GB2393897A

GB2393897A - Drinking cup having a lid and a support holder

Info

Publication number: GB2393897A
Application number: GB0223462A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nicholas Tanner; Tim Henry; Frederick Harrison; Kevin Christopher Pope
Original assignee: Mars Inc
Current assignee: Mars Inc
Priority date: 2002-10-09
Filing date: 2002-10-09
Publication date: 2004-04-14
Also published as: FR2846539A1; DE10345723A1; GB0223462D0

Abstract

A cup closure system comprising: a cup (1) having a bottom (2), side walls (3) and a lip (4); a lid (8) for the cup; one or more snap-fitting projections (11) on the lid and/or the cup to retain the lid on the cup when the lid is pressed down onto the cup; and a support ring (6) to support the cup under the lip, wherein the support ring is configured to permit manual insertion of the cup into the support ring, manual application of a lid onto the cup, and manual removal of the cup from the support ring. The cup is suspended in the support ring (6) while the lid (8) is pressed onto the cup, thereby preventing collapse of the cup and spillage of its contents.

Description

CUP CLOSURE SYSTEMS

The present invention relates to cup closure systems for providing cups closed with a lid, and to beverage dispensing equipment incorporating such systems.

5 The present invention also relates to methods of fitting a lid onto a cup by means of such systems.

Beverage dispensing equipment typically dispenses hot beverages such as coffee or tea into a disposable cup, such as a paper cup or a thermoformed plastic cup.

10 The cups are then frequently closed by snap-fitting a lid of thermoformed plastic over the top of the cup. The lid may be provided with a spout or aperture for drinking. The disposable cups used in conventional beverage dispensing equipment are 15 generally somewhat non- rigid, especially when filled with hot beverage. This means that excessively vigorous snap-fitting of the lid onto the cup can occasionally result in collapse of the side walls of the cup and spillage of the contents. This may occasionally result in discomfort to the user. A need exists for an improved apparatus and method for fitting lids onto hot beverage cups that 20 avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

The present invention provides a cup closure system comprising: a cup having a bottom, side walls and a lip; a lid for the cup; one or more snap-fitting projections on the lid and/or the cup to retain the lid on the cup when the lid is pressed down 25 onto the cup; and a support ring to support the cup under the lip, wherein the support ring is configured to permit manual insertion of the cup into the support ring, manual application of a lid onto the cup, and manual removal of the cup from the support ring.

30 In other words, the cup is received in the support ring and suspended by the support ring while the lid is snap-fitted onto the cup. This greatly reduces the risk that pressing downwardly to snap-fit the lid will collapse the cup.

The cup may be any of the conventional cups used in beverage dispensing, especially disposable cups. Typically, the cup will have a generally frustoconical shape. Generally, the cup will be formed from paper or from thermoformed plastics, such as polystyrene. The lip of the cup preferably projects outwardly from 5 the top of the cup. It may for example be a simple flange, or it may be a rolled lip.

The lip of the cup is normally circular in plan, and the lip generally projects from about 1 to about 3 mm beyond the outer surface of the side wall of the cup immediately below the lip.

10 The lid is preferably formed from thermoformed plastics, for example polystyrene.

The construction of the lid is generally identical to conventional cup lids for snap-

fitting. Preferably, the lid includes a cover portion and a skirt portion, with snap fitting projections typically extending inwardly from the skirt portion, for example for engagement under a projecting lip of the cup. However, it is an advantage of the 15 present invention that larger or less flexible snap-fitting projections may be used, i.e. lids requiring a larger snap-fitting force to secure them on the cup and thereby remaining more securely fastened than conventional lids. The snap- fitting projection may be a single inwardly projecting circumferential rib on the skirt of the lid, or it more typically comprises a plurality of inward projections each extending a 20 finite distance around the circumference of the skirt.

The support ring supports the cup under the lip. That is to say, the cup is received in the support ring and is suspended by engagement between the ring and the cup below the lip. The support may be provided by direct abutment between the 25 underside of the lip and the top of the ring. In other embodiments, the support may be provided by an interference fit between tapered side walls of the cup and the ring a short distance (e.g. about 1 mm to about 30 mm) below the lip. It will be appreciated that the ring should be oriented in a substantially horizontal plane in order to avoid spilling the contents when the ring is supporting the cup.

When the filled cup is held in the ring, it is suspended from the lip or a region near the lip of the cup, and preferably substantially no force is applied to its base. This

means that the cup does not collapse when an axial force is applied to the top of the cup to snap-fit the lid onto the cup.

Accordingly, the support ring is normally mounted so that there is sufficient 5 clearance below the ring to suspend the cup. For example, the support ring may be a simple hoop or loop mounted on a bracket projecting from a wall or other substantially vertical surface. In other embodiments, the support ring may be mounted on a hollow cylinder or other hollow free standing structure having internal dimensions large enough to receive the suspended cup. It will be 10 appreciated that the support ring should be mounted with sufficient clearance and access above the ring to permit manual insertion of the cup.

It will be appreciated that the support ring does not need to extend continuously around the cup, but may be interrupted or comprise two or more radially spaced 15 segments spaced around the cup. For example, the ring could comprise curved arms of a fork. In certain embodiments, the interrupted support ring provides a radial flexibility to enable the ring to expand to accommodate more than one size of cup.

20 The interrupted support ring structure is also preferred, because the gaps in the ring can provide finger access for lifting the cup out of the ring support after the lid has been fitted. Two such finger gaps on opposite sides of the ring are especially preferred. 25 In one preferred embodiment, the support ring is in the form of a cylinder having an internal circumference at the top substantially equal to the circumference of the cup side walls adjacent to the top of the cup, whereby the cup is supported inside the cylinder proximate to the lip, with the base of the cup suspended within the cylinder. One or more slots may be provided extending downwardly from the top 30 of the cylinder, preferably two slots on opposite sides of the cylinder, to provide finger access for lifting the cup out of the cylinder after the lid has been fitted.

It will be appreciated that the system according to the present invention normally requires a sufficient clearance below the support ring for the cup to be effectively suspended in the support ring, without the base of the cup being supported on any other surface.

In certain embodiments of the cup closure system according to the present invention, the support ring is mounted on a tray for carrying one or more cups.

The system may further comprise a stack of lids.

10 In a second aspect, the present invention provides a beverage dispensing system comprising: a beverage making apparatus; and a cup closure system according to the present invention.

The beverage making apparatus may be any beverage making apparatus, for 15 example, an in-cup beverage vending machine of the kind supplied under the Registered Trade Mark KLIX, or a beverage brewing machine of the kind provided under the Registered Trade Mark FLAVIA, both products of Four Square Division of Mars UK Limited, Basingstoke, United Kingdom.

20 The cup closure system may be operatively associated with the beverage dispensing system. Preferably the support ring is attached to the beverage making apparatus. For example, the support ring may be a loop or hoop attached to a bracket extending from the apparatus, or it may be a right cylinder as described above or a similar hollow body, fixed to a horizontal surface of the 25 apparatus, or fixed to a tray.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a method of fitting a lid onto a cup, comprising the steps of: providing a cup closure system or a beverage dispensing system according to the present invention; inserting the cup into the support ring 30 so that the cup is suspended in the support; and pressing the lid downwardly onto the cup to snap-fit the lid onto the cup. Normally, this is followed by the step of lifting the cup with the lid attached out of the support ring. All of these steps are normally performed manually.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: 5 Figure 1 shows a cross-section through a cup closure system according to the present invention immediately after the lid has been fitted onto the cup; and Figure 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the cup closure system of Figure Referring to the drawings, the cup closure system comprises a cup 1 having a generally frustoconical shape with a flat bottom, tapered side walls 3, and a rolled lip 4. The cup 1 is formed from thermoformed polystyrene.

15 The cup closure system further comprises a hollow support cylinder 5 having a bevelled top edge 6. The hollow cylinder 5 is taller than the cup 1, and the internal diameter of the top of the hollow cylinder is identical to the outside diameter of the cup 1 immediately below the lip, whereby the cup is received in the cylinder, and supported/suspended by abutment between the top of the cylinder and the lip of 20 the cup.

The cup closure system further comprises a lid 8 for the cup, comprising a cover portion 9 and a skirt portion 10, with a plurality of snap- fitting projections 11 thermoformed radially spaced around the inside of the skirt portion 10. The lid is 25 of thermoformed polystyrene sheet.

In use, the cup 1 is filled with a hot beverage and lowered into the support cylinder 5, using the finger slots for access. The lid 8 is then snap-fitted onto the top of the cup, and the cup is lifted out of the support cylinder, again using the finger slots for 30 access.

The support cylinders may for example be mounted on any suitable substantially horizontal surface of a beverage dispensing installation, or it may for example be mounted on a tray.

5 The above embodiment has been described by way of example only. Many other embodiments falling within the scope of the accompanying claims will be apparent to the skilled reader.

Claims

1. A cup closure system comprising: a cup having a bottom, side walls and a lip; 5 a lid for the cup; one or more snap-fitting projections on the lid and/or the cup to retain the lid on the cup when the lid is pressed down onto the cup; and a support ring to support the cup under the lip, wherein the support ring is configured to permit manual insertion of the cup into the support ring, manual 10 application of a lid onto the cup, and manual removal of the cup from the support ring.

2. A cup closure system according to claim 1, wherein the lip projects outwardly from the top of the side wall of the cup, and the support ring is 15 configured to support the cup by direct abutment between the underside of the lip and the top of the ring.

3. A cup closure system according to claim 1, wherein the support ring is configured to support the cup by forming an interference fit between tapered side 20 walls of the cup and the ring a short distance below the lip.

4. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, wherein the system includes sufficient clearance below the support ring for the cup to be suspended freely from the support ring.

5. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, wherein the support ring is a hoop or loop mounted on a bracket projecting from a wall or other substantially vertical surface.

30

6. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, wherein the support ring is mounted on a hollow structure having internal dimensions large enough to receive the suspended cup.

7. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, wherein the support ring is interrupted or comprises two or more radially spaced segments spaced around the cup.

8. A cup closure system according to claim 7, wherein the support ring is radially flexible to accommodate more than one size of cup.

9. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, wherein the lid to comprises a cover portion and a skirt portion, and said snap-fitting projections extend inwardly from the skirt portion.

10. A cup closure system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the support ring is at the top of of a cylinder having an internal circumference at the top substantially 15 equal to the circumference of the cup side walls adjacent to the top of the cup, whereby the cup is supported inside the cylinder proximate to the lip, with the base of the cup suspended within the cylinder.

11. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, wherein the 20 support ring is mounted on a tray for carrying one or more cups.

12. A cup closure system according to any preceding claim, further comprising a stack of lids 25

13. A beverage dispensing system comprising: a beverage making apparatus; and a cup closure system according to any of claims 1 to 12.

14. A method of fitting a lid onto a cup, comprising the steps of: providing a cup closure system according to any of claims 1 to 12; inserting the cup into the 30 support ring so that the cup is suspended in the support ring; and pressing the lid down onto the cup to snap-fit the lid onto the cup.