Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DRINKING CUP AND LID
Field Of The Invention:
The present invention relates generally to a drinking cup for hot beverages
and a lid
for use in combination with a drinking cup wherein the lid enables drinking
from the
cup without removal of the lid.
Background Of The Invention:
It is known to sell hot beverages in disposable drinking cups and lids for
carry-out
sale of beverages such as coffee. Many of the lids commonly in use for this
purpose
must be removed prior to drinking of the beverage to provide access to the
beverage.
Removal of the lid may result in splashing or spilling of the beverage if the
user wants
to drink the beverage while walking or traveling in a vehicle.
Some disposable lids have score lines or the like formed in them to define a
removable portion which may be punched out or folded to provide a drinking
opening
from which the beverage may be poured out. One disadvantage of this type of
lid is
that it may be inconvenient for the user to perform the requisite penetration
or folding
of the lid, particularly if the user is walking or riding in a vehicle, or has
only one
hand free.
Some disposable lids have included in them preformed openings for drinking
rather
than have the score lines. However, in some of these lids the position of the
opening
makes it difficult or uncomfortable for the user to drink the beverage dLle to
the way
in which the user's mouth engages the lid.
United States Patent No. X1,589,569 to Clements addresses some of the problems
of
the prior art lids by providing a disposable lid for a drinking cup having a
top wall
having a drinking opening formed in it. The top wall has a recess formed in it
adjacent the drinking opening to accommodate the upper lid oFthe user. This
arrangement makes it more comfortable i'or the user. However, the location of
the
drinking opening on the top wall of the lid still results in spills and
splashing in some
circumstances, and dribbling of the beverage down the side of the drinker's
mouth.
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Disposable hot drink cups may insulate the hand of the user from the hot
temperature
of the beverage in three general ways: (a) by using the insulating qualities
of the
material used to make the cup, (b) by the manner of fabrication of the cup, or
(c) by
providing a handle to hold the cup without touching its outer walls.
Examples of the first type are cups made of thermoformed plastic foam or
double-
walled cups. The insulating properties of foam are good, and nestable cups
made
therefrom are in wide use despite the lack of a convenient handle. The second
type of
cups have similar utility and result from the combination of two cup elements
to
provide an insulating air space between the hot beverage and the user's hand.
Cups
with handles have been used in which the handles are made of suitably treated
paper
and attached with glue along the side of the cup. The handle has unglued
flanges
which fold out to provide a handle and allow the cups to nest very well
because the
handle element lies flat against the outside of the cup until folded out.
United States Patent No. 4,049,187 issued to Florian is an example of a hot
cup with a
handle. The thermoformed cup is nestable in a small space and it has elements
adapted to provide a stable handle. The handle includes a tab extending
radially from
the brim of the cup and a hinged flange at each side of the tab. Another
example is
United States Patent No. 5,203,490 issued to Roe, in which a cup made of paper
has a
handle provided with a number of punched out securing tabs. The handle lays
flat
against the sides of the cup to allow nesting of the cups, and can be pulled
away from
the sides to form the handle when the cup is in use.
In the case of drinking cups that are made of rigid, injecfian-molded plastic,
the
plastic material does not have very good insulating properties and it is
difficult to
attach a handle to the cup.
These problems axe addressed by the present invention. Accordingly, it is an
object of
one aspect of the present invention to provide a a rigid, injection-molded
plastic
drinking cup for hot beverage having a construction that reduces the amount of
heat
transmitted to the outside walls and hands of users. It is a further object of
the present
invention to provide a disposable lid for a drinking cup that minimizes the
likelihood
of spilling and splashing of the beverage from the drinking opening.
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Summary of the Invention:
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lid for a drinking
cup, the
lid comprising: a top wall having a generally circular periphery; an annular
side wall
depending from the top wall about its periphery and an annular mounting
portion at
the bottom of said side wall for sealingly engaging a brim portion of the
drinking cup;
a first recessed portion in the top wall comprising a bottom recess wall and a
side
recess wall, wherein the side recess wall is adjacent the periphery of the top
wall; a
drinking opening in the bottom recess wall proximate the side recess wall to
enable
drinking of a beverage from the drinking cup without removal of the lid; and a
convexly curved portion disposed on the side recess wall and near the drinking
opening defining a chute-like structure that directs the beverage from the
drinking
opening to a user's mouth.
In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided nestable drincing cup
made of
rigid, injection-molded plastic, comprising: a cup body having a generally
circular
periphery and a side wall, and comprising a brim portion, an upper ribbed
portion, a
lower portion and a bottom of smaller diameter than the brim portion; the
upper
ribbed portion having a band of vertically-oriented, outwardly extending ribs
about
the periphery of the drinking cup, wherein the upper ribbed portion reduces
heat
transfer from hot contents in the cup to a user's hand.
)Brief Description Of The Drawings:
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with
reference
to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to the same parts in
the
several views and in which:
Fig. 1 shows a combination of the lid and cup of one preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the cup of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is partial crass-sectional view taken at line A-A of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of a part of the cup of Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 illustrates one cup of Fig. 2 nested into another such cup;
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Fig. 6 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the lid of Fig. l;
Fig. 7 is a front side view of the lid of Fig. 6;
Fig. 8 is a partial side cross sectional view of the lid of Fig. 6; and
Fig. 9 is another side view of the lid ofFig. 6.
Detailed Description Of The Preferred Embodiments:
The present invention will be described with reference to its preferred
embodiments.
As shown in Fig. 1, one aspect of the present invention provides a combination
of
drinking cup 10 and lid 100. The lid 100 is adapted to sealingly engage the
brim
portion 12 of the cup 10. The lid 100 allows a user to drink a beverage
contained in
cup 10 without having to remove lid 100 while significantly reducing the
incidence of
spilling and splashing.
Referring to Fig. 2, cup 10 is shown in more detail. It is to be understood
that the
dimensions referred to in this specification are for the preferred embodiment
of the
present invention, and not for the invention in its broadest sense. Dimensions
of
various elements of the cup LO and lid 100 may vary without departing from the
scope
of the invention.
Drinking cup 10 is preferably made of rigid, injection-molded plastic, but
other
suitable construction material may be used. Gup 10 comprises a cup body l~
having a
generally circular periphery in cross section and having a brim pardon 12 at
the top of
the cup body 1 ~. Below the brim portion 12 is an upper ribbed portion 16, and
below
that is a lower tapered portion 18 that preferably has a taper angle relative
to vertical
of about 3.5°. The cup body 14 includes a bottom 20 of smaller diameter
than the
brim portion 12.
In a preferred embodiment, the brim portion 12 has a diameter of about 3.50
inches,
and the bottom 20 has a diameter of about 2.25 inches. The total height of the
cup I 0
from the bottom 20 to the brim portion 12 is about 5.50 inches, with the upper
ribbed
portion 16 having a height of about 1.312 inches.
The brim portion 12 includes an inverted "U"-shaped flange 22 extending
outwardly
and downwardly. The flange 22 provides a smooth surface to drink from and also
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provides an area on which a lid, such as lid 100, may be secured into place on
the cup
10.
The upper ribbed portion 16 is shown in Fig. 2 as having a generally tapered
side wall
24 that includes a lower inwardly curved section 25. Curved section 25 is an
area that
can be used by the user to grasp and hold the cup 10. A band 26 of vertically
oriented, outwardly extending solid ribs 28 is disposed about the periphery of
the side
wall 24.
The upper ribbed portion 16 helps to reduce heat transfer from the hot
contents in the
cup 10 to a user's hand. As seen in Fig. 2, the upper ribbed portion 16
comprises
about 1l3 the total height of the cup 10 (1.937 inches high compared to the
total
height of the cup 10 of 5.50 inches). The remainder part of the height of the
cup 10 is
made up of the lower tapered portion 18, and an upper section 19. The upper
ribbed
portion 16 provides insulation without the need of a double-walled
construction as is
used in the prior art.
Fig. 3 shows a partial cross-section along line A-A of the upper ribbed
portion 16.
Located on side wall 24 are a plurality of ribs 28 that extend vertically and
outwardly
from the side wall 24. In cross section as seen in Fig. 3, the ribs 28 are
triangular in
shape, preferably having a depth (the distance from the tip of the rib to the
side wall)
of about 0.045 inches. Each rib 28 is preferably spaced about 0.060 inches
apart {as
measured from tip to tip) and the rib's walls are angled at about 60°.
Fig. 4 shows a side cross sectional view of the upper ribbed portion 16 that
extends
from fine brim portion 12 downwardly to a point below the upper ribbed portion
16.
At its maximum depth, rib 28 is about 0.045 inches deep (the distance from the
tip of
the rib to the side wall). However, ribs 28 taper at their ends 30 such that
the depth of
the ribs 28 at the ends decreases to zero, thus avoiding any sharp edges on
the outside
surface of the cup 10.
The shape, disposition, sizing and spacing of the ribs 28 around the periphery
of the
cup body 14 creates a layer of insulating air between the tip of the ribs 28,
which are
grasped by a user's hand, and the side wall 24. This reduces the heat transfer
from the
hot cantents of the cup 10 to the user's hands. The need for a special handle
is
therefore eliminated.
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The upper ribbed portion 16 also provides extra strength to the cup body 14,
thereby
increasing the hoop strength in the area where the cup 10 is typically held by
the user.
As seen in Fig. 3 and ~, the inside surface 32 of the cup body 1~ is smooth;
the ribs 28
are on the outside of the cup 10.
Figure 5 illustrates a first cup 10 nested within a second cup 40. The tapered
side wall
2~ and lower tapered portion 18 allow nesting of a plurality of cups into each
other,
thereby reducing the size of containers needed to store and transport the
cups. The
smooth inside surface 32 permits the first cup 10 to rotate inside cup X10.
Moreover,
the upper ribbed portion 16 of cup 10 is located in area 34, thus the upper
ribbed
portion 16 does not rub against surface 32 when cup 10 rotates. These
features, along
with the ability to nest one cup into another, allows the cups 10 to be offset
printed up
to eight colors in one pass in an automatic offset printing press, at high
rates of speed.
This substantially reduces manufacturing costs.
Fig. 6 is a top view of the lid 100 for use with a drinking cup similar to cup
10, or
with other disposable cups. The lid 100 has a top wall 102 with a generally
circular
periphery 101. As shown in Fig. 7, an annular sidewall 101 depends from the
top
wall 102 about its periphery 101, and an annular mounting portion 106 is
located at
the bottom end of the annular sidewall 10~ for sealingly engaging the brim
portion of
a drinking cup.
Referring back to Fig. 6, located on the top wall 102 is a first recessed
portion 108
having a bottom recess wall 110 and a side recess wall 112. The side recess
wall 112
is adjacent the periphery 101 of the lid 100. As seen from top plan view, the
first
recessed portion 108 is generally oval in shape so as to accommodate a user's
upper
lip while drinking.
Disposed on the bottom recess wall 110 is a drinking opening 114 proximate the
side
recess wall 112 to enable drinking of a beverage from a drinking cup without
removal
of the lid 100. The side recess wall 112 comprises a convexly curved portion
116
near the drinking opening 1 I ~. Preferably, the convexly curved portion 116
extends
from the bottom recess wall 110 to the upper end 1 17 of the side recess wall
l 12. The
convexly curved portion 111 deFlnes a chute-like structure that directs the
beverage
From the drinking opening 1 14 to the upper end 117 and into a user's mouth.
This
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reduces the likelihood of the beverage spilling andlor dribbling down the
sides of the
user's mouth.
Also, the location of the drinking opening 114 on the bottom recess wall 110
in the
recess portion 108 allows any beverage that does leak, spill or splash out of
the
drinking opening 114 to be contained in the recess portion 108 and flow back
through
the opening 114 and into the cup. The recess portion 108 also accommodates the
upper lip of the user while drinking the beverage.
The lid 100 may, in a preferred embodiment, include a second recessed portion
120
having a depth less than the depth of recess portion 108, as is best seen in
Fig. 8.
Moreover, the bottom surface 122 of second recessed portion 120 includes a
vent hole
124. Preferably, bottom surface 122 slopes towards recess portion 108 so that
any
liquid that may pass through the vent hole 124 will flow to recess portion 108
and
through drinking opening 114 back into the cup.
The second recessed portion 120 also provides extra space to accommodate the
user's
nose while drinking. This second recessed portion 120 may also be dimensioned
to
provide an area on which the bottom of a second cup may rest, allowing the
second
cup to be stacked on top of a first cup and lid, for ease of carrying two cups
for
example.
As seen in Fig. 6, vent hole 124 is located on the outside perimeter of the
bottom
surface 122, opposite the drinking opening 114. It will be understood that
vent hole
124 can be located anywhere in bottom surface 122.
The annular mounting portion 106 allows the lid 100 to be snap fitted and
sealingly
engaged to a cup (as shown in Fig. 1 for example). The lid 100 may include an
external tab 126 which the user can grasp to help in removing the lid 100 from
a cup.
As is typical, the lid 100 may include one or more push down drink tabs 128 to
identify the beverage contained in the cup.
Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to
its
preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that
other
changes, modifications, additions and omissions may be made without departing
from
the substance and the scope of the present invention as defined by the
attached claims.
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