U.S. patent application number 11/888448 was filed with the patent office on 2009-02-05 for drinking cup cover.
This patent application is currently assigned to President Packaging Industrial Corp.. Invention is credited to Steven Lee, Cheng-Ti Tu.
Application Number | 20090032543 11/888448 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40337153 |
Filed Date | 2009-02-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090032543 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee; Steven ; et
al. |
February 5, 2009 |
Drinking cup cover
Abstract
A drinking cup cover includes a cover body and a closure member.
The cover body has a cover wall with top and bottom surfaces, a
peripheral portion, and a beverage hole formed through the top and
bottom surfaces of the cover wall adjacent to the peripheral
portion. The cover wall further has a hole-defining periphery that
defines the beverage hole. The closure member includes a tab part,
a depressible part, and an engaging part. The tab part is connected
to the hole-defining periphery such that the closure member is
movable relative to the cover body between a sipping position and a
non-sipping position. The depressible part protrudes upwardly from
the tab part and is operable to move the tab part downwardly from
the non-sipping position to the sipping position. The engaging part
is formed on one end of the depressible part opposite to tab part
to engage the hole-defining periphery.
Inventors: |
Lee; Steven; (Tainan Hsien,
TW) ; Tu; Cheng-Ti; (Tainan Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FROMMER LAWRENCE & HAUG
745 FIFTH AVENUE- 10TH FL.
NEW YORK
NY
10151
US
|
Assignee: |
President Packaging Industrial
Corp.
|
Family ID: |
40337153 |
Appl. No.: |
11/888448 |
Filed: |
August 1, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/713 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 2543/00351
20130101; B65D 2251/1008 20130101; B65D 2543/00296 20130101; B65D
2543/00092 20130101; B65D 2543/00046 20130101; B65D 47/0847
20130101; B65D 43/0212 20130101; B65D 2251/1066 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/713 |
International
Class: |
A47G 19/22 20060101
A47G019/22 |
Claims
1. A drinking cup cover comprising: a cover body having a cover
wall with top and bottom surfaces, said cover wall having a
peripheral portion and a beverage hole formed through said top and
bottom surfaces of said cover wall adjacent to said peripheral
portion, said cover wall further having a hole-defining periphery
that defines said beverage hole; and a closure member having a tab
part connected to said hole-defining periphery such that said
closure member is movable relative to said cover body between a
sipping position, where said tab part uncovers said beverage hole,
and a non-sipping position, where said tab part spans said beverage
hole, a depressible part that protrudes upwardly from said tab part
and that is operable to move said tab part downwardly when moving
said closure member from the non-sipping position to the sipping
position, and an engaging part that is formed on one end of said
depressible part opposite to said tab part to engage removably said
hole-defining periphery when said closure member is moved to the
sipping position.
2. The drinking cup cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tab
part of said closure member has a periphery with a hinge section
connected pivotally to said hole-defining periphery, and a tearable
section connected separably to said hole-defining periphery.
3. The drinking cup cover as claimed in claim 2, wherein said
closure member further has a tear line that connects separably said
tearable section of said periphery of said tab part to said
hole-defining periphery.
4. The drinking cup cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cover
wall further has a recessed portion adjacent to said peripheral
portion and indented from said top surface of said cover wall, said
beverage hole being located in said recessed portion.
5. The drinking cup cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
engaging part of said closure member is formed with a groove to
engage removably said hole-defining periphery when said closure
member is moved to the sipping position.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a drinking cup cover, more
particularly to a drinking cup cover that permits sipping of a
beverage therethrough.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional drinking cup
cover 1 includes a cover body 11 and a closure member 12. The cover
body 11 has a beverage hole 111 to permit sipping of a beverage,
and a recess 112 proximate to the beverage hole 111. The closure
member 12 is disposed at the beverage hole 111, and has a tab part
121 and a depressible part 122. The tab part 121 is connected to a
periphery of the beverage hole 111 such that the closure member 12
is movable relative to the cover body 11 between a sipping position
(see FIG. 2), where the tab part 121 uncovers the beverage hole
111, and a non-sipping position (see FIG. 1), where the tab part
121 spans the beverage hole 111. The depressible part 122 protrudes
upwardly from the tab part 121 and is operable to move the closure
member 12 from the non-sipping position to the sipping position.
The closure member 12 further has a tear line 123 that connects
separably a periphery of the tab part 121 to the periphery of the
beverage hole 111.
[0005] To move the closure member 12 from the non-sipping position
to the sipping position, the depressible part 122 is operated to
tear apart the tab part 121 from the periphery of the beverage hole
111, is subsequently operated to move the tab part 121 upwardly,
and is forced into engagement with the recess 112 (see FIGS. 2 and
3). Once uncovered, the beverage hole 111 permits sipping of a
beverage therethrough.
[0006] However, the lips of the user are likely to contact the
periphery of the beverage hole 111 during beverage consumption.
Because the tear line 123 was used to connect separably the tab
part 121 to the periphery of the beverage hole 111, the periphery
of the beverage hole 111 tends to be serrated when the tear line
123 is broken, thereby resulting in discomfort and possible injury
when the user's lips come into contact with the periphery of the
beverage hole 111 during beverage consumption.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide
a drinking cup cover that can reduce user discomfort and avoid
possible injury during beverage consumption.
[0008] According to this invention, there is provided a drinking
cup cover comprising a cover body and a closure member. The cover
body has a cover wall with top and bottom surfaces, a peripheral
portion, and a beverage hole formed through the top and bottom
surfaces of the cover wall adjacent to the peripheral portion. The
cover wall further has a hole-defining periphery that defines
beverage hole. The closure member has a tab part, a depressible
part and an engaging part. The tab part is connected to the
hole-defining periphery such that the closure member is movable
relative to the cover body between a sipping position, where the
tab part uncovers the beverage hole, and a non-sipping position,
where the tab part spans the beverage hole. The depressible part
protrudes upwardly from the tab part, and is operable to move the
tab part downwardly when moving the closure member from the
non-sipping position to the sipping position. The engaging part is
formed on one end of the depressible part opposite to tab part, and
engages removably the hole-defining periphery when the closure
member is moved to the sipping position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional drinking cup
cover;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the conventional
drinking cup cover to show a closure member thereof at a sipping
position;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the
conventional drinking cup cover to show the closure member at the
sipping position;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the drinking cup cover according to the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the preferred
embodiment to show a closure member thereof at a sipping position;
and
[0015] FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the
preferred embodiment to show the closure member at the sipping
position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] As illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, the preferred embodiment of
a drinking cup cover 2 according to the present invention includes
a cover body 21 and a closure member 22.
[0017] The cover body 21 has a cover wall 214 with a top surface
215, a bottom surface 216, and a peripheral portion 217. A beverage
hole 212 is formed through the top and bottom surfaces 215, 216 of
the cover wall 214 adjacent to the peripheral portion 217. The
cover wall 214 further has a hole-defining periphery 211 that
defines the beverage hole 212. In this embodiment, the cover wall
214 further has a recessed portion 213 adjacent to the peripheral
portion 217 and indented from the top surface 215 of the cover wall
214. The beverage hole 212 is located in the recessed portion
213.
[0018] The closure member 22 has a tab part 221, a depressible part
222, and an engaging part 223. The tab part 221 is connected to the
hole-defining periphery 211 such that the closure member 22 is
movable relative to the cover body 21 between a sipping position
(see FIG. 5), where the tab part 221 uncovers the beverage hole
212, and a non-sipping position, where the tab part 221 spans the
beverage hole 212. The depressible part 222 protrudes upwardly from
the tab part 221 and is operable to move the tab part 221
downwardly when moving the closure member 22 from the non-sipping
position to the sipping position. The engaging part 223 is formed
on one end of the depressible part 222 opposite to the tab part 221
to engage removably the hole-defining periphery 211 when the
closure member 22 is moved to the sipping position.
[0019] In this embodiment, the tab part 221 of the closure member
22 has a rectangular periphery with a hinge section 226 (i.e., one
of the long edges of the rectangular periphery) connected pivotally
to the hole-defining periphery 211, and a tearable section 225
(i.e., the remaining edges of the rectangular periphery) connected
separably to the hole-defining periphery 211. The closure member 22
further has a tear line 224 that connects separably the tearable
section 225 of the periphery of the tab part 221 to the
hole-defining periphery 211.
[0020] In this embodiment, the engaging part 223 of the closure
member 22 is formed with a groove to engage removably the
hole-defining periphery 211 when the closure member 22 is moved to
the sipping position.
[0021] To move the closure member 22 from the non-sipping position
to the sipping position, the depressible part 222 of the closure
member 22 is operated to break the tear line 224 and move the tab
part 221 downwardly until the engaging part 223 engages the
hole-defining periphery 211 to retain the closure member 22 at the
sipping position. The depressible part 222 straddles the beverage
hole 212 at this time.
[0022] During beverage consumption, the user's lips contact the
recessed portion 213 of the cover wall 214. The tab part 221
extends downwardly relative to the cover wall 214, and the
depressible part 222 straddles the beverage hole 212 when the
closure member 22 is at the sipping position such that the user's
lips do not contact the periphery of the tab part 221 and the
hole-defining periphery 211 of the beverage hole 212, thereby
reducing user discomfort and avoiding possible injury during
beverage consumption.
[0023] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what is considered the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and
equivalent arrangements.
* * * * *