Envelopes – wrappers – and paperboard boxes – Paperboard box – With closure for an access opening
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-07
2001-01-23
Elkins, Gary E. (Department: 3727)
Envelopes, wrappers, and paperboard boxes
Paperboard box
With closure for an access opening
C229S404000, C229S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06176420
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to two-piece disposable cups, suited for cold and warm beverages, peanuts, pop-corn and other solid foodstuffs, and especially to cups made of paper or paperboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Customary disposable cups usually comprise a bottom, a generally truncated conical body or liquid holding portion. This type of cup will be referred to as a two-piece cup. To prevent spilling, a separate lid can be applied over the opening of the cup. This type of cup will be referred to as a three-piece cup, since it has a body portion and a separate lid, as opposed to the cup according to the invention, which has a body portion with an integrated lid. Most standard cup designs thus use a separate replaceable lid to render the cup spill proof or spill resistant. Attempts have been made to incorporate a folding lid in a two-piece design, however, such designs have a number of functional problems. These, and other designs, use built in straws or side spout mechanisms or have a closure apparatus that requires a complex folding mechanisms, rendering them expensive and/or difficult to manufacture, difficult for consumers to use and/or difficult to stack.
A problem with two-piece cups is that they possess a wide open top, which is subject to spillage especially if used during sporting events, such as running events, or in any situation where there is an activity or where significant movement of the cup occurs. The problem has been overcome in the marketplace by the use of the three-piece cups, which involves placement of a detachable lid secured to the top of the cup. The three-piece design suffers from a variety of problems such as the inconvenience and time required to secure the lid to the cup, storage and transport, disposal problems if the lid were to blow off, and inconvenience in terms of controlling the flow of liquid because your nose hits the lid of the cup and potential spillage when liquids splash out of the opening.
Two-piece disposable cups with integral lids are shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,987 (Solland et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,665 (McSherry). Both of these designs have a deep ovate semicircular shaped lid portion of the die-cut cup, making the lid come to a rest position/sealing position in a semi-upright position along the opening edge of the cup, leaving the cup body portion cross-section substantially circular. Some type of locking mechanism on the upper edge of the cup is employed to hold the lid to the top edge of the cup opening.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A one-piece disposable cup according to the invention makes use of a lid which is formed from a semi-circular die-cut piece adjoined to the body portion of the cup. The general shape of the lid is circular, or slightly oval or shallow semi-circular. The lines of the scribe line arc forming the first fold line for the lid, adjacent the opening edge of the cup, are slightly flattened. The arc of the die-cut cup according to the invention is shallower than the corresponding arc of the known art. The ratio of a horizontal line, which joins the ends of the upper portion of the first fold line where it meets the edge of the cup, to the vertical distance from the center of the horizontal line to the lowest point of the arc of the first fold line, is approximately 4 for the cup, whilst the same ratio for the known art is between 1.5 and 2.5.
The cup according to the invention has two unique second fold lines along the upper edge of the arc which forms the lid. Each second fold line joins the first fold line near the upper edge of the first fold line and connects to the opening edge of the cup to form a triangular shape enclosed by the second fold line, the part of the primary fold line which runs from a first end of the second fold line to the edge of the cup, and the part of the edge of the lid which runs from the edge of the cup to a second end of the second fold line.
The cup lid closing mechanism functions in the following fashion: by a user exerting a slight pressure on the side of the lid, when the lid is in a vertical position, will cause the lid to change shape from convex (open and vertical) to concave shape, with a sudden click or flip towards the cup opening, causing the lid to fold over into the mouth of the body portion of the cup. The lid itself will move to a new stable position located inside the mouth, sealing the contents of the cup from splashing out from the cup. The lid's final closed position is near to the horizontal, within the body portion of the cup. This near horizontal closed position is caused by the shallower nature of the arc of the first fold line and the presence of the second fold lines. Upon closure of the lid, a double click (from each of the two second fold lines) occurs, allowing a more definitive and significant movement, flip or click of the lid to the closed position within the body portion of the cup.
The outer circumference of the lid of the cup is designed to be larger than the inner circumference of the body portion of the cup in the area of the intended closed position of the lid. When the lid clicks into position within the body portion of the cup, it must be pushed further slightly to reach the final resting position/closed position. This action may be performed by pushing on the lid itself, or by gently squeezing the sides of the cup together by applying pressure to the sides adjacent the two second fold lines. A combination of both actions is also possible. The final resting position is determined by the angle of the second fold lines relative the angle of the arc of the first fold line near the second fold lines. Near the resting location for the lid in the body portion of the cup there is a resistance to further movement of the lid into the cup. The resistance is caused by the pressure exerted by the increasingly smaller opening of the cup body on the lid, and by the resistance afforded by the presence of the second fold lines. The friction between the lid edge and the inside of the body of the cup renders the cup spill resistant and helps to secure the lid in its closed position within the body of the cup. There occurs a significant distortion of the lid when it reaches the resting position/closed position, due to the pressure the body exerts on the lid. The shape of the lid, in the closed position, is thus deformed into a parabolic shape within the body of the cup. This renders further rigidity to the lid and the cup as a whole. The described function of the lid inside the body of the cup is the primary locking mechanism for the lid, in its closed position. The locking of the lid in its closed position is preferably further enhanced by the precise shaping of the lid, so as to exaggerate the parabolic shape of the lid, when the lid is pushed into the body of the cup, and by the shape of the first fold lines, which causes the parabolic shaping of the lid when the lid is pushed to the closed position. The second fold lines function as a second locking mechanism, to hold or secure the lid in its closed position within the body of the cup. When the lid is closed, the triangles formed by the first and second fold lines (as described earlier) are angled more vertically than adjoining portions of the lid. This orientation of the triangles cause the triangles to sit closer to the sides of the body of the cup than the rest of the lid, i.e. the surface of the triangles are nearly in the same plane as the general plane of the adjacent surface of the body. This feature makes it more difficult to open the lid, since the triangle portions of the lid will have to be bent back comparatively more when moving the lid back to its open position.
The lid thus attains a closed position within the cup, with a general plane of the lid near a horizontal plane, or with the movable edge of the lid slightly lower than the opposite folding edge of the lid. The opposing forces between the lid edge and the inside surface of the body of the cup renders enough friction to securely hold the lid within the
Howes-Jones Daryl J.
Kleynhans Gregory John
Sarson George E.
Armstrong R. Craig
Elkins Gary E.
Sarson George E.
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