

5. The beverage container lid of claim 1 further comprising at lease one entrance aperture disposed adjacent to the dispensing guide wall to allow liquid to enter the main cooling reservoir.

6. The beverage container lid of claim 1, wherein the cooling lid is adapted to be fitted on top of a beverage container in a sealing relationship.

7. The beverage container lid of claim 1, wherein the at least one dispensing guide wall includes two dispensing guide walls extending upwardly from the angled wall, and the two dispensing guide walls and the angled wall define a dispensing reservoir.

8. The beverage container lid of claim 7, wherein the dispensing reservoir extends below a bottom of the main cooling reservoir.

9. The beverage container lid of claim 7, wherein the dispensing reservoir is separated from entrance apertures by the dispensing guide walls.

10. The beverage container lid of claim 1, further comprising:

a suction release port formed in the interior cover to release suction pressure between a beverage container and the main cooling reservoir.

11. A beverage container lid comprising:

an exterior cover including: a dispensing aperture; and

an interior cover including: a lower wall; an angled wall; a pair of dispensing guide walls extending upwardly from two sides of the angled wall, the lower wall and the angled wall defining a bottom of the interior cover, wherein the lower wall and angled wall are non-coplanar; and

wherein the exterior cover and the interior cover are coupled together to define a main cooling reservoir.

12. The beverage container lid of claim 10, wherein the angled wall extends at an incline below a plane defined by the lower wall.

13. The beverage container lid of claim 10, wherein the container lid is made from a material comprising polylactic acid.