CONTAINER ASSEMBLY AND COVER AND CONTAINER THEREOF

Abstract

A cover of a container assembly includes a cover portion and a connecting portion connected to a periphery of the cover portion and integrally formed as one piece with the same from pulp,. The container assembly further includes a container having a mouth portion surrounding an axis. The cover is detachably connected to the mouth portion, and cooperates with the container to define a receiving space. The connecting portion includes an outer sidewall surrounding and pressing against the mouth portion and having opposite outer and inner surfaces, a groove recessed from the outer surface and surrounding the axis, and a protruding rib protruding from the inner surface and opposite to the groove. The groove and the protruding rib are simultaneously formed by extrusion after the outer sidewall is formed. The protruding rib is configured to block the mouth portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention patent application Ser. No. 11/211,5374, filed on Apr. 25, 2023, and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a container assembly for containing liquid, and a cover and a container thereof.

BACKGROUND

Referring to FIG. 1, a paper molded cup lid 1, as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent No. 1610007B, includes a central portion 11, an edge portion 12 connected to a periphery of the central portion 11, and an engaging portion 13. The edge portion 12 has two sidewalls 121, and a top end wall 122 connected between the sidewalls 121. The engaging portion 13 is formed on an inner surface of an outermost one of the sidewalls 121.

When the cup lid 1 is engaged with a top end of a container 2, the engaging portion 13 thereof surrounds the top end of the container 2, and abuttingly engages a lower edge of a protrusion 21 of the container 2. Through this, the cup lid 1 can be firmly connected to the container 2.

The engaging portion 13 and the protrusion 21 abut against each other in an upward and downward positional relationship. Although the engaging portion 13 and the protrusion 21 can block each other to prevent the cup lid 1 or the container 2 from falling apart, since the engaging portion 13, the central portion 11 and the edge portion 12 are integrally formed as one piece from pulp, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the outer sidewall 121 at the engaging portion 13 for the protrusion 21 to abut thereagainst. The engaging portion 13, apart from consuming a large amount of slurry, has a thickness that is already determined when the cup lid 1 is formed. In other words, a mold for making the cup lid 1 must match with the engaging portion 13 of different thicknesses, so that multiple molds are required, and cannot be produced modularly. Moreover, when a gap is formed among the top end wall 122, an innermost one of the sidewalls 121 and the protrusion 21, the sealing effect of the paper-molded cup lid 1 with the container 2 is poor.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a container assembly that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art and a cover and a container thereof.

According to one aspect of this disclosure, the cover of the container assembly includes a cover portion and a connecting portion. The container assembly further includes a container having a mouth portion surrounding an axis. The cover is configured to be detachably connected to the mouth portion of the container, and is configured to cooperate with the container to define a receiving space. The connecting portion is connected to a periphery of the cover portion, is integrally formed as one piece with the cover portion from pulp, and includes an outer sidewall that is configured to surround and press against the mouth portion and that has opposite outer and inner surfaces, a groove recessed from the outer surface and surrounding the axis, and a protruding rib protruding from the inner surface and opposite to the groove. The groove and the protruding rib are simultaneously formed by extrusion after the outer sidewall is formed. The protruding rib is configured to block the mouth portion.

According to another aspect of this disclosure, the container assembly includes a plurality of containers each of which includes a mouth portion surrounding an axis, and a plurality of the aforesaid covers. Each cover is detachably connected to the mouth portion of a respective one of the containers, and cooperates with the respective container to define a receiving space. The connecting portion of each cover further includes an inner sidewall surrounded by and radially spaced apart from the outer sidewall, and an abutment end wall connected between the inner and outer sidewalls and having a position difference with the cover portion along the axis. The inner and outer sidewalls of each cover are configured to press against two opposite sides of the mouth portion of the respective container. The abutment end wall and the inner and outer sidewalls of each cover cooperatively define an accommodating space for receiving the mouth portion of the respective container. The accommodating space has an opening opposite to the abutment end wall. A thickness of the protruding rib protruding from the inner surface is 4% to 50% of a width of the accommodating space along a width direction transverse to the axis.

The covers are stackable along the axis. When the covers are stacked, the abutment end wall of one of the covers abuts against the protruding rib of an adjacent cover, and the cover portion, the abutment end wall and the inner sidewall of each cover are respectively spaced apart from the cover portion, the abutment end wall and the inner sidewall of the adjacent cover.

According to yet another of this disclosure, the container assembly includes a container having a mouth portion surrounding an axis, and the aforesaid cover detachably connected to the mouth portion of the container and cooperating with the container to define a receiving space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that various features may not be drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a paper molded cup lid disclosed in Taiwanese Patent No. 1610007B engaged to a container.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a container and a cover of a container assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an assembled sectional view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cover of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the cover of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view, illustrating a plurality of the covers of the embodiment stacked on top of each other.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, illustrating a plurality of the containers of the embodiment stacked on top of each other.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but with the container and the cover in different forms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a container assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a container 3 and a cover 4.

In this embodiment, the container 3 is a cup, and includes a bottom wall 31, a surrounding wall 32 extending upwardly from a periphery of the bottom wall 31 along an axis (X), and a mouth portion 33 surrounding the axis (X) and connected to an end of the surrounding wall 32 that is opposite to the bottom wall 31. The bottom wall 31, the surrounding wall 32 and the mouth portion 33 are integrally formed as one piece from pulp.

The surrounding wall 32 has a first or small diameter section 321 connected to the bottom wall 31, a second or large diameter section 322 opposite to the small diameter section 321, and an abutment section 323 connected between the small and large diameter sections 321, 322. The small diameter section 321 has a width (D1) along a width direction (Y) transverse to the axis (X) less than a width (D2) of the large diameter section 322 along the width direction (Y).

The mouth portion 33 includes an inner annular wall 331 connected to an end of the large diameter section 322 that is opposite to the bottom wall 31, an outer annular wall 332 radially spaced apart from the inner annular wall 331, and a top end wall 333 interconnecting the inner and outer annular walls 331, 332 and having a position difference with the bottom wall 31 along the axis (X). The top end wall 333 and the inner and outer annular walls 331, 332 cooperatively define an annular space 330 having an opening opposite to the top end wall 333.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, in combination with FIG. 3, the cover 4 is detachably connected to the mouth portion 33 of the container 3, and cooperates with the container 3 to define a closed receiving space 40. The receiving space 40 is adapted to receive liquid. The cover 4 includes a central cover portion 41, and a connecting portion 42 connected to a periphery of the cover portion 41. The cover portion 41 and the connecting portion 42 are integrally formed as one piece from pulp.

The connecting portion 42 includes an inner sidewall 421 connected to the periphery of the cover portion 41, an outer sidewall 422 radially spaced apart from and surrounding the inner sidewall 421, and an abutment end wall 423 connected between the inner and outer sidewalls 421, 422 and having a position difference with the cover portion 41 along the axis (X). The abutment end wall 423 and the inner and outer sidewalls 421, 422 cooperatively define an accommodating space 420 having an opening opposite to the abutment end wall 423. The abutment end wall 423 has a width (D3) along the width direction (Y) less than a width (D4) of the accommodating space 420 along the width direction (Y).

The outer sidewall 422 has an outer surface 424, an inner surface 425 opposite to the outer surface 424, a groove 426 recessed from the outer surface 424 and surrounding the axis (X), and a protruding rib 427 protruding from the inner surface 425 and opposite to the groove 426. The outer sidewall 422 is extruded after being formed to simultaneously form the groove 426 and the protruding rib 427. The protruding rib 427 protrudes from the inner surface 425 in the width direction (Y). For example: The cover 4 is sleeved on a base (not shown), after which a movable slide block (not shown) is used to laterally squeeze the outer surface 424 of the outer sidewall 422 so as to recess a portion of the outer sidewall 422 toward the accommodating space 420. Through this, the groove 426 can be formed on the outer surface 424, and the protruding rib 427 can be simultaneously formed on the inner surface 425.

A ratio of a depth (t) of the groove 426 along the width direction (Y)

and a thickness (T) of the protruding rib 427 protruding from the inner surface 425 ranges from 1:0.2 to 1:1, preferably, 1:1. In this embodiment, each of the depth (t) of the groove 426 and the thickness (T) of the protruding rib 427 ranges from 0.2 mm to 1.2 mm, preferably, 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm. It is worth to mention herein that the thickness (T) of the protruding rib 427 is 4% to 50% of the width (D4) of the accommodating space 420.

Referring to FIG. 6, in combination with FIGS. 3 and 5, when the cover 4 is moved toward the container 3 along the axis (X) and is sleeved on the mouth portion 33 thereof, the mouth portion 33 is inserted into the accommodating space 420 until it presses against the abutment end wall 423 of the cover 4. At this time, the accommodating space 420 of the cover 4 receives the mouth portion 33 of the container 33, and the inner and outer sidewalls 421, 422 of the cover 4 respectively press against and clamp therebetween the inner and outer annular walls 331, 332 of the mouth portion 33 of the container 3, and the abutment end wall 423 of the cover 4 presses against the top end wall 333 of the mouth portion 33.

Hence, with the inner sidewall 421 of the cover 4 and the inner annular wall 331 of the mouth portion 33 abutting against and in frictional contact with each other, with the outer sidewall 422 of the cover 4 and the outer annular wall 332 of the mouth portion 33 abutting against and in frictional contact with each other, and with the abutment end wall 423 of the cover 4 and the top end wall 333 of the mouth portion 33 abutting against and in frictional contact with each other, they can form three tight rings from the inside to the outside after the cover 4 is engaged to the container 3.

More importantly, since the container 3 and the cover 4 are made of pulp, they have elastoplasticity. Therefore, during pressing of the outer sidewall 422 of the cover 4 against the outer annular wall 332 of the mouth portion 33, apart from the outer annular wall 332 being able to deform in the annular space 330 so as to get close to the outer sidewall 422, the protruding rib 427 protruding from the inner surface 425 can also block the bottom of the outer annular wall 332 of the mouth portion 33.

In addition to significantly expanding the frictional contact area between the cover 4 and the mouth portion 33 so as to increase the stability of the connection of the cover 4 with the mouth portion 33, the tight rings can also be used to form protective layers with different blocking directions from the inside to the outside to prevent the liquid in the receiving space 40 from leaking outwardly. More importantly, when the protruding rib 427 blocks the bottom of the outer annular wall 332, the protruding rib 427 can prevent the cover 4 and the container 3 from moving away from each other along the axis (X), thereby preventing the cover 4 from accidentally detaching from the container 3. It is worth to mention herein that the engaging force that prevents removal of the cover 4 from the container 3 is proportional to the thickness (T) of the protruding rib 427. Furthermore, by forming the protruding rib 427 of different thicknesses (T), the cover 4 is suitable for use with containers 3 having different thicknesses of the outer annular wall 332, or different tightnesses can be obtained when the cover 4 is engaged to the container 3.

Since the cover 4 is made of pulp, the outer sidewall 422 is deformable when pulled by an external force. Therefore, when the external force is sufficient to deform the outer sidewall 422 until the protruding rib 427 is separated from the bottom of the outer annular wall 332, the cover 4 can then be opened and removed from the container 3.

Referring to FIG. 7, in actual use, a plurality of the covers 4 can be stacked on top of each other along the axis (X) for storage. When the covers 4 are stacked, the abutment end wall 423 of a lower one of the covers 4 abuts against the protruding rib 427 of an upper one of the covers 4, and the cover portion 41, the abutment end wall 423, and the inner sidewall 421 of each cover 4 are respectively spaced apart from the cover portion 41, the abutment end wall 423, and the inner sidewall 421 of an adjacent cover 4. Through this, not only the space occupied by the covers 4 can be reduced to promote the space efficiency, but also the contact area of the adjacent covers 4 can be reduced to prevent the adjacent covers 4 from squeezing against each other, thereby facilitating easy access to an outermost one of the covers 4.

Referring to FIG. 8, similarly, a plurality of the containers 3 can be stacked on top of each other along the axis (X) for storage. When the containers 3 are stacked, the mouth portion 33 of a lower one of the containers 3 abuts against the abutment section 323 of an upper one of the containers 3, and the bottom and surrounding walls 31, 32 of each container 3 are respectively spaced apart from the bottom and surrounding walls 31, 32 of an adjacent container 3. Through this, not only the space occupied by the containers 3 can be reduced to promote the space efficiency, but also the contact area of the adjacent containers 3 can be reduced to prevent the adjacent containers 3 from squeezing against each other, thereby facilitating easy access to an outermost one of the containers 3.

It should be noted that the container 3 is not limited to a cup, and in other variations of this embodiment, the container 3 may be a bowl, as shown in FIG. 9, or other types of container. Since those with ordinary knowledge in the art can deduce the extended details based on the above description, no further description will be given herein.

Through the above description, the advantages of this disclosure can be summarized as follows:

1. With the inner sidewall 421, the outer sidewall 422, and the abutment end wall 423 of the cover 4 being capable of abutting against and contacting the inner annular wall 331, the outer annular wall 332, and the top end wall 333 of the container 3, respectively, this disclosure is formed with three tight rings with different blocking directions from the inside to the outside. Through this, liquid in the receiving space 40 can be effectively prevented from leaking outwardly, thereby improving the overall sealing effect of this disclosure.

2. With the inner sidewall 421, the outer sidewall 422, and the abutment end wall 423 of the cover 4 abutting against and frictionally contacting the inner annular wall 331, the outer annular wall 332, and the top end wall 333 of the mouth portion 33, respectively, apart from significantly increasing the contact area, frictional force, engaging force and stability of the cover 4 and the container 3, more importantly, the protruding rib 427 can block the bottom of the outer annular wall 332 of the mouth portion 33, thereby preventing the cover 4 from accidentally separating from the container 3.

3. When the covers 4 are stacked for storage, the cover portion 41, the abutment end wall 423, and the inner sidewall 421 of each cover 4 are spaced apart from the cover portion 41, the abutment end wall 423, and the inner sidewall 421 of the adjacent cover 4, respectively, thereby reducing the contact area of the adjacent covers 4 and preventing the adjacent covers 4 from squeezing against each other to facilitate easy access to the outermost cover 4.

4. When the containers 3 are stacked for storage, the bottom and surrounding walls 31, 32 of each container 3 are spaced apart from the bottom and surrounding walls 31, 32 of an adjacent container 3, respectively, thereby reducing the contact area of the adjacent containers 3 and preventing the adjacent containers 3 from squeezing against each other to facilitate easy access to the outermost container 3.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects; such does not mean that every one of these features needs to be practiced with the presence of all the other features. In other words, in any described embodiment, when implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect implementation of another one or more features or specific details, said one or more features may be singled out and practiced alone without said another one or more features or specific details. It should be further noted that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A cover of a container assembly, the container assembly further including a container having a mouth portion surrounding an axis, said cover being configured to be detachably connected to the mouth portion of the container and being configured to cooperate with the container to define a receiving space, said cover comprising: a cover portion; anda connecting portion connected to a periphery of said cover portion and integrally formed as one piece with said cover portion from pulp, said connecting portion including an outer sidewall that is configured to surround and press against the mouth portion and that has an outer surface, an inner surface opposite to said outer surface, a groove recessed from said outer surface and surrounding the axis, and a protruding rib protruding from said inner surface and opposite said groove, said groove and said protruding rib being simultaneously formed by extrusion after said outer sidewall is formed, said protruding rib being configured to block the mouth portion.

2. The cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protruding rib protrudes from said inner surface in a width direction transverse to the axis.

3. The cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein a ratio of a depth of said groove along a width direction transverse to the axis and a thickness of said protruding rib protruding from said inner surface ranges from 1:0.2 to 1:1.

4. The cover as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said depth of said groove and said thickness of said protruding rib ranges from 0.2 mm to 1.2 mm.

5. The cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connecting portion further includes an inner sidewall surrounded by and radially spaced apart from said outer sidewall, and an abutment end wall connected between said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall and having a position difference with said cover portion along the axis said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall being configured to press against two opposite sides of the mouth portion, and wherein said abutment end wall said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall cooperatively define an accommodating space for receiving the mouth portion, said accommodating space having an opening opposite to said abutment end wall, a thickness of said protruding rib protruding from said inner surface being 4% to 50% of a width of said accommodating space along a width direction transverse to the axis.

6. The cover as claimed as claimed in claim 5, wherein said width of said accommodating space is greater than a width of said abutment end wall along the width direction.

7. A container assembly comprising: a plurality of containers, each of which includes a mouth portion surrounding an axis; anda plurality of said covers as claimed in claim 1, each of said covers being detachably connected to said mouth portion of a respective one of said containers and cooperating with said respective one of said containers to define a receiving space;wherein said connecting portion of each of said covers further includes an inner sidewall surrounded by and radially spaced apart from said outer sidewall, and an abutment end wall connected between said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall and having a position difference with said cover portion along the axis, said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall of each of said covers being configured to press against two opposite sides of said mouth portion of said respective one of said containers, and wherein said abutment end wall said inner sidewall and said outer sidewall of each of said covers cooperatively define an accommodating space for receiving said mouth portion of said respective one of said containers, said accommodating space having an opening opposite to said abutment end wall, a thickness of said protruding rib protruding from said inner surface being 4% to 50% of a width of said accommodating space along a width direction transverse to the axis;wherein said covers are stackable along the axis; and wherein, when said covers are stacked, said abutment end wall of one of said covers abuts against said protruding rib of an adjacent one of said covers, and said cover portion, said abutment end wall and said inner sidewall of each of said covers are respectively spaced apart from said cover portion, said abutment end wall and said inner sidewall of said adjacent one of said covers.

8. A container assembly, comprising: a container including a mouth portion surrounding an axis; andsaid cover as claimed in claim 1, said cover being detachably connected to said mouth portion of said container, and cooperating with said container to define a receiving space.

9. The container assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein: said container further includes a bottom wall, and a surrounding wall extending upwardly from a periphery of said bottom wall along the axis and connected to said mouth portion;said mouth portion includes an inner annular wall connected to an end of said surrounding wall that is opposite to said bottom wall, an outer annular wall radially spaced apart from said inner annular wall, and a top end wall interconnecting said inner annular wall and said outer annular wall and having a position difference with said bottom wall of said container along the axis;said top end wall, said inner annular wall and said outer annular wall of said mouth portion cooperatively define an annular space having an opening opposite to said top end wall;said outer sidewall of said cover surrounds and presses said outer annular wall of said mouth portion, said inner sidewall of said cover presses against said inner annular wall of said mouth portion, and said abutment end wall of said cover presses against said top end wall of said mouth portion.