Patent Publication Number: US-2011062158-A1

Title: Cap for a cup

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to cap for a cup. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A conventional manner to seal a cup is using a sealing machine to hot press a plastic film so that the plastic film becomes sticky and adheres to the cup. Thus the user can use a straw to pierce through the plastic film to drink the contents in the cup. 
     If the contents are hot, the user may be scalded while using the straw to drink. In order to drink the hot contents, the user has to peel off the plastic film manually so as to drink the contents with his/her mouth directly contacting the cup. 
     Another manner to seal a cup is using a cap. Some of the cup cannot tightly seal the cup, so the plastic film can still be additionally disposed on the cup before the cup is capped. Again, the plastic film should be peeled off before the user drinks, which is not convenient for the users. 
     The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide a cap capable of cutting a film. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, a cap of the present invention is formed with an opening, which has a first side and a second side. A pressing plate is extended from the first side toward the second side. The pressing plate is swayable about the first side, and the pressing plate has a distal end, from which a cutting rim is extended downward. The cutting rim is adapted to cut a film when the cap is in use and when the pressing plate is pressed downward. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective drawing showing a cap in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective drawing showing a cap in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention at another viewing angle; 
         FIG. 3  is a profile showing a cap in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention and a cup; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view showing a cutting rim of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view showing another cutting rim of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view showing yet another cutting rim of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a profile showing a cap in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention and a cup, wherein the pressing plate is pressed downward; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective drawing showing a cap in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a profile showing a cap in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a profile showing a cap in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention and a cup, wherein the pressing plate is pressed downward. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 . A cap of the present invention is adapted to be caped on a cup. The cap has an upper opening surrounded by an engaging lip  5 . In the first embodiment of the present invention, the cap is formed with an opening  10 , which has a first side  11  and a second side  12 . The cap further has an engaging rim  30  formed around its periphery to engage with the engaging lip  5  of the cup and a pressing plate  20 . The pressing plate  20  is extended from the first side  11  toward the second side  12 , and the pressing plate  20  is swayable about the first side  11 . A cutting rim  21  is extended downward from the distal end of the pressing plate  20 . The cutting rim  21  is preferably integrally formed on the pressing plate  20 , and the cutting rim  21  is adapted to cut a film. In the present embodiment, the cutting rim  21  is V-shaped, as shown in  FIG. 4 . The cutting rim  21  may also be saw-teeth-shaped as shown in  FIG. 5 , or it may be trapezoid and has a slanted bottom side  211  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     More specifically, the opening  10  further has two lateral opening sides  13  connecting between the first side  11  and the second side  12  respectively. In other words, the opening  10  is defined by the first side  11 , the second side  12  and the two lateral opening sides  13 . Two blocking plates  14  are extended from the two lateral opening sides  13  respectively. The pressing plate  20  has two lateral plate sides  22 , in which the distance between the blocking plates  14  is smaller than that between the lateral plate sides  22 . Thereby, the pressing plate  20  is blocked by the blocking plates  14  when the pressing plate  20  is pressed downward to squeeze through the opening  10  and does not return back to the upper side of the opening, as shown in  FIG. 7 . For positioning and forming purposes, the lateral opening sides  13  partially connect to the lateral plate sides respectively in a disconnectable manner. Specifically, a connecting section  15  is formed between the lateral plate side  22  and the lateral opening side  13 . The connecting section  15  breaks when the pressing plate  20  is pressed downward. As such, the lateral plate sides  22  disconnect from the lateral opening sides  13 . The first side  11  of the opening  10  is preferably close to a center of the cap, and the second side  12  of the opening  10  is preferably close to the engaging rim  30 . Of course, a straw may still be used to insert through the opening once the pressing plate  20  is pressed downward and blocked by the blocking plates  14 . 
     In the first embodiment of the present invention, the cutting rim  21  is used to pierce through the plastic film  6  disposed on the cup. In other words, the user can simply press the pressing plate  20  to cut the film  6  open rather than peeling off the plastic film  6 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 8  to  FIG. 10 . In the second embodiment of the present invention, the cap is similar to that of the prior embodiment, expect the cap further includes a sealing film  40  disposed beneath the opening  10  to seal the opening  10 . The sealing film  40  may be a aluminum foil, a plastic film or the like to provide the cap with better airtight property and to prevent the contents in the cup from leaking via the opening. 
     In the present embodiment, no plastic film is need to be further disposed on the cup since the cap has its own sealing film  40 . The cutting rim  21  is stilled used to cut the sealing film  40  when the pressing plate  20  is pressed.