Cup lid

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9730540-B2
Application number	US-201514686288-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2015
Priority date	Apr 14, 2011
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A liquid container includes a brim forming a mouth opening into a product receiving chamber formed in a cup. A lid is coupled to the rim to close the mouth of the cup.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lid for a cup, the lid comprising
a ring-shaped brim mount having a round shape with a center point located on a central axis of the lid, the ring-shaped brim mount being adapted to couple to a brim included in a cup,
a central closure including an elevated basin arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation above the ring-shaped brim mount and formed to include a sip aperture and a well aperture, a product-retaining shell coupled to a perimeter of the elevated basin and arranged to extend toward and couple to the ring-shaped brim mount, a well coupled to the elevated basin and arranged to extend toward the ring-shaped brim mount, and a nub coupled to the elevated basin and arranged to extend away from the ring-shaped brim mount,
a sip flap including a sip-flap tab and a sip-flap hinge arranged to extend between and interconnect the sip-flap tab to the elevated basin to allow the sip-flap tab to move between a closed position in which the sip-flap tab lies in and closes the sip aperture and an opened position in which the nub extends into the well aperture,
wherein the elevated basin includes a planar portion formed to include the sip aperture and the well aperture, and
wherein the sip flap lies between the ring-shaped brim mount and a top wall of the product-retaining shell.

2. The lid of claim 1 , wherein the sip-flap hinge is located between the sip aperture and the well aperture.

3. The lid of claim 2 , wherein the nub is arranged to extend above the product-retaining shell.

4. The lid of claim 3 , wherein the well extends below the elevated basin.

5. The lid of claim 4 , wherein the sip flap pivots about a tab axis relative to the elevated basin about 180 degrees to move from the closed position to the opened position and the tab axis is arranged to be parallel to the planar portion.

6. The lid of claim 5 , wherein the sip-flap tab is about parallel to the planar portion of the elevated basin when the sip flap is in the closed position.

7. The lid of claim 2 , wherein the sip-flap tab is formed to include an inner edge and an outer edge surrounding the inner edge, the nub is coupled to the sip-flap tab along the inner edge to lie in a fixed position on the sip-flap tab for movement therewith relative to the elevated basin, and the sip-flap hinge is coupled to the sip-flap tab at the outer edge.

8. The lid of claim 7 , wherein the nub is arranged to extend above the product-retaining shell and the well is arranged to extend below the elevated basin.

9. The lid of claim 1 , wherein the product-retaining shell includes a product-retaining wall coupled to the ring-shaped brim mount and arranged to extend toward the elevated basin and a top wall arranged to extend between and interconnect the elevated basin and the product-retaining wall.

10. The lid of claim 9 , wherein the top wall is arranged to face away from the ring-shaped brim mount.

11. The lid of claim 9 , wherein the sip aperture and the well aperture are located between the ring-shaped brim mount and the top wall.

12. The lid of claim 9 , wherein the nub is arranged to extend above the top wall.

13. The lid of claim 1 , wherein the sip-flap tab pivots about a tab axis relative to the elevated basin about 180 degrees to move from the closed position to the opened position.

14. The lid of claim 13 , wherein the sip-flap tab is about parallel to the planar portion of the elevated basin when the sip flap is in the closed position.

15. The lid of claim 14 , wherein the nub has a cross-sectional shape that is geometrically similar to a cross-sectional shape of the well.

16. A lid for a cup, the lid comprising
a ring-shaped brim mount having a round shape with a center point located on a central axis of the lid, the ring-shaped brim mount being adapted to couple to a brim included in a cup,
a central closure including an elevated basin arranged to lie above and in spaced-apart relation to the ring-shaped brim mount, the elevated basin including a floor having a planar portion formed to include a sip aperture and a well aperture therein, and an annular product-retaining shell coupled to a perimeter of the elevated basin and arranged to extend downwardly toward the ring-shaped brim mount to couple to the ring-shaped brim mount,
a sip-flap tab coupled to the planar portion of the floor by a sip-flap hinge, the sip-flap hinge being operable to allow the sip-flap tab to move between a closed position in which the sip-flap tab lies in and closes the sip aperture and an opened position in which a portion of the sip-flap tab extends into the well aperture, and
wherein the sip flap lies between the ring-shaped brim mount and a top wall of the product-retaining shell.

17. The lid of claim 16 , wherein the sip flap pivots about a tab axis relative to the elevated basin about 180 degrees to move from the closed position to the opened position, the sip-flap tab is about parallel to the planar portion of the elevated basin when the sip-flap tab is in the closed position, the tab axis and the sip-flap hinge are located between the sip aperture and the well aperture, a nub is coupled to the sip-flap tab to move therewith and is arranged to extend above the annular product-retaining shell when the sip-flap tab is in the closed position, a well coupled to the elevated basin and arranged to extend below the elevated basin, the well aperture is arranged to open into the well, the sip aperture and the well aperture are located between the ring-shaped brim mount and a top wall of the annular product-retaining shell, the sip aperture and the well aperture are in coplanar relation to one another, and the well aperture is located radially inward of the sip aperture between the sip aperture and the central axis.

18. A lid for a cup, the lid comprising
a ring-shaped brim mount having a round shape with a center point located on a central axis of the lid, the ring-shaped brim mount being adapted to couple to a brim included in a cup,
a central closure including an elevated basin arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation above the ring-shaped brim mount and formed to include a sip aperture and a well aperture, a product-retaining shell coupled to a perimeter of the elevated basin and arranged to extend toward and couple to the ring-shaped brim mount, a well coupled to the elevated basin and arranged to extend toward the ring-shaped brim mount, and a nub coupled to the elevated basin and arranged to extend away from the ring-shaped brim mount, and
a sip flap including a sip-flap tab and a sip-flap hinge arranged to extend between and interconnect the sip-flap tab to the elevated basin to allow the sip-flap tab to move between a closed position in which the sip-flap tab lies in and closes the sip aperture and an opened position in which the nub extends into the well aperture,
wherein the elevated basin includes a planar portion formed to include the sip aperture and the well aperture, the planar portion having a negative slope extending in the direction of the well aperture.

Assignees

• Berry Plastics Corp

Inventors

• Tabor Kyle F
• Kastelic Alexander R

Classifications

• B65D2543/00555

  on both the inside and the outside · CPC title

• B65D2543/00296

  Plastic · CPC title

• Y10T83/0481

  Puncturing · CPC title

• B29K2023/12

  PP, i.e. polypropylene · CPC title

• B65D2543/00046

  Drinking-through lids · CPC title