Patent Application
20240400270
This invention relates to a lid assembly for a beverage container, and particularly, to a lid assembly that includes a sealing mechanism and a mechanism for opening and closing drink orifice and gas vent thereof.
Various beverage containers designed to keep the beverages inside warm are available in the art. These containers typically feature a lid attached to the container body, with the lid having a drink orifice through which the beverage is dispensed. When dispensing a hot beverage, the hot air within the container often escapes rapidly through the drink orifice alongside the beverage, spraying onto the drinker's face and causing discomfort.
To address this issue, some recent beverage containers include a gas vent in the lid, allowing the hot air inside the container to escape, along with a mechanism for opening and closing this gas vent. Often, these containers are designed to open both the gas vent and the drink orifice at the same time, leaving no opportunity for the hot air to escape through the gas vent before the user drinks from the drink orifice. In other designs, the user must perform an additional action (such as activating a switch) to manually open the gas vent. This approach may lead to situations where users forget to open the gas vent before drinking, thus negating the vent's intended function.
Recently, a kind of mechanism to open the vent seal before opening the drink seal has been provided, which, however, may suffer from a complicated structure.
Therefore, there is a demand for a beverage container equipped with a mechanism that ensures the user opens the gas vent before the drink orifice, enabling the beverage to be dispensed safely from the container.
One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a beverage container that comprises a mechanism to ensure that the drink orifice can only be opened after the gas vent is opened.
This and other objects are satisfied by the present invention, which provides a lid assembly for a beverage container, the lid assembly may comprise:
Preferably and optionally, the lid assembly further comprises a cover comprising a pivot through which the cover is pivotally mounted on the lid body for pivotal movement to cover or expose the drink orifice and the gas vent, and the pivot is configured to have an arcuate recess formed peripherally. The recess is operably in fluid communication with the gas vent to allow the gas to escape when the gas vent is opened.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a lid assembly for a beverage container, comprising:
In some embodiments, the actuator is further configured for causing the drink orifice to seal as a result of an initial de-actuation of the actuator, and subsequently causing the gas vent to seal as a result of a further de-actuation of the actuator.
In some embodiments, the second sealing mechanism comprises a drink lever movable between a sealed position and an unsealed position, a biasing element is provided to bias the drink lever toward the sealed position.
In some embodiments, the first sealing mechanism comprises a vent lever, the vent lever is mounted on the drink lever and is movable between a sealed position and an unsealed position, a biasing element is provided to bias the vent lever toward the sealed position.
In some embodiments, the vent lever is pivotable between the sealed position, the unsealed position, and a threshold position in which an abutting portion of the vent lever abuts against the drink lever.
In some embodiments, the actuator comprises a cam surface adapted for engaging with an inclined surface on the vent lever, and wherein upon initial actuation of the actuator, the cam surface imparts a pivotal action on the vent lever toward the threshold position.
In some embodiments, further actuation of the actuator causes the vent lever, at the threshold position, to impart a pivoting action on the drink lever toward its unsealed position.
In some embodiments, the actuator is moveable in a linear direction.
In some embodiments, the first and second sealing mechanisms comprise respective sealing members, the sealing members are formed of a resilient material to provide a substantially fluid-tight seal when in the closed position.
In some embodiments, the biasing element of the drink lever and/or the vent lever is a torsion spring.
In some embodiments, the lid body further comprises a coupling portion extending downwardly from the top surface, the coupling portion being configured to engage a corresponding rim of the beverage container to provide a substantially fluid-tight seal.
In some embodiments, the lid assembly further comprising a cover adapted for concealing the drink orifice and the gas vent.
In some embodiments, the cover is pivotally mounted on the lid body, and is pivotable between an open position and a closed position.
In some embodiments, the cover comprises an arcuate recess, with the cover in the open position, the arcuate recess aligns with the gas vent for allowing gas to exit from the gas vent therethrough.
In some embodiments, the cover is configured such that in the closed position the actuator is prohibited from being actuated.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a lid assembly for a beverage container, comprising:
In some embodiments, the vent lever is pivotally mounted on the drink lever.
In some embodiments, the lid assembly further comprising a cover adapted for concealing the drink orifice and the gas vent.
In some embodiments, the cover is pivotally mounted on the lid body, and is pivotable between an open position and a closed position.
In some embodiments, the cover comprises an arcuate recess, with the cover in the open position, the arcuate recess aligns with the gas vent for allowing gas to exit from the gas vent therethrough.
The present invention will now be more specifically described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments based on the embodiments of the present invention and obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without investing creative efforts shall fall within the scope of the present invention.
Referring now to the drawings,
The lid assembly 1 comprises a lid body 10, a cover 20 pivotally mounted on the lid body 10, a sealing mechanism and a trigger mechanism. As best seen in
The lid body 10 includes a side opening 14 and a holder 15 that extends horizontally through a side wall of the lid body and is open to the side opening 14. Preferably, the lid body is adapted for detachably coupled to the beverage container. The lid body 10 may further include a coupling portion extending downwardly from the top surface, the coupling portion can be configured to engage a corresponding rim of the beverage container to provide a substantially fluid-tight seal. In an embodiment, the lid body 10 has internal threads formed on an inner wall surface thereof, which internal threads cooperate with external threads formed on an outer surface of the top wall of the container to secure the lid assembly to the container.
The cover 20 is provided for concealing the drink orifice and the gas vent may be pivotally mounted and movable between a closed position, as shown in
The trigger mechanism specifically comprises an actuator 42, of which a portion of the actuator 42 may be a push button 41 for engaging by the user. The actuator 42 may be slidably received into and within the lid interior of the lid body 10 through the side opening 14 of the lid body 10. The actuator 42 is configured so as to actuate and de-actuate the first and second sealing mechanisms through pressing and releasing the button 41. Preferably, the cover 20 may be configured such that in the closed position the actuator 42 is prohibited from being actuated.
As shown in
More preferably, the cover 20 is configured such that when the cover 20 is in the closed position, the push button 41 cannot be pressed, and only when the cover 20 is in the open position will the user be able to press the push button 41 to move the actuator 42.
Now turning to
The second sealing mechanism may include a drink lever 51 movable or pivotable between a sealed position and an unsealed position. The drink lever 51 may be provided with a lower portion 511, an upper portion 512 and a connecting portion 513 connecting the lower and upper portions 511, 512. The drink lever 51 may be pivotally mounted on the lid body 10 by inserting two stubs 514 extending from opposite outer surfaces of the lower portion 511 into respective holes 16 of two spaced apart legs 17 extending in a symmetrical manner relative to the holder 15 from the inner side wall of the lid body. Preferably, a biasing element may be provided to bias the drink lever 51 toward the sealed position. According to an embodiment, a first torsion spring 515 may be provided around the stubs 514 to constantly apply an upward pressure to the drink lever 51. The drink seal 31, preferably made of rubber, for closing the drink orifice 13 is mounted atop the upper portion 512 of the drink lever 51, for example by inserting two downwardly extending legs 311 into respective slots of the upper portion 512, and moves pivotally along with the pivotal movement of the drink lever 51.
On the other hand, the first sealing mechanism includes a vent lever 52, the vent lever 52 may be mounted on the drink lever 51 and movable between a sealed position and an unsealed position. In an embodiment, the vent lever 52 may be pivotable between the sealed position, the unsealed position, and a threshold position in which the vent lever 52 abuts against the drink lever 51. The vent lever 52 includes a main lever body 521 and a bevel face 522. The vent lever 52 may be pivotally mounted on the drink lever 51 by inserting two opposite stubs 523 extending from the underside of the main lever body 521 into respective holes 516 of the lower portion 511 of the drink lever 51 in the illustrated embodiment. It may be possible to pivotally mount the vent lever 52 on the lid body or on the lid body and the drink lever 51. Preferably, a biasing element is provided to bias the vent lever 52 toward its sealed position. According to an embodiment, a second torsion spring 524 may be provided around the stubs 523 to constantly apply an upward pressure to the vent lever 52. The vent seal 32, preferably made of rubber, for closing the gas vent 12 may be mounted atop the main lever body 521 of the vent lever 52, for example by inserting a downwardly extending leg (not shown) into a slot (not shown) of the main lever body 521, and moves pivotally along with the pivotal movement of the vent lever 52.
The actuator 42 has an inner end 44 in abutment against the bevel face 522 of the vent lever 52, and configured to be moveable in a linear direction. As shown in
The user pushing the push button 41 further causes the main lever body 521 of the vent lever 52 to pivot downwardly further until the vent lever 52 acts on the lower portion 511 of the drink lever 51 as shown in
A compression spring 45 may be provided and mounted around the actuator 42 and held in the holder 15 of the lid body 10. The compression spring 45 may be configured to constantly apply an outward pressure to the push button 41, that is, against the force exerted by the user pushing the push button 41. When the push button 41 is released and returns by the compression spring 45 to its original position, the vent lever 52 and thus the drink lever 51 both are forced to pivot upwardly by the first torsion spring 515 and the second torsion spring 524, respectively, until the vent seal 32 and the drink seal 31 return to the respective positions for sealing the gas vent 12 and the drink orifice 13.
The above described is the preferred embodiments of the container lid assembly according to the present invention. It is understood that any appropriate modifications can be adopted as long as the effect of actuating the vent lever to open the gas vent before opening the drink orifice and the vent lever acting on the drink lever to cause the drink orifice to be opened for dispensing the beverage from the container.
It should be understood that although the specification is described in terms of embodiments, not every embodiment includes only a single technical solution. This description of the specification is merely for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in the embodiments can also be combined appropriately to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art. However, the protection scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and it is therefore intended that all changes that fall within the meaning and scope of equivalency of the claims are included in the present invention and any reference signs in the claims should not be regarded as limiting the involved claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63469947 | May 2023 | US |
