Dripless lid for beverage container

A lid closure for mounting upon a lip of a personal drinking cup, the lid closure comprising:

• a top plate portion surrounded by a mounting portion that anchors upon the lip;
• a drink-through opening within the top plate portion and adjacent to the mounting portion enabling drinking from the cup without removal of the lid and permitting lips of a user drinking from the cup to encompass the drink-through opening, the drink-through opening further comprising a liquid permeable membrane formed of a substantially self-supporting liquid permeable mesh comprising a plurality of perforations;
• and
• a vent opening within the top plate portion adjacent to the mounting portion substantially opposite from the drink-through opening, the vent opening further comprising an air permeable membrane.

A disposable dome lid closure for mounting upon a substantially circular lip of a disposable drinking cup, the lid closure comprising:

• an annular mounting portion that anchors upon the circular cup lip;
• an annular outer sidewall portion sloping upwardly and radially inwardly from the mounting portion thereby providing volume extension means within the lid;
• an annular top wall portion formed at the top of the outer sidewall portion enclosing the top of the outer sidewall portion;
• an inner top plate portion within the annular top wall portion;
• a drink-through opening within the annular top wall portion and adjacent to the outer sidewall portion enabling drinking from the cup without removal of the lid and permitting lips of a user drinking from the cup to encompass the drink-through opening, with the lower lip of the user engaging with the outer sidewall portion, the drink-through opening further comprising a mesh membrane comprising a portion of substantially self-supporting mesh material comprising a plurality of perforations whereby the membrane is permeable to water-based liquid;
• a primary recessed portion within the inner top plate portion providing clearance for the upper lip of the user, wherein the primary recess includes an arcuate sidewall portion adjacent to the drink-through opening with the upper lip of the user engaging with the arcuate sidewall portion;
• a drain hole formed in the primary recess and being substantially larger than the perforations of the mesh membrane;
• and
• a vent opening within the inner top plate portion adjacent to the annular top wall portion substantially opposite from the drink-through opening, the vent opening further comprising an air permeable membrane.

A method for forming a disposable lid closure for mounting upon the lip of a personal beverage container, the method comprising:

• in a plastic material, forming a thin top plate portion;
• in the plastic material, forming a thin peripheral mounting portion coupled to the top plate portion and further comprising means for anchoring upon the container lip;
• in the plastic material, forming a drink-through opening within the top plate portion and adjacent to an outer portion thereof adjacent to the peripheral mounting portion, the forming the drink-through opening further comprising forming a first membrane of substantially self-supporting mesh material and being substantially permeable to water-based liquids;
• and
• in the plastic material, forming a vent opening within the top plate portion spaced away from the drink-through opening, the forming the vent opening further comprising forming a second membrane substantially permeable to air.

A drink-through bottle cap closure structured to attach to a discharge spout of a bottle adjacent to a dispensing orifice thereof communicating with an interior portion of the container, the drink-through bottle cap closure comprising:

• a substantially cylindrical body comprising a tubular aperture thereof extending substantially completely therethrough and surrounded by a peripheral lip adjacent to one end thereof;
• a substantially fluid impervious membrane of substantially self-supporting mesh material having an annular mounting portion impermeably coupled to the peripheral lip of the body surrounding the tubular aperture thereof, and further comprising a drink-through opening portion thereof comprising a plurality of perforations rendering the drink-through opening portion of the membrane permeable to a water-based liquid;
• and
• a means for retaining the drink-through bottle cap on the container discharge spout.