CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 61/264,023 filed Nov. 24, 2009, titled “A Lid for a Beverage Container”, which provisional application is incorporated by reference herein as if reproduced in full below.
BACKGROUND Various types of lids are used with disposable containers (e.g., disposable plastics or paper cups) to provide a degree of retention of the beverage in the container when that container is accidentally knocked, shaken or tilted, whilst also allowing the beverage to be consumed as required. It would advantages to utilize the lids for purposes other then just the retention of the beverage in the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a detailed description of various embodiments, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a lid and a beverage container in accordance with at least some embodiments;
FIG. 2A illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line 2A-2A of FIG. 1 and of the lid with a pull tab and the beverage container in accordance with at least some of the embodiments;
FIG. 2B illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line 2A-2A of FIG. 1 and of the lid with the pull tab pulled and the beverage container in accordance with at least some of the embodiments;
FIG. 3 illustrates a lid in accordance with at least some of the embodiments; and
FIG. 4 illustrates a lid in accordance with at least some of the embodiments.
NOTATION AND NOMENCLATURE Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, companies may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function.
In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . .” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection or through an indirect connection via other intermediate devices and connections.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the invention. Although one or more of these embodiments may be preferred, the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted, or otherwise used, as limiting the scope of the disclosure, including the claims. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application, and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment.
FIG. 1 illustrates a lid 100 in accordance with at least some embodiments. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates a circular lid 100 with top surface 102, a bottom surface 104 and a side wall 114. The top surface 102 defines a plane that is parallel with a plane defined by the bottom surface 104. The lid 100 also comprises an annular lip 106 proximate to the bottom surface 104, and the lid 100 is configured to securely mate with a beverage container 112 (e.g., a cup, a mug, or a tumbler) by way of the annular lip 106. In some embodiments, the lid 100 mates with the beverage container 112 by way a snap-fit interface; however, other interfaces may be equivalently used. The lid 100 securely mates with the beverage container 112 such that a beverage (e.g., water, coffee, tea or soda) within the beverage container 112 does not leak through the interface between the lid 100 and the beverage container 112. In the embodiments of FIG. 1, an aperture 108 through the top surface 102 of the lid 100 enables drinking of the beverage from the beverage container 112 when the lid 100 is mated with the beverage container 112. In alternative embodiments, the aperture 108 is configured to receive a drinking straw to enable the drinking of the beverage from the beverage container 112. The lid 100 may be constructed from any suitable materials such as a plastic-based material or a paper-based material, and the lid 100 may be manufactured by way of any suitable method such as injection molding. In some embodiments, the lid 100 comprises a pull tab 110 that may be pulled away from the top surface 102 of the lid 100 to dispense a product stored in a compartment of the lid 100. The pull tab 110 is constructed from any suitable flexible material such as aluminum foil.
FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the lines 2A-2A of FIG. 1. In particular, FIG. 2 illustrates the lid 100 mated with the beverage container 112 by way of the annular lip 106. The lid 100 comprises a compartment 202 that is configured to contain the product (e.g., coffee, tea bag, sugar, or creamer) to be dispensed. The compartment 202 is defined by a hatch 204 proximate to the bottom surface 104 of the lid 100, a top wall 210 that also forms a portion of the top surface 102 of the lid 100, a side wall 212 that forms a portion of the side wall 114 of the lid 100, and a side wall 214 that is perpendicular to the top wall 210 and intersects the side wall 212. The embodiments of FIG. 2A illustrate the hatch 204 in a closed orientation to hold the product within the compartment until the pull tab 110 is pulled. When the hatch 204 is in the closed orientation, the hatch 204 prevents air and/or moisture from entering the compartment 202. Accordingly, the hatch 204 is constructed from any suitable material (e.g., aluminum foil, or waxed paper) that prevents air and/or moisture from entering the compartment 202. In some embodiments, the pull tab 110 is attached to an end 206 of the hatch 204 by way of a flexible cord 208. The cord 208 is constructed from materials (e.g., aluminum foil, or waxed paper) similar to the pull tab 110.
FIG. 2B is similar to the embodiments of FIG. 2A, but FIG. 2B illustrates the hatch 204 in an open orientation. In particular, FIG. 2B shows the lid 100 mated to the beverage container 112, and the pull tag 110 pulled away from the lid 100. When the pull tab 110 is pulled away from the lid 100, the cord 208 pulls the hatch 204 at the end 206 to position the hatch 204 in an open orientation to dispense the product that is within the compartment 202. Consider for the purpose of explanation, that the beverage in the beverage container 112 is coffee, the pull tab 110 may then be pulled to position the hatch 204 in the open orientation and dispense products such as a sugar or a creamer. In other embodiments, the product (i.e., sugar or creamer) is dispensed in the beverage container 112 before the lid 100 is mated with the beverage container 112. In yet still other embodiments, the lid 100 is already mated with the beverage container 112 before the pull tab 110 is pulled. In other exemplary embodiments, the beverage in the beverage container 112 may be hot water and the pull tab 110 may then be pulled to dispense products such as instant coffee or a tea bag. Regardless of the product in the compartment or beverage in the beverage container 112, the lid 100 is configured to be used one time to dispense the product in the compartment 202 by pulling the pull tab 110.
FIG. 3 illustrates lid 300 similar to the embodiments of FIG. 1, but the lid 300 comprises a pull tab 310 proximate to the bottom surface 106 of the lid 300. In particular, the pull tab 310 is directly attached to the hatch 204 proximate to an end 302 of the hatch. In other embodiments, the pull tab 310 may be directly attached to the hatch 204 at any suitable location on the hatch 204. The hatch 204 in the closed orientation prevents air and/or moisture from entering the compartment 202. In the embodiments of FIG. 3, the pull tab 310 is pulled away from the lid 300 to position the hatch 204 in the open orientation to dispense the product that is within the compartment 202 in a beverage container, and then the lid 300 is mated with the beverage container.
FIG. 4 illustrates lid 400 similar to the embodiments of FIG. 3, but the lid 400 comprises two compartments 402 and 404. In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates a pull tab 406 attached to hatch 410 of the compartment 402 and a pull tab 408 attached to hatch 412 of the compartment 404. The pull tab 406 is pulled away from the lid 400 to position the hatch 410 in the open orientation to dispense the product that is within the compartment 402. Similarly, the pull tab 408 is pulled away from the lid 400 to position the hatch 412 in the open orientation to dispense the product that is within the compartment 404. In the particular embodiment, the compartments 402 and 404 may contain two different products. For example, the compartment 402 contains sugar, while compartment 404 contains creamer. In other embodiments, the compartments 402 and 404 contain the same product. In yet still other embodiments, the pull tabs 406 and 408 may be proximate to the top surface of the lid 400, similar to tab 110 of FIG. 1. Although the lid 400 comprises only two compartments, in other embodiments, the lid 400 may comprise any suitable number for compartment.
The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. For example, while the various embodiments illustrate a circular lid, the lid may be of other shapes and/or sizes such as a square or a polygonal. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
