Stackable Drink Lid With Rim Lip for Spill and Contamination Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Martini glasses are prone to spillage during transport, and there is a risk of contamination from illicit substances and airborne pathogens due to their design, which also presents an opportunity for advertising enhancements.
Innovation Solution
A stackable, removable drink lid with a circular planar base and central handle, designed for martini and pint glasses, featuring an annular lip or tabs for secure fitting, and optional advertising materials like compact discs, to prevent spillage and contamination while serving as an advertising medium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If martini glasses are used with inverted-conical-shaped reservoir and thin stem, then beverage presentation and aroma exposure are improved, but spillage during transport increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is divided into multiple functional components: a circular base that covers the glass opening, a central handle for easy manipulation, and an annular lip that engages with the glass rim. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function effectively while working together as a unified spill-prevention system.
Solution Approach 2:
The lid serves as an intermediary object between the beverage and the external environment during transport. By placing the lid over the glass opening, it mediates the interaction between the beverage contents and potential spillage forces, protecting the beverage while allowing the glass to maintain its elegant inverted-conical shape for aroma exposure.
2Illumination intensity
If martini glasses have open top design, then beverage aroma and presentation are enhanced, but contamination risk from illicit substances and airborne pathogens increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lid is designed to be placed on the glass before the beverage is served to the patron. This preliminary action establishes a protective barrier that prevents contamination from occurring during the critical period when the beverage is being transported and presented, while still allowing the glass to maintain its open-top design for aroma exposure once served.
Solution Approach 2:
The lid functions as a flexible yet effective barrier that covers the open top of the martini glass. It provides sufficient protection against contamination from illicit substances and airborne pathogens while being thin enough to allow the glass to maintain its elegant design and allow beverage aroma to permeate through when the lid is removed or placed partially off the rim.
3Reliability
If drink lids are made with secure fitting mechanisms, then spillage prevention is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The securing function is extracted from a complex mechanical locking mechanism and simplified to an annular lip that relies on the natural geometry of the glass rim. The lip engages with the rim through simple geometric interlocking, eliminating the need for screws, clips, or other complex fastening mechanisms while still providing reliable spill prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing a complex mechanism to actively secure the lid to the glass, the design inverts the approach by using the glass rim itself as the securing element. The annular lip on the lid simply needs to match the rim's geometry, allowing the rim to do the work of securing the lid through passive geometric interlocking rather than active mechanical fastening.
Data Source
AI summary
A beverage lid for temporarily and removeably covering beverage cups and glasses to prevent spillage and contamination. The lid is installed on a drinking glass having an enlarged reservoir with a circular rim. The lid has a circular, planar base with an outer surface, an inner surface, and a diameter larger than the diameter of the glass rim. A central handle is affixed at a proximal end to and projects from the base and has an outer, grasping surface and an inner surface. The handle preferably has a shape that allows the outer surface of one handle to nest in the inner surface of the handle of another of the lids. The lid preferably includes an annular lip or tabs that project transverse to the plane of the base to prevent the lid from sliding off the rim of the glass.