Patent Description:
A conventional container, such as a beverage container for containing water, usually comprises a container body and a lid detachably attached on the container body. The lid usually comprises a lid body and a handle piece movably mounted on the lid body for allowing a user to grab on the handle piece and carry the beverage container.

Conventionally, the mouth piece is normally received and protected in the lid body so as to keep the mouth piece clean. When a user wishes to drink the liquid contained in the beverage container, he or she may need to push a button provided on the lid body for releasing the mouth piece and the mouth piece may be retained in a substantially upright position. Some sorts of handle may also be provided on the lid body for allowing the user to carry the beverage container.

A major disadvantage of the conventional lid for a beverage container as mentioned above is that the user must use one hand to hold the beverage container and at the same time use another hand to press the button for releasing the mouth piece. This is very inconvenient on the part of the user, especially when the user is exercising where using both hands is not feasible, such as when the user is riding a bike.

A state of the art lid for a beverage container is known from the document <CIT>. This document does not disclose a mouth piece that is pivotally moved to be received in a receiving slot and engaged with a locking latch and this document further does not disclose an engaging member driven to pivotally move to drive a mouth piece to disengage from the locking latch so as to allow the mouth piece to move from a locked position to an extended position.

Therefore, there is a need to develop a lid for a beverage container which may allow a user to release a mouth piece and hold the beverage container more easily and conveniently.

The present invention provides a lid for a beverage container comprising the features of the independent claim.

The following detailed description of the preferred embodiment is the preferred mode of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in any limiting sense. It is presented for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the present invention.

In the following descriptions, it should also be appreciated that the terms "arrange" and "set" in the following description refer to the connecting relationship in the accompanying drawings for easy understanding of the present invention. For example, the "arrange" and "set" can refer to one element directly or indirectly set or arrange on another element. Therefore, the above terms should not be an actual connection limitation of the elements of the present invention.

It should also be appreciated that the terms "center", "length", "width", "thickness", "top", "bottom", "front", "rear", "left", "right", vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "interior", and "exterior" in the following description refer to the orientation or positioning relationship in the accompanying drawings for easy understanding of the present invention without limiting the actual location or orientation of the present invention. Therefore, the above terms should not be an actual location limitation of the elements of the present invention.

Moreover, it should be appreciated that the terms "first", "second", "one", "a", and "an" in the following description refer to "at least one" or "one or more" in the embodiment. In particular, the term "a" in one embodiment may refer to "one" while in another embodiment may refer to "more than one". Therefore, the above terms should not be an actual numerical limitation of the elements of the present invention.

It should be appreciated that the terms "install", "connect", "couple", and "mount" in the following description refer to the connecting relationship in the accompanying drawings for easy understanding of the present invention. For example, the connection can refer to permanent connection or detachable connection. Therefore, the above terms should not be an actual connection limitation of the elements of the present invention.

Referring to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> of the drawings, a lid for a beverage container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The beverage container may comprise a container body <NUM> having a container cavity <NUM>, and a lid <NUM>. The beverage container may be used for storing a predetermined amount of liquid, such as water, and may be carried in a portable manner.

The lid <NUM> comprises a lid body <NUM> and a handle actuation arrangement <NUM>. The lid body <NUM> is detachably attached on the container body <NUM> to selectively enclose the container cavity <NUM>. The lid body <NUM> has a receiving slot <NUM> and an access opening <NUM> communicating the container cavity <NUM> and the receiving slot <NUM>.

The handle actuation arrangement <NUM> comprises a locking latch <NUM>, a mouth piece <NUM>, and an actuating handle <NUM>. The locking latch <NUM> is movably mounted in the receiving slot <NUM> of the lid body <NUM>.

The mouth piece <NUM> has a liquid discharge opening <NUM> and a drinking channel <NUM> communicating between the access opening <NUM> and the liquid discharge opening <NUM>. The mouth piece <NUM> is pivotally connected to the lid body <NUM> in the receiving slot <NUM> to move in a locked position and an extended position, wherein in the locked position, the mouth piece <NUM> may be pivotally moved to receive in the receiving slot <NUM> and engaged with the locking latch <NUM>, wherein in the extended position, the mouth piece <NUM> may be pivotally moved to extend from the receiving slot <NUM> for allowing a user to drink the liquid through the mouth piece <NUM>.

The actuating handle <NUM> comprises an engaging member <NUM> and a handle member <NUM>. The engaging member <NUM> is pivotally received in the receiving slot <NUM> to engage with the mouth piece <NUM>.

The handle member <NUM> extends from the engaging member <NUM> in such a manner that when the handle member <NUM> is pivotally moved with respect to the lid body <NUM>, the engaging member <NUM> is also driven to pivotally move to drive the mouth piece <NUM> to disengage from the locking latch <NUM> so as to allow the mouth piece <NUM> to move from the locked position to the extended position.

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container body <NUM> may have a top opening <NUM> communicating with the container cavity <NUM>. A predetermined amount of liquid may be stored in the container cavity <NUM>. The container body <NUM> may be configured from plastic or metallic material, and may have thermal insulation structures.

The lid <NUM> may be detachably attached on the container body <NUM> to selectively enclose the container cavity <NUM>. The lid <NUM> may further comprise a supporting platform <NUM> provided in the lid body <NUM> to divide the lid body <NUM> into an upper enclosure portion <NUM> and a lower tubular portion <NUM>. As the name implies, the lower tubular portion <NUM> may form a tubular structure and may have a circumferential wall <NUM> defining a central cavity <NUM> as a space surrounded by the circumferential wall <NUM>. An inner surface <NUM> of the circumferential wall <NUM> may be threaded for threadedly connecting to the container body <NUM>. Accordingly, the container body <NUM> may also have a threaded portion <NUM> for selectively engaging with the threaded inner surface <NUM> of circumferential wall <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> of the drawings, the drinking channel <NUM> of the mouth piece <NUM> may communicate with the central cavity <NUM> of the lid body <NUM> through a passage opening <NUM> so that liquid stored in the container cavity <NUM> may pass through the passage opening <NUM>, the drinking channel <NUM> and liquid discharge opening <NUM> when the mouth piece <NUM> is in the extended position.

The upper enclosure portion <NUM> of the lid body <NUM> may be upwardly extended from the lower tubular portion <NUM> as separated by the supporting platform <NUM>. The receiving slot <NUM> may be indently provided on the upper enclosure portion <NUM>. As shown in <FIG> and <FIG> of the drawings, the receiving slot <NUM> may have a closed end portion <NUM> and an opposed opened end portion <NUM>, wherein the mouth piece <NUM> may be operatively provided at the closed end portion <NUM> of the receiving slot <NUM>, while the actuating handle <NUM> may be provided at the opened end portion <NUM>. Thus, the receiving slot <NUM> may be defined as a space surrounded by a first sidewall <NUM>, a second sidewall <NUM>, a front wall <NUM> extending between the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> and a bottom wall <NUM> extending from the first sidewall <NUM>, the second sidewall <NUM> and the front wall <NUM>.

The locking latch <NUM> may be movably mounted on the first sidewall <NUM> in such a manner that the locking latch <NUM> may extend in the receiving slot <NUM>. The handle actuation arrangement <NUM> may further comprise a first resilient element <NUM> mounted in the lid body <NUM> and may be arranged to normally exert a biasing force against the locking latch <NUM> so as to retain the locking latch <NUM> at a predetermined blocking position in the receiving slot <NUM>. This blocking position of the locking latch <NUM> may be arranged to block a movement of the mouth piece <NUM>.

Specifically, the mouth piece <NUM> may further comprise a mouth piece body <NUM>, a suction member <NUM> coupled to the mouth piece body <NUM>, and a biasing member <NUM> extended from the mouth piece body <NUM> to selectively engage with the locking latch <NUM>. The mouth piece body <NUM> may be pivotally mounted to the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> so as to allow the mouth piece <NUM> as a whole to move between the locked position and the extended position as mentioned above. On the other hand, the suction member <NUM> may be made of elastic material, such as plastic material or silicon rubber, wherein a user is arranged to suck on the suction member <NUM> for drinking the liquid contained in the container cavity <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG> of the drawings, the suction member <NUM> may have a base retention portion <NUM>, a sucking portion <NUM> and a connecting portion <NUM> extended between the base retention portion <NUM> and the sucking portion <NUM>. The base retention portion <NUM> may be connected to the lower tubular portion <NUM> of the lid body <NUM> at the passage opening <NUM>. The sucking portion <NUM> may be connected to a top end <NUM> of the mouth piece body <NUM>. The connecting portion <NUM> may partially penetrate through the mouth piece body <NUM> for connecting the base retention portion <NUM> and the sucking portion <NUM>.

As stated above, the suction member <NUM> may be made of elastic material so that the connecting portion <NUM> may be retained in a predetermined shape due to material strength. In other words, the connecting portion <NUM> may be configured such that the connecting portion <NUM> may be forcibly folded toward the receiving slot <NUM> (see <FIG> of the drawings), and when this folding force is released or removed, the connecting portion <NUM> may return to its original shape due to inherent material elasticity (see <FIG> of the drawings).

In this preferred embodiment of the present invention, this retention force may actually drive the mouth piece body <NUM> to pivotally move from within the receiving slot <NUM> (when the mouth piece is in the locked position) to extend upwardly from the receiving slot <NUM> (when the mouth piece is in the extended position).

The biasing member <NUM> may extend from the mouth piece body <NUM> along a transverse direction thereof. The biasing member <NUM> may be positioned corresponding to the locking latch <NUM> so that the biasing member <NUM> may engage with the locking latch <NUM> when the mouth piece <NUM> is in the locked position.

On the other hand, the actuating handle <NUM> may be mounted in the receiving slot <NUM> at a position opposite to the mouth piece <NUM>. The handle member <NUM> may be pivotally mounted on the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> of the receiving slot <NUM> and may extend out of the lid body <NUM> through the opened end portion <NUM> for allowing a user to grab thereon. As shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> of the drawings, the handle member <NUM> may have a grabbing portion <NUM> and a connecting portion <NUM> pivotally connected to the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> of the receiving slot <NUM>. The grabbing portion <NUM> may extend out of the lid body <NUM> from the connecting portion <NUM>. The grabbing portion <NUM> may be designed to have an opened loop structure for allowing a user of the present invention to grab thereon. In this preferred embodiment, the connecting portion <NUM> may be configured as two connecting legs pivotally connected to the first sidewall <NUM> and the second sidewall <NUM> respectively. The handle actuation arrangement <NUM> may further comprise a second resilient element <NUM> mounted between one of the connecting legs and the first sidewall <NUM> so as to exert an urging force to the connecting portion <NUM>. In this preferred embodiment, the second resilient element <NUM> may be configured as a spring such as a coil spring, as shown in <FIG> of the drawings.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG> of the drawings, the engaging member <NUM> may be pivotally mounted to the connecting portion <NUM> so that the engaging member <NUM> may be pivotally moved with respect to the connecting portion <NUM>. Specifically, the engaging member <NUM> may comprise a protection flap <NUM> and a plurality of (but at least one) pusher members <NUM> extended from the protection flap <NUM> to selectively push the mouth piece <NUM> to move from the locked position to the extended position. The protection flap <NUM> may be provided between the connecting portion <NUM> and may be pivotally moved to partially cover the receiving slot <NUM>.

On the other hand, the pusher members <NUM> may downwardly extend from the protection flap <NUM> to receive in the receiving slot <NUM>. The protection flap <NUM> and the pusher members <NUM> may be pivotally moved in a synchronized manner. The handle actuation arrangement <NUM> may further comprise third resilient element <NUM> supported by the supporting platform <NUM> for normally exerting a biasing force against the engaging member <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG> of the drawings, the engaging member <NUM> may further comprise a mounting hook <NUM> downwardly extended from the protection flap <NUM> and define a retraction groove <NUM>, wherein the third resilient element <NUM> is arranged to partially receive in the retraction groove <NUM> so as to normally exert a pivotal driving force against the engaging member <NUM>. In this preferred embodiment, the third resilient element <NUM> may be configured as a silicon rubber band which is an elongated silicon rubber member affixed on a stationary anchor <NUM> also provided on the supporting platform <NUM>. The stationary anchor <NUM> may also be configured from or made of rubber material such as silicon rubber. The third resilient element <NUM> may possesses a predetermined elasticity and may have two end portions mounted on the stationary anchor <NUM> and the retraction groove <NUM> respectively. When the engaging member <NUM> is pivotally driven to move in a direction toward the receiving slot <NUM>, the third resilient element <NUM> may be slightly stretched so that releasing the pivotal driving force may cause the third resilient element <NUM> to return to its original shape or position due to the elastic nature of the third resilient element <NUM>, and this may pivotally drive the engaging member <NUM> back to its original position as well.

It is worth mentioning that the pivotal movement of the handle member <NUM> may be limited by a bottom wall <NUM> of the receiving slot <NUM> so that the handle member <NUM> may be pivotally and outwardly moved (and in clockwise direction illustrated in <FIG> of the drawings) until it hits the bottom wall <NUM> of the receiving slot <NUM>.

The handle actuation arrangement <NUM> may further comprise a locking mechanism <NUM> provided in the lid body <NUM> for selectively preventing or locking the mouth piece <NUM> from moving into the extended position. The locking mechanism <NUM> may comprise a blocking member <NUM> movably mounted in the lid body <NUM> in such a manner that the blocking member <NUM> may be moved to block a pivotal movement of the mouth piece body <NUM> so as to prevent the mouth piece <NUM> as a whole to move from the locked position to the extended position. The locking mechanism <NUM> may further comprise an actuation button <NUM> mounted on the lid body and operatively connected to the blocking member <NUM> so as to selectively drive the blocking member <NUM> to block or unblock the movement of the mouth piece <NUM>. A user may be able to block or unblock the movement of the mouth piece <NUM> by operating on the actuation button <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> of the drawings, the locking mechanism <NUM> may further comprise a fourth resilient element <NUM> mounted in the lid body <NUM>, and a securing rod <NUM> provided in the lid body <NUM>. The fourth resilient element <NUM> and the securing rod <NUM> may be coupled to the actuation button <NUM> so that when the actuation button <NUM> moves with respect to the lid body <NUM>, the fourth resilient element <NUM> may bias against the actuation button <NUM> and the blocking member <NUM> for stabilizing a movement of the actuation button <NUM>. As such, user who actuates the actuation button <NUM> may feel enhanced structural stability or integrity of the locking mechanism <NUM> because unwanted relative movement between the actuation button <NUM> and the lid body <NUM> may be minimized or prevented.

The operation of the present invention is as follows: as described above, the mouth piece <NUM> may be selectively and pivotally moved between the locked position and the extended position. When the mouth piece <NUM> is manually moved from the extended position to the locked position, the biasing member <NUM> may be pivotally moved to slightly push the locking latch <NUM> sidewardly from its original blocking position along the first sidewall <NUM> until the biasing member <NUM> passes through and is positioned underneath the locking latch <NUM>. At that time, the locking latch <NUM> may return to its original blocking position due to the urging force exerted by the first resilient element <NUM>. At this point, the locking latch <NUM> may be positioned above the biasing member <NUM> so as to prevent the mouth piece body <NUM> from pivotally moving to the extended position.

When the mouth piece <NUM> is pivotally moved from the extended position to the locked position, the mouth piece body <NUM> may also be driven to bias against the pusher members <NUM> of the engaging member <NUM> so as to drive the actuating handle <NUM> to pivotally move in a direction toward the receiving slot <NUM>. When this happens, the protection flap <NUM> may be arranged to overlap on the mouth piece body <NUM> and the sucking portion <NUM> of the mouth piece <NUM> so as to physically protect the mouth piece body <NUM> and the sucking portion <NUM> from dirt, dusts, etc. The mouth piece <NUM> is now in the locked position. Note that the connecting portion <NUM> of the suction member <NUM> may now be folded.

When a user would like to drink the beverage in the container cavity <NUM>, he may need to pivotally move the handle member <NUM> in the direction toward the receiving slot <NUM> (preferably in a clockwise direction) and this manual actuation of the handle member <NUM> may drive the pusher members <NUM> to pivotally push the mouth piece body <NUM> of the mouth piece <NUM>. This pivotal force may overcome the resilient force exerted by the first resilient element <NUM> so that the biasing member <NUM> may again push the locking latch <NUM> sidewardly. Once the blocking force of the locking latch <NUM> is released, the inherent elastic nature of the connecting portion <NUM> may continue driving the mouth piece body <NUM> to pivotally move in a direction away from the receiving slot <NUM> until the biasing member <NUM> passes through the locking latch <NUM> and is positioned above the locking latch <NUM> again. The locking latch <NUM> may again return to the original blocking position when the biasing member <NUM> passes through the locking latch <NUM>.

The mouth piece <NUM> may be pivotally moved from the locked position to the extended position until the mouth piece body <NUM> hits the front wall <NUM> of the receiving slot <NUM> and the mouth piece <NUM> is moved from the locked position to the extended position. A user may be able to drink the liquid contained in the container cavity <NUM> through the sucking portion <NUM>. When the manual actuation force is released, the actuating handle <NUM> may return to its original position due to the inherent elastic nature of the third resilient element <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A lid (<NUM>) for a beverage container comprising a container body (<NUM>) having a container cavity (<NUM>), said lid (<NUM>) comprising:
a lid body (<NUM>) arranged for detachably attaching on said container body (<NUM>) to selectively enclose said container cavity (<NUM>), said lid body (<NUM>) having a receiving slot (<NUM>) and an access opening (<NUM>) communicating said container cavity (<NUM>) and said receiving slot (<NUM>);
and a handle actuation arrangement (<NUM>), which comprises:
a locking latch (<NUM>) movably mounted in said receiving slot (<NUM>);
a mouth piece (<NUM>) having a liquid discharge opening (<NUM>) and a drinking channel (<NUM>) communicating between said access opening (<NUM>) and said liquid discharge opening (<NUM>), said mouth piece (<NUM>) being pivotally connected to said lid body (<NUM>) in said receiving slot (<NUM>) to move in a locked position and an extended position, wherein in said locked position, said mouth piece (<NUM>) is pivotally moved to be received in said receiving slot (<NUM>) and engaged with said locking latch (<NUM>), wherein in said extended position, said mouth piece (<NUM>) is pivotally moved to extend from said receiving slot (<NUM>);
and an actuating handle (<NUM>), which comprises:
an engaging member (<NUM>) pivotally received in said receiving slot (<NUM>) to engage with said mouth piece (<NUM>);
and a handle member (<NUM>) extended from said engaging member (<NUM>) in such a manner that when said handle member (<NUM>) is pivotally moved with respect to said lid body (<NUM>), said engaging member (<NUM>) is also driven to pivotally move to drive said mouth piece (<NUM>) to disengage from said locking latch (<NUM>) so as to allow said mouth piece (<NUM>) to move from said locked position to said extended position.