Disposable Cup Drinking Lid With Recessed Nesting and Side Valve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lids for disposable cups with drinking holes are inconvenient for stacking and drinking, as they do not allow for secure stacking of hot and cold beverages and often interfere with the user's nose during consumption.
Innovation Solution
The lid features a recess with angled walls and a circular groove, allowing precise fitting of the lower cup edge, a protruding contour for radial pressure, and a resilient valve positioned on the side for easy parking, enhancing secure stacking and anatomically comfortable drinking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional lid with drinking hole is used for disposable cups, then the lid can be attached to the cup, but the cups cannot be securely stacked one on top of another
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is segmented into distinct functional zones: an outer profiled circular contour for cup attachment, a protruding circular contour with drinking hole, and a recess with angled walls and annular groove for stacking. This segmentation allows each zone to perform its specific function independently, enabling secure stacking while maintaining drinking functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The recess in the lid is designed to accommodate the lower edge of a stacked cup, creating a nested structure where one cup fits into the recess of the lid below. The annular groove provides additional nesting support by receiving the lower edge of the stacked cup, ensuring stable vertical stacking of multiple cups.
2Reliability
If the recess walls are made at an angle for tight contact, then stacking stability improves, but the recess depth increases reducing useful cup volume
Solution Approach 1:
The recess walls are angled to provide sufficient contact area for stacking stability, but the recess depth is controlled to be only as much as needed for stable stacking rather than maximizing contact area. This partial action achieves the necessary stability without excessively reducing the useful cup volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The angle of the recess walls is optimized to provide tight contact with stacked cups while minimizing recess depth. By changing the angular parameter of the recess walls, the design achieves stable stacking with minimal intrusion into the useful cup volume.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the protruding circular contour is made rigid for structural strength, then manufacturing is easier, but the lid cannot adapt to different cup sizes and stacking requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding circular contour is designed with flexible properties allowing it to deflect and create radial pressure on stacked cups. This dynamic characteristic enables the lid to adapt to slight variations in cup dimensions and stacking conditions, providing versatile compatibility while maintaining structural integrity through the flexible-rigid combination.
4Ease of operation
If the valve is positioned centrally for structural symmetry, then manufacturing is simpler, but it interferes with the user's nose during drinking
Solution Approach 1:
The valve is extracted from the central position and relocated to the periphery of the lid, specifically positioned away from the drinking path. This extraction removes the interference with the user's nose during drinking while maintaining the structural integrity and functionality of the lid through alternative structural arrangements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables secure stacking of multiple disposable cups with hot and cold beverages and provides comfortable drinking without interference from the valve, mimicking a regular cup experience.
Implementation Method 1
the protruding circular contour is made with the possibility of deflection and creating radial pressure on the disposable cup with liquid stacked from above under the action of gravity
Implementation Method 2
the closure valve having a resilient holder, one end of which is fixed on the side of the lid opposite the drinking hole, and the other end is connected to the valve
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The group of inventions relates to lids with drinking holes for use with disposable frustoconical-shaped cups, having a profiled circular outer edge that is fastenable to the upper edge of a disposable cup, said profiled circular outer edge being connected to a raised circular edge with a drinking hole, and can be used as a lid for disposable cups for hot and cold beverages. The invention provides greater ease of use of a cup closed by the claimed lid.