GB2455855A

GB2455855A - A lid for a container

Info

Publication number: GB2455855A
Application number: GB0819803A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Douglas Hussey; Edward Thomas Paine
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-12-19
Filing date: 2008-10-29
Publication date: 2009-06-24
Anticipated expiration: 2028-10-29
Also published as: GB0819803D0; GB0819132D0; GB0724665D0; GB2455855B; GB0807728D0

Abstract

A lid for sealing edible fluids within a container, where the lid has ancillary access facility 31 that allows the edible fluids to be accessed without removing the lid, and means 23 to protect the access from the deposit of harmful bacteria. The protective means 23 is removed by the drinker prior to drinking from the container. The protective means may be a hygienic cap or member 23 (40, fig 6 and 50, fig 7) that may cover the whole of the lid or just the access facility and immediate surrounding area (fig 6). The cap may seal an opening formed in the lid, and be transparent. Preferably the protective means has an extension member 26, 37 to allow the protective to be applied and/or removed without the user contaminating the access facility. Preferably the protective means is made from a pliable plastic retained in positioned by adhesive, the removal of the protective means removes a weakened area in the lid 30 when the protective means is removed to provide an opening 31. Alternatively the protective means is a very thin flexible plastics sheet of material that clings to the lid. A method of manufacturing the lid and protective means, the processes includes the step to decontaminate the ancillary access e.g. ultra violet light or disinfecting material, prior to protecting the ancillary facility.

Description

Lid for a Container for Edible Fluids and a Protective Cover for the Lid This invention relates to a lid for a container for edible fluids and a protective cover for the lid.

In this specification the term edible fluids is meant to include drinks such as tea, coffee, other beverages such as milk shakes, fruit juices and is also intended to include edible fluids such as thin soup or gruel. At the present time edible fluids are sold in containers, for example, of half a litre capacity, comprised of a main body portion made of liquid proof paper construction and a lid of thin plastics material suitable for containing the edible fluids in the body of the container in a sealed leakproof manner well known in the art. The container and the lid are designed for normal usage, that is to say, once the container body has been filled the body portion is steadied with one hand whilst the lid is pressed down onto the top of the container body by the other hand At no time under normal usage is single handed operation envisaged. In addition to drinking the contents of the container in the usual manner by the complete removal of the plastcs lid there is also provision for drinking the contents of the container through an ancillary access facility arranged as part of the lid. The ancillary access facility may be an opening in the top of the lid or an area of the lid easily removable to form an opening. This allows the contents of the container to be consumed without removal of the lid and also allows children to consume the contents of the container by means of a straw. This is an extremely useful facility since it allows the contents of the container to be consumed wLth less risk of spillage whilst doing other things such as walking. A problem with this known ancillary access facility is that when the container has been filled and the lid is being pressed down onto the top of the container by the hands of the person dispensing the drink to seal the container the ancillary access facility becomes prone to being handled by the person dispensing the drink. Accordingly unless personal hygiene is strictly observed there is a risk of harmful bacteria being deposited on the ancillary access facility and surrounding area with possible contamination of this area.

Moreover, in a busy coffee shop, for example, there may well be one or more queues of customers waiting to be served and it is important that they be served in as safe and as expeditious a manner as possible. To this end it is usual to have a stack of cups handily disposed to allow the attendant to quickly fill the cups and also important is to have a stack of lids handily disposed for sealing the container after filling. It is important, therefore, that the design of lid does not compromise stacking in any way. For example, it is believed that it is far easier to grasp the top of a lid between thumb and forefinger (s) rather than grasping a radially extending tab because of the difficulty of separating the tabs when closely stacked. In the prior art US patent 7.111.749 BI (Akers) discloses a lid for a coffee cup having a drinking opening and cover piece to cover the drinking opening. Following the teaching of this patent the user's finger will contact the area of the drinking opening when the protective cover is being applied to the lid.

Consequently the protective cover is not applied to the lid in a hygienic manner so that the fingers do not contact the drinks opening as required by the present invention. US patent io document US 2004/0084452 Al (Wu-Chang Hsieh) discloses a first lid for sealing a container and a second outer lid covering the first lid.. To obtain proper operation in accordance with this patent the outer lid is larger in diameter than the first lid so there can be relative rotation between the two lids. Consequently the lids cannot be sealed in accordance with the present invention.

International Publication No WO 96/1687 1 discloses a lid thermally fuse bonded to the container body and consequently is not pertinent to the present invention which is concerned with solving the problem of inadvertent transfer of germs when the lid is pressed down onto the container top by the person dispensing the drinks. It is notable that this patent emphasises the fact that when the lid is made of plastics material dust is particularly apt to deposit on the lid due to static electricity and in the presence of such dust it is unsanitary to directly touch the opening with the mouth. US patent 4,899,902 (Demars) discloses a lid for operation using one hand only, paricularly the thumb. This is not normal usage as defined above. In addition the lid includes a cover connected to the lid which includes a recess designed to fit over a raised drinking spout. In the light of the disclosure of the previous prior patent there is cearly a risk that during storage dust will settle on the top of the recess of the cover and consequently will be transferred onto the drinking opening. In view of this it cannot be said that the cover has been applied to the lid in a hygienic manner as required by the present invention International patent publication WO 2006/039044 A3 (Solo Cup Corp) comprises some 68 pages of description and 99 drawings.

but despite this voluminous dissertation on lid design there is no awareness of the problem of inadvertent transfer of germs to the lid by the person dispensing the drinks and hence no de-contamination step in the lid manufacturing process. One of the disclosed embodiments makes use of a elongate cover element arranged for permanent attachment to the lid and having a radially formed portion forming a graspable tab extending into free space. Absent specific instructions for due care during the initial assembly of the cover element the lower finger can come into contact with the area of the drinks opening. Hence this is not hygienically applied in accordance with the requirements of the present invention. Likewise United States Patent Publication 2003/00897 14 Al (Dart et al) fails to be aware of the problem of inadvertent transfer of germs nor does it discloses the use of a dc-contamination step during the lid manufacturing process. In one embodiment a graspable tab member is formed which when grasped by fingers and thumb could result in finger contact being made with the area of the drinks opening. In another embodiment when the tab member carrying the downwardly extending closure plug is hinged backwardly the closure plug is exposed to atmospheric dust with the then propensity for collecting such dust which ultimately will be transferred to the drinks opening. Hence this design of cover is not hygienically applied as per the present invention. Japanese patent JP 10236494 discloses a lid member being pressed down onto a container body by pressing equipment for pennanent attachment thereto hence this disclosure is not pertinent to the problem of countering the problem of indvertent transferm of germs when the container is being closed by the person dispensing the drinks. The patent discloses a section of the lid with through perforations which will allow the contents to overflow over the lid and which can only contained by the addition of a cover. The possibility of the contents swilling round between the lid and the top cover presents a most unhygienic arrangement.. US patent 5,692,616 (Baker) proposes enveloping a lid within upper and lower plastic sheets with the lower sheet ultimately being withdrawn through the drinks opening. With the propensity for the plastic sheets to attract dust as described above atmospheric dust can be transferred to the drinks opening hence this is not hygienically applied as per the invention.

An object of this invention is to alleviate, at least, to some extent,these

problems present in the prior art.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids, the method including the step of providing an ancillaiy access facility on the lid, the method including the further steps of de-contaminating the ancillaiy access facility and protecting the dc-contaminated ancillary access facility from future contamination.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a lid for a container for edible fluids, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and being arranged to seal edible fluids within the container due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the container body by the person dispensing the edible fluids, the container lid including an ancillary access facility allowing access to the contents of the container without removal of the lid and a protective cover applied to the container body in a hygienic manner to seal and protect the ancillary access facility from the transfer of harmful bacteria during the process of the lid beng pressed down onto the top of the container body by the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids to thereby seal the container.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the undernoted drawings wherein: Figure 1 illustrates a container body for edible fluids and a container lid for the container body in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a part cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a lid and protective cover in accordance with the invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a part plan view of the lid of Figure 1.

Figure 4 illustrates a part plan view of a second embodiment of a lid and cover according to the the invention.

Figure 5 illustrates a part cross-sectional view through the embodiment of Figure 4.

Figure 6 illustrates a part cross-sectional view of third embodiment of a lid and protective cover in accordance with the invention Figures 7 & 8 illustrates a part cross-sectional view of a lid and protective cover in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention.

In Figure 1 reference numeral 10 denotes a container for edible fluids comprising a tapered container body 11 and a co-operating lid 12 in accordance with the invention to seal the container body portion 11. -5

As best seen from Figure 2 circular lid 12 includes a top portion 13 with a pressed out depressed area 14 which strengthens the lid structure. From top portion 13 a depending side wall 15 tapers outwardly and downwardly to join outwardly and downwardly extending outer peripheral rim 16 which is dimensioned to be a friction fit to seal around the circular top of container body portion 11 for easy removal and disposal. As best seen from Figure 3 raised ribs 17 strengthen the lid 12.

Pressed out areas 18 may be used to identify different types of edible fluids such as coffee, tea.

or other drinks. The areas 19 are maximised by increasing the relevant radii R to encourage the pressing down on these areas to seal the container after filling. In accordance with this first embodiment of the invention an ancillary access facility is delineated by the outline 20, see rn Figure 3, and comprises a series of semi-circular shallow indentations or concavities 21 best seen in Figure 2. The weakening of the lid structure in this way ensures that the area delineated by outline 20 is able to seal the container but may be easily ruptured under finger pressure to provide an opening 22 which will allow a person to drink the contents of the container via opening 22 or insert a straw without removal of the lid 12. Opening 22 may be conveniently formed on top of one of the stepped areas 19 between walls 14A of depressed area 14, see Figure 6 and sidewall 15. An important part of this first embodiment of the invention comprises a protective cover in the form of a hygienic cap or barrier 23 best seen in Figure 2. which is applied to seal or protect the ancillary access facility 20 arranged on lid 12. Since the cap or barrier 23 and lid 12, for that matter, are throwaway items, that is, they will be disposed off after 21] use it is important for volume production and reduced costs that they are of plain construction, that is, they do not involve relatively slidable, hingeable or other moveable parts Hygienic cap 23 has a flat circular top part 24 and from Figure 2 is seen to have a generally U-shaped cross-sectional structure matching the tapering of lid 12. In this case a depending sidewall 25 of cover 23 matches the taper of sidewall 15 of lid 12 but other structural shapes could be chosen.

It will be noted that cap 23 and tab 26 do not extend beyond the periphery of outer rim 16. It is believed this is advantageous in that stacking will not be compromised. Once the lid or only the ancillary access facility and surrounding area and, if desired, the protective cap 23 have been cleaned or dc-contaminated, for example, by being contacted by disinfecting material such as a spray or dipping in such a solution or subjected to another treatment such as exposure to ultra 3o violet light the assembly thereto of hygienic cap 23 ensures that the top of the lid 2 cannot be touched by the person dispensing the drinks but may only be accessed by the person preparing to drink through opening 22. Hygienic cap 23 may be sealingly attached to lid 12 by means of a friction fit around sidwall 15 or attached by other means, for example, a lightly applied suitable inert adhesive so that it can be easily twisted off and removed for disposal.. Hygienic cap 23 may be attached to the lid in a hygienic manner by ensuring the handling of the cap 23 is confined to the outer surface 25A of cap 23. Thus any contact with the de-contaminated ancillary access facility on the top of the lid is prevented. Hygienic cap 23 may be made of thin opaque or transparent plastics material similar in thickness (0.008 -0.020 in) , possibly thinner, to the prior art lid mentioned above but which, nevertheless, has sufficient rigidity such that when fitted to lid 12 the combined lid and cap assembly will be able to be stacked with other assembled lids and caps. Tab members 26 may be added to facilitate removal of cap 23 but it is important they do not compromise the stacking of the lid.. For example they should conform to the shape of the lid and not extend radially into free space which could compromise the stacking of the lid. They could be made of flexible material so that they could be made to lie flat unobtrusively along the top surface of the lid 12. Similarly a tab niember37 may be added to ancillary access facility as shown in Figure 4. A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 4. Instead of providing a hygienic cap or barrier 23 covering all of the area of the top of the lid 12 Figure 4 illustrates how a localised area only around the drinks opening may be protected and still meet the object of the invention. In this embodiment an ancillary access facility is in the form of an outline area 30 weakened by indentations 21, see Figure 5 which is a section on A-A of Figure 4 and which may be easily ruptured under light finger pressure and if so ruptured and removed will result in an opening 31 being formed in the lid structure. In this second embodiment of the invention the area delineated by reference numeral and surrounding area is covered or protected by a hygienic mouthpiece cover 32. Cover 32 may be made of pliable plastics material or solid moulded material and approximates to an area covered by the lips when a person is drinking through opening 31. It is desirable that cover 32 be as small as possible compatible with covering the drinking opening and surrounding area so that uneccessary wastage is avoided when it is disposed off after use. Hygienic protective mouthpiece cover 32 prevents this area from being handled by the person dispensing the drinks and thereby prevents the inadvertent transfer of germs to this area by the person dispensing the drinks The mouthpiece cover 32 is sealingly maintained in position over outline 30 and surrounding area by a suitably inert weak adhesive which is strong enough to retain cover 32 in position but may easily removed under finger pressure and when so removed there will be sufficient adhesion between cover 32 and the weakened outline area 30 such that area 30 will be Removed along with cover 32 and an opening 31 will be formed in the lid structure. A person may then drink through this opening 31 or insert a straw therein. It is important that the protective cover 32 be applied to the dc-contaminated area in a hygienic manner. This may be best done with reference to Figure 4 wherein protective cover 32 has a front side edge 33 and a rear side edge 34 which are curved to conform to the circular periphery of the lid top 12. A flat bottom surface 35 (see figure 5) is treated with suitable adhesive whilst a flat top surface 36 carries a centrally disposed pull tab 37. Pull tab 37 may extend substantially at right angles to top surface 36 but not extend so far as to compromise stacking. Alternatively pull tab 37 may be made of flexible material so that it may lie unobtrusively on top part 36 or may simply have raised end portion 37A. Accordingly as can be seen from Figure 4, cover 32 has been hygienically applied to the ancillary access facility that is opening 31, since pull tab 37 can be grasped between finger and thumb whilst the top surface 36 prevents the finger and thumb from contacting the drinks opening 31 during application to or removal of cover 32 from lid 12.

Figure 6 illustrates a third example or embodiment of the invention wherein an opening 22A is formed on lid top I 3A. A protective hygienic mouthpiece cover 40 comprises a main flat body portion 41 having side portions 42,43 extending from the main body portion 41 and conforming to the tapering sidewalls 25 and 14A of the lid 12. As can be seen from Figure 6 this results in a generally U-shaped tapering cross-sectional structure similar to the cross-sectional structure of cap 23 illustrated in Figure 2. A centrally disposed pull tab 44 may be added to the top surface 45 of main body portion 41. This may be grasped between finger and thumb for removal of cover 40 but also together with the top surface 45 it prevents the finger and thumb from contacting the drinks opening 22A. instead of a proper pull tab the top surface 45 may have a slightly raised end portions 44A as described with reference to Figure 5 to assist in manipulating cover 40 to uncover opening 22A. In this embodiment cover 40 may be arranged to be a friction fit relative to lid 12 on the stepped portion thereof to seal opening 22A and pull tab 44 or raised portions 44A may be used to slide cover 40 sideways along the stepped wall portion to uncover opening 22A. In the absence of tab 44 it should be noted the combination of sidewall member 42 with flat body portion 4! WIll prevent fingers contacting opening 22A.

Figure 7 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention where a hygienic protective cover 50 comprises a main flat body portion 51 covering opening 22A and having side extension members 52, 53 conforming to the tapering sidewall structure of lid 12 and from Figure 7 is seen to exhibit a generally U-shaped tapering cross-sectional structure described above with reference to Figures 2 and 6. In this fourth embodiment, however, sidewall portion 52 is extended to follow the tapering contour of lid sidewall 15 to the outer peripheral rim 16. Thus the friction fit between cover 50 and the lid 12 is extended over that shown in Figure 6. Cover 50 may be slid to one side using pull tab 55 or raised portion 55A to expose opening 22A. If desired the friction fit may be supplemented by the use of a weak adhesive. The slight upward taper of stepped sidewall portions 15 and l4A will provide some initial impetus if desired to remove cover 50 by pinching between finger and thumb whilst at the same time preventing finger and thumb from contacting the drinks opening 22A The length of each localised cover 40, 50 will be such as to provide an area approximating to a person's mouth when drinking through the opening 22A and preferably is shaped somewhat similar to the quadrant of a cicle as seen in the perspective view of Figure 8. Protective cover 50 has a front side extending member 52 tapering outwardly and downwardly from flat top portion 51 to an outer peripheral rim portion 56 which corresponds with outer peripheral rim 16 of lid 12 and is arranged to be a friction fit thereto. A rear side extending tapered member 53 also depends from top portion Si and together with tapered sidewall extending member 52 enables the cover 50 to be friction fitted to the lid stepped wall portion formed by walls 14A and 15 of the lid which contains the drinks opening 22A. Whilst being able to maintain a sealng effect over opening 22A, cover 50, nevertheless, can be made to slide relatively sideways on the stepped wail portion or removed altogether to unseal opening 22A. This version of the invention may be more conducive to stacking than any of the examples using pull tabs. A 111Th embodiment of the invention comprises the use of a very thin transparent flexible plastics sheet material which can be draped over the top of the lid to take up the shape thereof including covering the ancillary access facility and due to its "stretchability" a frictional effect will be obtained which will provide a sealing effect over the top of the lid. The material "cling-film" would be suitable for this embodiment.. Whilst the transparency of hygienic cap 23 is useful because it allows information on top of the lid to be read, protective covers 32, 40 and 50 are preferably made a distinctive cover so that they may be easily distinguished from the parent lid. Ultraviolet light is only one example of medium wave electromagnetic radiation suitable for de-contaminating the lid and ancillary access facility. Thus it can be seen that various means for protecting the lid and the ancillary access facility have been provided in accordance with the invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids, the method including the step of providing an ancillary access facility on the lid, the method including the further steps of de-contaminating the ancillary access facility and protecting the de-contaminated ancillary access facility from future contamination.

2. A methd of manufacturing a lid according to claim I, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and, in use, being arranged to seal the edible fluids within the container due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the top of the container by the person dispensing the edible fluids, the method including the step of applying a protective cover to seal the ancillary access facility after the ancillary access facility has been de-contaminated.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover is subjected to a de-contamination step prior to being applied to the ancillary access facility.

4. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover is applied over the whole of the top of the lid.

5. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover is applied only to the ancillary access facility and localised area surrounding the ancillary access facility.

6. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover is sealed to the lid by means of an inert adhesive 7. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover is sealed to the lid by means of a friction fit.

8. A method according to claim I wherein the de-contamination step comprises contacting the ancillary access facility with disinfecting material.

10. A method according to claim I wherein the de-contamination step involves subjecting the ancillary access facility to ultra violet light. -10.

11. A method according to claim! wherein the ancillary access facility is a sealed but easily removable part of the lid, under finger pressure.

12. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover is applied to the ancillary access facility in a hygienic manner as herein defined 13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the ancillary access facility is an opening in the lid and the protective cover is applied to the opening in the lid in a hygienic manner such that the fingers of the person applying the protective cover are prevented from contacting the opening..

14. A method according to claim 2 wherein the protective cover has a generally U-shaped cross-sectional Structure.

15. A method according to claaim 1 wherein a part.at least, of the protective cover conforms to the shape of the lid.

16. A lid for a container for edible fluids, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and being arranged to seal edible fluids within the container due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the container by the person dispensing the edible fluids, the container lid including an ancillary access facility allowing access to the contents of the container without removal of the lid and a protective cover applied to the container body in a hygienic manner to seal and protect the ancillary access facility from the transfer of harmful bacteria during the process of the lid being pressed down onto the top of the container by the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids.

17. A lid according to claim 16 wherein the protective cover is applied to or removed from the ancillary access facility in a hygienic manner in that the protective cover includes an extension member or members, the extension member or members being graspable between finger and thumb for applying or removing the protective cover from the lid whereby the finger and thumb are prevented from contacting the ancillary access facility.

18. A lid according to claim 17 wherein the protective cover has a top surface and the extension member is a pull tab extending substantially at right angles to the top surface 19. A lid according to claim 17 wherein the protective cover includes a top surface and the extension member is a sidewall member depending from the top surface..

20. A lid for a container according to claim 17 wherein the ancillary access facility is an opening in the lid and wherein the protective cover includes a main body portion covering the opening and side extension members extend from the main body portion to form a generally U-shapesd cross section whereby the extended sides of the U-shape prevent the fingers from contacting the opening.

21. A lid for a container according to claim 17 wherein the lid includes a stepped portion and the ancillary access facility is in the form of an opening on the stepped portion and the extended sides of the protective cover are a friction fit on the stepped portion.

22 A lid according to claim 17 wherein protective cover complete with the side extension members is slidable relative to the lid.

23 A lid substantially as herein described with reference to any one of Figures 2, 3,4, 5, 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings 24. A protective cover for a lid for a container for edible fluids, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and being arranged to seal edible fluids within the container due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the container by the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids, the lid including an opening and wherein the protective cover seals the opening thereby preventing the person dispensing the edible fluids from touching the opening, the protective cover including a main body portion intended to overly and seal the drinks opening and front and rear sidewall members extending from the main body portion and arranged to replicate the shape of the lid and be friction titled to the lid over a portion thereof, the front sidewall member in combination with a selected one of the main body portion or the remaining sidewall member preventing the fingers of the person dispensing the edible fluids to touch the opening.

25. A protective cover according to claim 24 wherein the front sidewall member is combined with the fiat main body portion.

26. A protective cover according to claim 24 wherein the remaining sidewall member is included in the combination.

27. A protective cover according to claim 24 wherein the protective cover approximates to the shape of a quadrant of a circle.

28. A protective cover substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.

Amendmen to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and, in use, being arranged to seal the edible fluids within the container due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the container top by the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids, the method including the step of providing an ancillary access facility on the lid whereby access to the contents of the container may be obtained without the removal of the lid, the method including the further steps of de-contaminating the ancillary access facility and applying a protective cover to the dc-contaminated ancillary access facility whereby future contamination in the form of the inadvertent transfer of germs from the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids to the ancillary access facility is prevented 2. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 1 wherein the protective cover is applied to the dc-contaminated ancillary access facility in a hygienic manner.

3. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 2 wherein applying the protective cover to the ancillary access facility lid in a hygienic manner refers to the application of the protective cover in such a manner that the fingers of the person applying the cover are prevented from contacting the ancillary access facility.

4. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according claim 1 wherein the protective cover is subjected to a dc-contamination process prior to the application of the protective cover to the ancillary access facility.

5. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim I *:::: wherein the protective cover is applied over the whole of the top of the lid.

*::::* 6. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 1 wherein the protecive cover is applied only to the ancillary access facility and the localised area : around the ancillary access facility.

7. A method of manufacturing a lid fora container for edible fluids according to claim I wherein the protective cover is sealed to the lid by means of an inert adhesive. * ..

8. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 1 *: wherein the protective cover is sealed to the lid by means of a friction fit.

9. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim I wherein the dc-contamination step comprises contacting the ancillary access facility with disinfecting material.

10. A method of manufacturing a lid for a contaner for edible fluids according to claim I wherein the dc-contamination step comprises subjecting the ancillary access facility to ultra violet light.

11. A method of manufactunng a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 1 wherein the ancillary access facility is a sealed but easily removed part of the lid under finger pressure.

12. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim Ii wherein the easily removed part of the lid is delineated by a series of indentations.

13. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim I wherein the protective cover conforms to the shape of lid in that no part of the protective cover extends radially into free space.

14. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 4 wherein the dc-contamination step includes contacting the protective cover with sprayed on dis -infecting material 15. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim I wherein the protective cover is applied in the form of a pliable plastics material.

16. A method of manufacturing a lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 1 wherein the protective cover includes a generally U-shaped cross-sectional area.

17. A lid for a container for edible fluids, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and being arranged to seal edible fluids within the contaner due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the container by the person dispensing the edible fluids, the container lid including an ancillary access facility allowing access to the contents of the container without removal of the lid and a protective cover applied to the lid in a hygienic manner to seal and protect the ancillary access facility from the transfer of harmful bacteria during the process of the lid being pressed down onto the container by the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids, the protective cover conforming to the shape of the lid and wherein the unsealing of the protective cover to allow consumption of the contents of the container frees the protective cover from the lid and allows free movement of the protective cover for disposal of the protective : cover.

18. A lid for a container for edible fluids according to claim 17 wherein the protective cover is *r attached to the lid by means of an inert adhesive.

19. A lid for a container according to claim 17 wherein the protective cover is attached to the lid by means of a friction fit. *

</p>..CLME: <p> " * 20. A lid for a container according to claim 17 wherein the lid includes a stepped wall *. portion defined between upwardly and inwardly angled sidewalls, the stepped wall portion including an ancillary access facility in the form of a drinks opening and wherein upward movement of the protective cover to unseal the drinks opening is given an initial impetus by the inwardly angled sidewalls as the protective cover is pinched between the fingers for removal from the lid.

21. A lid for a container according to claim o wherein the upwardly and inwardly angled sidewalls are free from any protuberancies inhibiting free movement of the protective cover.

22. A lid for container according to claim 20 wherein the protective cover is free from any protuberancies inhibiting the free movement of the protective cover.

23. A lid for container according to claim 20 wherein the protective cover includes a flat body portion and a sidewall member angling downwardly and outwardly from the flat body portion, the angling dowwardly and outwardly sidewall member co-operating with a selected one of the sidewall members fonning the stepped wall portion.

24. A lid for a container according to claim 23, wherein the angling and outwardly extending sidewall member extends to a peripheral rim and wherein the peripheral rim co-operates in a friction fit with the perpiheral rim on the lid.

25. A protective cover for a lid for a container for edible fluids, the lid having an outer peripheral rim and being arranged to seal edible fluids within the container* due to frictional engagement of the rim when pressed down onto the container by the person dispensing the edible fluids, the container lid including means delineating an ancillary access facility to allow access to the contents of the container without removal of the lid, the protective cover being applied to the lid to seal and protect the ancillary access facility from the transfer of germs during the process of the lid being pressed onto the container by the hands of the person dispensing the edible fluids wherein the protective cover includes handle means facilitating the removal of the protective cover from the container and wherein removal of the protective cover results in removal of the means delineating the ancillary access facility whereby a drinks opening is formed on the lid and material previously preventing access to the contents of the container is removed.

26. A protective cover according to claim 25 wherein the removed material is lid material.

27. A lid for a container according to claim 25 wherein the protective cover comprises a main body portion wherein the handle means is upstanding from a top portion thereof and a lower member depending from the underside of the main body portion, the lower member having a mating relationship with the drinks opening on the lid.

* : 28. A lid for a container for edible fluids substantially as herein described with reference to ***, any one of Figures 2, 3,4, 5,6, 7 and 8. *** *S*. * * S. * . * * *.

S S..

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