Dispenser-applicator device for disposable drinking cup lid elements

Abstract: Dispenser-applicator device for disposable drinking cup lid elements, comprising the combination of: a) a dispenser device with magazine (10) arranged to hold an ordered pile of lid elements (11); b) a device to pick up and apply the lid elements (12) capable of co-operating with said dispenser device to pick up said lid elements from said ordered pile one at a time and force fit them onto the inside of the top of truncated con-shaped disposable drinking cups.

Description: The present invention relates to a dispenser-applicator device for lid elements for disposable drinking cups. It is known that in premises serving drinks in disposable drinking cups, for example made of paper or plastic, it is usual to apply a lid element to the filled cup, said lid element usually being provided with a central hole through which to pass a drinking straw. In a typical business such as "fast food" shop or the like, the customers are usually served with hundreds of filled cups, and the operator is forced to apply the lid element, usually in the form of a "cap", manually. A dispenser-applicator device for lid elements for drinking cups is known from the US-A-4,068,449. This patent discloses a tool for applying a lid to a cup, said lid having an upstanding marginal flange for a sealed fit against the inside of said cup, said tool comprising in particular: a shoe engaging said lid within sad flange; resilient means projecting from said shoe for retain the lid on the shoe; spring means for applying a predetermined maximum downward pressure to said shoe; means such a hammer for signalling to the user that said predetermined maximum pressure has been reached. Such a system is clearly very complicated, therefore very expensive: moreover, owing to the structural and functional complexity and delicacy of its very numerous mechanical members and elements, the working reliability is not satisfactory at all. A dispenser-applicator device for lid elements for disposable drinking cups is also known from the document WO 95/03972 to Continental Cup Company Pty, Ltd., published on 9 February 1995, entitled "Apparatus for fitting a lid to a container". This document foresees the use of lid elements provided with tongues that engage with an applicator device, which is provided with means for engaging the tongues and with a suction cup. The system described in this document entails an expensive production of the lid elements owing to the presence of the tongues, as well as an unsatisfactory gripping of the single lid elements on the applicator device owing to the need to use the suction up. The object of the present invention is to provide a device to pick up and apply lid elements for disposable drinking cups that obviates the drawbacks and limitations of prior art. The device according to the present invention is structurally and functionally very different from prior art, is easy and reliable to use, reduces the amount of labour required, and renders the operations of applying the lid element on the filled cup faster. According to the present invention a device of the type mentioned above is provided, having the characteristics indicated in the characteirsing portion of the claims. The present invention will now be described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, and with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which: figure 1 shows an elevation view, partially in section and partially cut away, of the device according to the present invention: figures 2 and 2A show a section view of the device according to the present invention on insertion of the lid element, and an enlarged section view of a detail thereof, respectfully; figure 3 shows a partial plan view of the pick-up part of the dispenser-applicator device; figure 4 shows a section view along plane IV-IV of figure 3; figure 5 shows a partial section view of the insertion element of the dispenser-applicator device; and figures 6 and 7 show, respectively, a section view and a plan view of a typical drinking cup and of a lid element according to the present invention. With reference to figure 1, the dispenser-applicator device comprises two basic elements; a magazine dispenser device designated as a whole with 10, which houses a pile of lid elements 11, and a pick-up and application device for the lid elements, designated as a whole with 12. The magazine dispenser device 10 comprises a base 13, to which a plurality of column elements 14, 15, 16 and 17 are fixed, arranged to retain a plurality of lid elements 11 piled one on top of the other, and to form a guide for a crown element 18 of the pick-up and application device 12, which will be illustrated in greater detail hereafter. The pick-up and application device 12 basically comprises the above mentioned crown element 18, a plate element 19 integral with a rod 20, on the upper end of which is fixed a knob 21. A handle element 22 is slidingly mounted on the rod 20. As will be seen from the following, the crown element 18 is provided with means, not shown in figure 1, to grip the lid elements 11 one at a time by applying pressure on said handle element 22 in the direction of the arrows F1, while the plate element 19 provides for insertion of the lid elements 11 when, after knob 21 has been pressed in the direction of the arrow F2, the plate 19 inserts the lid element 11 in the drinking cup. Before proceeding with the description, with reference to figures 6 and 7, an illustration will be given, respectively, of a typical disposable drinking cup with which the device according to the present invention is intended to co-operate, and of a typical lid element to be inserted in the cup. As can be seen from figure 6, a typical drinking cup, for example made of paper, comprises a body 30 substantially shaped like a truncated cone, provided with an overturned lip 31 and with a bead 32 essentially formed by a rib with a convexity outward from the body 30 and which in practice defines a cavity in which to house and retain a lid element of circular shape, designated with 33 in figure 7. Sizing of the diameter of the lid element 33 and the geometry of the bead 32 are such that the lid element 33 can be inserted into position by means of a limited pre-set pressure so that the combined actions of the elasticity of both the cup element 30 and the lid element 33 co-operate to hold the lid element 33 in position once it has been inserted. The lid 33 is provided, in a substantially central position, with a cut line 34 having a tongue 35 that is not completely cut, so that the cut portion may be pushed inwards into the filled cup in order to allow the passage of a conventional drinking straw (not shown). On examining figures 1, 2 and 2A together it can be seen that the crown element 18 is provided with a stepped portion 40, arranged to house the plate element 19 in a position reaching to the dotted line 41, at a distance from the edge 42 of the crown element 18 slightly less than the thickness of the lid elements 33. In this way, when the plate element 19 is housed within the crown element 18, a space 43 is formed which is slightly less than the thickness of one of the lid elements 33. The arrangement is such that when the elements 18 and 19 are in the position indicated in figure 1 and pressure is exerted on the handle element 22 in the direction of the arrows F1, pick-up by the crown element 18 takes place through a mechanical action with a combined effect of elasticity and plastic deformation of the elements 33, so that only one of them is captured, i.e. the one on the top of the pile of lid elements 33. In this way, when the pick-up and application device 12 is lifted using the handle 22, one and only one of the lid elements 33 is lifted up from the relative pile. Once the pick-up and application device 12 bearing one lid element 33 has been lifted from the magazine device 10, it will carry one lid element 33 with it. At this point, the device 12 is applied to the mouth of the drinking cup 30. The overturned lip 31 of the cup 30 will rest against a step 44 of the crown element 18 (see figure 2A). At this point, pressure applied in the direction of the arrow F2 on the knob 21 will cause the rod 20 to slide inside the handle 22, so that the plate 19 will detach the lid element 33 from the hollow 43, and will bring it into forced contact with the bead 32 in the cup 30. In this way, the lid element 33 is force fitted into the bead or rib 32 of the cup, remaining locked in position by the elasticity of the materials. At this point the operator, holding in the hand the filled cup on which the lid element 33 has been applied, can use the straw to deform the cut part 34, 35, in order to insert the drinking straw (not shown). It should be noted that the double movement of the handle element 22 and the knob element 21 is of fundamental importance for the operation of the device according to the present invention in order to perform in sequence the operation of capture and pick-up of one of the lid elements 33, and thereafter, by acting on knob 21, to insert the lid element by pressure into the rib 32 in the cup 30. In figures 3, 4 and 5 the crown element 18 and the plate element 19 are shown in greater detail. As can be seen, the crown element 18 is provided with four recesses 45, 46, 47, 48, intended to co-operate with the columns 14, 15, 16 and 17 in the magazine container in order to center and position the element 18 inside the structure designated generally with 10 and to guide the vertical movement of the device 12 during the operation of capturing and picking-up one of the lid elements 33. The inner part of the crown element 18 is provided with surfaces 49, 50, 51, 52, broken by slots 53, of which only one is indicated with a number in the drawing, defining a cavity or an internal circumference just a little smaller than the external circumference of the lid elements 33, and calculated in such a way that in cooperation with the elasticity and deformability of the material of which the lid elements 33 are formed, the lid elements 33 are held through a peripheral interference in a safe but non-permanent manner in the area now defined of the element 18. In the rest position, that is to say when the device 12 rests on the pile of elements 11, inside the area described above is positioned the plate element 19, which has an outer circumference smaller than that defined by the surfaces 49, 50, 51, 52, in order to ensure relative movement between the periphery of the element 19 and the element 18 in order to allow free sliding upon activation of knob 21 to perform the actual operation of positioning and force fitting the lid element 33 inside the rib 32 on the cup 30. In a preferred embodiment, the cup 30 and the lid elements 33 are made of cardboard, treated if necessary, of the type normally used for the manufacture of containers for use with foodstuffs, as is well known from the state of the art. The actual form of the surfaces 49, 50, 51, 52 can clearly be changed, according to the type of material and the mechanical coefficients of said material, as will be clear to a person skilled in the art. Furthermore, the element 22 and the knob 21 are shown as elements sliding freely with respect to each other, the relative movements of which take place as a result of the manual operations of picking up and inserting the lid element 33 to be inserted in the cup 30. To ensure greater correctness in the sequence of operations, a spring may be provided, not shown in the drawings, so as to ensure in all cases that the operations of pick-up and application of the lid element 33 inside the cups 30 take place in the correct sequence. This spring may be advantageously arranged between the upper end of the handle 22 and the base of the knob 21, so as to bias the handle 22 and the knob 21 to move away from one another. It should also be noted that the rib 32 in the upper portion of the cup 30 to hold the lid element 33 in a fixed fit, must be considered a precaution to ensure a positive mechanical locking between the edge of the lid element 33 and the rib 32. Should positive mechanical locking not be required, the rib 32 may be omitted and coupling may take place by mere interference fit between the edge of the element 33 and the conical inner surface of the cup.

Claims: Dispenser-applicator device for lid elements for disposable drinking cups, comprising: a magazine dispenser device (10) provided with a base (13) having a plurality of columns (14, 15, 16, 17) arranged to house and retain an ordered pile of plane lid elements (11; 33) provided with a continuous circular edge; and a pick-up and application device (12) for said lid elements (11; 33), apt to co-operate by corresponding recesses (45, 46, 47, 48) with said columns of said magazine dispenser device (10) to pick up said lid elements from said pile one at a time and to force fit them onto the inside of the top of truncated cone-shaped disposable drinking cups (30), which dispenser-applicator device is characterised in that said pick-up and application device (12) is provided with a crown element (18) having a cavity of dimensions congruent to the periphery of said lid elements (11; 33) so as to pick up them from said pile one at a time through a mere peripheral frictional interference with said edge of a lid element, said pick-up and application device comprising a plate (19) inside said cavity and coaxially slidable thereto, the arrangement being such that in the pick-up condition the space between the lower surface of said plate (19) and the pick-up lower surface of said crown element (18) has a depth smaller than or equal to the thickness of one of said lid elements, so that by means of a manual pressure action one lid element at a time is picked up from said pile by said cavity of the crown element (18), wherein said plate (19) is installed in a sliding manner with respect to said crown element (18) to move along a perpendicular axis for a limited distance in order to allow unlocking of the lid element (11; 33) captured by said crown element (18) and its force fitting into the conical upper portion of the cup (30). Device according to claim 1, characterised in that said plate (19) is installed integral with a rod (20) coaxial with the plate (19) and with the crown element (18) and terminating in a knob (21) at the top, said rod having in an intermediate section between said crown element and said knob a slidingly mounted handle (22). Device according to claim 2, characterised in that between said knob (21) and said handle (22) a compression spring is arranged to bias the handle (22) and the knob (21) to move away from one another. Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that said lid element (11; 33) is installed by interference fit on the conical inner surface of the drinking cup (30). Device according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that said drinking cup (30) has at the top a rib (32) with a convexity outward from the cup to ensure positive mechanical assembly of the lid element (11; 33) inside the cup (30).

Inventors: D AMATO ANTONIO, D'AMATO, ANTONIO
Applicants: SEDA SPA, SEDA S.P.A.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B65B7
IPC codes: B65B7