CN1697619A - Beverage can lid with baffle arrangement for liquid cooling - Google Patents

Abstract

A removable beverage can end (18, 54) wherein the end has a substantially enclosed space (36, 76) defined between an outer lid (20, 56) and an inner lid (22, 58). At least one inlet (30, 94, 96) is formed in the inner lid for directing the hot beverage to flow into the substantially enclosed space. Attached to the inner cover at the front edge of the inlet is a baffle (38) or wall assembly (90, 92) which extends to a height that substantially abuts the outer cover and is at least as long as the inlet. A clearance area (40, 98) is provided between the baffle or wall assembly and the periphery of the outer cover. A dispensing opening (46, 62) formed in the outer cover is connected to the gap region. The hot beverage is required to flow around the partition or wall assembly into the interstitial area before flowing through the dispensing opening outside the beverage can. A dispensing opening formed in the outer cover is connected to the gap region. The hot beverage needs to flow through the partition or wall assembly into the interstitial area before exiting the beverage can through the dispensing opening.

Description

Beverage can lid with baffle arrangement for liquid cooling

Background technique

1) Field of invention

The subject of the present invention relates to a removable lid for a beverage can, in particular a lid which minimizes the possibility of scalding the user's mouth when drinking a hot beverage and also substantially prevents accidental spillage of liquid beverage from the beverage can.

2) Description of prior art

In today's society, it is very common to utilize single-use disposable beverage cans made of paper or plastic. It is also very common for individuals to use these disposable beverage cans to hold hot beverages such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Often an individual is in motion while drinking a beverage, eg the person is walking from one location to another, driving in a car or doing some other activity rather than just sitting. Typically the lid substantially closes the opening of the beverage can. The essential function of the lid is to prevent the beverage from spilling, which can easily occur when the drinker moves from one location to another or while driving in a vehicle. Movement of the cart or movement of the drinker can cause the beverage to slosh in the beverage can and spill out of the dispensing opening formed in the lid. Spilled beverages can stain the drinker's hands and clothing or objects next to the drinker, such as a table.

Another problem associated with past lids is that hot liquid is dispensed directly from the beverage can, through the dispensing spout and into the drinker's mouth. Hot liquids often have such a high temperature that they can cause burns on the drinker's lips and in the drinker's mouth. In the past, no effort has been made to construct lids that substantially eliminate the possibility of the drinker being scalded.

Summary of the invention

A first embodiment of a beverage can end has an inner end and an outer end, both of which are flat and circular. The perimeter of the inner cover is permanently fixed to the perimeter of the outer cover. A substantially closed space is formed between the inner cover and the outer cover. The periphery of the outer cover is detachably mounted on the opening of the beverage can, and the liquid in the beverage can flows through the inlet formed in the inner cover and then enters said substantially enclosed space. The inlet is located at a non-central position of the inner cover, and the front edge of the inlet is located closer to the periphery than the rear edge of the inlet. A partition is connected to the inner cover and is located within the substantially enclosed space. The partition has a top edge that contacts the inner surface of the outer cover. The length of the partition is at least equal to the length of the inlet, which requires that beverage flowing through the inlet must bypass the partition within the gap region defined as part of said substantially enclosed space. A dispensing opening is formed within the outer cover and is aligned with the clearance area. By tilting the beverage can, the beverage flowing from the gap region is dispensed outside the beverage can via the dispensing opening.

A second embodiment of the beverage can also includes an outer cover and an inner cover, both of which are flat and circular. The perimeter of the inner cover is permanently fixed to the perimeter of the outer cover. A substantially closed space is formed between the inner cover and the outer cover. The periphery of the outer lid is detachably mounted on the opening of the beverage can, and liquid from the beverage can can flow through a pair of inlets formed in the inner lid and then into said substantially enclosed space. The pair of inlets are located at a non-central position of the inner cover, and the front edge of the inlet is located closer to the periphery than the rear edge of the inlet. Attached to the inner cover is a wall assembly formed by a pair of upstanding members positioned between the pair of inlets. Each upstanding member has a top edge that contacts the inner surface of the outer cover. The length of the upright is at least equal to the length of the inlet, which requires that most of the beverage flowing through the inlet must pass through the upright in the interstitial region defined as part of said substantially enclosed space. A dispensing opening is formed within the outer cover and is aligned with the clearance area. By tilting the beverage can, the beverage flowing from the gap region is dispensed outside the beverage can via the dispensing opening. Each upstand abuts a raised surface formed on the inner surface of the outer cover. Each of these raised surfaces includes a groove that allows a small amount of beverage to be directed from the substantially enclosed space directly into the interstitial region for deposition. These grooves provide an initial amount of beverage into the interstitial area when the user takes the first sip of the beverage. The inner lid also includes a weep hole through which liquid contained in said substantially enclosed space will flow back into the beverage can and thus be rewarmed, if sufficiently long since the last drink. An outlet is also formed between the inner cover and the outer cover.

The primary object of the present invention is to construct a beverage can lid which substantially eliminates the possibility of beverage spilling from the beverage can when the can is subjected to sudden movement.

Another object of the present invention is to construct a beverage can lid which substantially eliminates the possibility of the hot beverage scalding the drinker's lips or mouth when the beverage is consumed.

Another object of the present invention is to construct a beverage can lid which is cheap to construct and thus sold at a relatively cheap price to the final consumer.

Another object of the invention is to construct a beverage can end which is structurally simple and thus uncomplicated in processing.

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1 is the external view of typical beverage can, and the first embodiment of beverage can lid of the present invention is installed on the beverage can;

Figure 2 is a top view of the first embodiment of the beverage can end of the present invention along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the beverage can lid and the beverage can along line 3-3 of the beverage can shown in Figure 2 in a normal static upright position;

Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the beverage can end of the present invention taken along line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, but showing the beverage can in a typical tilted position when drinking the beverage contained in the beverage can;

Figure 6 is a top view of a second embodiment of the beverage can lid of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the beverage can end of the present invention along line 7-7 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the beverage can lid of the present invention taken along line 8-8 of Figure 7, showing in greater detail the flow of beverage through the dispensing opening; and

9 is a partial cross-sectional view of the inner surface of the outer lid of the second embodiment of the beverage can end of the present invention taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8 .

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

With particular reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a beverage can 10 having an interior bore 12 . A quantity of beverage 14 is placed in the inner chamber 12 . The beverage can 10 has an opening 16 . Typical beverages may be cold or hot. However, the structural design of the present invention takes into account the situation when hot beverages are used, such as tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

The opening 16 can be covered with a first embodiment of a cover 18 . Cover 18 is constructed of plastic or other similar type of sheet material, such as a paper composite. Cover 18 has an outer cover 20 and an inner cover 22 . Both the outer cover 20 and the inner cover 22 are flat circular and substantially flat. However, it is also within the scope of the invention that the covers 20 and 22 may be more than flat circular, such as square or other polygonal such as hexagonal or octagonal. Typically, covers 20 and 22 are about 1/8 inch thick.

The inner cover 22 has a perimeter formed as an annular rim 24 . The upper edge of the annular rim 24 is glued or otherwise affixed to the inner surface of the outer cover 20, for example by heat sealing. An annular depending edge 26 is integrally connected to the periphery of the outer cover 20 . An annular groove 28 is located between the depending edge 26 and the annular edge 24 . The top edge of the beverage can 10 at the opening 16 is concealed within the annular groove 28 . This securely secures the lid 18 to the beverage can 10 . However, it is possible to manually release the lid 18 from the beverage can by simply pulling the lid 18 away from the beverage can 10 .

The inner cover 22 includes an inlet 30 . Inlet 30 is typically no more than 3/4 to 1 inch in length and about 1/4 inch in width. The inlet 30 is located off-center in the inner cover 22 . The inlet 30 has a leading edge 32 and a trailing edge 34 . Once the beverage can 10 is tilted to a reclined position, such as that shown in FIG.

A bulkhead 38 is securely mounted to the leading edge 32 on the upper surface of the inner cover 22 . The partition 38 has a top edge in contact with the inner surface of the outer cover 20 . The partition 38 includes an arcuate wall that is about 3/4 to 1 inch long, it is important that the partition 38 is at least as long as the inlet 30. In effect, the partition 38 is formed of the “perforated output” material of the inner cover 12 forming the inlet 30 . Between the partition 38 and the annular edge 24 there is a gap region 40 . Note that clearance area 40 is typically no more than 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide. This means that the partition 38 is very close to the annular edge 24 so that the space from the rear edge 34 to the annular edge 24 is sufficiently large. The reason for this is that when beverage can 10 is tilted, beverage 14 flows through inlet 30 , indicated by arrow 42 , toward barrier 38 , and around barrier 38 , as indicated by arrow 44 , into gap region 40 . A dispensing opening 46 is connected to the clearance area 40, the hole being shown as a triangle. The drinker positions the mouth around the dispensing opening 46 with the upper lip in the area of point 48 and the lower lip near but spaced from the bottom 50 . Point 48 prevents the beverage, if hot, from contacting the drinker's upper lip to any great extent. This will protect the upper lip from being burned. Although in fact some distance must flow, from the inlet 30 , around the partition 38 , into the interstitial region 40 before dispensing via the dispensing opening 46 . The distance of flow should be sufficient to cool the beverage sufficiently to prevent scalding any part of the drinker's mouth. In addition, the vent hole 52 helps cool the beverage by allowing "steam" to escape to the outside world.

If the beverage can 10 is jostled or accidentally tipped over, the fact that the beverage 14 must be directed through the inlet 30 and then through the dispensing aperture 46 substantially reduces the likelihood of any accidental spillage of the beverage 14 . The discharge holes 52 are so small that even if the beverage can 10 is toppled over, the amount of beverage flowing outside through these holes 52 is minimized. The purpose of this is to prevent contamination of the drinker's workplace and drinker's clothes and to avoid human contact with the drinker.

While the baffle 38 is shown as being arcuate in shape, the arcuate baffle 38 helps direct the flow of the beverage 42 in the direction of the arrow 42, but it is believed that other shapes for the baffle are within the scope of the invention, such as With a rectilinear configuration, it is even possible to use a convex shape as opposed to the concave shape shown in FIG. 4 .

With particular reference to Figures 6-9, a second embodiment 54 of the lid of the present invention is shown. The second embodiment 54 includes an outer cover 56 and an inner cover 58 . Both the outer cover 56 and the inner cover 58 are flat and circular. However, it is believed that shapes other than flat and circular for covers 56 and 58 would fall within the scope of the present invention. Additionally, covers 56 and 58 are typically about 1/8 inch thick.

The outer cover 56 has an inner surface defining an inner bore 60 . A dispensing opening 62 is formed within the outer cover 56 . The dispensing opening 62 adjoins a perimeter 64 of the outer cover 56 . A raised surface 66 integrally formed with the outer cap 56 is located within the bore 60 just to one side of the dispensing opening 62 and a similar raised surface 68 is located on the opposite side of the dispensing opening 62 . The raised surface 66 includes a pass-through groove 70 and a similar pass-through groove 72 is formed in the raised surface 68 . The purpose of providing the see-through grooves 70 and 72 will be explained in further detail in the specification. The outer cover 56 also includes a discharge port 74 . The discharge port 74 may be directly connected to the substantially enclosed space 76 of the inner cover 58, or may be directly connected to the aperture 78 formed in a post 80 integrally formed with the inner cover. Post 80 is provided to allow steam to escape directly from bore 82 of beverage can 84 . Hot liquid 86 , such as coffee or tea, is contained within bore 82 .

The outer cover 56 includes a centrally located recessed portion 88 . The recessed portion 88 is provided to provide strength to the overall construction of the outer cover 56 .

The inner cover 58 also includes a partition in the form of a pair of spaced apart upstanding walls 90 and 92 . Holes 94 are provided outside the upright wall 92 . Holes 96 are provided on the outside of the upright wall 90 . A gap region 98 is provided between the upstanding walls 90 and 92 . The upper surface of upstanding wall 90 abuts against raised surface 66 and the upper surface of upstanding wall 92 abuts against raised surface 68 after the inner cover is secured to outer cover 56 by, for example, adhesive bonding or sonic welding.

When the beverage can is just tilted and the first sip of beverage from the beverage can is taken, the substantially enclosed space 76 should be free of beverage. In addition, if some time has elapsed since the last drink, the beverage 102 that has been contained in the substantially enclosed space 76 will also seep back into the inner chamber 82 through the seepage hole 100, mix with the hot beverage 86 and be warmed by the hot beverage. . However, when taking the first sip, there is normally no liquid in the substantially enclosed space 76 because the beverage flows through the holes 94 and 96 to fill the substantially enclosed space 76 and then around the upstanding walls 90 and 92 to fill the interstitial region 98 It also takes some time (a few seconds). To avoid the few seconds required for filling when taking the first sip, the beverage is thus allowed to flow through the permeable slots 70 and 72 directly into the gap region 98 . This initial direct flow of beverage will provide an immediate sip of beverage 104 for the user to drink. This flow through slots 70 and 72 causes a reduction in the temperature of the beverage so that the beverage is slightly cooled and not too hot for initial drinking. After the first sip, the substantially enclosed space 76 will contain a quantity 102 of the beverage. When the user takes another sip of the beverage, this volume 102 of liquid simply bypasses the upstanding walls 90 and 92 and fills the gap region 98 with a small amount 104 of liquid. The time it takes for the beverage to flow into the substantially enclosed space and then around the upright walls 90 and 92 into the interstitial region 98 will result in the beverage temperature of the volume 104 being lower than the beverage temperature of the volume 102 or of the beverage 86 so that a certain amount of direct drinking Dosing 104 of the beverage does not cause scalding of the drinker's mouth.

The present invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from its essential attributes. Reference should be made to the following claims rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

1, a kind of beverage can cover comprises:

Enclosing cover and inner cap, thus described inner cap has and is fixed to described enclosing cover forms the base closed space between described inner cap and described enclosing cover week edge, and described beverage can cover is suitable for being installed on the opening of beverage can of drinks;

Be formed on the inlet that covers in described, described inlet setting is positioned at the non-central location place of described inner cap, and described inlet is used to make beverage to flow into described base closed space from beverage can;

Be connected with described inner cap and dividing plate that extension contacts with described enclosing cover, the beverage of the described inlet of flowing through thus flows into described base closed space, and enters the gap area as the part in described base closed space; With

Be formed on the described outer distribution openings that covers, described distribution openings is used to distribute the beverage from beverage can, described distribution openings is alignd with described gap area, in case slanting beverage jar thus, the liquid beverage described inlet of will flowing through, the described dividing plate of pile warp passes through described distribution openings then, and this flow process will play the effect of cooling for hot drink.

2, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that,

Described inlet has certain-length, and described dividing plate is isometric with this certain-length at least, to such an extent as to all flow into the necessary described dividing plate of pile warp of beverage of described inlet, rather than directly enters described gap area from described inlet.

3, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that,

Described inlet setting is positioned at the position of the described distribution openings of next-door neighbour.

4, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that,

Described distribution openings is the triangle that the bottom is arranged, and the position of described bottom is with described all along aliging substantially, and the triangle distribution openings angle is positioned at user's upper lip zone thus, thus, reduces the contact area in hot drink and upper lip zone.

5, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that,

The top of described dividing plate is along contacting with described enclosing cover, and when from the described dividing plate of described top edge observation, described dividing plate is rendered as arc.

6, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that,

Described enclosing cover has an outlet at least, is used for discharging the steam from the beverage that is contained in described enclosure space.

7, a kind of beverage can cover comprises:

Enclosing cover and inner cap, thus described inner cap has and is fixed to described enclosing cover forms the base closed space between described inner cap and described enclosing cover week edge, and described beverage can cover is suitable for being installed on the opening of beverage can of drinks;

Be formed on the intake assembly that covers in described, described intake assembly is used to make beverage to flow into described base closed space from beverage can;

The wall assembly that is located in the described base closed space of extending between described inner cap and the described enclosing cover exists, and the beverage of the described intake assembly of flowing through thus flows into described base closed space, thereby enters the gap area as the part in described base closed space; With

Be formed on the described outer distribution openings that covers, described distribution openings is used to distribute the beverage from beverage can, described distribution openings is alignd with described gap area, thus during the slanting beverage jar, most of beverage described intake assembly of will flowing through, the described wall assembly of pile warp passes through described distribution openings then, and this flow process will play the effect of cooling for hot drink.

8, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that,

Described intake assembly comprises a pair of inlet that is separated by therebetween gap area.

9, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that,

Described wall assembly is connected with described enclosing cover one.

10, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that,

Described enclosing cover has the inner surface that limits interior thorax, described inner surface has a pair of elevated regions that separates, a described elevated regions directly links to each other with the part of wall assembly, each described elevated regions comprises that all sees through a groove, and each described groove that sees through all is fit to allow a spot of beverage to be directed to and to be limited to the described gap area from the base closed space.

11, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that,

Described wall assembly comprises a pair of upright body placed apart, and described upright body is between described inlet.

12, beverage can cover as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that,

Described enclosing cover comprises outlet, described outlet is connected with hole within being formed on described inner cap, described hole be installed in the integrally formed post of described inner cap within, described thus outlet plays the effect of release from the steam that is contained in the beverage in the described beverage can.

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