EP1566344A1

EP1566344A1 - Lid for a mug or the like

Info

Publication number: EP1566344A1
Application number: EP04003604A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Patrik Geens; Florencia Pascual
Original assignee: Dester ACS Holding BV
Current assignee: Dester ACS Holding BV
Priority date: 2004-02-18
Filing date: 2004-02-18
Publication date: 2005-08-24

Abstract

A lid for a mug or the like container for a beverage includes a base body (4). According to the invention the base body includes at least one recess (10) which is defined by a wall and forms a receiving space for food or the like.

Description

The invention relates to a lid as defined in the preamble of claim 1 for a mug or the like container for beverages.

The containers in question are well-known and are e. g. used for serving softdrinks or coffee. The known containers may be manufactured from plastics or cardboard and have a substantially cylindrical or frusto-conical shape with a bottom and an opening on their upper side.

In order to prevent the user from pouring the beverage which is received in the container it is known to use a lid for sealing the container. The known lids are manufactured from cardboard or plastics. For fixing the lid on the container fixing means are provided. The fixing means may e. g. be formed by a circular groove on the lid into which the upper rim of the container fits thereby fixing the lid on the container.

The known lids are provided with an opening through which a straw may be introduced into the container such that the beverage may be consumed by means of said straw.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a lid as defined in the preamble of claim 1 which with respect to the known lids is improved.

This object is achieved by a lid as defined in claim 1.

It is a basic idea of the invention to provide a receiving space for food or the like on the lid. For this purpose, the base body includes a recess which is defined by a wall and forms a receiving space for food or the like. If the consumer consumes a beverage and food simultaneously, with the known lids the user has to carry the container with the beverage by one hand and the food by the other hand in a quite uncomfortable manner. With the lid according to the invention the user may place food, e. g. peanuts, sweets or fast food in the receiving space of the lid such that he may carry the beverage and the food simultaneously by one hand. Therefore the handling of the beverage and food is improved significantly.

The material, size and shape of the lid according to the invention may be varied within wide ranges.

In order to obtain a simple structure, it is preferred that the base body includes a flange for positioning the lid on the rim of a container to be sealed by the lid. In this embodiment, the flange may include a circular groove into which in the sealing position, in which the container is sealed by the lid the upper rim of the container fits.

Basically, the recess may extend downwardly directly from the flange. However, in order to enlarge the receiving space it is preferred that the base body includes a preferably continuous circumferentinal wall which extends upwardly from the flange up to a upper rim of the base body from which the recess extends downwardly.

In order to further enlarge the receiving space it is preferred that a recess extends downwardly beyond the flange such that in a sealing position in which the lid seals the container the lid extends downwardly beyond the upper rim of the container thereby extending into the receiving space of the container.

According to a further preferred embodiment the recess extends along a substantial part of the diameter of the container. Thereby, the receiving space is further enlarged.

Furthermore, in order to obtain an enlarged receiving space defined by the recess it is preferred that the recess extends along at least approximately 50 per cent, preferably approximately 75 per cent of the diameter of the container and/or that the depth of the recess corresponds to at least approximately 20 per cent, preferably at least approximately 50 per cent, in particular at least approximately 70 per cent of its diameter.

According to a further preferred embodiment the receiving space is substantially symmetrical with respect to rotation wherein preferably the receiving space has a substantially cylindrical shape or has a substantially conical or frusto-conical shape.

According to an extraordinarily advantageous embodiment, the base body includes retaining means for retaining a food packaging, in particular a small plastics bag or the like. In this embodiment, the food packaging may be retained on the lid. E. g., if the food packaging is a small plastics bag containing a snack product, e. g. chips, first the unopened plastics bag may be connected to the container by means of the retaining means until the consumer wishes to consume the chips. Then, the user opens the plastics bag and starts to consume the chips. Simultaneously, the receiving space may contain e. g. a dip, a sauce or the like to be consumed together with the chips.

With the before-mentioned embodiment, preferably the retaining means are arranged for retaining the food packaging in a detachable manner.

The structure of the retaining means may be varied within wide ranges. According to one embodiment, the retaining means include clamping means.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the retaining means include glue means. With this embodiment, the retaining means may be manufactured at very low costs.

According to a further embodiment, the glue means may include at least one gluestrip.

The position of the retaining means on the lid may be varied within wide ranges. According to a further embodiment which is easy to use and which may be manufactured at low costs, the retaining means are located on the retaining part which is connected to the base body in a hinge-like manner.

According to a further embodiment which may be manufactured at very low costs, the base body is manufactured from plastics or the like.

If a hot beverage, e. g. coffee or tea, is received within the container, it is preferred that the base body of the lid is at least partially manufactured from a thermo-insulating material. With this embodiment, the thermo-insulation is improved so that in use the hot beverage is kept warm as long as possible.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the base body is composed of at least two parts.

In the embodiment with the thermo-insulating material and the two-part structured base body it is preferred that at least one of the parts is made from a thermo-insulating material.

According to a further preferred embodiment the base body includes an inner part and an outer part which are shaped substantially complementary to each other such that one of the parts may be inserted into the other.

According to yet a further embodiment, the inner part is made from a thermo-insulating material.

A mug or the like container for beverages according to the invention is defined in claim 23.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which show an embodiment of the invention. In the drawings

Fig. 1: shows a first side view of a lid according to an embodiment of the invention,
Fig. 2: shows a further side view of the lid according to Fig. 1,
Fig. 3: shows a top plan view of the lid according to Fig. 1,
Fig. 4: shows a sectional view along a line A-A in Fig. 2 and
Fig. 5: shows the lid according to Fig. 1 sealing a mug.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a lid according to the invention for a mug or the like container for beverages. The lid 2 includes a base body 4 which includes a substantially circular flange for positioning the lid 2 on the rim of a container to be sealed by the lid 2 as it will be explained in greater detail below with reference to Fig. 5. In this embodiment, the lid 2 is made from thin transparent plastics. The base body 4 includes a continuous circumferential wall 8 which seen in the plan view (see Fig. 3) has a substantially circular shape and which defines a recess 10 which forms a receiving space for food or the like. The recess 10 extends downwardly from an upper rim 12 of the wall 8 beyond the flange 6.

Furthermore, the lid 2 includes retaining means for retaining a food packaging on the lid, in particular a small plastics bag or the like. In this embodiment, the retaining means are located on a strip-like retaining part which is integral with the base body 4 and which is connected to the base body 4 in a hinge-like manner. In order to form a hinge 16, adjacent to the flange 6 the material of the retaining part 14 is weakened.

Fig. 2 shows a further side view of the lid 2. In order to consume a beverage which is received in a container (not shown in Fig. 2) which is sealed by the lid 2, the lid 2 includes an opening 18 through which a straw may be introduced into the container.

Fig. 3 shows a top plan view of the lid 2. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the wall 8 and the recess 10 have a substantially circular shape when seen in the plan view. As furthermore can be seen in Fig. 3, the opening 18 is positioned adjacent to the rim of the base body 4 wherein the wall 8 has an inwardly directed indentation 20 adjacent to the opening 18. As furthermore can be seen from Fig. 3, the retaining part 14 has the shape of a substantially rectangular flat strip. In this embodiment, the retaining means include glue means in the form of a single gluestrip 22 which is positioned on the upper side of the retaining part 14.

The base body 4 furthermore includes an upwardly directed circular indentation 24 which defines a groove into which in the sealing position in which the lid 2 seals a container, the rim of the container fits.

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view along a line A-A in Fig. 2. As can be seen in Fig. 4, the recess 10 is substantially dome-shaped and extends downwardly from the upper rim 12 of the wall 8 beyond the flange 6. In this embodiment, the receiving space defined by the recess 10 is substantially symmetrical with respect to a rotation axis 26 and has a slightly frusto-conical, almost cylindrical shape. As can be seen in Fig. 4, in the area between the flange 6 and the upper rim 12 the wall 8 is a double wall defined by an outer wall portion 8' and an inner wall portion 8''.

Fig. 5 shows a side view of the lid 2 in a sealing position in which the lid 2 seals a container 28 in which a cold beverage, e. g. a softdrink, or a hot beverage, e. g. coffee or tea, is received. In Fig. 5, a dotted line 30 designates a level up to which the container 28 is filled with the beverage. For sealing the container 28 by the lid 2, the lid 2 is positioned on the upper rim of the container 28 wherein the upper rim of the container 28 fits into the groove defined by the upwardly directed indentation 24 such that the lid 2 is fixed on the container 28 in a force-locking manner. As can be seen from Fig. 5, in the sealing position the recess 10 extends downwardly beyond the flange 6 and therefore beyond the upper rim of the container 28 into the receiving space 32 of the container 28 in which the beverage is received.

In use, the retaining means formed by the gluestrip 22 may be used to retain a food package on the lid 2. In this embodiment, a small plastics bag 34 containing chips has been glued to the lid 2 by the user of the container 28. In order to glue the plastics bag 34 to the lid, the user first removes a cover of the gluestrip, e. g. a strip of paper, from the gluestrip 24 and then brings the plastics bag 34 in contact with the gluestrip 22 to which it adheres. In this retaining position, the plastics bag 34 is retained on the lid 2 so that the user may carry the container 28 and the plastics bag 34 by one hand.

When the user wishes to consume the chips, he opens the plastics bag 34. Simultaneously, the receiving space may contain a dip, a sauce or the like to be consumed with the chips. Accordingly, the user may carry the beverage, the chips and the sauce by one hand in a very comfortable manner. The user may take the chips out of the plastics bag and dip them into the sauce and may consume the beverage by means of a straw 36.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the largest diameter D1 (see Fig. 1) of the recess corresponds to approximately 75 per cent of the inner diameter of the container such that in the embodiment the recess extends along at least approximately 75 per cent of the diameter of the container. Furthermore, the depth (D2) of the recess corresponds to approximately 75 per cent of its largest diameter (D1). Therefore, a large receiving space for food is defined by the recess 10.

If a hot beverage is received in the container 28 it is preferred that the base body 4 of the lid is at least partially manufactured from a thermo-insulating material. In particular, the base body 4 may include an inner part and an outer part which at least partially are shaped substantially complementary to each other. The outer part may be embodied as it has been described above for the base body 4 which in case of a two-part-structure may form the outer part. In addition, an inner part may be provided which is shaped substantially complementary to the outer part and which may be manufactured from a thermo-insulating material, e.g. a foamed polystyrene. In use, the inner part is received between the outer part and the container 28 thereby thermo-insulating the lid 2.

Claims

Lid for a mug or the like container for beverages, including a base body (4),
characterized in that
the base body (4) includes at least one recess (10) which is defined by a wall (8) and forms a receiving space for food or the like.
Lid as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the base body (4) includes a flange (6) for positioning the lid (2) on the rim of a container (28) to be sealed by the lid (2).
Lid as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the base body (4) includes a preferably continuous circumferential wall (8) which extends upwardly from the flange (6) up to an upper rim (12) of the base body (4) from which the recess (10) extends downwardly.
Lid as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the recess (10) extends downwardly beyond the flange (6) such that in a sealing position in which the lid (2) seals the container the recess (10) extends downwardly beyond the upper rim of the container (28) thereby extending into the receiving space (32) of the container (28).
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recess (10) extends along a substantial part of the diameter of the container (28) to be sealed by the lid (2).
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recess (10) extends along at least approximately 50 per cent, preferably approximately 75 per cent of the diameter of the container (28) to be sealed by the lid (2).
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the depth (D2) of the recess (10) corresponds to at least approximately 20 per cent, preferably at least approximately 50 per cent, in particular at least approximately 70 per cent of its diameter (D1).
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characerized in that the receiving space is substantially symmetrical with respect to rotation.
Lid as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the receiving space has a substantially cylindrical shape.
Lid as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the receiving space has a substantially conical or frusto-conical shape.
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims,
characterized in that the base body (4) includes. retaining means for retaining a food packaging on the lid, in particular a small plastics bag or the like.
Lid as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that the retaining means are arranged for retaining the food packaging in a detachable manner.
Lid as claimed in claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the retaining means include clamping means.
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the retaining means include glue means.
Lid as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that the glue means include at least one gluestrip (22).
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims 11 to 15, characterized in that the retaining means are located on a retaining part (14) which is connected to the base body (4) in a hinge-like manner.
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body (4) is manufactured from plastics or the like.
Lid as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body (4) is at least partially manufactured from a thermo-insulating material.
Lid as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body (4) is composed of at least two parts.
Lid as claimed in claim 18 and 19, characterized in that at least one of the parts is manufactured from a thermo-insulating material.
Lid as claimed in claim 18, characterized in that the base body (4) includes an inner part and an outer part which at least partially are shaped substantially complementary to each other such that one of the parts may be inserted into the other.
Lid as claimed in claims 18 and 21, characterized in that the inner part is made from a thermo-insulating material.
Mug or the like container for beverages, characterized in that it includes a lid (2) as claimed in any of the preceding claims.