CN114027689A - Cover and preparation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A cap and a method for making the same. The present invention relates to a lid comprising a dispensing opening, a removable plug integrally formed with the lid at a peripheral edge of the lid, and a recess. The dispensing opening is for providing an outlet for the contents disposed within the cup when a sealing structure is formed between the lid and the cup. The removable plug includes a protrusion and the protrusion is configured to interact with the dispensing opening to form another sealing structure between the protrusion and the dispensing opening. The recess is for removably coupling with the protrusion to retain the removable plug adjacent the lid.

Description

Cover and preparation method thereof

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with the application date of 2019, 9 and 25, the application number of 201910908920.6 and the name of 'a cover and a preparation method thereof'.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to beverage cup lids and, more particularly, to a lid, such as a collapsible, recyclable and biodegradable beverage cup lid having a removable plug and a plug retainer.

Background

Beverage cup lids and other "disposable plastic" are typically made of plastic #6 or plastic # 7. Plastic #6, which is composed of polystyrene, bleeds a known carcinogen and toxin, especially when exposed to heat. Thus, the problem with coffee caps made of plastic #6 is particularly acute because those coffee caps are exposed to the high temperatures of hot coffee during their intended use. Plastic #7 is composed of a combination of various plastics, such as plastic resins or other plastics, and has been found to include the chemical toxins bisphenol a (or BPA) and/or bisphenol S (or BPS). BPA and BPS are endocrine disruptors that produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immunological effects. Thus, beverage caps made of plastic #7 also present problems. In addition to these toxicity concerns, cup lids and other food packaging products made of plastic #6 or plastic #7 have had a significant long-term impact on the environment because these disposable plastics are not biodegradable and are deposited in landfills, requiring hundreds or even thousands of years, even if the items are broken down. At the same time, toxic chemicals leach from these waste items and affect the surrounding ecosystem by contaminating the soil and groundwater. Therefore, there is a need for a disposable drinking cup lid that is dissolvable, recyclable, and biodegradable.

In addition to environmental protection, there is a need for a convenient-to-use drinking cup cover for hot or cold drinking cups; that is, a lid having a straw hole, dispensing opening or "spout" that a user may selectively plug with a plug (e.g., to prevent or reduce the likelihood of fluid spillage and, in the presence of hot fluid, the likelihood of heat loss therethrough), and which will be readily retained by the user throughout the user's drinking of the beverage. While "loose" stoppers for such beverage cup lids are known, such stoppers are easily misplaced or lost, particularly if the user repeatedly removes and replaces the stopper during the normal course of normally drinking the beverage in the cup on which the lid is placed. There is therefore also a need for a drinks cup lid which provides an effective and simple method of retaining such a stopper when not in use.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention solves these and other problems associated with the prior art by providing a lid having a dispensing opening, a removable plug integrally formed with the lid at a peripheral edge of the lid, and a recess integrally formed in a top portion of the lid. The plug may be separable from the lid along a tear line. The protrusion on the plug is sized to frictionally fit within the dispensing opening on the lid to plug the dispensing opening. The protrusion on the plug is also sized to frictionally fit within the recess on the top of the lid to retain or receive the plug for subsequent use, thereby preventing loss of the plug. The lid may be used to create a sealed structure for a cup for holding hot or cold beverages including coffee, tea or juice. In some embodiments, the lid is a dissolvable, recyclable, and biodegradable beverage cup lid.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the embodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cup and lid according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lid having a removable plug located at its peripheral edge and integrally formed therewith according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3-5 are top, side and front views, respectively, of the cover of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the cover of FIG. 2 taken along line A-A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another lid having a removable plug located at its peripheral edge and integrally formed therewith, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

figures 8 to 10 are a top view, a side view and a front view, respectively, of the lid of figure 7;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the cover of FIG. 7 taken along line A-A of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 depicts an embodiment of a lid having a removable plug at its peripheral edge and integrally formed therewith in an initial state, a blocked state, and a retained state;

FIGS. 13-16 are perspective, top, side and front views, respectively, of the cap of FIG. 2 in a plugged condition;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 with the cap of FIG. 2 in a occluded state;

fig. 18 to 21 are a perspective view, a plan view, a side view and a front view, respectively, of the cover of fig. 7 in a retained state;

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 8 with the lid of FIG. 7 in a retained condition;

FIG. 23 illustrates an embodiment of a process for forming a lid having a removable plug located at its peripheral edge and integrally formed therewith; and

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of another lid having a removable plug located at its peripheral edge and integrally formed therewith according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a view of a first tear line configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a view of a second tear line configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the present invention are described with reference to various exemplary embodiments thereof, and these embodiments may be depicted in fig. 1-24. The invention is not limited to the specific examples, embodiments, and methods described herein or to other depicted items in the drawings as these may vary. In addition, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Although specific methods and materials are described, other methods and materials similar to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention. Further, although certain methods may be described with reference to certain steps presented herein in a particular order, in many cases, these steps may be performed in any order understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and thus, the methods are not limited to the particular arrangement of steps disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 generally depicts one embodiment of a cup 100 and lid 110 according to the present invention. In fig. 1, the cup 100 and the lid 110 are depicted in an exploded view or a separate view to show the respective features. The cup 100 is a hollow container formed by an upper surface 106 of a cup bottom and a cup wall having an inner surface 102 and an outer surface 104. The ridge 108 at the end of the cup wall opposite the upper surface 106 of the cup bottom 106 defines the opening of the cup 100. The ridge 108 is adapted to interact with a groove 112 formed in the inner surface 114 of the lid 110 to form a cavity 130 within the cup 100. The interaction between the ridge 108 and the groove 112 forms a sealing structure such that the contents (e.g., liquid) disposed within the cavity 130 can only exit the cavity 130 via the dispensing port 116 as long as the seal provided by the sealing structure is maintained.

Fig. 2-6 illustrate one embodiment of a lid 200, the lid 200 having a removable plug 250 located at the peripheral edge 230 and integrally formed with the lid 200. The lid 200 includes a raised portion 210 surrounding a central portion 220 of the upper surface 241. The raised portion 210 includes a dispensing opening 212 to provide an outlet for the contents of a cup (e.g., the cup 100 in fig. 1) when a sealing structure is formed between the lid 200 and the cup. The lid 200 also includes a depression 222 formed in the upper surface 241 and located within the central portion 220. The recess 222 is adapted to removably couple with the protrusion 255 to retain the removable plug 250 adjacent the lid 200 when the removable plug 250 is separated from the lid 200 (i.e., the recess 222 herein acts as a retaining portion for the removable plug 250). In one embodiment, the recess 222 is sized such that the protrusion 250 frictionally fits within the recess 222 when the removable plug 250 is separated from the lid 200.

The removable plug 250 is adapted to be separated or detached from the cover 200 at attachment points along line 260. In one embodiment, the attachment point is embodied along line 260 as a tear line (e.g., tear line 1206 of fig. 12). The protrusion 255 on the removable plug 250 is configured to interact with the dispensing opening 212 when the removable plug 250 is separated from the lid 200 to form another sealing structure between the protrusion 255 and the dispensing opening 212. In one embodiment, the protrusions 255 are sized to frictionally fit within the dispensing opening 212, thereby plugging the dispensing opening 212. After the above-described further sealing structure is formed, the outlet for the cup contents can be eliminated as long as the seal provided by the further sealing structure is maintained.

The protrusion 255 protrudes toward one surface of the removable plug, and a molding recess groove corresponding to the protrusion is formed on the other surface of the removable plug away from the protrusion.

A comparison between the cover 700 and the cover 200 of fig. 7-11 illustrates that the removable plug may be implemented in various configurations in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. For example, the removable plug 250 of the cap 200 includes a protrusion 255 located on the proximal end along the line 260 near the attachment point. As another example, the removable plug 750 of the cap 700 includes protrusions 755 on the distal end 752 opposite the attachment point along the line 260.

Fig. 24 shows another exemplary structure. Wherein a plurality of removable plugs (i.e., removable plug 2450 and removable plug 2460) are integrally formed with the lid 2400. In one embodiment, the plurality of removable plugs may have protrusions located at different ends. For example, the removable plug 2450 can have a proximally located protrusion, while the removable plug 2460 can have a distally located protrusion. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other configurations are possible in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 12 depicts that a cover 1200 according to an embodiment of the invention may be in various states. For example, fig. 12 shows that the lid 1200 can be in an initial state 1225, in which state 1225 the removable plug 1210 remains integrally formed with the lid 1220 at tear line 1206. When the removable plug 1210 is detached from the cap 1200, the cap 1200 may be in a blocking state 1235, in which state 1235 the protrusion 1215 of the removable plug 1210 is inserted into the dispensing opening 1202 of the cap 1200. Fig. 13-17 depict the cap 200 of fig. 2 in a plugged condition. The cover 1200 may also be in a retained state 1245 when the removable plug 1210 is separated from the cover 1200, in which state 1245 the protrusion 1215 is inserted into the recess 1204 formed on the upper surface of the cover 1200. Fig. 18-22 depict the lid 200 of fig. 2 in a retained state.

FIG. 25 shows a first tear line configuration, the tear line including tear tabs 1206a attached to either side of the end of the removable plug that is adjacent to the cover, and a recessed surface 1206b between the two tear tabs and recessed toward the side of the removable plug that is away from the cover, the recessed surface having a center that is spaced from the peripheral edge of the cover by a distance that is greater than the distance from the ends of the recessed surface to the peripheral edge of the cover; the peripheral edge of the cover is provided with an outer convex part, one side of the outer convex part, which is far away from the peripheral edge of the cover, is provided with an arc convex surface 1206c, and the distance from the middle part of the concave surface to the middle part of the arc convex surface is greater than the distance from the two ends of the concave surface to the two ends of the arc convex surface; the concave surface is any one of a V-shaped concave surface and a U-shaped concave surface.

Fig. 26 shows a second tear line structure, the tear line includes three tear joints 1206a disposed at intervals and connected between one end of the detachable plug near the cover and the peripheral edge of the cover, a strip-shaped tear hole 1206d is formed between two adjacent tear joints, the peripheral edge of the cover and one end of the detachable plug near the cover, and the hole diameter of the strip-shaped tear hole is gradually reduced from top to bottom.

FIG. 23 illustrates one embodiment of a process for forming a lid having a removable plug located at its peripheral edge and integrally formed therewith. In fig. 23, the preparation method comprises the following steps: s1, the slurry forming mold 2330 is dipped into the slurry provided in the slurry tank 2310. In one embodiment, the slurry is comprised of a decomposable or biodegradable plant fiber material. Exemplary plant fiber materials include: wood pulp, sugar cane pulp, reed pulp, bamboo pulp, palm pulp, and the like. S2, the fibers of the slurry ("slurry fibers") 2320 are drawn by vacuum suction onto the surface of the slurry-forming die 2330. The forming die comprises a cover forming cavity and a detachable plug forming cavity located at the periphery of an opening of the cover forming cavity, and the cover forming cavity is communicated with the detachable plug forming cavity.

S3, additional vacuum suction is applied to reduce the moisture content of the slurry fibers 2320 as the slurry forming mold 2330 is lifted (or removed) from the slurry tank 2310, thereby forming the green wet cup lid 2322. S4, the slurry-forming die 2330 may then be pressed using a pressing die 2340 (e.g., using vacuum suction) to impart the original shape to the green wet cup cover 2322 to form the shaped wet cup cover 2324. In one embodiment, the moisture content of the shaped wet cup cover 2324 is further reduced by extruding the slurry-forming die 2330 using an extrusion die 2340. After the slurry forming mold 2330 is pressed by the pressing mold 2340, the transfer mold 2350 transfers the formed wet cup cover 2324 to a hot pressing mold composed of an upper heating mold 2362 and a lower heating mold 2364.

A hot press mold is used to compress and dry the shaped wet cup cover 2324 to form the semi-finished cup cover 2326. The surface of the semi-finished cup cover 2326 has enhanced smoothness (relative to the smoothness of the surface of the formed wet cup cover 2324 prior to compression and drying) when compressed and dried by the hot press mold. The compaction and heating by the hot pressing die may also achieve improved dimensional accuracy. In one embodiment, vacuum suction is applied during the drying process provided by the hot pressing die to remove any steam caused by moisture retained by the shaped wet cup cover 2324 and reduce the likelihood of delamination. S5, the semi-finished cup 2326 is then transferred to a cutting die consisting of an upper cutting die 2372 and a lower cutting die 2374 to form the finished cup cover. In one embodiment, the cutting die forms the finished cup cover by trimming excess material from the edges of the semi-finished cup cover 2326.

The invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments and their detailed construction and operation. The embodiments described herein are presented by way of illustration only and not limitation. As may be recognized by those of skill in the pertinent art based on the teachings herein, there may be a range of equivalents to the exemplary embodiments described herein. It is most important to note that other embodiments are possible, modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein, and equivalents may exist to the components, parts, or steps that make up the described embodiments. Certain aspects of components or steps of certain embodiments are presented for clarity and conciseness without undue detail, however, such detail will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the teachings herein and/or such detail will obscure an understanding of further relevant aspects of the embodiments.

As used herein, conditional language, such as "may," "for example," and the like, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include certain features, elements, and/or steps, while other embodiments do not include certain features, elements, and/or steps, unless expressly stated otherwise, or otherwise understood in the context of such usage. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments and that one or more embodiments, with or without user input or prompting, do not necessarily include logic for deciding whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and the like, are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude other elements, features, acts, operations, and the like. Furthermore, the term "or" is used in an inclusive sense (rather than an exclusive sense), such that when used, for example, to connect a series of elements, the term "or" means one, some, or all of the elements in the series.

The terms and descriptions used above are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that those variations, enhancements and modifications, and many other variations, enhancements and modifications, can be made to the concepts described herein without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined only by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims (5)

1. A lid, characterized in that the lid comprises:

a dispensing opening for providing an outlet for contents disposed within the cup when a sealing structure is formed between the lid and cup;

a removable plug integrally formed with the lid via a tear line at a peripheral edge, wherein the removable plug includes a protrusion and the protrusion is for interacting with the dispensing opening to form another sealing structure therebetween; and

a recess for removably coupling with the protrusion to retain the removable plug adjacent the lid,

the tearing line comprises three tearing connection points which are arranged at intervals and connected between one end, close to the cover, of the detachable plug and the peripheral edge of the cover, strip-shaped tearing holes are formed among two adjacent tearing connection points in the three tearing connection points, the peripheral edge of the cover and one end, close to the cover, of the detachable plug, and the hole diameter of each strip-shaped tearing hole is gradually reduced from top to bottom.

2. The cap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the concave surface is any one of a V-shaped concave surface and a U-shaped concave surface.

3. The lid of claim 1, wherein the protrusion protrudes toward one surface of the removable plug, and a shaped recess corresponding to the protrusion is provided on the other surface of the removable plug away from the protrusion.

4. The lid of claim 1, wherein the lid is made of plant fiber.

5. A lid, characterized in that the lid comprises:

a dispensing opening for providing an opening through the lid;

a recess formed on a surface of the lid; and

a removable plug integrally formed with the lid via a tear line at a peripheral edge, wherein the removable plug includes a protrusion for friction fit within the dispensing opening and the recess,

the tearing line comprises three tearing connection points which are arranged at intervals and connected between one end, close to the cover, of the detachable plug and the peripheral edge of the cover, strip-shaped tearing holes are formed among two adjacent tearing connection points in the three tearing connection points, the peripheral edge of the cover and one end, close to the cover, of the detachable plug, and the hole diameter of each strip-shaped tearing hole is gradually reduced from top to bottom.

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