Patent Application
20250187802
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (a) of Chinese Patent Application No. 2023116779471, filed Dec. 7, 2023, the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to a lid for a drinking vessel, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an improved leakproof lid for a drinking vessel and a method of making and using the leakproof lid.
The market currently contains many tumbler drinking vessels. It is very common for those vessels to use a straw lid that is connected to a top opening of the vessel to enable users to consume liquids from the vessel, through a straw, with the lid attached. Most straw lids for drinking tumblers, however, are not leakproof and will spill if the vessel is knocked over or turned upside down.
To this end, although lids for drinking vessels of the existing art are operable, further improvements are desirable and a need remains to provide a lid that is leakproof than currently is provided in existing lids. It is to such a lid and method of making and using that at least one embodiment of the present disclosure is directed.
Several embodiments of the present disclosure are hereby illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted however, that the appended drawings only illustrate several embodiments and are therefore not intended to be considered limiting of the scope of the present disclosure. Further, in the appended drawings, like or identical reference numerals may be used to identify common or similar elements, and not all such elements may be so numbered. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and certain features and certain views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale or in schematic in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
Before describing at least one embodiment of the inventive concept disclosed herein in detail, it is to be understood that the inventive concept is not limited in its application to the details of construction, experiments, exemplary data, and/or the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description, or illustrated in the drawings. The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for purpose of description only and should not be regarded as limiting in any way.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the inventive concept, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventive concept. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventive concept within the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure.
In the following detailed description of embodiments of the inventive concept, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventive concept. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventive concept within the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure.
The use of the word “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the embodiments herein and when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or when the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” The use of the term “at least one” will be understood to include one as well as any quantity more than one, including but not limited to, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, or any integer inclusive therein. The term “at least one” may extend up to 100 or 1000 or more, depending on the term to which it is attached; in addition, the quantities of 100/1000 are not to be considered limiting, as higher limits may also produce satisfactory results. In addition, the use of the term “at least one of X, Y and Z” will be understood to include X alone, Y alone, and Z alone, as well as any combination of X, Y and Z.
As used in this specification and claims, the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.
The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AAB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
The lid 10 may be constructed from any material known by one of ordinary skill in the art which is strong and durable enough to cover an opening of a vessel, such as, polymeric materials, stainless steel, aluminum, silicone, or combinations thereof, or other such materials capable of being utilized in the construction of the lid 10. It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thought the lid 10 is shown as circular, the lid 10 may be any variety of shapes, such as square, cylindrical, coned, or the like, so long as the lid 10 functions in accordance with the present disclosure as described herein. It is contemplated, in one embodiment, that the lid 10 is formed as a single piece of material. However, it should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that another embodiment of the lid 10 is constructed from multiple components and from various types of material, or combinations thereof, and configured to be formed or connected into a single piece.
Referring to
The bottom lid portion 16 has a top end 24, a bottom end 26 and a sidewall 28 defining an interior space 30 having a straw connector portion 32. The straw connector portion 32 is an elongated body member having a top end 34, a bottom end 36 and an elongated passageway or channel 38 extending therebetween having a sidewall 39. The straw connector portion 32 extends a distance between the bottom end 26 and the top end 24 of the bottom lid portion 16 wherein in some embodiments, the straw connector portion extends a distance below the bottom end 26 of the bottom end portion 16.
Broadly, the top end 34 of the bottom lid portion 16 is sized and configured to receive a portion of the straw portion 20 and the bottom end 36 of the straw connector portion 28 of the bottom lid portion 16 is sized and configured to receive a bottom straw 31. The interior space 32 is sized and configured to receive a portion of the top lid portion 18 such that the top lid portion 18 is configured to connect to the bottom lid portion 16. It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the bottom lid portion 16 and the top lid portion 18 may be connected to one another in any variety of ways known in the art for connecting one item to another. The bottom end 26 has a bottom surface 33 having a pair of drainage holes 35a and 35b and a relief valve 37 (
The bottom end 36 of the straw connector portion 32 is provided with a seat 40 or a raised rim positioned about a perimeter of the sidewall 39 of the channel 38. A second rim 44 is provided about the raised rim 40 to form a groove 47. The channel 38 of the bottom lid portion 16 has a plurality of sidewalls 45a, 45b and 45c that form a plurality of openings 46a, 46b, and 46c (
The plug 48 is designed to stop the flow of fluid when the lid 10 is in the closed position. In some embodiments, the channel 38 is sized and configured as a single opening or as two opening, or any number of openings, so long as the straw portion 20 and the vessel are in fluid communication as disclosed in the present application. The channel 38 is in fluid communication with the drinking vessel 14 when the lid 10 is coupled to the drinking vessel 14.
The top lid portion 18 has a top surface 50, a bottom surface 52 and an opening 54 having a passageway 55 extending between a first end 56 and a second end 58. The top surface 50 has a skirt 60 extending downward from and about a perimeter of the top surface 50 of the top lid portion 18 of the lid 10. The bottom surface 52 includes a connecting portion 62 sized and configured to connect with the bottom lid portion 16.
The passageway 55 of the opening 54 is sized and configured for receiving the straw portion 20 and the button 22. A fluid tight seal is created between a sidewall 57 of the passageway 55 and sidewalls of the straw portion 20 and the button 22, respectively, while allowing the straw portion 20 and the button 22 to move in upward and downward directions. The second end 58 of the passageway 55 is positioned in the groove 47 of the bottom end 36 of the straw connecter portion 32 for connecting the bottom lid portion 16 and the top lid portion 18.
The straw portion 20 includes a base 62 and a straw 64. The base 62 is positioned in the passageway 55 of the opening 54 and is provided with a groove 66 and a plurality of ridges 68a and 68b. The groove 66 of the base 62 of the straw portion 20 is sized and configured to be positioned on the sidewall 39 of the straw connector portion 28 of the bottom lid portion 16 to create a seal while allowing movement of the straw portion 20 in an upward and downward direction along the sidewall 39 of the straw connector portion 28. The plurality of ridges 68a and 68b extend outwardly from the base 62 applying a force against the sidewall 57 of the passageway 55 of the top lid portion 18.
The straw 64 of the straw portion 20 extends upward from the base 62 of the straw portion 20 and the top end 24 of the bottom lid portion 16 and through the opening 54 of the top lid portion 18. The straw 64 extends a distance from the top surface 50 of the top lid portion 18 of the lid 10. The straw 64 is in fluid communication with the plurality of openings 46a-46c in the bottom lid portion 16 and the drinking vessel 14.
The button 22 has an opening 70 sized and configured for receiving the straw 64. The button 22 is positioned in the opening 54 of the top lid portion 18 and sits on top of the base 62 of the straw portion 20 of the bottom lid portion 16 and is secured by the top lid portion 18.
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From the above description, it is clear that the inventive concept(s) disclosed herein is well adapted to carry out the objects and to attain the advantages mentioned herein as well as those inherent in the inventive concept disclosed herein. While exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept disclosed herein have been described for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are accomplished without departing from the scope of the inventive concept disclosed herein and defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023116779471 | Dec 2023 | CN | national |
