Patent Publication Number: US-11390429-B2

Title: Cup lid

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     None 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a cup lid which functions as a lid for a beverage cup, such as a paper-made cup, and more particularly a cup lid that features thermal insulation and a handle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Hot beverages/liquids that are available in for example, a convenience store, coffee shop, or a beverage shop are often transported in a paper cup and sealed with a plastic cup lid. To prevent the consumer&#39;s hands from directly touching the outer surface of the paper cup, a sleeve is often fitted over the outer circumferential surface of the cup. In addition, it is common in certain circumstances that a plastic bag is supplied to hold the beverage cup therein. As a result, in addition to the plastic lids, the materials consumed in making and preparing such a cup of beverage also include the sleeve, the plastic bag, and napkins. These additional materials increase the cost and waste, which is adverse to the current trend of environmental protection. 
     A hot beverage is often held with a paper cup, while a lid for the cup is often made of plastic. Paper cups are manufactured with significantly large tolerances which often leads to incorrect engagement or disengagement of the plastic lid with the paper cup rim. Most manufactures of paper cups focus on improving the composite structure of paper cups and plastic lids to prevent leaks or spillage. For example, Taiwan Patent I650274, which is owned by the present inventor, discloses a fixing structure of beverage cup lid. Such a fixing structure of a beverage cup lid comprises an annular plate having a width that is generally corresponding, in surface area, to an engagement section of the cup&#39;s lid circumference and the surface of the annular plate is fixed to the surface of the cup lid and rim, while the opposite surface is provided with an adhesive layer for bonding to a ridge of an opening of a beverage cup. This provides enhancement of fixing and coupling between the plastic lids and the beverage cup to prevent the beverage from leaking from the interior of the cup through a cup rim to the outside. 
     Further, U.S. Pat. No. 9,387,966 discloses a lid of a disposable beverage cup. The lid of the disposable beverage cup has at least one drinking hole provided for a consumer to drink the beverage stored in the beverage cup and at least one vent hole provided to maintain the pressure equivalence between the inner side and outer side of the beverage cup. The beverage cup includes at least one drinking hole plug with a peel/plucker or pinch function. The hole plug is arranged to be detachably coupled with the drinking hole to seal and close the drinking hole so as to prevent the beverage from leaking out of the beverage cup. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     There is a need in the art to alleviate the shortcomings and high cost of the aforementioned multiple components commonly used for covering and transporting beverage cups. Embodiments of a cup lid disclosed herein provide multiple features including a double locking lid for a cup, a carrying mechanism, and thermal insulation for easy and safe transport. 
     The present invention provides a cup lid, which may be a two component or a unitary integrally formed structure, comprising a main body for receiving a paper cup to fit therein and a lid connected thereto with a connection section, the lid being arranged to close a cup opening of the paper cup and attachable to the main body, wherein the main body, which is a flat hollow annular body, is formed with a raised ring corresponding to a coupling groove of the lid and the raised ring is receivable, through fitting, in and coupled with the coupling groove; further, the main body is formed with a support section extending inwards from an inner circumference to provide a feature for clamping and fixing the paper cup that fits within the support section in order to prevent undesired detachment, and is suitable for cups of different sizes; the main body has an outer circumference that is provided, at suitable locations, with handle sections and thermal insulation sections respectively corresponding to each other; the handle sections are formed along the outer circumference and are bent upward to show a generally inverted-U-shape; the two handle sections are arranged so as to receive fingers to hook and lift; the thermal insulation sections are provided along the outer circumference and are bent downward to be positioned on a cup body in order to provide thermal isolation and burning protection when being held. 
     In embodiments, a connection section has an end connected to an outer circumference of the main body and an opposite end connected to the lid so as to form a unitary, integrally formed structure of the cup lids. The lid is provided, on a surface that closes the paper cup, with an inwardly recessed mounting groove and the mounting groove has a wall that is provided with a raised abutting section, such that the mounting groove is engagable with and coupled to a cup rim of the paper cup and the raised abutting section of the mounting groove fits with the cup rim. The lid is further formed with a coupling groove at a location corresponding to the raised ring of the main body such that the raised ring and the lid are engagable with and thus fixed to each other. 
     This provides an arrangement that a beverage cup is closeable by a cup lid, such that a lid is fitted to and fixed with a cup rim of the paper cup and, at the same time, a coupling groove of the cup lids is fitted to and fixed with a raised flange of the main body to provide an effect of double securing for the lid. Further, the main body is provided with thermal insulation sections that could replace a conventionally used cup sleeve for hot beverage, and handle sections that allow a user to directly lift without the need of a plastic bag, thereby providing an environmentally friendly option, reducing the cost for cup sleeves and plastic bags, and also featuring thermal isolation and a simple carry bag like function. 
     These and other aspects of the embodiments will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. The following description, while indicating various embodiments and details thereof, is given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many substitutions, modifications, additions, or rearrangements may be made within the scope of the embodiments, and the embodiments may include all such substitutions, modifications, additions, or rearrangements. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the cup lid are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a cup lid. 
         FIG. 2  is an opposing perspective view of the  FIG. 1  embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view illustrating an operation of fitting a paper cup with an embodiment of the cup lid. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view illustrating an operation of closing an embodiment of the cup lid. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the cup lid in a completely assembled form. 
         FIG. 6  shows another embodiment of the cup lid. 
     
    
    
     Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of various embodiments. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of a cup lid will be described below with reference to  FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 , and  5 : 
     The cup lid is formed integrally as a unitary structure, and comprises a main body  10  that is connected by a connecting section  20  to a lid  30 , such that the lid  30  is operable to cover and close a cup opening of a paper cup  40  and is attachable to and thus fixed with the main body  10 , wherein a main body  10 , which is a flat hollow annular body, is formed with a raised ring  12  corresponding to a coupling groove  31  of the lid  30  and the raised ring  12  is receivable, through fitting, in and coupled with the coupling groove  31 ; further, the main body  10  is formed with a support section  13  extending inwards from an inner circumference to provide a feature for clamping and fixing the paper cup  40  that is fitted therein by the support section  13  in order to prevent undesired detachment, and is suitable to cups of different sizes. The main body  10  has an outer circumference that is provided, at suitable locations, with handle sections  14  and corresponding thermal insulation sections  15 . The handle sections  14  are formed along the outer circumference and are bendable upward to form a generally inverted U-shape. The two handle sections  14  are arranged so as to receive fingers to hook and lift. The thermal insulation sections  15  are provided along the outer circumference and are bent downward so as to be positionable on a cup body in order to provide thermal isolation and protection against burns when being held. 
     A connection section  20  has an end connected to an outer circumference of a lip  11  of the main body  10  and an opposite end connected to the lid  30  so as to form a unitary, integrally formed structure of the cup lid. A lid  30  is provided, configured to engage a surface that closes the paper cup, with an inwardly recessed mounting groove  32  and the mounting groove  32  has a wall that is provided with a raised abutting section  321 , such that the mounting groove  32  is engagable with and coupled to a cup rim  41  of the paper cup  40  and the raised abutting section  321  of the mounting groove  32  is fitted to and thus fixed with the cup rim  41 . The lid  30  is further formed with the coupling groove  31  at a location corresponding to the raised ring  12  of the main body  10  such that the raised ring  12  and the coupling groove  31  of the lid  40  are engagable with and thus fixed to each other. 
     Based on the structure described above, the paper cup  40  that receives and holds a beverage therein first receive the main body  10  to fit to the cup rim  41  of the paper cup  40 , such that the support section  13  of the main body  10  is deformed downward to show a curved configuration for applying a force that clamps and fixes the cup body of the paper cup  40  in position (see  FIG. 4 ). Further, the lid  30  is folded upward to cover and close the paper cup  40 , such that the mounting groove  32  of the lid  30  is fitted to and engages with the cup rim  41  and the abutting section  321  of the mounting groove  32  is abutting the underside of the cup rim  41 . Further, the coupling groove  31  of the lid  30  is set in engagement with and thus fixed with the raised ring  12  to achieve an effect of double fitting and securing by means of the coupling groove  31  and the mounting groove  32  of the lid  30 . 
     Further, the lip  11  of the main body  10  is provided, on each of the suitable locations thereof, with a handle section  14  and a thermal insulation section  15 , such that two of such handle sections  14  may serve as a carrying handle for the paper cup  40  that receives a beverage filled therein and thus, there is no need to use an extra plastic bag or a separate container for carrying a beverage cup. Further, corresponding to each of the handle sections  14 , one of the thermal insulation sections  15  is provided, such that the thermal insulation section  15  is positionable against a cup body of the paper cup  40  to provide a heat isolation feature when a consumer is holding the cup with a hand and thus, there is no need to provide an extra thermal isolation sleeve to fit over the paper cup  40 . Thus, with the arrangement of the handle sections  14  and the thermal insulation sections  15 , it is possible to reduce the consumption of package bags and the cup sleeve to thereby achieve the purpose of environmental protection and allowing the beverage suppliers to reduce expenditure and also provide convenience for general use to consumers. 
     Further, referring to  FIG. 6 , a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the support section  13  of the main body  10  is formed with a plurality of notches  131 , and the notches  131  are a feature that could help reduce stress induced in the annular support section  13  when a paper cup  40  is fit therein so as improve clamping and fixing. Further, the thermal insulation section  15  of the main body  10  can be provided with a corrugation  151  in order to reduce a contact area between the thermal insulation section  15  and the paper cup  40  and thus reduce the transfer of heat for better thermal isolation. 
     The embodiments of the cup lid described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, combinations, variations, and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve an equivalent result, all of which are intended to be embraced within the scope of the appended claims. Further, nothing in the above-provided discussions of the cup lid should be construed as limiting the invention to a particular embodiment or combination of embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.