Sanitary Cup Lids
A disposable cup lid including a cover portion for protecting a drinking surface of the lid from contamination and a base portion for covering a container.
This application claims the benefit of priority from the following U.S. patent applications: U.S. Patent Application No. 61/124,958, which was filed on Apr. 21, 2008 and entitled “Sanitary Anti-Spill Disposable Cup Lid;” U.S. Patent Application No. 61/125,574, which was filed on Apr. 25, 2008 and entitled “Sanitary Spill Resistant Cup Lid;” and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/125,906, which was filed on Apr. 29, 2008 and entitled “Sanitary Cup Lid.” Each of the foregoing applications is incorporated by reference into the present application in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDIt is common to dispense hot coffee and tea in a disposable paper or plastic styrofoam cup and to cover the cup with a plastic lid. A primary concern in designing cup lids is to prevent spillage of hot liquids from the cup, to prevent burn injuries. However, when handling disposable cups and lids it is important to keep the lids from becoming contaminated. When a coffee shop employee places a lid on a cup filled with a hot beverage, the cup lid is picked up by hand and placed on the cup. During this procedure, it is inevitable that the hand of the employee touches the cup lid. The area of the cup lid to be contacted with the lip of a coffee drinker can in this way become contaminated with germs transmitted by the hand of the coffee shop employee, which may be a serious public health problem.
SUMMARYIt is desirable for a disposable cup lid to have both sanitary and spill resistant functions. The present cup lids assist in preventing cup lid contamination by hand, avoid the spillage of cup contents, and are easy to manufacture.
In a first embodiment, the present disposable cup lid comprises two separate components attached and fitted together, a main cup lid (base portion) 16 and a covering apron (cover portion) 15. The base portion 16 includes a generally horizontal surface 42 for covering the upper opening of a container 12 and a vertical wall 44 extending downward (when positioned on the container 12 in normal use) from the periphery of the horizontal surface 42 to a point below the upper rim of the container 12, in order to contain a liquid or other flowable material within the container 12. The base portion 16 also includes a lower surface 43 for engaging the rim of a container 12 on which the present cup lid 14 can be placed. Preferably, the lower surface 43 engages the rim of the container 12 so as to form a friction fit with the container 12, although other means of securing the base portion 16 to the rim of a container 12 known to those of skill in the art can also be employed. The covering apron covers the area of the main cup lid where a user's lip generally touches when drinking a beverage. The two components can be made separately or in a single injection molding process.
In order to cover the area of the main cup lid 16 generally contacted by a user's mouth, the anterior moveable portion 25 comprises both a horizontally extending portion 26 and a vertically extending portion 36. The horizontally extending portion 26 is secured at a proximal end 27 to the posterior portion 21, and is connected to a proximal end of 37 of the vertically extending portion 36 at a distal end 28 of the horizontally extending portion 26. When the cover portion 15 is covering an aperture 19 of the main cup lid 16 through which a user drinks a liquid in the container 12, as shown in
The aperture cover 17 preferably comprises a downwardly-disposed indentation or stopper in the main cup lid 16 and is sized to fit within the aperture 19. Preferably, the lower surface 35 of the aperture cover 17 contacts all or substantially all of the interior periphery of the aperture 19, and more preferably can form a friction fit with the interior periphery of the aperture 19, in order to close and seal the aperture 19.
The posterior portion 21 of the cover portion 15 is secured to the main cup lid 16, such as by a friction fit between the lower surface 33 of the cover portion 15 and the upper surface 41 of the main cup lid 16, although these two components can also be physically attached or secured in other manners, such as with an adhesive. The posterior portion 21 is preferably semi-circular in shape and tightly fits onto the reciprocally shaped portion 23 of the main cup lid 16. In between and connecting the anterior moveable and posterior fixed portions of the cover portion 15 is a hinge 20 that allows the anterior moveable portion to move with respect to the posterior portion 16.
In use, a beverage drinker grasps the handle 22 of the cover portion 15 using the fingers, and then lifts it to expose the aperture 19 of the main cup lid 16. The cover portion 15 preferably includes an aperture cover 17 reciprocally molded to fit within the aperture 19. Once the cover portion 15 is lifted up, it can be rotated around the hinge and placed upside down, i.e. with the lower surface facing upward, and can be immobilized by buttoning the aperture cover 17 onto a protuberance 18 of the main cup lid 16.
In between the center post 122 and the rim 124 is an upper surface 115, which in the illustrated embodiment comprises a recess 125 that accommodates a disk 130 of the moveable cover 121. A ventilation hole 123 can be placed in the center top of the post 122.
The moveable cover 121 is placed over the main cup lid 120, and has three basic sub-components: the disk 130, a sanitary overlay 133 and the apron 134. The size of the disk 130 can be large enough to tightly fit the recess 125 of the main cup lid 120 as shown in the
The overlay 133 is designed to cover the circular upper surface of the rim 124 of the main cup lid 120, and is wide enough to cover the mouth-contacting area. It preferably also has an aperture stopper 132 to fit and seal the aperture 126 in order to make the cup lid spill resistant, in the manner described above for the aperture cover 17. The overlay 133 comprises both a horizontally extending portion 141 and a vertically extending portion 145. The horizontally extending portion 141 is secured at a proximal end to the disk 130, and is connected to a proximal end of the vertically extending portion 145 at a distal end of the horizontally extending portion 131. The vertically extending portion 145 extends approximately parallel to the vertical wall of the main cup lid, i.e. generally downwardly, preferably to a point at or below the lower vertical extent of the vertical wall.
The apron 134 comprises a surface attached to the distal end of the vertically extending portion 145 of the overlay 133 and extends outwardly (i.e., away from the container when the lid is attached to a container) from the overlay 133 in order to further cover the mouth contacting area of the main cup lid 120, especially the area likely to contact a user's lower lip. At the distal end of the moveable cover 121 is a serrated edge or handle 136. By rotating the serrated handle 136 around the axis of the center post 122 by thumb as shown in
In
The first vertical end wall 270 has a proximal edge 271, a distal edge 272 adjacent the outer periphery of the lid, an upper edge 273, and a lower edge 274. The second vertical end wall 280 likewise a proximal edge 281, a distal edge 282 adjacent the outer periphery of the lid, an upper edge 283, and a lower edge 284. A lower wall 290 extends between and connects the lower edge 274 of the first vertical end wall 270 and the lower edge 284 of the second vertical end wall 280, thereby forming a recess for protecting the aperture from contamination. When the upper edges of each of the first and second vertical end walls are vertically higher than the horizontal upper surface 233, elevated arms 240 can be formed, as described above.
Horizontally between and/or behind this recess is the aperture 231, which is positioned below the upper surface 233. Preferably the aperture 231 is located between the first vertical end wall 270 and the second vertical end wall 280, i.e. a line extending horizontally from the axial center of the lid radially outwardly that passes through the aperture will be between the first vertical end wall 270 and the second vertical end wall 280. The aperture 231 is also preferably located centrally of the distal edge of at least one of the first and second vertical end walls. The mouth piece 239 comprises an aperture surface 290 where the aperture 231 is located. The mouth piece 239 and aperture surface 290 are preferably positioned vertically higher than the lower wall 290.
As used herein, the term “comprise” and variations of the term, such as “comprising” and “comprises,” are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” and similar referents used herein are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural unless their usage in context indicates otherwise.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments are possible. The steps disclosed for the present methods, for example, are not intended to be limiting nor are they intended to indicate that each step is necessarily essential to the method, but instead are exemplary steps only. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of preferred embodiments contained in this disclosure. The drawings are also provided for illustration purposes only, and are not necessarily to scale. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Claims
1. A lid for a container holding a liquid, the lid comprising: wherein the moveable cover portion is rotatable around the center post of the base portion.
- (a) a base portion comprising: (i) a circumferential rim having an aperture which allows a flow of liquid therethrough; (ii) a side wall extending downwardly from the outer periphery of the circumferential rim; (iii) an upper surface extending inwardly from the circumferential rim; and (iv) a center post projecting upwardly from the upper surface, the center post having a side wall; and
- (b) a movable cover portion positioned on an upper surface of the base portion, comprising: (i) a disk having a central opening sized to accommodate the center post of the base portion; (ii) a sanitary overlay comprising a horizontally extending portion secured at a proximal end to the disk and a vertically extending portion connected to a distal end of the horizontally extending portion and extending downwardly therefrom; and (iii) an outwardly extending surface connected to a distal end of the vertically extending portion of the overlay and extending outwardly therefrom,
2. The lid of claim 1, wherein at least a base portion of the side wall has a circular cross section.
3. The lid of claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the base portion comprises a recess and upwardly extending walls around the periphery of the recess, and wherein the periphery of the disk engages the upwardly extending walls around the periphery of the recess.
4. The lid of claim 1, wherein a distal end of the outwardly extending surface comprises a serrated edge.
5. The lid of claim 1, further comprising an inner side wall extending upwardly from the upper surface to the rim, the inner side wall comprising an indentation for receiving an outer edge of the disk.
6. The lid of claim 1, wherein a base portion of the side wall of the center post includes an indentation for accommodating the periphery of the central opening.
7. A lid for a container holding a liquid, the lid comprising:
- a horizontal upper surface;
- an outer vertical wall extending downwardly from an outer periphery of the horizontal upper surface and having a first vertical side end and a second vertical side end;
- a first vertical end wall connected to the first vertical side end of the outer vertical wall, the first vertical end wall having a distal edge adjacent the outer periphery of the lid, an upper edge, and a lower edge;
- a second vertical end wall connected to the second vertical side end of the outer vertical wall, the second vertical end wall having a distal edge adjacent the outer periphery of the lid, an upper edge, and a lower edge;
- a lower wall extending between the lower edge of the first vertical end wall and the lower edge of the second vertical end wall; and
- an aperture positioned below the horizontal upper surface, between the first vertical end wall and the second vertical end wall, and central of the distal edge of at least one of the first and second vertical end walls,
- wherein the first vertical end wall, second vertical end wall, and lower wall form a recess for protecting the aperture from contamination.
8. The lid of claim 7, wherein the first and second vertical end walls each comprise a proximal edge, and wherein the aperture is positioned centrally with respect to the proximal edge of at least one of the first and second vertical end walls.
9. The lid of claim 7, wherein the aperture is located in an aperture surface, the aperture surface being positioned vertically higher than the lower wall.
10. The lid of claim 7, wherein the upper edge of each of the first and second vertical end walls is vertically higher than the horizontal upper surface.
11. The lid of claim 7, further comprising a first sheet of material attached to the distal edge of the first vertical end wall and a second sheet of material attached to the second vertical end wall, wherein the first sheet of material and the second sheet of material form gates to protect the aperture from contamination.
12. A lid for a container holding a liquid, the lid comprising:
- (a) a cover portion comprising: (i) a posterior portion; (ii) an anterior moveable portion having a horizontally extending portion and a vertically extending portion, wherein the horizontally extending portion is secured at a proximal end to the posterior portion and at a distal end to the vertically extending portion; and (iii) a hinge connecting the anterior moveable portion and the posterior portion; and
- (b) a base portion comprising a horizontal surface and a vertical wall and having a lower surface for engaging an upper rim of the container, the base portion further comprising an aperture allowing a flow of liquid therethrough,
- wherein the horizontally extending portion of the anterior moveable portion of the cover portion covers the aperture, and wherein the vertically extending portion extends to a lower vertical extent of the vertical wall of the base portion.
13. The lid of claim 12, wherein the aperture is in the horizontal surface of the base portion, and wherein the cover portion further comprises a downwardly-disposed indentation sized to fit within the aperture.
14. The lid of claim 12, further comprising a projection at the distal end of the vertically extending portion.
15. The lid of claim 12, wherein the anterior moveable portion, hinge, and posterior portion are integrally formed.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 21, 2009
Publication Date: Mar 24, 2011
Inventor: Stanley Kim (Upland, CA)
Application Number: 12/669,948