Patent Application
20210101724
This invention relates to cans for drinks. More particularly, it relates to lids for cans for drinks.
A drink can (or beverage can) is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc. Drink cans are made of aluminum (75% of worldwide production) or tin-plated steel (25% worldwide production). Worldwide production for all drink cans is approximately 370 billion cans per year worldwide.
Cans are filled before the top is crimped on. The filling and sealing operations need to be extremely fast and precise. The filling head centers the can using gas pressure, purges the air, and lets the drink flow down the sides of the can. The lid is placed on the can, and then crimped in two operations. A seaming head engages the lid from above while a seaming roller to the side curls the edge of the lid around the edge of the can body. The head and roller spin the can in a complete circle to seal all the way around. Then a pressure roller with a different profile drives the two edges together under pressure to make a gas-tight seal. Filled cans usually have pressurized gas inside, which makes them stiff enough for easy handling.
Most large companies serve their beverages in printed cans, where designs are printed on the aluminum and then crafted into a can. Alternatively, cans can be wrapped with a plastic design, mimicking the printed can but allowing for more flexibility than printed cans. A modern-day trend in craft alcohol is to design stickers to put on cans, allowing for smaller batches and quick changes for new flavors.
Beverage cans get notoriously dirty and unsanitary. The beverage cans can collect bacteria which can cause illness or dirt and grime that can cause a person to have a dislike of the taste of the beverage. Therefore, there is a need to have a protective covering that can be put onto a beverage can to protect the beverage and the top of the can as well as being placed on the can when the beverage needs to be kept pressurized for future drinking.
The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.
“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.
Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.
Referring to
The lid 100 is preferably a round shape, but other shapes are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, oblong, square, rectangular, octagonal, trapezoidal, etc. The lid 100 is preferably made of a hard-plastic material but other materials are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, poly-vinyl chloride (PVC), high-density poly-ethylene (HDPE), copper, aluminum, porcelain, etc.
The lid 100 has a top surface 101 and a side surface 102. The top surface 101 is generally visible when in use to those having a view of the beverage can. The top surface 101 of the lid may have a product name 104 and a logo 103. The product name 104 is preferably the name of the lid 100, in this instance “CAPIT”, but may be any other name desired.
The logo 103 of the top surface 101 of the lid 100 is preferably the name of the product in the beverage can, but may be any other design, logo, name or figure desired, such as but not limited to, Christmas decoration, Easter decoration, holiday decoration, seasonal decorations, birthday decorations, wedding decorations, anniversary decorations, get-well decorations, person's name, etc. The top surface 101 of the lid 100 preferably has a diameter of two and one-fourth (2.25) inches, but other diameters are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, two and one-half (2.5) inches, three (3) inches, etc.
The side surface 102 of the lid 100 forms an exterior that fits on an outside of the beverage can below a top surface of the beverage can. The side surface 102 of the lid 100 preferably has a ribbed pattern, but other patterns are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, smooth, checkered, etc.
The side surface 102 of the lid 100 may have a logo or name printed on it. Further, the side surface 102 of the lid 100 is preferably the same color as the top 101 of the lid 100 but it is hereby contemplated that the side surface 102 of the lid 100 may be a different color than the top surface 101 of the lid 100.
The bottom surface 105 of the lid 100 has an opener 109. The opener 109 is useful for opening a tab of a beverage can. The opener 109 has a blade 108 and a clip surface 107. The opener 108 is preferably a piece assembly with the lid 100, but the opener 108 may be a separate piece which may be coupled to the bottom surface 105 of the lid 100. The blade 108 of the opener 109 is securely and movably coupled to the clip surface 107 of the opener 109. The blade 108 of the opener 109 is preferably movable in an up and down direction, but may be static in movement, movement to either or both sides, etc. The blade 108 of the opener 109 of the bottom surface 105 of the lid 100 is preferably made of a metal material, such as aluminum, steel, tungsten, but other materials are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, PVC, HDPE, hard plastic, etc.
The clip surface 107 of the opener 109 is securely coupled to the bottom surface 105 of the lid 100. The clip surface 107 of the opener 109 of the opener 109 is preferably a hard-plastic material, but other materials are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, HDPE, PVC, aluminum, etc.
Optionally and/or additionally, the opener 109 may be made of a single casting. The opener 109 would then have a single clip surface 107 and blade 108. The opener 109 is preferably made of a hard-plastic material, however other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, metal, such as steel, aluminum, etc., PVC, HDPE, etc.
The diameter of the bottom surface of the lid 100 is preferably two and one-sixteenths (2 1/16) inches but other diameters are hereby contemplated such as two and one-half (2.5) inches, three (3) inches, five (5) inches, etc.
Moving now to
The lid 100 is placed on a top surface 201 of a beverage can 200. The blade 108 of the opener 108 of the lid 100 is configured to make contact with the top surface 201 of the beverage can 200. The lid 100 is configured to be turned to a direction, in the example the direction being clockwise. The lid 100 being turned reconfigures the opener 109 to be aligned with a tab 202 of the top surface 201 of the beverage can 200.
In
To have access to the now opened tab opening 203 for consumption or pouring of contents of the beverage can 200, The lid 100 is turned to a direction to remove the blade 108 of the opener 109 from the tab 203 of the top surface 201 of the beverage can 200. The blade 108 of the opener 109 when configured to be in a coupling condition with the tab 202 of the top surface 201 of the beverage can 200 acts as a locking mechanism thereby preventing dirt, grim, bacteria, etc. from making contact with the top surface 201 of the beverage can 200.
After drinking a portion of the beverage from the can 200, the lid 100 can be placed back onto the top surface 201 of the beverage can 200 to preserve carbonation of the beverage.
In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.
The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
