WO2005077780A1

WO2005077780A1 - Lid for a drinking beaker comprising a chamber filled with drink powder

Info

Publication number: WO2005077780A1
Application number: PCT/NL2004/000120
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johannes Wilhelmus Gerardus Meeussen; Brigitte Anne Nadine Bos
Original assignee: Koffiebranderij En Theehandel Drie Mollen Sinds 1818 B.V.
Priority date: 2004-02-17
Filing date: 2004-02-17
Publication date: 2005-08-25

Abstract

The invention relates to a lid (1) for a drinking beaker, wherein a chamber (8) has been formed in the lid, which chamber is filled with a food ingredient (7). The chamber (8) has an access opening (9) closed off by a first closure (3) that is removable in order to deposit the food ingredient from the chamber in the drinking beaker. The food ingredient is a drink powder that is soluble in hot water, such as instant coffee, instant tea, intant cocoa or instant soup. The lid can furthermore have a drinking opening (13) and a breather hole (12) such that, when the lid closes off a beaker, a user is able to drink via the drinking opening, whilst the interior of the beaker is kept at ambient pressure via the breather hole. With this arrangement the drinking opening and/or the breather hole can open into the chamber. The invention furthermore relates to a combination comprising one or more such lids and optionally one or more such beakers.

Description

ID FOR A DRINKING BEAKER COMPRISING A CHAMBER FILLED WITH DRINK POWDER

The present invention relates to a lid for a drinking beaker, wherein a chamber has been formed in the lid, wherein the chamber is filled with a food ingredient and wherein the chamber has an access opening closed off by a first closure that is removable in order to deposit the food ingredient from the chamber in the drinking beaker. Such a lid is known as a component of a beaker/lid combination where the beaker contains yoghurt and where the chamber in the lid contains muesli. In this way it is possible to offer muesli together with yoghurt in a unit that is almost ready for use. The reason why it is desired here to keep the muesli separate from the yoghurt until just before use is that the muesli starts to lose crunchiness and taste from the point in time when the muesli is mixed through the yoghurt. Here the lid is intended as a closure for the yoghurt beaker and at the same time as a supporting medium for the muesli. Beaker and lid together are offered to the consumer as a unit, after which the consumer removes the closure at the desired time of consumption, deposits the muesli in the yoghurt in the beaker, mixes the muesli with the yoghurt and then eats it. In the case of hot instant drinks, such as coffee, tea, hot chocolate, soup, etc., it is Jαiown to keep the instant drink in powder form in a storage container and in each case to remove one measure from said storage container to deposit this in a drinking beaker and then to add hot water thereto in said beaker or, optionally, first to place the hot water in the drinking beaker and then to add the measure of drink powder thereto. This can be carried out by hand, but many instant drinks machines, which optionally are capable of dispensing various hot drinks, are also known for this purpose. In the catering business such a system with machines for hot drink or at least with separate storage containers from which measures of drink powder are deposited in a beaker is usually not practical. In this context consideration can be given in particular to mobile catering, such as in aircraft and trains, where a steward or stewardess or other member of catering staff provides passengers with snacks. However, mobile catering is also found at events where a serving person from the catering company often wheels a trolley round to provide visitors to the event with a snack. The hot drinks machine is usually undesirable in this case because it takes up a relatively large amount of space and is relatively heavy. Measuring out by hand is usually undesired in this case because this is time-consuming and is also associated with the risk that too much or too little is measured out, as a result of which the hot drink is too strong or too weak. In practice the hot drink will then not have a constant taste. The aim of the present invention is now, in particular, to offer hot drinks for catering purposes, in particular mobile catering purposes, which hot drinks are in a form that enables a serving person from the catering company to provide the consumer quickly and efficiently with a hot drink of constant taste, with a minimum of operations and also with a minimum of means to be taken with them - on a trolley or simply carried. According to the invention the abovementioned aim is achieved by providing a lid of the type mentioned in the preamble, which is characterised in that the food ingredient is an instant drink powder that is soluble in hot water, such as, in particular, an instant coffee, an instant tea, an instant cocoa or an instant soup. Here a drink powder is understood in the broadest sense to be a drink in solid form that can be dissolved in hot water in order to make a drinkable drink. Such a dry form is usually powder-like. In this context powder-like is imderstood to be both very fine and very coarse granules. The serving person from the catering company, termed caterer below, or optionally the purchasing consumer merely has to remove the closure and then to deposit the instant drink powder in the drinking beaker. Here t s drinking beaker can have already been filled with hot water before the drink powder is deposited therein, but the hot water will preferably be added after the drink powder has been deposited in the drinking beaker. The reason for this is that pouring hot water into the drinking beaker then brings the drink powder into motion, which is beneficial for dissolution. The caterer or the consumer can then place the lid on the drinking beaker. The lid then offers protection against spillage, and the lid also makes it possible to shake, or to put it more accurately to swirl, the beaker and contents in order to bring the liquid into motion and further to promote dissolution of the drink powder. With this arrangement the food ingredient can optionally contain supplementary additions for the drink powder, such as powdered milk or sugar. However, such additions, such as sugar and powdered milk, are not themselves a drink powder. In the case of hot chocolate, drink powder is understood to be in particular the cocoa ingredient of the instant hot chocolate. Especially in aircraft and trains, but most certainly also under other circumstances, a hot drink is associated with the risk that if it tips over people can be injured by the hot drink. In order to restrict this risk to a minimum, it is advantageous according to the invention if the lid furthermore has a drinking opening and a breather hole such that, when the lid is closing off the beaker, a user is able to drink via the drinking opening whilst the interior of the beaker is kept at ambient pressure via the breather hole. So that the capacity of the chamber is as large as possible with a relatively flat lid, in this context it is advantageous according to the invention if the drinking opening and/or the breather hole open into the chamber, hi order to prevent premature emptying of drink powder from the chamber, with this arrangement it is advantageous according to the invention if the drinking opening and/or the breather hole are closed off by the first closure. The drinking opening and or the breather hole are then exposed on removal of the first closure for the purpose of depositing the drink powder from the chamber in the drinking beaker. A separate operation is thus not required in order to expose the drinking opening and/or the breather hole. According to one embodiment of the invention it is advantageous if the first closure comprises a film with pull tab, the film being stuck around the access opening by means of an adhesive join that can be broken by manually pulling on the tab. However, it is also conceivable that the film is attached to the lid by means of an adhesive join around the access opening that is not breakable or is difficult to break and that, for removal of at least part of the film, the film is provided with local weakenings that enable the film to be torn away after pulling on the tab. It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the closure can also be made in another way. According to a further embodiment of the invention it is advantageous if the drinking opening and/or the breather hole are closed off by a second closure, which second closure is removable. What can be achieved in this way is that when the beaker is swirled for the purpose of making the drink powder dissolve further, spilling of the hot drink via said drinking opening and/or said breather hole is counteracted. This second closure can be made in a corresponding manner to the first closure. To obtain sufficiently firm fixing of the lid on the drinking beaker it is advantageous according to the invention if the lid has a clamping rim running in the peripheral direction for sealing by clamping on the top rim of the drinking beaker. This clamping rim of the lid can be a clamping rim protruding into the interior of the beaker or can comprise a clamping rim section protruding into the interior of the beaker. Preferably, however, the clamping rim will be a clamping rim that engages all round the top rim of the beaker from the outside. Because in many cases the lid no longer has to be removable from the drinking beaker after it has been fitted on the beaker - for example if the lid contains a drinking opening - it will advantageously be possible to construct the clamping rim as a snap-fit rim. It is furthermore advantageous according to the invention if the top of the lid has a depression for accommodating the base of the drinking beaker. This provides, in particular, the possibility of transporting a number of beakers stacked on top of one another in an easy and reliable manner, in particular of carrying them by hand or on a tray, h the case of a depression it is particularly advantageous according to the invention if the depression is delimited by a raised rim and if the drinking opening is provided in the top of the raised rim, such that the part of the raised rim that surrounds the drinking opening acts as a drinking spout. In this case the raised rim does not have to completely surround the depression. The point at issue is that there is a raised rim section in particular at the drinking opening. Specifically, the provision of a drinking spout makes it that much easier to drink from the beaker without spillage, whilst the lid is on the beaker. According to the invention it is furthermore advantageous if the access opening of the chamber is on the underside of the lid. This prevents it being possible for the consumer to become soiled by residues of the instant drink powder that may still remain in the chamber after the contents of the chamber have been emptied into the drinking beaker and the lid has been placed on the drinking beaker. Furthermore, in such a case it is possible still to dissolve residues of the drink powder that have remained in the chamber in the hot water by swirling or shaking the closed beaker to a sufficient extent. According to a further embodiment of the invention it is advantageous if the top of the lid has a depression for accommodating the base of the drinking beaker, if the depression is completely surrounded by a raised rim in order thus to form the chamber and if the drinking opening is provided in the top of the raised rim, such that the section of the raised rim surrounding the drinking opening acts as a drinking spout, and if the first closure closes off the chamber and the drinking opening. In this way it becomes possible to expose both the chamber and the drinking opening by a single operation - i.e. removal of the closure. The breather hole, which can be relatively small, can be provided relatively easily in another position without communicating with the depression/chamber. According to a further aspect, the present invention relates to a lid/beaker combination comprising a lid according to the invention and a drinking beaker, in particular an empty drinking beaker, wherein the lid has dimensions such that it fits on the top of the drinking beaker. According to yet a further aspect, the present invention relates to a combination comprising a set of lids according to the invention, wherein said set of lids is subdivided into at least two subsets of lids, in particular more than two subsets of lids, wherein the one subset of lids always contains a different drink powder to the other subsets of lids. In this way it becomes possible for the caterer to offer several hot drinks by stocking lids filled with a different drink powder. In this case the various subsets of lids can always be organised according to type of drink. In each case a different drink powder composition is obtained by mixing sugar and/or powdered milk through the drink powder. As far as coffee is concerned it is then conceivable that the caterer has available the following four subsets a) lids containing instant coffee without sugar and without powdered milk; b) lids containing instant coffee with sugar and without powdered milk; c) lids containing instant coffee without sugar and with powdered milk; and d) lids containing instant coffee with sugar and with powdered milk. Further subsets can also be created by making up different types of coffee, such as ordinary instant coffee, instant cappuccino or instant espresso; by making up instant tea with or without sugar and/or milk or in different types of tea, various instant soups, etc. In the case of such a combination according to the invention it is furthermore advantageous if this comprises a set of empty drinking beakers, which preferably are nested in one another. The empty drinking beakers can then be held in stock all together completely independently of the type of drink powder in the lid. The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to illustrative embodiments shown in the drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view (Fig. 1A) and a plan view (Fig. IB) of a lid according to a first embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view (Fig. 2A) and a plan view (Fig. 2B) of a lid according to a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of the lid according to Fig. 1 in the open state and in the state fitted on a drinking beaker; and Fig. 4 shows, highly diagrammatically, a combination according to the invention. Fig. 1 shows a lid 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention. This lid 1 essentially consists of four components, i.e.: • a lid body 2 made of plastic, which can have been obtained by, for example, injection moulding or deep drawing;

• a closure 3;

• a closure 5; and

• a drink powder 7. In this embodiment the lid body 2 has been shaped such that it defines a chamber 8 with an access opening 9 facing downwards. The access opening 9 is closed off by the closure 3. The closure 3 consists of a removable film that is attached to the lid body 2 around a peripheral rim 10, that surrounds the entire chamber 9, in such a way that the closure film 3 can be removed by pulling on pull tab 4 by hand. A drink powder that is soluble in hot water, such as, for example, an instant coffee, an instant tea, an instant cocoa or an instant soup, is contained in the chamber 8. The lid 1 is furthermore provided with a drinking opening 13 that opens into the chamber 8. This drinking opening 13 is closed off by means of a closure 5 in the form of, for example, a film with a pull tab 6 in order to prevent drink powder contained in the chamber 8 from losing flavour or escaping from the chamber 8 prematurely. The closure 5 can be removed by hand by pulling on the tab 6. The lid body 2 is furthermore provided with a breather hole 12. Although the breather hole 12 does not open into the chamber 8 and therefore does not have to be closed off, here this breather hole 12 is closed off by the closure 3. In order reliably to ensure that the breather hole 12 is opened when the closure film 3 is removed, the breather hole 12 is preferably provided at the base of the pull tab 4. The lid body 2 is provided on the underside with a peripheral rim 15 for closure on the top rim of a drinking beaker. In order to ensure clamping to provide a seal, this peripheral rim 15 is provided with a rib 14 extending inwards. The lid body 2 is provided with a depression 11 at the top. With reference to Fig. 3, which shows the lid 1 in the open state fitted on a drinking beaker 20, the functioning of the lid according to the invention will now be explained in more detail. When a hot drink is desired it is necessary only a) to take the lid 1, b) to remove the closure 3, c) to deposit the drink powder 7 in the drinking beaker 2, d) to pour hot water into the drinking beaker 20 and e) to mix the hot water and the drink powder 7 to give a hot drink 22. It will be clear that the sequence of the steps a) to e) can also be different; thus, for example, steps c) and d) can also take place in a different sequence or at the same time. According to the invention hot water is essentially understood to be any hot water suitable for the preparation of a hot drink. Such hot water will usually have a temperature of approximately 40 °C or higher. When the drink powder and the hot water have been placed in the drinking beaker 20, the lid 1, from which the closure 3 has been removed, can be fitted on top of the drinking beaker 20. The peripheral rim 14 will then snap behind an external thickening rim 24 at the top 23 of the drinking beaker 20. With the lid 1 fitted on the drinking beaker 20 in this way, it is possible, without spillage, to swirl the combination of drinking beaker 20 and lid 1 in order to bring the liquid contained in the drinking beaker 20 into motion and to make the drink powder dissolve further or better. If it is desired to drink the hot drink 22, the closure 5 - if it has not already been removed - can be removed from the drinking opening 13 by pulling on the pull tab 6. On doing this the raised rim 16 that surrounds the depression 11 will then provide a drinking spout that facilitates drinking. The breather hole 12 will ensure that during drinking air is able to flow into the interior of the drinking beaker 20 and creation of a vacuum in this interior is thus prevented. Figure 3 furthermore shows that the depression 11 can be used to accommodate the bottom 21 of a further drinking beaker 20. Filled drinking beakers can thus be stacked in a relatively stable arrangement, so that a relatively large number of filled drinking beakers can be transported more easily by hand or on a tray. Figure 2 shows, by way of example, a further variant of the lid according to the invention. The same reference numerals as in Figure 1 have been used for the lid 30 from Fig.2 for components having a corresponding function. The lid according to Figure 2 consists of essentially three components. Compared with Figure 1, there is a closure missing. The main difference between the embodiments according to Fig. 2 and Fig. 1 is that in the case of the embodiment according to Fig.2 the chamber 8 has been provided at the top of the lid. With this arrangement the chamber 8 coincides with the depression 11 and the peripheral rim 16 surrounds the entire depression 11/chamber 8. The access opening 9 of the chamber 8 is at the top and is closed off from above by a closure 3 that can be removed by means of a pull tab 4. With this arrangement the closure 3, which is not shown in Fig.2B, also closes off the drinking opening 13 provided in the peripheral rim 16 of the depression 11. In order to ensure that the drinking opening 13 is always reliably opened when the closure 3 is removed, the pull tab 4 is provided in such a way that the drinking opening 13 is at the base of the pull tab 4. Here the breather hole 12, which in the case of the embodiment according to Fig. 2 as well is preferably located diametrically opposite the drinking opening 13, is provided in a raised side wall section of the lid body 2. The advantage of the lid according to Fig. 2 is that only one closure is needed to close offboth the chamber 8 and the drinking opening 13. Finally, Figure 4, shows, highly diagrammatically, a combination according to the invention. This combination comprises a set 40 of Uds subdivided into subsets 41, 42, 43, 44 of lids 45, 46, 47 and 48, respectively. The difference between the lids 45, 46, 47 and 48 is essentially that the drink powder contained therein differs. Lid type 45 contains, for example, an instant soup, lid type 46 contains, for example, an instant tea, lid type 47 contains, for example, an instant coffee and lid type 48 contains, for example, cocoa. The set 40 of lids 45, 46, 47, 48 can be stored, for example, in a container, such as a box or a drawer. In the case of catering in an aircraft, the set 40 will, for example, be placed in a drawer, such as a drawer of the ATLAS type, of a so-called service trolley which the steward or stewardess wheels through the passenger cabin in order to provide the passengers with snacks. Such a drawer can be provided with a beaker support in which a beaker can be placed such that the beaker cannot accidentally tip over while putting the drink powder and/or the hot water therein. Such a beaker support can be provided in the interior of the drawer or also externally on the service side of the drawer. Furthermore, such a drawer will preferably be subdivided into compartments, each compartment containing a lid with a specific type/taste of drink powder. A so-called ATLAS drawer can easily contain 60 or more lids according to the invention. The combination shown in Fig. 4 furthermore (optionally) comprises a set 50 of empty drinking beakers 51, which preferably are inserted nested into one another. The caterer merely has to ask the consumer what sort of hot drink the consumer desires, to take the lid containing the correct drink powder, to take a beaker 51, to open the lid and to deposit the drink powder in the beaker 51, to pour hot water into the beaker 51 and to fit the lid on the beaker 51.

Claims

1. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) for a drinking beaker (20), wherein a chamber (8) has been formed in the lid; wherein the chamber contains a food ingredient (7); wherein the chamber (8) has an access opening (9) closed off by a first closure (3) that is removable in order to deposit the food ingredient (7) from the chamber in the drinking beaker (20); characterised in that the food ingredient comprises a drink powder (7) that is soluble in hot water.

2. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to Claim 1, wherein the drink powder (7) comprises an instant coffee, an instant tea, an instant cocoa or an instant soup.

3. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lid furthermore has a drinking opening (13) and a breather hole (12) such that, when the lid is closing off the beaker (20), a user is able to drink via the drinking opening (13) whilst the interior of the beaker is kept at ambient pressure via the breather hole (12).

4. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to Claim 3, wherein the drinking opening (13) and/or the breather hole (12) open into the chamber (8).

5. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to Claim 3 or 4, wherein the drinking opening (13) and/or the breather hole (12) are closed off by the first closure (3).

6. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first closure (3) comprises a film with pull tab, which film is stuck around the access opening (9) by means of an adhesive join that can be broken by manually pulling on the tab.

7. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to Claim 3 or 4, wherein the drinking opening (13) and/or the breather hole (12) are closed off by a second closure (5), which second closure is removable.

8. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to Claim 7, wherein the second closure (5) comprises a film with pull tab, which film is stuck around the drinking opening (13) and/or the breather hole (12) by means of an adhesive join that can be broken by manually pulling on the tab.

9. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lid has a clamping rim (14, 15) running in the peripheral direction for sealing by clamping on the top rim (23, 24) of the drinking beaker (20).

10. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the top of the lid has a depression (11) for accommodating the base (21) of the drinking beaker.

11. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to Claim 10, wherein the depression (11) is delimited by a raised rim (16) and wherein the drinking opening (13) is provided in the top of the raised rim (16), such that the part of the raised rim (16) that surrounds the drinking opening (13) acts as a drinking spout.

12. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the access opening (9) of the chamber (8) is on the underside of the lid.

13. Lid (1, 30, 45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of Claims 1 - 9, wherein the top of the lid has a depression (11) for accommodating the base (21) of the drinking beaker (20), wherein the depression (11) is completely surrounded by a raised rim (16) in order to form the chamber (8), wherein the drinking opening (13) is provided in the top of the raised rim (16), such that the section of the raised rim (16) surrounding the drinking opening (13) acts as a drinking spout, and wherein the first closure (3) closes off the chamber (8) and the drinking opening (13).

14. Lid/beaker combination comprising a lid according to one of the preceding claims and a drinking beaker (20), in particular an empty drinking beaker, wherein the lid has dimensions such that it fits on the top (23, 24) of the drinking beaker (20).

15. Combination comprising a set (40) of lids (45, 46, 47, 48) according to one of Claims 1 - 13, wherein said set (40) of lids is subdivided into at least two subsets (41, 42, 43, 44) of lids, wherein the one subset (for example 41) of lids always contains a different drink powder, or at least a different drink powder composition, to the other subsets (for example 42, 43, 44) of lids.

16. Combination according to Claim 15, furthermore comprising a set (50) of empty drinking beakers (51), which preferably are nested in one another.