Retaining lid for a beverage container closure

Abstract

The invention provides a retaining lid (10) designed for use with beverage containers (12), said lid (10) reduces material usage and environmental impact which includes a main body (14) configured with an aperture in a central zone thereof, the main body (14) is dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip (18) of the container to form a tight seal with an outer circumference (20) of the container's lip (18) and a container closure in the form of cover sheet (22) for the container (12), said cover sheet (22) being a sheet of food grade material which is larger in diameter than the container (12) on which it is to be used and, in use, is placed over the opening of the container (12) to form a cover over the container contents and is secured in position by grasping firmly between the main body (14) that forms the tight seal and the outer circumference of the container's lip (18).

Description

[0001] RETAINING LID FOR A BEVERAGE CONTAINER CLOSURE

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The invention relates to the transportation of beverages in ready to drink size containers, such as cups. In particular, the invention relates to a retaining ring, also referred to as a retaining lid, for a beverage container closure, such as a coffee cup cover sheet or closure.

[0004] Background to the Invention

[0005] The inventors are aware of PCT / ZA2021 / 050031 in which an insert cover for a beverage cup is described and claimed. Said insert cover being a sheet of food grade material which is larger or equivalent in diameter to the top of the cup on which it is to be used and, in use, is placed or inserted to form a cover insert between the top of the cup and a sealing lid, provided that the cover is not sealed or otherwise secured to the cup prior to placing of the lid onto the cup and is only inserted after a beverage has been dispensed into the cup.

[0006] The inventors have identified a need for a reduction in the amount of materials, such as plastics or fiber board, used for making sealing lids to be used in the above invention, as well as in other applications. The imperative is one of environmental concern as well as the cost of the excessive amounts of materials used which they believe can be reduced thereby reducing both the environmental impact and the costs thereof.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] According to the invention, there is provided a retaining lid specifically designed for use with beverage containers such as disposable coffee cups, said lid being of innovative construction that reduces material usage and environmental impact, said lid including:

[0009] - a generally circular main body configured with an aperture in a central zone thereof, wherein the main body is dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip of the container to form a tight seal with an outer circumference of the container’s lip; and

[0010] - a container closure in the form of a cover sheet for the container, said cover sheet being a sheet of food grade material which is larger in diameter than the container on which it is to be used and, in use, is placed over the opening of the container to form a cover over the container contents and is secured in position by grasping firmly between the main body that forms the tight seal and the outer circumference of the container’s lip, provided that the cover sheet is not sealed or otherwise secured to the container prior to placing of the lid onto the container and is only placed over the container opening after a beverage has been dispensed into the container thereby to seal the beverage in the container. The retaining lid main body may be dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip of the container, said engagement being facilitated by a downward-extending peripheral skirt that forms a tight seal with an outer circumference of the container’s lip. The retaining lid may have a peripherally located integral small aperture designed for drinking. The aperture may be optimally sized to allow sufficient flow of the beverage for drinking while minimizing the risk of spills when the container is tilted. This aperture may be positioned to ensure ergonomic access when the cup is held in a typical drinking position.

[0011] The retaining lid may be fabricated from a lightweight, heat-insulating plastic material, a fibre board material, or a composite material suitable for single-use applications. This material is chosen for its properties of durability, flexibility, and thermal insulation, ensuring that it maintains structural integrity when subjected to typical hot beverage temperatures while also being comfortable to touch. However, with time other materials may be identified with similar properties which are suitable for this purpose and the invention is not limited in scope to these two materials.

[0012] In some embodiments the material from which the retaining lid may be made include: • Elastic materials, like silicon, latex. In this case it does not need to be pre-formed to have the peripheral skirt as it slips over the lid to keep the cover sheet in place, as the elasticity will result in a tight fit around the container lip; and

[0013] • Non-elastic materials like metal, paper, fibre, hard plastics in which case since the container lip is flexible, the retaining lid does not have to be elastic but needs to be pre-formed to have the peripheral skirt to ensure a tight fit on the container lip.

[0014] The retaining lid of the invention, when compared to a conventional container lid of similar configuration, such as disposable coffee cup lid, but without the aperture in the central zone thereof, may have a reduction in material usage of 30 to 80% m / m.

[0015] The aperture may be from 20% to 95% of the outer circumference of the container’s lip, which is approximately 20% to 95% of the diameter of the downward-extending peripheral skirt of the retaining lid of the invention, thereby reducing the mass of the material used to manufacture the retaining lid of the invention when compared to the conventional lid.

[0016] The cover sheet may be a wax paper sheet, natural fiber / cellulose-based sheet, a composite sheet or polymer film-based sheet, a silicon-based sheet, or metallized film.

[0017] The cover sheet may be attached to the main body so that the retaining lid can be placed over the container opening and secured in place as a unit with the main body grasping the container’s lip tightly thereby forming a seal and with the cover sheet in position to seal the beverage in the container. The cover sheet may be secured to the main body by bonding by any food grade known means. In this embodiment the cover sheet peripheral dimensions may be less than that of the lip of the container as it is attached to the main body and thus the diameter of the cover sheet is the same as or larger than the aperture in the main body.

[0018] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of inhibiting spillage of a beverage from a disposable or re-usable cup when being transported, said method including: dispensing a beverage into the cup; placing a cover sheet for the beverage over the cup opening and between a lip of the cup and a main body having a generally circular shape configured with an aperture in a central zone thereof, wherein the main body is dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip of the cup, said engagement being facilitated by a downward-extending peripheral skirt that forms a tight seal with the outer circumference of the cup’s lip, which cover sheet is made of food grade material, and which is larger or equivalent in diameter to the top of the cup on which it is to be used; in which method the cover sheet is not sealed or otherwise secured to the cup prior to placing of the main body onto the cup and is only placed in position after the beverage has been dispensed into the cup and is held in place by the retaining lid. The cup in the method is usually a paper, paperboard, plastics, or other cup typically used for on-demand beverage supply.

[0019] The retaining lid’s main body of either of the aspects of the invention is not a food contact material as it is placed on the container over the cover sheet which is the food contact material.

[0020] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a retaining rim for a beverage container which has two free ends, the diameter of the retaining rim formed by the free ends being selectable so that the diameter of a downward-extending peripheral skirt that forms a tight seal by engagement with an outer circumference of the container’s lip can be selected to suit said circumference thereby to secure it to different cup diameters and to secure a cover sheet in place.

[0021] The retaining rim may thus be assembled to form a retaining lid’s main body and may thus include an adjustment means whereby the diameter thereof is made when the retaining lid is secured onto the container.

[0022] Thus, the retaining lid’s main body may be made to fit around any diameter container lip by displacing loose ends thereof relative to each other and clipping them into position when the desired diameter is achieved i.e. it clips together at the right circumference. In this case the retaining lid’s main body is not a fixed circular design, but an elongated strip that can be folded around the container’s lip and fastened to the desired diameter using a clip mechanism.

[0023] Thus, in this embodiment, the main body of the retaining lid may be packaged in elongated strips requiring significantly less space and assembled at point of use to the desired diameter prior to engaging with a lip of the container by forcing a downward- extending peripheral skirt over the container’s lip to form a tight seal with the outer circumference of the container’s lip.

[0024] The elongated strips may have eye and hook or other assembly formations for assembly thereof at point of use and securing with the desired diameter to ensure the seal with the container’s lip is a tight seal.

[0025] Another benefit is that the retaining lid can be a single Stock Keeping Unit usable on all cup sizes.

[0026] Brief Description of the Invention

[0027] The invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example only with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a main body with an aperture in a central zone and a downward-extending peripheral skirt;

[0028] Figure 2 shows container closure in the form of a cover sheet, and a beverage container, wherein the cover sheet is placed over the lip of a container and the main body having downward extending peripheral skirt about to be clipped on to retain it in position;

[0029] Figure 3 shows the container of figure 2 with the retaining lid secured in position;

[0030] Figure 4. shows a side view of the main body, wherein a downward-extending peripheral skirt that, in use, forms a tight seal with the outer circumference of the container’s lip;

[0031] Figure 5 shows an optionally adjustable retaining lid’s main body wherein the diameter thereof is adjustable to secure to different cup diameters;

[0032] Figure 6 shows elongated strips having assembly formations for assembly thereof at point of use;

[0033] Figure 7 shows a top view of an embodiment of the invention in which the cover sheet is attached to the main body of the retaining lid and is shown in an in-use position on a container. In this embodiment the cover sheet is bonded to the main body so that the retaining lid is placed over the container opening and secured in place as a unit with the main body grasping the container’s lip tightly thereby forming a seal and with the cover sheet in position to seal the beverage in the container; and

[0034] Figure 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the retaining lid in an engaged, in-use position with the container’s lip. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0035] According to the invention, there is provided a retaining lid 10 specifically designed for use with beverage containers 12 such as disposable coffee cups, said lid 10 reduces material usage and environmental impact, said lid 10 including a generally circular main body 14 configured with an aperture 16 in a central zone thereof, wherein the main body 14 is dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip 18 of the container 12 to form a tight seal with an outer circumference 20 of the container’s lip 18; and a container closure in the form of a cover sheet 22 for the container 12, said cover sheet 22 being a sheet of food grade material which is larger in diameter than the container 12 on which it is to be used and, in use, is placed over the opening of the container 12 to form a cover over the container contents and is secured in position by grasping firmly between the main body 14 that forms the tight seal and the outer circumference 20 of the container’s lip 18, provided that the cover sheet 22 is not sealed or otherwise secured to the container 12 prior to placing of the lid 10 onto the container 12 and is only placed over the container opening after a beverage has been dispensed into the container 12 thereby to seal the beverage in the container 12. Figure 1 shows the main body 14 of the retaining lid 10 with the aperture 16 in the central zone and the downward-extending peripheral skirt 24.

[0036] Figure 2 shows container closure in a form of cover sheet 22 and a beverage container 12 in the form of disposable paper or plastic cup, wherein the cover sheet 22 is placed over the lip 18 of the container 12 and the main body 14 having a downward extending peripheral skirt 24, about to be clipped on to retain it in position. Figure 3 shows the container 12 of figure 2 with the retaining lid 10. In this embodiment a downward-extending peripheral skirt 24 of the main body 14 forms a tight seal with the outer circumference 20 of the container’s lip 18 when the main body 14 is clipped onto the container’s lip 18 over the cover sheet 22 thereby securing the cover sheet 22 in place.

[0037] The retaining lid has a large centrally located aperture therethrough to reduce the amount of plastics used to manufacture a conventional lid and which is no longer necessary when the retaining lid of the invention is used together with a cover sheet, such as the wax paper sheet herein described, to seal the beverage in the container. In the embodiment shown, the diameter of the aperture is 90% of the diameter of the peripheral skirt of the lid. Another way to define the aperture in the retaining lid is to use area as a measure. Stating this would be to say that the open area is up to 90% of the total area of the lid, examples of which are shown below.

[0038] % Open area of fatal area 77% |

[0039] Figure 4 shows a side view of the main body 14 wherein a downward-extending peripheral skirt 24 that, in use, forms a tight seal with the outer circumference 20 of the container’s lip 18. The downward-extending peripheral skirt 24 may be resiliently deformable but since the containers 12 are themselves deformable it is possible to have a rigid version thereof wherein the retaining lid 10 is forced downwards over the lip 18 thereby deforming the lip 18 fleetingly to secure the lid 10 to the lip 18 and to grasp the cover sheet 22 between the lid 10 and the lip 18.

[0040] Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the retaining lid’s main body 14 which is made to fit over any diameter container lip 18 by displacing loose ends thereof relative to each other and clipping them into position when the desired diameter is achieved i.e. it clips together at the right circumference. In this case the retaining lid’s main body 14 is not a fixed circular design, but an elongated strip 26 that can be folded around the container’s lip 18 and fastened to the desired diameter using a clip mechanism 28. Figure 6 shows the elongated strips 26 may have eye 30 and hook 32 or other assembly formations for assembly thereof at point of use and securing with the desired diameter to ensure the seal with the container’s lip 18 is a tight seal.

[0041] Figure 7 shows a top view of an embodiment of the invention in which the cover sheet 22 is attached to the main body 14 and is shown in an in-use position on the container 12. In this embodiment the cover sheet 22 is bonded to the main body 14 so that the retaining lid 10 is placed over the container opening and secured in place as a unit with the main body 14 grasping the container’s lip 18 tightly thereby forming a seal and with the cover sheet 22 in position to seal the beverage in the container 12.

[0042] Figure 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the retaining lid 10 in an engaged, in-use position with the container’s lip 18 wherein the downward-extending peripheral skirt 24 of the retaining lid’s 10 main body 14 fit securely and engage with the container’s lip 18 to form a tight seal with the outer circumference 20 of the container’s lip 18 and the cover sheet 22 is placed over the opening of the container 12 to form a cover and is secured in position by grasping firmly between the main body 14 that forms the tight seal and the outer circumference 20 of the container’s lip 18.

[0043] It is an advantage of the invention that various aspects of the invention permit delivery of hot or cold beverages while inhibiting in transit spillage.

Claims

Claims:1 . A retaining lid designed for use with beverage containers in the form of disposable coffee cups, that reduces material usage and environmental impact, said lid including:- a generally circular main body configured with an aperture in a central zone thereof, wherein the main body is dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip of the container to form a seal with an outer circumference of the container’s lip; and- a container closure in the form of a cover sheet for the container, said cover sheet being a sheet of food grade material which is larger in diameter than the container on which it is to be used and, in use, is placed over the opening of the container to form a cover over the container contents and is secured in position by grasping firmly between the main body that forms the seal and the outer circumference of the container’s lip, provided that the cover sheet is not sealed or otherwise secured to the container prior to placing of the lid onto the cup and is only placed over the container opening after a beverage has been dispensed into the container thereby to seal the beverage in the container.

2. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the engagement of the main body with the container’s lip is facilitated by a downward-extending peripheral skirt which forms a seal with an outer circumference of the container’s lip.

3. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the retaining lid is fabricated from a lightweight heat-insulated plastic material,4. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the retaining lid is fabricated from a fibre board material.

5. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the retaining lid is fabricated from a composite material suitable for single-use applications.

6. The retaining lid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the main body with the aperture in the central zone thereof have a reduction in material usage of 30 to 80% m / m.

7. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 6, wherein the aperture is from 20% to 95% of the outer circumference container’s lip, which is approximately 20% to 95% of the diameter of the downward-extending peripheral skirt of the main body of the invention, thereby reducing the mass of the material used to manufacture the retaining lid of the invention when compared to the conventional lid.

8. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the container cover in the form of a cover sheet is selected from a group of: wax paper sheet, natural fiber / cellulose- based sheet, a composite sheet, polymer film-based sheet, a silicon-based sheet, metallized film.

9. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 8, wherein the container cover in the form of a cover sheet is a wax paper sheet.

10. The retaining lid as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the wax paper sheet is attached to the main body so that the retaining lid can be placed over the container opening and secured in place as a unit with the main body grasping the container’s lip tightly thereby forming a seal and with the cover sheet in position to seal the beverage in the container.11 . A method of inhibiting spillage of a beverage from a disposable or re-usable cup when being transported, said method including:- dispensing a beverage into the cup; and- placing a cover sheet for the beverage over the cup opening and between a lip of the cup and a main body having a generally circular shape configured with an aperture in a central zone thereof, wherein the main body is dimensioned to fit securely over and engage with a lip of the cup, said engagement being facilitated by a downward-extending peripheral skirt that forms a seal with the outer circumference of the container’s lip, which cover sheet is made of food grade material, and which is larger or equivalent in diameter to the top of the cup on which it is to be used; in which method the cover sheet is not sealed or otherwise secured to the cup prior to placing of the main body onto the cup and is only placed in positionafter the beverage has been dispensed into the cup and is held in place by the retaining lid.

12. The method of inhibiting spillage of a beverage from a disposable or re-usable cup when being transported as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the cup in the method is selected from a group of: paper, paperboard, plastics, other cup typically used for on-demand beverage supply.

13. The retaining lid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the main body is not a food contact material as it is placed on the container over the wax paper sheet which is the food contact material.

14. A retaining rim for a beverage container which has two free ends, the diameter of the retaining rim formed by the free ends being selectable so that the diameter of a downward-extending peripheral skirt that forms a seal by engagement with an outer circumference of the container’s lip can be selected to suit said circumference thereby to secure it to different cup diameters and to secure a cover sheet in place.

15. The retaining rim as claimed in claim 14, wherein the retaining rim is assembled to form a retaining lid’s main body and include an adjustment means whereby the diameter thereof is made when the retaining lid is secured onto the container.

16. The retaining rim as claimed in claim 15, wherein the retaining lid’s main body is packaged in elongated strips requiring significantly less space and assembled at point of use to the desired diameter prior to engaging with a lip of the container by forcing a downward-extending peripheral skirt over the container’s lip to form a seal with the outer circumference of the container’s lip.

17. The retaining rim as claimed in claim 16, wherein the elongated strips have an eye and a hook or other assembly formations for assembly thereof at point of use and securing with the desired diameter to ensure the seal with the container’s lip is a seal.

18. The retaining lid as claimed in claims 15 to 17, wherein it can be a single Stock Keeping Unit usable on all cup sizes.

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