Abstract:
A cover assembly for allowing a drinking opening in beverage container assembly to be selectively covered. The beverage container assembly comprises a cup and a lid and the drinking opening is formed in an upper wall of the raised portion of the lid. The cover assembly comprises a substantially planar cover member and a substrate. The cover member comprises first and second layers and defines a cover portion, a surrounding cover portion, and a perimeter edge. The first layer is a structural layer having flexural characteristics that allow the cover member to be transported by engaging opposing portions of the perimeter edge of the cover member without substantially deforming the cover member. The second layer defines an adhesive surface adapted to detachably attach the cover member to the substrate and the lid.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/527,947, filed Sep. 26, 2006. 
         [0002]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/527,947 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/754,413 filed Jan. 9, 2004, now abandoned. 
         [0003]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/754,413 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/157,383 filed on May 28, 2002, now abandoned. 
         [0004]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/157,383 is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/654,592 filed on Sep. 1, 2000, now abandoned. 
         [0005]    U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/654,592 claimed the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/152,776, filed on Sep. 3, 1999. 
         [0006]    The contents of all related applications listed above are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention relates to a cover piece and method for covering the opening in the lid for a coffee cup, and more particularly to such a cover piece which has an adhesive layer and which can conveniently and reliably be placed over the opening to prevent spilling of the coffee, and can easily and reliably be removed and replaced. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    One common way for restaurants to serve coffee to customers is with a disposable cup, which often has a disposable lid, covering the cup in which the coffee is being served. This is done in fast food restaurants which serve the food and coffee over the counters, where it can be taken off the premises. Also, these are used for drive-through restaurants where the car drives to a service window, and the coffee and also other beverages and/or food are served through the window. There are a number of establishments which serve coffee and/or other beverages exclusively for drive-through customers. 
         [0009]    Some types of lids for these coffee cups have an opening at the perimeter of the lid which permits the person to drink coffee while leaving the lid in place in its closing position. When the coffee cup is being handled or passed from one person to another, the movement of the coffee within the cup can sometimes cause the coffee to spill through the opening. 
         [0010]    It has been a practice in some drive-in or drive-through restaurants to use a piece of flexible adhesive material (similar to adhesive tape that is commonly used to cause a bandage to be placed against the person&#39;s skin) to cover the lid opening when the coffee is being served. Then the person can remove the adhesive cover when he or she begins drinking the coffee. Generally, the person who is to drink the coffee will simply take the adhesive piece off and dispose of it. 
         [0011]    A search of the patent literature has revealed a number of patents relating to different configurations of closed containers that permit the person to drink from the container and various types of covers for these and other items. These patents are the following: 
         [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,191 (Neville) shows a spout built on a lip of a cup portion and a lid portion. It is closed by hinged flap  54 , that is provided with a tab  56  that is a releasable holding means to keep the flap closed. 
         [0013]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,698 (Ewart et al) shows a container for holding and treating contact lenses. The lower section has fluid holding basin sections, and an upper cover sheet to seal the basins. The cover material is held in place by an adhesive that can be repeatedly used in a wet environment. 
         [0014]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,902 (DeMars) shows a spout lid that is provided with a cover that is retained tightly enough to provide a fluid tight seal. The cover is attached to the lid by an integral strap element. 
         [0015]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,975 (Coy) shows a lid spout that is provided with a valve that prevents leakage during use. There is a cover element  16 , in place before use that is secured by adhesive. The cover element  16  is removed when the spout is about to be used. 
         [0016]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,583 (Montemarano) shows a cup lid that has a spout provided with a closure element  24 , and that is held in place by perforations that are broken when the cup is to be used. There is a thumb tab  26  that aids in opening and may be provided with adhesive to aid in resealing. 
         [0017]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,156 (Lobbestael) shows a spout that is provided with removable cover. There are perforations in the material between the cover and the spout so that the cover may be easily removed. 
         [0018]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,827 (Abere et al) shows a sealing element held over an opening in a fluid container by adhesive. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    The present invention relates to covers and methods for selectively covering a drinking opening in beverage container assembly. The present invention is optimized for use with conventional beverage container assemblies that comprise a cup and a lid. In such conventional container assemblies, the drinking opening is typically formed in an upper wall of a raised portion of the lid. 
         [0020]    The cover assembly comprises a substantially planar cover member and a substrate. The cover member comprises first and second layers and defines a cover portion, a surrounding cover portion, and a perimeter edge. The first layer is a structural layer having flexural characteristics that allow the cover member to be transported by engaging opposing portions of the perimeter edge of the cover member without substantially deforming the cover member. The second layer defines an adhesive surface adapted to detachably attach the cover member to the substrate and the lid. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a prior art cover cap and also showing the cover piece of the present invention positioned above the cover cap; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of a portion of the lid of  FIG. 1 , showing the cover piece in place; 
           [0023]      FIG. 2A  is a plan view similar to  FIG. 2 , showing to an enlarged scale the opening perimeter portion of the cup lid with the cover piece in place over the opening. This drawing of  FIG. 2A  being given to permit the numerical designations to be inserted more clearly; 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the cover cap, showing the main cover layer and also the adhesive layer; 
           [0025]      FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  6  are three drawings showing the lid of the coffee cup in cross section, and illustrating the steps of one method by which the cover piece can be applied to close the opening in the lid; 
           [0026]      FIG. 7  is a top plan view showing a plurality of the cover pieces being mounted to a substrate in a manner so that these can easily be removed for use in covering the lid openings; 
           [0027]      FIGS. 8-11  are side elevational views of the Test procedures used to determine flexural stiffness; and 
           [0028]      FIGS. 12A ,  12 B,  12 C,  12 D and  12 E show five additional embodiments of the present invention where the cover pieces have various stylized configurations, indicating, somewhat schematically, an apple, a clover, a person&#39;s lips or lip, an image representing the sun, and a flower, respectively. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0029]    In  FIG. 1 , there is shown a prior art lid  10  and the cover piece  12  of a first embodiment of the present invention in a position where the cover piece  12  can be lowered into covering engagement with the lid  10 . In  FIGS. 4-6 , the lid  10  is shown in its covering position at the upper end of a prior art cup  14  which may be a coffee cup (the lower end of which is not shown for ease of illustration). This lid  10  and the cup  14  together form a drinking container  15 . 
         [0030]    The lid  10  comprises a lower perimeter flange  16 , which extends around the upper rim of the coffee cup  14 . Spaced a short distance radially inwardly from the outer perimeter flange  16 , there is a raised perimeter portion  18 , comprising an outer perimeter wall  20  having an upward and radially inward slant, a top horizontal perimeter wall  22  extending radially inwardly from the outer wall  20 , and then relatively short downwardly extending, inwardly facing circumferential lip  24 . Connected to the lip  24  is horizontal cover portion  26  having a generally circular configuration. 
         [0031]    The cover portion  26  has a downwardly formed recessed portion  28  in the form of a segment of a circle having a generally vertically aligned planar recess wall  30  spaced a short distance away from the center of the cover portion  26 , a bottom wall  32  and a circularly radially outward, curved outer recess wall  34  which is axially aligned with, and a downward extension of, the inner lip  24 . 
         [0032]    There is an elongated opening  36  formed in the top wall  22  adjacent to (and radially outward from) the wall  34  of the recess  28 . The surface portion of the recessed curved outer wall  34 , designated  38 , functions as a positioning surface for the application of the cover piece  12 . (This will be discussed in more detail later herein.) 
         [0033]    The opening  36  has an inner edge  40  and an outer edge  42  which are parallel to one another, and lateral edges  44  which are each formed in a 180 degree curve. This perimeter edge  40 / 42 / 44  has the overall configuration of a racetrack. The dimensions of the opening  36  are sufficiently small so that there is a perimeter surface portion  45  of the top wall  22  extending entirely around the opening  36 . 
         [0034]    The aforementioned cover piece  12  comprises a cover layer  46  made of a moderately stiff, yet bendable plastic material, and having an adhesive layer  48  on its lower surface. This cover piece  12  comprises a cover section  50  and a tab portion  52 . The cover piece  12  can be considered as having a radial axis  53  which, with the cover piece  12  in its closing position, extends radially from the center of the lid  10 , and a perimeter axis  54  extending perpendicular to the radial axis  53 . 
         [0035]    The cover section  50  has a width dimension (shown at  55 ) of about ¼ inch, and an overall length dimension  56  of about ¾ inch. The cover section therefore has an elongated “racetrack” configuration similar to that of the opening  36 , comprising a radially inward edge portion  58 , two lateral end edge portions  60  having a 180 degree outer edge, and two radially outward portions  62  on opposite sides of the tab  52 . The radially inward edge  58  and the two edge portions  62  follow the curve of the raised perimeter portion  18  and are positioned a very short distance inside of the upper edges of the top wall  22  of the raised perimeter portion  18 . 
         [0036]    The cover piece  12  is shown in its proper position, applied to the lid  10 , in  FIG. 2 . Therefore, in terms of function, the cover section  50  can be considered as having an inner covering portion  64  which in its covering position is coincident with the lid opening  36 , and a surrounding perimeter portion  66  made up of two lateral perimeter portions  68  and radially inward and outward elongate perimeter portions  70  and  72 , respectively. 
         [0037]    The tab  52  extends radially outwardly beyond the outer edge of the top wall  22  of the raised perimeter portion  18  when the cover piece  12  is in its covering position in  FIG. 2  by a short distance (0.25 inch, this dimension being shown at  74  in  FIG. 2 ). The width dimension (indicated at  76 ) of the tab  52  is approximately 0.25 inch. The outer edge  77  of the tab  52  is in a 180 degree curve. Thus, the tab  52  is dimensioned so that it can conveniently be grasped by the person&#39;s thumb, while the inward edge  58  is grasped by the person&#39;s forefinger. 
         [0038]    The portion of the lid  10  that is adjacent to the opening  36  can, for purposes of describing the configuration and function of the present invention, be considered as a perimeter opening region  78 , comprising the opening  36 , a radially inward surface portion  78  of the recess wall  34  adjacent to the opening  36 , a radially outward portion  80  of the wall  20  adjacent to the opening  36  and the adjacent surface portions of the upper wall  24  to which the cover piece  12  adheres. 
         [0039]    The aforementioned adhesive layer  48  extends over the entire bottom surface of the cover piece  12 , and this is a contact adhesive which adheres to the underlying surface when it is applied to the underlying surface and moderate pressure is applied to the member  12 . Also, the contact adhesive is such that it can be removed from its bonded position and replaced onto the cup lid surface a number of times, with the adhesive still being able to have a releasable bond to the underlying surface. Also, in this particular application the material from which this adhesive is made is a non-toxic material so that if the coffee within the cup splashes against the adhesive material there would be no contamination to the person who is drinking the coffee. A suitable adhesive is acrylic transfer (Acrylic PSA). A rubber-based adhesive could work; however, acrylic transfer has desirable water resistive properties. 
         [0040]    The plastic cover layer  46  of the cover piece  12  is made of a plastic material which is approximately 0.02 to 0.03 inches thick. The cover piece  12  is moderately stiff, and yet it can be readily flexed from the planar position by a moderate application of moderate pressure when grasped in a person&#39;s thumb and forefinger. 
         [0041]    It has been found that this particular configuration and structure of the cover piece  12  permits it to be very conveniently applied to the lid  10  to cover the opening  36 , easily removed from the lid  10  and also placed again in its covering position. Further, this can be accomplished a number of times. Thus, the cover piece  12  can be readily placed into its covering position by the person who is serving the coffee, and this can be done very quickly (and yet reliably). Then when the customer receives the cup of coffee with the cover piece  12  over the lid  10 , the customer can easily remove the cover piece, drink a portion of the coffee, and replace the cover piece  12  in its closing position, this being done also with relative ease and also with a reliable closure being accomplished. 
         [0042]    To explain the method of application of the present invention in more detail, reference is now made to  FIGS. 4 through 7 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , there is a plurality of the cover pieces  12  which are placed on a flexible cardboard member  81  so as to adhesively adhere to the cardboard member  81 . The person grasps one of the cover pieces  12  by the tab  52  and lifts the cover piece from the underlying cardboard  81 . 
         [0043]    While different techniques may be used to place the cover piece  12  over the opening  36 , one particularly effective technique is to grasp the cover piece  12  so that the surface end portion  84  near the end of the person&#39;s forefinger  86  engages the inside edge  58  of the cover section  50 , with the thumb surface near the outer end of the thumb  88  engaging the outer edge  77  of the tab  52 . 
         [0044]    Then the cover piece  12  is moved into the position of  FIG. 4  so that the inside edge  58  of the cover section  56  is adjacent to the middle rear edge portion of the top wall  22 . In this position, the front surface portion  86  of the end portion of the person&#39;s finger  82  comes into engagement with the surface portion  79  of the positioning surface  38  of the recess  28 , and the end of the person&#39;s forefinger extends into the recessed portion  28 . With this being done, the cover piece becomes properly aligned with the opening  36 . Then the cover member can be rotated to the position of  FIG. 5 , after which the cover piece  12  can then be pressed into proper contact, with the perimeter surface portion of the cover member  12  surrounding the opening  36 . 
         [0045]    Another method of applying the cover piece  12  to opening  36  is to grasp primarily the tab  52  with the forefinger on top of the cover piece  12  and the thumb below and position the radially inward part of the cover piece just behind the opening  36  and then press the middle and forward part of the cover piece  12  downwardly with moderate downward force being applied, with the cover piece  12  flexing moderately while maintaining its alignment with the opening  36 . 
         [0046]    It will be noted that the two lateral perimeter positions each extend beyond the lateral edges  44  of the opening  34  by a distance much greater than the perimeter portions  70  and  72 , as shown by the dimension indicated at  90  in  FIG. 2 . In this embodiment this dimension  90  is between about ⅛ to ¼ of an inch. This provides a greater margin of error in the lateral direction in placing the cover piece  10  over the opening  36 , and it also provides a larger contact area for adherence of the cover piece  12  to the surface area of the upper wall  22 . 
         [0047]    Also, with the tab  52  extending beyond the wall portion  80 , the cover piece can be easily removed by grasping the tab  52  between the thumb and the forefinger and lifting the cover piece  12  upwardly. 
         [0048]    As indicated previously, it is desirable that the plastic cover layer  46  should be made so that its thickness, and also the characteristics of the material, are such that it is sufficiently stiff so that it could be grasped and manipulated in the manner shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . In that way, the material retains its proper configuration during the application of the cover piece  12 . Also, when the tab  52  is grasped to remove the cover piece  12  from its closing position over the lid opening  36 , the cover piece  12  maintains its original shape. Therefore, it can be set aside and reapplied without any difficulty. 
         [0049]    On the other hand, it is desirable to have a certain amount of flexibility. For example, during the application process when the cover piece  12  is in the position of  FIG. 4 , one maneuver that is sometimes desirable is for a person to roll the surface  84  of the forefinger  86  over the inner edge surface portion of the cover piece  12  to hold the cover piece  12  in its proper position relative to the opening  36 , and then the tab portion is released by the thumb  84  so that it snaps downwardly into place. 
         [0050]    Alternatively, the person may ply depend on the positioning of the forefinger  86  and the thumb to maintain proper alignment. 
         [0051]    Further, there may be deviations of the planar surface portion surrounding the opening  36 , and there should be sufficient flexibility to enable the cover piece  12  to conform to the surface and form a proper seal. 
         [0052]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , depicted therein is a top plan view showing a plurality of the cover pieces  12  being mounted to a substrate  92 . One of the plurality of cover pieces  12  can easily be removed for use in covering a lid opening  36  in a lid  10 . 
         [0053]    The flexural stiffness of the cover piece  12  should be within a desired range. The flexural stiffness can be determined with reasonable accuracy under the test provisions specified as ASTN D 790-96cn. The manner in which these tests are accomplished is illustrated in  FIGS. 8 through 11 . The criteria for this test are as follows: 
         [0054]    a. Material samples are all to be of common dimensions. For the purpose of this test the sample size is 2″×0.5″×0.020″. 
         [0055]    b. Material samples to be stabilized for 2 hours at 20 degrees C.+/−2 degrees. 
         [0056]    c. Establish a clamp fixture in the X axis and determine a baseline position (see  FIG. 8 ). 
         [0057]    d. Clamp each sample individually in the fixture with ⅓ of its length held in the clamp. The clamp must not compress the sample (see  FIG. 9 ). 
         [0058]    e. Measure the exposed end of the sample from its bottom edge to the baseline and record that reading (see  FIG. 10 ). 
         [0059]    f. Clamp a 3 gram load on the exposed end (within 0.250″ of the end) and measure the sample from its bottom edge to the baseline and record that reading (see  FIG. 11 ). 
         [0060]    g. Subtract the reading of step “f” from step “e” and record the difference. This gives a “deflection value” which is the flexural reading for this sample. 
         [0061]    Based on this testing procedure and from prior experimentation which has been done by the applicant, the deflection value should be less than 1.2 inch, and desirably less than 1.0″. More desirably, the deflection value would be less than 0.9″, and no more than about 0.8″, or 0.7″. Quite satisfactory results have been achieved when the deflection value is about 0.6″ or less. At the other end of the test spectrum, the reference deflection value is greater than 0.0 and desirably at least as great as 0.2, 0.3, or 0.4″. Satisfactory results could be obtained by having deflection values between about 0.2 to 0.6″. 
         [0062]    While it would be possible to use a cover piece having no deflection at all, as indicated previously, it is desirable that there is a certain amount of flexibility to enable flexing of the cap. This is particularly so when the person is replacing the cap and the person wishes to visually see where the cap is being placed while the tab  52  is raised. This would require that the tab  52  could be bent upwardly, for example, at about possibly a half of a right angle (i.e. about 45 degrees), and then snapped down into place. 
         [0063]    Within the broader scope of the present invention, it would be possible to deviate from the configuration of the cover piece  12 , possibly to provide configurations in a more stylized form. Five examples are shown in  FIGS. 12A-E . 
         [0064]    In each of these five additional embodiments, the cover members are sized to provide a portion acting as the covering portion and the perimeter portion to adhere to the perimeter surface positions surrounding the container opening and also have a portion extending outwardly over the outer edge of the cover to serve the function of the tab  52  so as to able to be grasped between the person&#39;s finger and thumb. 
         [0065]    It can be seen that  FIG. 12A  is a somewhat stylized representation of an apple, which in this instance has a covering portion  100 , and an extending portion  102 , which simulates the stem of the apple. 
         [0066]      FIG. 12B  is a stylized representation of a clover, and the cover piece  12 B shows an extension piece  104  which would simulate a stem, and there are three portions simulating petals  106 . It is to be understood, of course, that there should be sufficient surface area to cover the opening, and in this instance the two petals extending opposite from one another would have sufficient length and width dimension to serve this purpose. 
         [0067]      FIG. 12C  is a representation of a person&#39;s lips, and in this configuration, there should be a sufficient length dimension to cover the opening and the width dimension should be great enough not only to cover the opening, but also to extend beyond the edge of the lid a moderate distance so that it could be grasped for easier removal. 
         [0068]      FIG. 12D  shows a representation of a sun, with a central body portion and a number of radially extending portions  108 , these being a stylized representation of the flames being emitted from the sun. 
         [0069]      FIG. 12E  shows a representation of a flower with there being a central body portion and petals  110  extending outwardly in a symmetrical pattern. 
         [0070]    While these five embodiments shown in  FIGS. 12A-E  deviate from the configuration of the first referred embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-7 , these embodiments of  FIGS. 12A-E  should have the flexural/stiffness characteristics that were described previously. By deviating from the configurations shown in  FIGS. 1-7 , there may be a certain reduction in the precision with which the cover piece can be positioned over the opening. However, if it has the proper flexural characteristics, these embodiments of  FIGS. 12A-E  would properly perform the covering function, and would still be able to be manipulated in a manner that each these could be grasped by side edges and properly placed over the opening of the cup lid, and be removed from the opening of the cup lid by the portion corresponding to the tab  52 . 
         [0071]    It is evident that various modifications could be made to the present invention without departing from the basic teachings thereof.