BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lid assembly and, more particulary, to a lid assembly that can be installed on a cup so that the cup can be used more conveniently.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cup is usually provided with a lid for ease of carrying and preventing the liquid from splashing therefrom. A common way of connecting a lid to a cup is using threads, through which a lid can be detachably mounted on top of a cup. When drinking the beverage contained in the cup, the lid should be threaded out of the cup, and this may cause the lid to be lost easily. Another conventional way of connecting a lid to a cup is using a pivotal joint, wherein the cup is usually provided with a torsional spring therein and a snap device opposite to the pivotal joint. After the cup is filled with a beverage, the cup can be closed with the snap device. For drinking the beverage, the snap device can be depressed by one hand to release the elastic force of the torsional spring to open the cup. Although this type of cup is more convenient in use than the previous type of cup, the snap device is easy to be triggered inadvertently, causing the beverage splashing out of the cup to wet other objects.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a lid assembly to solve the disadvantages of conventional lids for cups.
The lid assembly generally comprises a shell body, a sealing member, and a nut. The shell body has a top portion and a circumferential portion that are integrally formed. The top portion has a recessed surface and an annular top surface around the recessed surface and defines a through hole which extends downwardly from the recessed surface. The annular top surface defines a water outlet and an air vent at two opposite locations thereof. A curved guide groove is defined at an inner surface of the through hole and extends about the through hole for a predetermined angle. The circumferential portion is provided at its outer surface from its top to bottom with upper and lower flanges and connection means. An annular groove is defined between the upper and lower flanges. The connection means is adapted for connection to a cup. Two opposite positioning protrusions are formed at the upper flange and extends into the annular groove. The sealing member has a connection wing and a central shaft formed at a center of the connection wing. The connection wing is configured to have a central concave section matching the recessed surface of the shell body, and two peripheral convex sections formed at two ends of the central concave section and extending over the annular top surface and the upper flange and provided with two pads capable of sealing the water outlet and the air vent of the shell body respectively. A ledge is formed at each peripheral convex section and defines thereon a positioning indentation. The central shaft is provided at its outer surface from its top to bottom with a stop protrusion, a waterproof seal ring, and a threaded portion. The sealing member is installed on the shell body such that the central shaft is inserted through the through hole of the shell body, the ledge formed at each peripheral convex section is fitted into the annular groove of the shell body, the stop protrusion is capable of moving along the curved guide groove to have the positioning protrusions respectively retained in the positioning indentations. The nut is provided with internal threads engaged with the threaded portion of the central shaft of the sealing member which extends out of the through hole of the shell body.
More specifically, the upper flange is substantially elliptical in shape and has a maximum projection width at two opposite locations on a major axis thereof, and the water outlet and the air vent are on the major axis; the upper flange has a minimum projection width at a second pair of opposite locations on a minor axis thereof which is perpendicular to the major axis.
Each of the projection width and thickness of the upper flange is gradually changed from a maximum value to a minimum value. In use, the sealing member can be rotated forwardly to be aligned with the maximum-value locations or the major axis. During the forward rotation, the increasing thickness of the upper flange enables the two pads at the sealing member to force against the water outlet and the air vent of the shell body, respectively, thereby closing a cup that is fitted with the lid assembly. When drinking the beverage contained in the cup, the sealing member can be rotated reveresely to have the two pads moved away from the water outlet and the air venrt to open the cup.
One advange of the present invention is that the cup fitted with the lid assembly can be opened by turning the sealing member to uncover the water outlet and the air vent without taking the lid assembly out of the cup. Thus, the cup can be used more conveniently and the lid assembly can be prevented from being lost while drinking the beverage.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a lid assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a 3-dimensional view of the lid assembly being installed on a cup.
FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the lid assembly, wherein the water outlet and the air vent are sealed.
FIG. 4 shows a schematical view of the lid assembly, wherein the water outlet and the air vent are sealed, and the maximun thickness (C) and minimum thickness (D) of the upper flange are indicated.
FIG. 5 shows a top view of the lid assembly, wherein the water outlet and the air vent are sealed, and the maximun projection width (A) and minimum projection width (B) of the upper flange are indicated.
FIG. 6 shows a 3-dimensional view of the lid assembly, wherein the water outlet and the air vent are not sealed.
FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the lid assembly, wherein the water outlet and the air vent are not sealed.
FIG. 8 shows a top view of the lid assembly, wherein the water outlet and the air vent are not sealed, and the maximun projection width (A) and minimum projection width (B) of the upper flange are indicated.
FIG. 9 shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein the process of disassembling the lid assembly is demonstrated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
To illustrate the effects and advantages of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is provided in the following paragarphs with reference to the accompaning drawings.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, a lid assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown, which generally comprises a shell body 1, a sealing member 2, and a nut 3. The shell body 1 has a top portion and a circumferential portion that are integrally formed. The top portion has a recessed surface 10 and an annular top surface 10a around the recessed surface 10, and defines a through hole 11 which extends downwardly from the recessed surface 10. The annular top surface 10a defines a water outlet 13 and an air vent 14 at two opposite locations thereof. A curved guide groove 12 is defined at an inner surface of the through hole 11 and extends about the through hole 11 for a predetermined angle, such as 90 degrees. The circumferential portion of the shell body 1 is formed with an upper flange 16 and a lower flange 18, between which an annular groove 15 is defined. The upper flange 16, which is substantially elliptical in shape, has a maximum projection width (A) at a first pair of opposite locations on a major axis thereof (see FIG. 5). It is noted that the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14 are also on the major axis. Also, the upper flange 16 has a minumum projection width (B) at a second pair of opposite locations on a minor axis thereof which is perpendicular to the major axis. In addition, the upper flange 16 has a maximum thickness (C) at the first pair of opposite locations on the major axis (see FIG. 4). Also, the upper flange 16 has a minumum thickness (ED) at the second pair of opposite locations on the minor axis. As such, each of the projection width and thickness of the upper flange 16 is gradually changed from a maximum value to a minimum value. Also, the circumferential portion of the shell body 1 is provided below the flanges 16, 18 with connection means 19, such as threads, so that the shell body 1 is adapted for connection to a cup 4. Furthermore, there are two opposite positioning protrusions 17 formed at a lower surface of the upper flange 16, corresponding to the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14, respectively, and extending into the annular groove 15. The sealing member 2 has a connection wing and a central shaft 26 formed at a center of the connection wing. The connection wing is configured to have a central concave section 20 matching the recessed surface 10 of the shell body 1, and two peripheral convex sections 21 formed at two ends of the central concave section 20 and extending over the annular top surface 10a and the upper flange 16 and provided with two pads 24, 25 capable of sealing the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14 respectively, wherein each peripheral convex section 21 is formed with a ledge 22 on which a positioning indentation 23 is defined. The central shaft 26 is provided at its outer surface from its top to bottom with a stop protrusion 29, a waterproof seal ring 27, and a threaded portion 28. The sealing member 2 is installed on the shell body 1 such that the central shaft 26 can be inserted through the through hole 11 of the shell body 1, the ledge 22 formed at each peripheral convex section 21 can be fitted into the annular groove 15 of the shell body 1, and the stop protrusion 29 can be moved along the curved guide groove 12 to have the positioning protrusions 17 retained in the positioning indentations 23, respectively. The nut 3 is provided with internal threads 30 which can be engaged with the threaded portion 28 of the central shaft 26 of the sealing member 2 which extends out of the through hole 11 of the shell body 1.
In assembling the components of the lid assembly, the sealing member 2 can be placed over the top portion of the shell body 1 such that the connection wing thereof is aligned with the minor axis of the upper flange 16 of the shell body 1, so that the two periperal convex sections 21 of the connection wing can be located at the two opposite locations where the upper flange 16 has a minimum projection width (B) and a minimum thickness (D), and then the sealing member 2 can be pushed downwardly such that the central concave section 20 thereof can approach the recessed surface 10 of the shell body 1, the ledge 22 formed at each peripheral convex section 21 can be fitted into the annular groove 15 of the shell body 1, the central shaft 26 can be inserted through the through hole 11 of the shell body 1, and the stop protrusion 29 can be located at one end of the curved guide groove 12. Next, the nut 3 can be connected with the threaded portion 28 of the central shaft 26, and thus the sealing member 2 can be installed on the shell body 1 (see FIGS. 6, 7 and 8). Thereafter, the sealing member 2 can be rotated forwardly by 90 degrees such that the two periperal convex sections 21 are moved to a second pair of opposite locations where the upper flange 16 has a maximum projection width (A) and a maximum thickness (C) (see FIGS. 3, 4 and 5), and thus the positioning protrusions 17 formed at the upper flange 16 can be retained in the positioning indentations 23 of the shell body 1, respectively. Under this circumstance, the stop protrusion 17 has been moved to the other end of the curved guide groove 12. During the forward rotation of the sealing member 2, the increasing thickness of the upper flange 16 enables the two pads 24, 25 to force against the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14, respectively, thereby closing a cup that is fitted with the lid assembly. In this embodiment, the curved guide groove 12 extends about the through hole 11 of the shell body 1 for 90 degrees, wherein one end of the curved guide groove 12 corresponds to the water outlet 13 or the air vent 14, while the other end of the curved guide groove 12 corresponds to a location halfway between the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14. More specifically, one end of the curved guide groove 12 can be located on the major axis of the upper flange 16, while the other end of the curved guide groove 12 can be located on the minor axis of the upper flange 16.
In use, a beverage (such as water, juice, tea, coffee, etc) can be put into a cup, and then the completed lid assembly can be installed on top of the cup. When a user wants to drink the beverage contained in the cup, the sealing member 2 can be rotated reversely, such as in a counterclockwise direction, to have the two pads 24, 25 moved away from the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14 (see FIG. 8). Thus, the user may drink the beverage easily via the water outlet 13 under the assistance of the air vent 14 (which allows the beverage to flow out of the cup more easily). When drinking the beverage is not required, the sealing member 2 can be rotated forwardly, such as in a clockwise direction, to return to its original orientation, thus sealing the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14 again (see FIG. 5). Due to the positioning protrusions 17 of the sealing member 2 being retained in the positioning indentations 23 of the shell body 1, the sealing member 2 is uneasy to move away that orientation. For moving the sealing member 2 again, the user should apply an adequate force to the sealing member 2. Due to the stop protrusion 29 being received in the curved guide groove 12, the rotational angle or direction of the sealing member 2 is limited by the curved guide groove 12; that is, the sealing member 2 should be rotated in a specified direction and cannot be rotated more than 90 degrees, so that excessive or insufficient movement of the sealing member 2 can be prevented. As such, the water outlet 13 and the air vent 14 can be sealed properly. With the lid assembly of the present invention, a cup can be used more conveniently without worrying about losing the lid.
In addition, the lid assembly of the present invention can be disassembled easily to have a cleanup. For this purpose, the lid assembly can be disconnected from a cup associated therewith. Next, the sealing member 2 can be rotated by 90 degrees reversly to have the ledges 22 thereof moved to the locations where the upper flange 16 has a minimum projection width (B) and a minimum thickness (D) (see FIGS. 7 and 8), so that the pads 24, 25 are moved away from the water outlet 13 and the air vient 14, respectively. Thereafter, the nut 3 can be disengaged from the threaded portion 28 of the central shaft 26, and then the sealing member 2 can be pushed sidewise as shown in FIG. 9 to have one peripheral convex section 21 thereof clear of the upper flange 16, so that the sealing member 2 can be easily detached from the shell body 1. Finally, the shell body 1, the sealing member 2 and the nut 3 can be cleansed separately to remove dirts thereon. Thus, the lid assembly can be used with improved hygiene.
While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment above, it should be recognized that the preferred embodiment is given for the purpose of illustration only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and that various modifications and changes, which will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art, may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
Patent Application
20200060453
