Drink cup and lid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9505528-B2
Application number	US-201113290785-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 7, 2011
Priority date	Apr 15, 2004
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

A liquid container includes a brim forming an opening into a liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup. A lid is coupled to the brim to form more than one seal with the container.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A liquid container comprising
a cup including a brim, a floor, and a side wall extending from the brim toward the floor, the side wall including a radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface, the brim including an axially upwardly facing second annular seal surface and a radially outwardly facing third annular seal surface,
a lid including a bowl-shaped closure and a brim mount appended to the bowl-shaped closure and configured to cooperate with the bowl-shaped closure to retain the bowl-shaped closure in a position closing a mouth opening into a liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup, wherein the bowl-shaped closure includes a first seal ring arranged to engage the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface of the side wall of the cup to establish a first liquid flow barrier therebetween, the brim mount includes a rim coupled to the bowl-shaped closure, a lid-removal flange, and a lid-removal blocker wall interconnecting the rim and the lid-removal flange, the rim includes a second seal ring arranged to engage the axially upwardly facing second annular seal surface of the side wall of the cup to establish a second liquid flow barrier therebetween and a third seal ring arranged to engage the radially outwardly facing third annular seal surface of the side wall of the cup to establish a third liquid flow barrier therebetween, the lid-removal flange is located below the lid-removal blocker wall and arranged to extend downwardly in an inner direction toward the floor of the cup, the lid-removal blocker wall is located between the third seal ring and the lid-removal flange and arranged to engage an outer portion of the brim during movement of the lid in an outer direction opposite to the inner direction, and the bowl-shaped closure further includes a cover and force-generator means interconnecting the cover and the first seal ring for applying a radially outwardly directed force to the first seal ring when the lid is mounted on the cup to urge the first seal ring against the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface of the side wall of the cup to establish a press-plug interference fit between the lid and the cup, and
wherein the force-generator means intersects the first seal ring at a first plane and the force-generator means intersects the cover at a second plane located between the first plane and the floor of the cup.

2. A liquid container comprising
a cup including a brim, a floor, and a side wall extending from the brim toward the floor, the brim including a lid retainer lying outside the liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup, and
a lid including a bowl-shaped closure and a brim mount appended to the bowl-shaped closure and coupled to the brim to retain the bowl-shaped closure in a position closing a mouth opening into the liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup, the brim mount engaging the brim to establish at last one liquid flow barrier therebetween, the brim mount including a lid-removal blocker wall arranged to engage the lid retainer of the brim during movement of the lid in an outer direction away from the floor of the cup to block removal of the lid from the cup, and wherein the bowl-shaped closure includes a first seal ring arranged to engage the side wall of the cup to establish a first liquid flow barrier therebetween when the lid is mounted on the cup, the bowl-shaped closure includes a cover formed to include a liquid-dispenser zone and a force-generator portion having a V-shaped cross section and surrounding the cover and mating with the first seal ring at a first plane, and the force-generator portion includes an outer frustoconical wall coupled to the first seal ring and an inner frustoconical wall arranged to interconnect the outer frustoconical wall and the cover to define a channel having a top opening facing away from the floor of the cup and wherein the force-generator portion intersects the cover at a second plane located between the first plane and the floor of the cup.

3. A liquid container comprising
a cup including a brim, a floor, and a side wall extending from the brim to the floor, the side wall including a radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface, and
a lid including a closure and a brim mount appended to the closure, wherein the brim mount is coupled to the brim of the cup to retain the closure in a position closing a mouth opening into a liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup and extending into the liquid reservoir chamber to mate with the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface, the closure is made of an elastic material and configured to deform elastically when inserted into the mouth opening into the liquid reservoir chamber to establish a sealed tight interference fit between the lid and the cup, and the closure includes a cover arranged to close most of the mouth opening into the liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup, a first seal ring arranged to surround the cover, and force-generator means interconnecting the cover and the first seal ring for yieldably urging the first seal ring radially outwardly away from the cover to mate with the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface on the cup upon insertion of the first seal ring into the liquid reservoir chamber through the mouth so that the sealed tight interference fit between the lid and the closure is established, and
wherein the force-generator means intersects the first seal ring at a first plane and the force-generator means intersects the cover at a second plane located between the first plane and the floor of the cup.

4. The liquid container of claim 3 , wherein the cover of the bowl-shaped closure includes a round plate formed to include a liquid-dispenser zone, the force-generator means has a V-shaped cross section and is arranged to surround the round plate and mate with the first seal ring, the force-generator means includes an outer frustoconical wall coupled to the first seal ring and an inner frustoconical wall arranged to interconnect the outer frustoconical wall and the round plate and cooperate with the outer frustoconical wall to define a channel having a top opening facing away from the floor of the cup.

5. The liquid container of claim 4 , wherein the first seal ring is arranged to lie in concentric spaced-apart relation to the cover.

6. A liquid container comprising
a cup including a brim, a floor, and a side wall extending from the brim to the floor, the side wall including a radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface,
a lid including a closure and a brim mount appended to the closure, wherein the brim mount is coupled to the brim of the cup to retain the closure in a position closing a mouth opening into a liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup and extending into the liquid reservoir chamber to mate with the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface, the closure is made of an elastic material and configured to deform elastically when inserted into the mouth opening into the liquid reservoir chamber to establish a sealed tight interference fit between the lid and the cup, and the closure includes a cover arranged to close most of the mouth opening into the liquid reservoir chamber formed in the cup, a first seal ring arranged to surround the cover, and force-generator means surrounding the cover and interconnecting the cover and the first seal ring for yieldably urging the first seal ring radially outwardly away from the cover to mate with the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface on the cup upon insertion of the first seal ring into the liquid reservoir chamber through the mouth so that the sealed tight interference fit between the lid and the closure is established, and
wherein the force-generator means intersects the first seal ring at a first plane and

Assignees

• Walker Thomas B
• Maravich Milan C
• O'Nan David
• Berry Plastics Corp

Inventors

• Walker Thomas B
• Maravich Milan C
• O'Nan David

Classifications

• B65D2543/00805

  Segments · CPC title

• B65D2543/00796

  Totality · CPC title

• B65D2543/00731

  Groove or hollow bead · CPC title

• B65D2543/00685

  Totality · CPC title

• B65D2543/00657

  U-shaped or inverted U · CPC title