Cup lid

Abstract

The cup lid has a cup body, an annular mount, a sip-through opening and a sealing member. The cup body has an outer rim and a top surface. The annular mount is formed on and extends from the outer rim of the cup body. The sip-through opening is formed through the top surface of the cup body and has an inner wall and an outlet. The inner wall has a distal portion. The outlet is formed on the distal portion and sloping upwardly and outwardly. The sealing member is removably formed within the sip-through opening.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cup lid, especially to a cup lid allowing convenient access to a drink in a container on which the cup lid is mounted.

2. Description of the Prior Art

With reference to FIG. 9, a conventional cup lid 90 is used to cover a container, for example, a paper cup, in order to prevent spill and comprises an upward protrusion 91, an annular mount 92, a sip-through opening 93 and a ventilating hole 94. The upward protrusion 91 comprises an outer rim and a top. The annular mount 92 is formed on and extends from the outer rim of the upward protrusion 91. The sip-through opening 93 is formed through the top surface of the upward protrusion 91 adjacent to the outer rim. The ventilating hole is formed through the top surface of the upward protrusion 91 and positioned where considered proper pursuant to the prior art.

With help of ventilation through the ventilating hole 94, a drink contained in the container covered with the conventional cup lid 90 is accessed through the sip-through opening 93 by leaning the container. However, when leaning the container, the drink therein unstably flows toward and through the sip-through opening 93, which is narrow and completely received in the mouth of the user. The unstable flow of the drink prevents the user from comfortably enjoying the drink by smooth sipping the same and may cause the drink to spill out.

Furthermore, the aforementioned sip-through opening 93 and ventilating hole 94 are all formed through the conventional cup lid 90 and are usually sealed with a sticky tape, not capable of perfectly preventing spills, by a seller prior to delivery of the drink and a container receiving the same to the user.

Therefore another conventional cup lid with a sealing member covering a sip-through opening is used for water-tightly covering a drink container. With the aforementioned conventional cup lid with the sealing member, the user may remove the sealing member to expose the sip-through opening through which he or she access the drink received in the container. Nevertheless the conventional cup lid with the sealing member solves improved part, but not all, of the shortcomings of the conventional cup lid 90 in FIG. 9. The problem that the user fails to smoothly sip the drink remains even using the conventional cup lid with the sealing member.

To overcome the shortcomings, especially that the unstable flow of the drink prevents smooth sipping, the present invention provides a cup lid to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a cup lid allowing convenient access to a drink in a container on which the cup lid is mounted.

The cup lid in accordance with the present invention has a cup body, an annular mount, a sip-through opening and a sealing member. The cup body has an outer rim and a top surface. The annular mount is formed on and extends from the outer rim of the cup body. The sip-through opening is formed through the top surface of the cup body and has an inner wall and an outlet. The inner wall has a distal portion. The outlet is formed on the distal portion and sloping upwardly and outwardly. The sealing member is removably formed within the sip-through opening.

With the aforementioned structures, especially the outlet of the sip-through opening, the cup lid in accordance with the present invention efficiently guides the drink for smooth accessing to the same and thus provides better convenience over conventional products.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cup lid in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from another angle of the cup lid in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of the cup lid in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the cup lid in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an operational cross sectional side view of the cup lid in FIG. 1 mounting on a container;

FIG. 6 is another operational cross sectional side view of the cup lid in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an operational top view of the cup lid in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is another operational cross sectional side view of the cup lid in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional cup lid in accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A cup lid in accordance with the present invention comprises a cup body, an annular mount, a sip-through opening and a sealing member. The cup body comprises an outer rim and a top surface. The annular mount formed on and extending from the outer rim of the cup body. The sip-through opening formed through the top surface of the cup body and comprises an inner wall and an outlet. The inner wall comprises a distal portion. The outlet formed on the distal portion and sloping upwardly and outwardly. The sealing member removably formed within the sip-through opening.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, an embodiment of the cup lid in accordance with the present invention comprises a cup body 10, an annular mount 11, an upward protrusion 13, a sip-through opening 14 and a sealing member 15.

The cup body 10 comprises an outer rim and a top surface. The annular mount 11 is formed on and extends from the outer rim of the cup body 10. The annular mount 11 comprises an inner surface and a tight-fitting structure 12 formed on the inner surface. The tight-fitting structure 12 may be an annular inner ring attached to the inner surface of the annular mount 11 or a series of discontinued rods forming a broken inner ring and attached to the inner surface of the annular mount 11.

The upward protrusion 13 protrudes upward from the top surface of the cup body 10 and comprises a top rim 131 and a side. The sip-through opening 14 is formed through the top surface of the cup body 10 on the side of the upward protrusion 13 and comprises an inner wall and an outlet 141. The inner wall of the sip-through opening 14 comprises a distal portion. The outlet 141 is formed on the distal portion and slopes upwardly and outwardly. Preferably, the outlet 141 of the sip-through opening 14 extends to the top rim 131 and forms a slope 142.

With reference to FIG. 5, by removing the sealing member 15, a drink received in a container 20 on which the cup lid is mounted may be conveniently accessed. With reference to FIG. 6, leaning the container 20 allows the drink to flow smoothly towards the outlet 141 and outwards along the slope 142 thereof.

With further reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, the sip-through opening 14 of another embodiment of the cup lid in accordance with the present invention tapers upwardly and outwardly and comprises a distal outlet end and a proximal inner end, wherein the proximal inner end is wider than the distal outlet end. When accessing the drink in the container 20, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and described above, the drink smoothly flows outwards through the slope 142 is better guided by the tapered structure of the sip-through opening 14. In other words, the aforementioned tapered structure of the sip-through opening 14 further enhances the drink-guiding functions of the outlet 141 that comprises the slope 142 or the outlet 141 that comprises the slope 142 and extends to the top rim 131.

With further reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the cup body 10 of the cup lid in accordance with the present invention further comprises an anti-spilling slot 143 formed between the sip-through opening 14 and the sealing member 15. With reference to FIG. 7, a small amount of drink accidentally floods out through the sip-through opening 14 with the sealing member removed is buffered in the anti-spilling slot 143 instead of inundating to the upward protrusion 13. The anti-spilling slot 143 may be implemented with the foregoing technical features of the cup lid in accordance with the present invention, especially with the outlet 141 that comprises the slope 142, with the outlet 141 that comprises the slope 142 and extends to the top rim 131, or with the tapered structure of the sip-through opening 14.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sealing member 15 may comprise a removable cap 151, a bottom and at least one groove152. The removable cap 151 protrudes upwardly and outwardly. The at least one groove 152 is formed on the bottom of the sealing member 15. The at least one groove 152 sections the sealing member 15 into multiple sealing fragments, preferably, a first sealing fragment 153 and a second sealing fragment 154, wherein the first sealing fragment 153 protrudes upwardly and outwardly towards the outlet 141, while the second sealing fragment 154 is distant from the outlet 141. The sealing member 15 may be completely removed as shown in FIG. 5 by pushing the first sealing fragment 153 towards the second sealing fragment 154 that then pulled by the first sealing fragment 153. With reference to FIG. 8, the user may also remove the first sealing fragment 153, leaving the second sealing fragment 154, which is parted from the first sealing fragment 153 by the groove 152, connected with the cup body 10. The foregoing design allows the user to determine the width to which the sip-through opening 14 is to be opened. When in need of adding to the drink additional integrants, especially toppings, the user may completely open the sip-through opening 14 by removing both the first sealing fragment 153 and the second sealing fragment 154 so that the sip-through opening 14 is wide enough to provide better ventilation and to receive the toppings without removing the cup lid and allows the user to look into the container 20 to assess the amount of the remaining drink. On the contrary, the user may partially open the sip-through opening 14 when maintaining the temperature of the drink is deemed a prior consideration over adding toppings. The groove 152 that sectioning the sealing member 15 in to fragments 153, 154 may be implemented with the foregoing technical features of the cup lid in accordance with the present invention, especially with the outlet 141 that comprises the slope 142, with the outlet 141 that comprises the slope 142 and extends to the top rim 131, with the tapered structure of the sip-through opening 14, or with the anti-spilling slot 143.

With reference to FIG. 4, preferably, the cup lid in accordance with the present invention further comprises a small through hole 144. The small through hole 144 is formed between the outlet 141 of the sip-through opening 14 and the sealing member 15. The small through hole 144 allows the sealing member 15 to be more efficiently removed when the user pushes the cap 151.

The cup lid in accordance with the present invention efficiently guides the drink for smooth accessing to the same and thus provides better convenience than conventional products.

Claims

1. A cup lid comprising

a cup body comprising an outer rim; and a top surface;

an annular mount formed on and extending from the outer rim of the cup body;

a sip-through opening formed through the top surface of the cup body and comprising an inner wall comprising a distal portion; and an outlet formed on the distal portion and sloping upwardly and outwardly; and

a sealing member removably formed within the sip-through opening.

2. The cup lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the cup body further comprises an upward protrusion protruding upward from the top surface and comprising a top rim; and a side;

the sip-through opening is formed on the side of the upward protrusion; and

the outlet of the sip-through opening extends to the top rim and forms a slope.

3. The cup lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the sip-through opening tapers upwardly and outwardly and comprises a distal outlet end; and a proximal inner end being wider than the distal outlet end.

4. The cup lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the cup body further comprises an anti-spilling slot formed between the sip-through opening and the sealing member.

5. The cup lid as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the cup body further comprises an anti-spilling slot formed between the sip-through opening and the sealing member.

6. The cup lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the sealing member comprises a removable cap protruding upwardly and outwardly; a bottom; and at least one groove formed on the bottom and sectioning the sealing member.

7. The cup lid as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the sealing member comprises a removable cap protruding upwardly and outwardly; a bottom; and at least one groove formed on the bottom and sectioning the sealing member.

8. The cup lid as claimed in claim 4, wherein

the sealing member comprises a removable cap protruding upwardly and outwardly; a bottom; and at least one groove formed on the bottom and sectioning the sealing member.

9. The cup lid as claimed in claim 5, wherein

the sealing member comprises a removable cap protruding upwardly and outwardly; a bottom; and at least one groove formed on the bottom and sectioning the sealing member.