Patent ID: 8074831

Claim:
A liquid container comprising a paper cup including a brim, a floor, and a side wall extending from the brim toward the floor, the side wall including a radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface, the brim including an axially upwardly facing second annular seal surface and a radially outwardly facing third annular seal surface, a lid including a bowl-shaped closure and a brim mount appended to the bowl-shaped closure and configured to cooperate with the bowl-shaped closure to retain the bowl-shaped closure in a position closing a mouth opening into a liquid reservoir chamber formed in the paper cup, wherein the bowl-shaped closure includes a first seal ring arranged to engage the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface of the side wall of the paper cup to establish a first liquid flow barrier therebetween, the brim mount includes a rim coupled to the bowl-shaped closure, a lid-removal flange, and a lid-removal blocker wall interconnecting the rim and the lid-removal flange, the rim includes a second seal ring arranged to engage the axially upwardly facing second annular seal surface of the side wall of the paper cup to establish a second liquid flow barrier therebetween and a third seal ring arranged to engage the radially outwardly facing third annular seal surface of the side wall of the paper cup to establish a third liquid flow barrier therebetween, the lid-removal flange is located below the lid-removal blocker wall and arranged to extend downwardly in an inner direction toward the floor of the paper cup, the lid-removal blocker wall is located between the third seal ring and the lid-removal flange and arranged to engage an outer portion of the brim during movement of the lid in an outer direction opposite to the inner direction, and the bowl-shaped closure further includes a cover and force-generator means interconnecting the cover and the first seal ring for applying a radially outwardly directed force to the first seal ring when the lid is mounted on the paper cup to urge the first seal ring against the radially inwardly facing first annular seal surface of the side wall of the paper cup to establish a press-plug interference fit between the lid and the paper cup, and wherein the force-generator means intersects the first seal ring at a first plane and the force-generator means intersects the cover at a second plane located between the first plane and the floor of the cup.