CUP LID AND CONTAINER USING THE CUP LID

Abstract

A cup lid that enables single-handed operation, including a main lid body and an auxiliary lid body. The main lid body seals an opening of a container and has a circular recess, a water passing hole, an air vent, and at least one limiting flange. The auxiliary lid body is rotatably disposed on the circular recess and has at least one limiting groove, at least one cutaway portion, a water passing port, and an air guide slot in communication with the atmosphere. Each limiting flange enters a corresponding limiting groove via a corresponding cutaway portion and is slidably received therein. The water passing port opens and closes the water passing hole as the auxiliary lid body rotates, and the air vent is slidably received in the air guide slot.

Claims

1. A cup lid, comprising: a main lid body and an auxiliary lid body; the main lid body is configured to removably seal an opening of a container; an upper surface of the main lid body is provided with a circular recess, a water passing hole and an air vent; the auxiliary lid body is rotatably disposed in the circular recess; the main lid body is also provided with at least one limiting flange extending along a circumferential direction of the main lid body; the auxiliary lid body is provided with at least one limiting groove for slidably receiving said at least one limiting flange respectively, and at least one cutaway portion communicating with said at least one limiting groove; each of said at least one limiting flange enters a corresponding limiting groove via a corresponding cutaway portion and is slidably received within the corresponding limiting groove to achieve rotary engagement between the auxiliary lid body and the main lid body; the auxiliary lid body is provided with a water passing port; when the auxiliary lid body rotates to a position where the water passing port aligns at least partially with the water passing hole, the water passing hole is opened and accessible, and when the auxiliary lid body rotates to a position where the water passing port does not align with the water passing hole, the water passing hole is closed by the auxiliary lid body; the auxiliary lid body also comprises an air guide slot which the air vent is slidable therein as the auxiliary lid body rotates; the air guide slot is in communication to an external environment.

2. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein the air guide slot is provided with a communicating slot through which the air guide slot is in communication to an outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary lid body; the communicating slot is further recessed from a bottom surface of the air guide slot; when the auxiliary lid body is rotated to a position where the water passing port completely aligns with the water passing hole, the air vent is located to align and to be in communication with the communicating slot.

3. The cup lid of claim 2, wherein the water passing hole and the air vent are located at two ends of a same diameter of the main lid body respectively, and the communicating slot and the water passing port are located at two ends of a same diameter of the auxiliary lid body respectively.

4. The cup lid of claim 3, wherein a portion of a side wall of the circular recess corresponding to the water passing hole is recessed to form a water guide groove.

5. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein a center part of the circular recess is provided with a post; a circumferential surface of the post is provided with said at least one limiting flange; the auxiliary lid body is provided with a through hole which sleeves the post; a side wall of the through hole is provided with said at least one limiting groove for slidably receiving said at least one limiting flange, and a lower side edge of the through hole is provided with said at least one cutaway portion through which said at least one limiting flange enters and exits said at least one limiting groove.

6. The cup lid of claim 5, wherein said at least one limiting flange comprises two limiting flanges symmetrically arranged on two sides of the post; correspondingly, said at least one cutaway portion comprises two cutaway portions.

7. The cup lid of claim 5, wherein the post is made of transparent material.

8. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein a side wall of the circular recess is provided with said at least one limiting flange, and an outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary lid body is provided with said at least one limiting groove and said at least one cutaway portion.

9. The cup lid of claim 8, wherein the main lid body and the auxiliary lid body are embedded with a first magnet and a second magnet respectively; a positional relationship of the first magnet and the second magnet is set such that when the water passing hole is in a closed state, the first magnet and the second magnet are aligned to achieve magnetic attraction.

10. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein a side wall of the air guide slot is provided with at least one limiting portion which protrudes out of the side wall of the air guide slot; said at least one limiting portion is configured to define a first rotational angle of the auxiliary lid body and a first stroke of the air vent to achieve opening and closing of the water passing hole; when a force that overcomes a limiting effect of said at least one limiting portion is not applied, the auxiliary lid body is prevented from rotating past said at least one limiting portion to an angle corresponding to a state where said at least one limiting flange aligns with said at least one cutaway portion; each of said at least one limiting portion is an elastic piece disposed on the side wall of the air guide slot.

11. The cup lid of claim 10, wherein said at least one limiting portion is positioned between two ends of the air guide slot; movement of the air vent within the first stroke between said one end of the air guide slot and said at least one limiting portion corresponds to rotation of the auxiliary lid body within the first rotational angle to open or close the water passing hole; when a force that overcomes the limiting effect of said at least one limiting portion is applied, the auxiliary lid body rotates according to a second rotational angle, which corresponds to a second stroke of the air vent between said at least one limiting portion and another end of the air guide slot; when the air vent slides to abut said another end of the air guide slot, said at least one limiting flange aligns with said at least one cutaway portion.

12. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein an operating handle is provided on an upper surface of the auxiliary lid body.

13. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein an outer circumferential surface of the main lid body is provided with a mounting groove; a sealing ring is disposed in the mounting groove; a bottom surface of the auxiliary lid body is provided with a sealing gasket.

14. The cup lid of claim 1, wherein a grip is arranged on an outer circumferential surface of the main lid body; the grip is positioned opposite to the water passing hole; a clasping portion is arranged on a side wall of the water passing port.

15. A container, comprising the cup lid of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cup lid according to a first embodiment of the present invention in an opened state.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention in a closed state.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a first exploded view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a second exploded view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention in the opened state.

[0030] FIG. 6 is a sectional view along line A-A of FIG. 5.

[0031] FIG. 7 is a sectional view along line B-B of FIG. 5.

[0032] FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line C-C of FIG. 6.

[0033] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention in the closed state.

[0034] FIG. 10 is a first sectional view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention, where a limiting flange is aligned with a cutaway portion.

[0035] FIG. 11 is a second sectional view of the cup lid according to the first embodiment of the present invention, where the limiting flange is aligned with the cutaway portion.

[0036] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 13 is an exploded view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present invention in an opened state.

[0039] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the present invention in a closed state.

[0040] FIG. 16 is a first exploded view of the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] FIG. 17 is a second exploded view of the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] FIG. 18 is a first sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention in the opened state.

[0043] FIG. 19 is a second sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention in the opened state.

[0044] FIG. 20 is a third sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention in the opened state.

[0045] FIG. 21 is a first sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention in the closed state.

[0046] FIG. 22 is a second sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention in the closed state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0047] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 22, the present invention discloses a cup lid and a container using the cup lid. The cup lid comprises a main lid body 100 and an auxiliary lid body 200.

[0048] The main lid body 100 is configured to removably seal an opening 301 of a container 300, and an upper surface of the main lid body 1 is provided with a circular recess 101, a water passing hole 102 and an air vent 103.

[0049] The auxiliary lid body 200 is rotatably disposed in the circular recess 101 on the upper surface of the main lid body 100. The main lid body 100 is also provided with at least one limiting flange 104 extending along a circumferential direction of the main lid body 100. The auxiliary lid body 200 is provided with at least one limiting groove 201 for slidably receiving said at least one limiting flange 104 respectively, and at least one cutaway portion 202 communicating with said at least one limiting groove 201. Each of said at least one limiting flange 104 enters a corresponding limiting groove 201 via a corresponding cutaway portion 202 and is slidably received within the corresponding limiting groove 201 to achieve rotary engagement between the auxiliary lid body 200 and the main lid body 100.

[0050] The auxiliary lid body 200 is provided with a water passing port 203; when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates to a position where the water passing port 203 aligns with the water passing hole 102, the water passing hole 102 is opened and accessible, and when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates to a position where the water passing port 203 does not align with the water passing hole 102, the water passing hole 102 is closed by the auxiliary lid body 200; the auxiliary lid body 200 also comprises an air guide slot 204 which the air vent 103 is slidable therein as the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates; the air guide slot 204 is in communication to an external environment.

[0051] According to the technical solutions provided above, the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotatable with respect to the main lid body 100 so that the water passing hole 102 is at least partially opened when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates to a position where the water passing port 203 at least partially aligns with the water passing hole 102, and the water passing hole 102 is closed when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates to a position where the water passing port 203 does not align with the water passing hole 102. Also, due to the air vent 103 of the main lid body 100 and the air guide slot 204 of the auxiliary lid body 200 which the air vent 103 is slidable therein as the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates, and because the air guide slot 204 is in communication with the external environment, the air vent 103 is always in communication with the external environment, and therefore air pressure in and out of the container 300 is always balanced, thereby easing the rotation of the auxiliary lid body 200 so that the auxiliary lid body 200 can be rotated without the need of much effort, and rotation can be easily achieved by one hand. Further, configurations of the air vent 103 and the air guide slot 204 may also limit an angle of rotation of the auxiliary lid body 200, specifically, when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates, a maximal angle of rotation of the auxiliary lid body 200 corresponds to a length of the air guide slot 204 which the air vent 103 slides from one end of the air guide slot 204 to another end of the air guide slot 204, so that excessive rotation is prevented, thereby enhancing the user's experience. The cup lid of the present invention does not require complete sealing between the cup lid and the container, and a small diameter water passing hole 102 which can be quickly and conveniently opened and closed is provided. Hence, the cup lid of the present invention is particularly suitable for use for example, as a car cup, wherein user's operation is more convenient and the risk of safety hazards is reduced. The main lid body 100 and the auxiliary lid body 200 of the present invention are assembled by rotary engagement, which is convenient for assembly, disassembly, and operation.

[0052] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 11, a detailed structural design of a first embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0053] The air guide slot 204 is provided with a communicating slot 205 through which the air guide slot 204 is in communication to an outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary lid body 200. The communicating slot 205 is further recessed from a bottom surface of the air guide slot 204 so that the communicating slot 205 is stepped with respect to the air guide slot 204; when the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated to a position where the water passing port 203 aligns with the water passing hole 102, the air vent 103 is located to align and to be in communication with the communicating slot 205; accordingly, when the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated to a position where the water passing port 203 aligns with the water passing hole 102, the air vent 103 is maximally ventilated with the external environment because it is aligned with the communicating slot 205, and a difference in air pressure in and out of the container 300 can be quickly balanced, so that water can smoothly flow out from the water passing hole 102, avoiding discontinuous and sporadic outflow of water through the water passing hole 102 which is relatively small in size, thereby improving the user's experience. Moreover, when the water passing hole 102 is closed, the air vent 103 is located in the air guide slot 204 and is far away from the communicating slot 205, and two sides of the air vent 103 are enclosed within the air guide slot 204, so that water leakage is greatly reduced.

[0054] Further, the water passing hole 102 and the air vent 103 are located at two ends of a same diameter of the main lid body 100 respectively, and the communicating slot 205 and the water passing port 203 are located at two ends of a same diameter of the auxiliary lid body 200 respectively, so that the cup lid design is facilitated and be more aesthetically appealing, also, the problem of product tolerance where the air vent 103 may not be aligned with the communicating slot 205 when the water passing hole 102 is aligned with the water passing port 203 can be avoided as much as possible.

[0055] Further, a portion of the side wall of the circular recess 101 corresponding to the water passing hole 102 is recessed to form a water guide groove 105. The water guide groove 105 inclines towards an outer circumference of the main lid body 100, and a width of the water guide groove 105 increases towards the outer circumference of the main lid body 100. When water flows out from the water passing hole 102, water will be gathered in the water guide groove 105 and be guided to flow in a same direction towards the outer circumference of the main lid body 100, thus providing a better water drinking experience for the user.

[0056] However, when the container 300 is placed in an unsteady environment, such as in an automobile, as the air vent 103 is always in communication to the external environment through the air guide slot 204 and the communicating slot 205, a small amount of water may be inevitably splashed out from the air vent 103 and the water may possibly flow to the upper surface of the main lid body 100 through the communicating slot 205. In view of this problem, a bottom surface of the circular recess 101 is structured as an inclined plane inclined with respect to a horizontal plane perpendicular to an axis of the main lid body 100. Furthermore, the water passing hole 102 is arranged at the lowest position of the inclined plane of the circular recess 101, and the air vent 103 is arranged at the highest position of the inclined plane of the circular recess 101. Accordingly, even if a small amount of water is splashed out/overflows, the water will not be splashed out to the external environment due to the blocking effect of the side wall of the circular recess 101; the splashed out water will instead return into the air guide slot 204, or flow along the inclined plane of the circular recess 101 and back into the container 300 through the water passing hole 102.

[0057] A center part of the circular recess 101 is provided with a post 106, which has a circular columnar shape (The post 106 can also be called a circular platform). A circumferential surface of the post 106 is provided with said at least one limiting flange 104. The auxiliary lid body 200 has a ring shape provided with a through hole 206 which sleeves the post 106. A side wall of the through hole 206 is provided with said at least one limiting groove 201 for slidably receiving said at least one limiting flange 104, and a lower side edge of the through hole 206 is provided with said at least one cutaway portion 202 through which said at least one limiting flange 104 enters and exits said at least one limiting groove 201. In actual use, rotation of the auxiliary lid body 200 will cause the water passing port 203 to be at least partially aligned with the water passing hole 102 or misaligned with the water passing hole 102, so that opening and closing of the water passing hole 102 and an amount of water flowing out from the water passing hole 102 can be adjusted. Rotation of the auxiliary lid body 200 with respect to the main lid body 100 is achieved through the post 106 of the main lid body 100 and the through hole 206 of the auxiliary lid body 200, and so no other holes apart from the water passing hole 102 and the air vent 103 are required to be formed on the main lid body 100, thereby reducing the risk of water leakage during use. Besides, said at least one limiting flange 104 slidably received in said at least one limiting groove 201 can prevent the auxiliary lid body 200 from falling off from the main lid body 100, so that the auxiliary lid body 200 is axially fixed with respect to the main lid body 100. In this first embodiment, said at least one limiting flange 104 comprises two limiting flanges 104 symmetrically arranged on two sides of the post 106; correspondingly, said at least one cutaway portion 202 comprises two cutaway portions 202. Since the two limiting flanges 104 are slidably received in said at least one limiting groove 201, the auxiliary lid body 200 receives even operational force around its circumference such that its structure is more stable and will not be easily tilted to one side during use.

[0058] Further, the air guide slot 204 has an arc shape which shares a same center of circle with the post 106; when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates, the air vent 103 will slide in the air guide slot 204.

[0059] Further, the post 106 is made of transparent material so that an interior of the container 300 can be observed.

[0060] A side wall of the air guide slot 204 is provided with at least one limiting portion 207 which protrudes out of the side wall of the air guide slot 204; said at least one limiting portion 207 is configured to define a first rotational angle of the auxiliary lid body 200 and a first stroke of the air vent 103 to achieve opening and closing of the water passing hole 102. When a force sufficient to overcome a limiting effect of said at least one limiting portion 207 is not applied, the auxiliary lid body 200 is prevented from rotating past said at least one limiting portion 207 to an angle corresponding to a state where said at least one limiting flange 104 aligns with said at least one cutaway portion 202. Referring to FIG. 8, in this first embodiment, each of said at least one limiting portion 207 is an elastic piece disposed on the side wall of the air guide slot 204; elasticity of the elastic piece can facilitate user to disassemble the auxiliary lid body 200 with less effort needed. Further, said at least one limiting portion 207 may comprise two limiting portions 207 disposed on two opposite positions of the side wall of the air guide slot 204 to achieve even better limiting effect. Due to said at least one limiting portion 207, when the auxiliary lid body 200 is assembled to the main lid body 100 during normal use of the cup lid, user is prevented from rotating the auxiliary lid body 200 to the position where said at least one limiting flange 104 corresponds to said at least one cutaway portion 202; when the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates, the air vent 103 is slidable in the air guide slot 204 between one end of the air guide slot 204 and said at least one limiting portion 207 to correspond to a fully closed state of the water passing hole 102 and a fully opened state of the water passing hole 102 respectively. When it is required to disassemble the auxiliary lid body 200 from the main lid body 100, apply a larger rotational force to the auxiliary lid body 200 to overcome the limiting effect of said at least one limiting portion 207 so that the air vent 103 slides past said at least one limiting portion 27 to another end of the air guide slot 204 where said at least one limiting flange 104 corresponds to said at least one cutaway portion 202, and hence the auxiliary lid body 200 can be disassembled. With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 8, and 9, when the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated such that the air vent 103 slides between a right end of the air guide slot 204 and said at least one limiting portion 207, the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated between a closed state and an opened state of the water passing hole 102; with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, when the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated such that the air vent 103 slides past said at least one limiting portion 207 to a left end of the air guide slot 204, the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated to a position where said at least one limiting flange 104 corresponds to said at least one cutaway portion 202 to allow the auxiliary lid body 200 to be disassembled. A portion of the air guide slot 204 from said at least one limiting portion 27 to said left end of the air guide slot 204 provides space and allows continuous guiding function for the air vent 103 to slide in the air guide slot 204 from said at least one limiting portion 27 to said left end of the air guide slot 204 as the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates, and also prevents unsteadiness during disassembly of the auxiliary lid body 200 which may otherwise cause water to splash out.

[0061] Further, said at least one limiting portion 207 is positioned between two ends of the air guide slot 204. Movement of the air vent 103 within the first stroke between said one end of the air guide slot 204 and said at least one limiting portion 207 corresponds to the rotation of the auxiliary lid body 200 within the first rotational angle to open or close the water passing hole 102. When a force sufficient to overcome the limiting effect of said at least one limiting portion 207 is applied, the auxiliary lid body 200 rotates according to a second rotational angle, which corresponds to a second stroke of the air vent 103 between said at least one limiting portion 207 and said another end of the air guide slot 204. When the air vent 103 slides to abut said another end of the air guide slot 204, said at least one limiting flange 104 aligns with said at least one cutaway portion 202 so that the auxiliary lid body 200 can be disassembled from the main lid body 100.

[0062] An operating handle 208 is provided on an upper surface of the auxiliary lid body 200 to serve as a support to facilitate rotational operation of the auxiliary lid body 200 by a user.

[0063] An outer circumferential surface of the main lid body 100 is provided with a mounting groove 107; a sealing ring 400 is disposed in the mounting groove 107; the sealing ring 400 disposed in the mounting groove 107 is adaptable to be removably sealed with the opening 301 of a container 300.

[0064] Further, a grip 108 is arranged on the outer circumferential surface of the main lid body 100 to provide a place where user can apply a force to overcome the friction of the sealing ring 400 and thus force apart the main lid body 100 from the container 300. In this first embodiment, the grip 108 is positioned opposite to the water passing hole 102.

[0065] Alternatively, external threads may be arranged on the outer circumferential surface of the main lid body 1, and the external threads are in threaded connection with internal threads at the opening 301 of the container 300 so as to achieve removable sealing effect.

[0066] In an embodiment of the present invention, a clasping portion 209 is arranged on a side wall of the water passing port 203, and the clasping portion 209 is an inclined surface or a curved surface recessed from the side wall of the water passing port 203. The clasping portion 209 facilitates the auxiliary lid body 200 to be taken out.

[0067] A bottom surface of the auxiliary lid body 200 is provided with a sealing gasket 500; the sealing gasket 500 is removably sealed with the water passing hole 102 of the main lid body 100 to prevent water leakage.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the cup lid of the first embodiment is applied to a container 300, including, but not limited to, a stainless steel cup, an enamel cup, and a glass cup, which can be used for holding water.

[0069] Referring to FIGS. 14 to 22, a third embodiment of the present invention is shown. The main difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the rotary engagement between the main lid body 100 and the auxiliary lid body 200.

[0070] The side wall of the circular recess 101 is provided with said at least one limiting flange 104, and the outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary lid body 200 is provided with said at least one limiting groove 201 and said at least one cutaway portion 202. Compared to the first embodiment, placing said at least one limiting flange 104 and said at least one limiting groove 201 on opposing surfaces between the side wall of the circular recess 101 and the outer circumferential surface of the auxiliary lid body 200 has the advantage that during assembly, the auxiliary lid body 200 can be more easily fitted into the circular recess 101 with less interference, making the installation process simpler.

[0071] In the third embodiment, the main lid body 100 and the auxiliary lid body 200 are embedded with a first magnet 600 and a second magnet 700 respectively. A positional relationship of the first magnet 600 and the second magnet 700 is set such that when the water passing hole 102 is in a closed state, the first magnet 600 and the second magnet 700 are aligned to achieve magnetic attraction towards each other. Through the magnetic attraction between the first magnet 600 and the second magnet 700, when the auxiliary lid body 200 is rotated to the closed state, magnetic force of the magnetic attraction provides a certain resistance, thereby informing the user with an obvious tactile feedback that the auxiliary lid body 200 is closed, which prevents leakage caused by over-rotation or incomplete rotation.

[0072] Additionally, the cup lid of the third embodiment can also be applied to a container 500, including, but not limited to, a stainless steel cup, an enamel cup, and a glass cup, which can be used for holding water.