Patent Application
20190375559
This disclosure relates generally to drinking vessels and lids, and more specifically, to a lid for a tumbler.
Drinking vessels, such as cups, insulated beverage containers, canteens, and the like are used to contain fluids for drinking. Since fluids tend to spill if left in an open container, many drinking vessels include a lid. Some lids include openings for allowing controlled passage of the fluid to a user of the vessel. In some cases, the opening is a hole or slot for receiving a drinking straw. In other cases, the opening is a hole or slot for sipping directly through the lid. Various forms of such drinking vessels are known in the art. For example, paper disposable cups commonly include a plastic lid with an “X” shaped opening cut in the surface thereof for receiving a drinking straw. Many disposable coffee cups may be covered with a lid that includes a slot or spout for sipping directly through the lid. Such lids often include a secondary hole or opening for allowing passage of air through the lid, thereby equalizing the pressure inside the drinking vessel with the environment outside of the drinking vessel, as the liquid exits the vessel. Equalizing the pressure in this manner allows the fluid to more easily and smoothly exit the vessel.
Some drinking vessels are insulated to reduce thermal transfer between the fluid contained in the drinking vessel and the external environment. For example, some disposable coffee cups are formed of an insulating material, such as polymer foam. Other insulated drinking vessels may include an inner vessel and an outer shell, where at least a portion of the outer shell is spaced apart from a portion of the inner vessel. In some insulated drinking vessels, the space between the inner vessel and the outer shell is filled with air. In other cases the space may be filled with an insulating material, such as a fibrous material, a polymer foam material, or the like. In other cases, the space between the inner vessel and the outer shell is vacuum-sealed. Known drinking vessels are commonly made from paper, polymers, foam, plastic, metal, and the like.
People often use covered drinking vessels when they are on the move. For example, it may be desirable to cover a drinking vessel when transporting the fluid on foot or in a vehicle. Additionally, it may be desirable to use a covered drinking vessel in the outdoors to prevent contamination of the contained fluids by dirt, insects, or the like. It also may be desirable to cover a drinking vessel in order to further help keep its contents hot or cold, as the case may be.
As indicated above, it is known that by fully covering the vessel, its liquid contents are inhibited from pouring out through an established spout (or other opening) in the vessel due to backpressure exerted on the liquid inside the vessel. In other words, as fluid exits a covered vessel, the vacuum created by the exiting fluid causes pressure inside the vessel to drop below the pressure outside the vessel. This pressure differential causes air outside the vessel to flow through the spout and into the interior of the vessel until the pressure inside and outside the vessel reaches equilibrium. As this is taking place, the fluid inside the vessel is inhibited from exiting the vessel as quickly and/or as smoothly as it otherwise would if the internal and external pressures were the same. As indicated above, this is one reason for including a secondary hole or opening in the cover, i.e., it reduces the internal and external pressure differential and, therefore, allows the liquid to more freely escape from the vessel through the spout.
Unfortunately, prior art lids for drinking vessels do not adequately insulate the vessel's contents—whether hot or cold. In other words, lids on such vessels are a source of thermal transfer that leads to hot liquid (in the vessel) cooling too rapidly or cold liquids (in the vessel) warming too rapidly. In addition to other aspects of the design of such lids, drinking (or other) openings in the lids, as well as vents in the lids designed to equalize the internal and external pressure of the vessel, also can contribute to this undesirable heat transfer.
Embodiments of systems and apparatuses including a drinking vessel lid are described. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes an insulated lid configured to engage an opening of a container, the lid configured to at least partially retain the liquid within the container. The apparatus may further include a first opening in the lid for exposing the contents of the vessel to the atmosphere and for drinking from the vessel if desired. Additionally, the first opening may include an insert designed to reduce the heat transfer between the interior and exterior of the drinking vessel, while in other embodiments aiding in the equalization of pressure between the interior and exterior of the drinking vessel. Other aspects and embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims.
The following drawings form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present invention. The invention may be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawings in combination with the detailed description of specific embodiments presented herein.
Various features and advantageous details are explained more fully with reference to non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known starting materials, processing techniques, components, and equipment are omitted so as not to unnecessarily obscure the invention. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation. Various substitutions, modifications, additions, and/or rearrangements within the spirit and/or scope of the underlying inventive concept will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
The present embodiments describe a lid for a drinking vessel, as well as the drinking vessel itself. For example, in one embodiment, the lid may be a lid for a tumbler style cup. The tumbler may be formed of stainless steel sheet metal. The drinking vessel may include an inner vessel and an outer shell where at least a portion of the inner vessel is spaced apart from the outer shell, and wherein a space between the inner vessel and the outer shell is vacuum-sealed.
In one embodiment, the drinking vessel or container can be configured to receive a lid. Other embodiments include only the lid. In one embodiment, the lid is insulated and further configured to engage an opening of its corresponding container, such that the lid is configured to at least partially retain the liquid within the container. The lid may further include a first opening for exposing the contents of the container to the atmosphere and/or for drinking from the container if desired. Drinking from the container, through the lid and/or its first opening, can be accomplished using a straw or otherwise. Additionally, in an embodiment, the first opening may include an insert designed to reduce the heat transfer between the interior and exterior of the container, while in other embodiments aiding in the equalization of pressure between the interior and exterior of the container. In other embodiments, the lid may include a seal for more securely sealing the lid to the container, so that any liquid in the container is less likely to escape from the region where the lid joins the container. Likewise, in yet another embodiment, the lid may include a rim for more easily attaching or detaching the lid from the container.
Various other non-limiting embodiments are described below.
Other features of this particular embodiment of the lid 100 are further described by
The lid 100 also may include a first opening 110 for exposing the contents of the drinking vessel to the atmosphere and for drinking from the vessel if desired. In an embodiment, such as that further described by
The lid 100 also may include a seal 130 for more securely sealing the lid to its corresponding vessel, so that any liquid in the vessel is less likely to escape from the region where the lid joins the vessel. The lid 100 may include a raised rim 140 for retaining any small amounts of liquid that may inadvertently spill from the vessel. Affiliated with the rim 140 is a tab 150, which can be used to more easily attach or detach the lid 100 from its associated vessel. Indeed, tab 150 can be particularly useful in providing leverage when attaching the lid 100 to its associated vessel since the lid is sized to fit snuggly with its associated vessel, and particularly so when seal 130 is employed.
Still further, insert 120 is shown in this embodiment as also including four small air vents 240, one each at the terminating point of the crosshatch slit in insert 120. Other positions, sizes, and shapes of air vents are within the spirit of the present invention, but each serves to assist in equalizing the pressure inside and outside the vessel associated with the lid 100. In this embodiment, insert 120 also includes tab 230 for better grasping insert 120 when inserting, removing, or cleaning insert 120. Finally, the particular embodiment of
Specifically,
In this particular embodiment, the design of the ring 730 and the seal 130 are such that they can be removed from the lid 100 for cleaning or other replacement.
Although the invention(s) is/are described herein with reference to specific embodiments, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention(s), as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention(s). Any benefits, advantages, or solutions to problems that are described herein with regard to specific embodiments are not intended to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all the claims.
Unless stated otherwise, terms such as “first” and “second” are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements. The terms “coupled” or “operably coupled” are defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless stated otherwise. The terms “comprise” (and any form of comprise, such as “comprises” and “comprising”), “have” (and any form of have, such as “has” and “having”), “include” (and any form of include, such as “includes” and “including”) and “contain” (and any form of contain, such as “contains” and “containing”) are open-ended linking verbs. As a result, a system, device, or apparatus that “comprises,” “has,” “includes” or “contains” one or more elements possesses those one or more elements but is not limited to possessing only those one or more elements. Similarly, a method or process that “comprises,” “has,” “includes” or “contains” one or more operations possesses those one or more operations but is not limited to possessing only those one or more operations.
