Locking cup and lid with negative draft sealing surfaces
AssigneeThe Coca-Cola Company
InventorsShawn A. Oakes, Freida St. Germain
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multi-sealing, multi-locking and reopenable cup and lid assembly includes a cup that has an open circular mouth defining an interior locking groove and an undercut frustoconical sealing surface, and a resilient circular lid having a peripheral lip and a frustoconical sealing surface complementary to cup sealing surface. Insertion of the lid into the cup creates a snap-in lock of the lip in the locking groove and a liquid-tight seal between the sealing surfaces. Interrupted portions in the interface between the lid lip and the locking groove in the cup may be aligned by manual rotation of the locked lid for unlocking and easy removal thereof.
Claims16
A sealed, locked and reopenable cup and lid assembly comprising:
- a cup having an open circular mouth defined by an upper edge, an inwardly opening locking groove below the upper edge and a frustoconical inner wall portion extending downwardly and diverging outwardly from the locking groove;
- a resilient circular lid sized to be inserted into the open mouth of the cup and having an outer peripheral lip received with a snap fit in said locking groove, and a frustoconical sealing wall extending downwardly and diverging outwardly from the peripheral lip and sealingly engaging said frustoconical wall portion;
- and,
- circumferentially spaced and rotationally alignable interrupted portions in said locking groove and said peripheral lip which when aligned permit removal of the lid.
A sealing and locking cup and lid assembly comprising:
- a cup having an open circular mouth defined by a cylindrical generally vertical inner first wall portion, an annular generally horizontal second wall portion extending radially inwardly from the lower edge of said first wall portion, a plurality of locking protrusions spaced circumferentially around and extending radially inwardly from said first wall portion, said protrusions having generally coplanar lower surfaces spaced vertically above said annular generally horizontal second wall portion, and a frustoconical inner third wall portion extending downwardly and diverging outwardly from the inner edge of said second wall portion;
- a resilient circular lid sized to fit within the open mouth of the cup and having an outer peripheral lip arrangement, a frustoconical sealing wall extending downwardly and diverging outwardly from a radially inner edge of said lip arrangement;
- whereby in response to vertical downward insertion of the lid into the mouth of the cup, the lip arrangement is inwardly deflected by contact with said locking protrusions and is locked between the lower surfaces thereof and the horizontal second wall portion of the cup, and said sealing wall engages and seals against said third wall portion of the cup.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.