Biodegradable Beverage Lid Structure for Spill-Safe Multi-Drink Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional beverage container lids are not biodegradable and lack sufficient impact strength for practical use, leading to environmental damage and inefficiencies in handling hot and cold beverages.
Innovation Solution
A biodegradable beverage container lid made from a lactic acid-based polymer, featuring a hinge-connected interior and exterior cover with a spout, retaining walls, and a reservoir design that prevents direct flow, allowing for use with hot, cold, and foamy beverages while being spill-proof and environmentally friendly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional molding methods (compression molding or injection molding) are used to process lactic acid-based polymer, then the polymer can be formed into beverage container lids, but the resulting lids do not have sufficient impact strength for practical use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the processing parameters by using a two-stage molding process: first compression molding to form the preform with basic shape, then injection molding to add reinforcement features. This parameter change allows the lactic acid-based polymer to achieve sufficient impact strength while maintaining manufacturability through standardized processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure within the single polymer material by forming a preform through compression molding and then injecting additional material into it. This composite approach within the same polymer type enhances impact strength while maintaining the biodegradable lactic acid-based polymer composition.
2Stability of the object's composition
If conventional beverage container lids made from polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, or polystyrene are used, then the lids have excellent transparency and structural integrity, but they have a very low rate of degradation and remain semi-permanently when discarded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material composition parameter by replacing conventional petroleum-based polymers with lactic acid-based polymer, which is biodegradable. This parameter change maintains the necessary structural properties for lid functionality while fundamentally improving the degradation rate to prevent environmental accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adopts a disposable lid design made from biodegradable lactic acid-based polymer that can safely decompose after use. This approach replaces permanent plastic lids with short-living, environmentally friendly alternatives that degrade naturally, eliminating long-term environmental harm while remaining cost-effective.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a biodegradable lid design is implemented, then environmental friendliness is improved, but the lid must accommodate multiple beverage types (hot, cold, foamy) requiring versatile functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a universal lid structure with a reservoir and multiple opening configurations that can handle hot beverages, cold beverages, and foamy beverages through a single lid design. The reservoir system and adjustable openings provide multi-functionality, allowing the same biodegradable lid to adapt to different beverage types without requiring separate specialized lids.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the lid into functional components: a reservoir section for temperature control, opening sections for different beverage types, and a spout section for dispensing. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while maintaining overall structural simplicity and biodegradability.
Data Source
AI summary
A beverage container lid includes an interior cover, an exterior cover, and a hinge connecting the interior cover to the exterior cover. The beverage container is versatile in that it may be adapted for use with a beverage container containing a cold beverage, a hot beverage, or a foamy or creamy beverage. The beverage container lid preferably includes a spout, straw perforations, an elevated portion, a reservoir bottom, a well portion, and a pair of retaining walls preventing direct flow of beverage from a pair of openings in the interior cover to the spout. Methods of use and methods of making a the beverage container lid are also described.