CAN LID

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to a can lid, and more particularly to a can lid which could be combined with a tableware.

Description of Related Art

It is known that a canned food in the market is provided with a tableware which is disposed on an inside of a can lid. When a user opens the can lid, the tableware could be gotten and be used to get a content of a can immediately instead of preparing another tableware additionally. In this way, a convenience as the user having the canned food could be enhanced.

Generally, a positioning member is disposed on a lid surface of the can lid to position and fix the tableware. When the tableware is assembled, the tableware and the positioning member need to be aligned and positioned precisely and then the tableware could be engaged with the positioning member, so that the tableware could be combined with the lid surface of the can lid. However, because the tableware and the positioning member need to be aligned and positioned precisely to be engaged, much time is needed for positioning and aligning during an automatic process of assembling. Additionally, an assembly process fails easily, which makes the tableware drop and causes a contamination. Therefore, how to provide a can lid which could enhance an automatic assembly efficiency and an assembly yield is a problem needed to be solved.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a can lid, which could enhance an assembly efficiency and an assembly yield of a tableware.

The present invention provides a can lid, disposed in an opening of a container to close the opening of the container and detachably connected to a tableware, including a lid body and a plurality of positioning portions. The lid body includes a lid plate and a surrounding wall, wherein the surrounding wall surrounds an outer peripheral edge of the lid plate; the positioning portions are disposed on a lid surface of the lid plate, wherein each of the plurality of positioning portions includes two positioning units; the two positioning units are disposed by facing each other and respectively form a passage correspondingly at a position of each of the two positioning units located near the surrounding wall; the two passages of the two positioning units communicate with each other to form a combining position which is adapted to be engaged with the tableware.

In an embodiment, a plurality of reference lines is defined; each of the reference lines passes through the two passages of one of the positioning portions; the reference lines are coplanar and intersect at one point.

In an embodiment, an included angle between two of the reference lines being adjacent is 90 degrees.

In an embodiment, an included angle between two of the reference lines being adjacent is 60 degrees.

In an embodiment, the combining position of each of the positioning portions along one of the reference lines sequentially has a first passage section, an open section, and a second passage section; the two positioning units are respectively disposed on the first passage section and the second passage section; the open section of one of the combining positions communicates with the open section of the others of the combining positions.

In an embodiment, each of the two positioning units includes two catches; the two catches face each other and form the passage.

In an embodiment, a minimum interval between two ends of the two catches which are connected to the lid surface is greater than a minimum interval between two free ends of the two catches.

In an embodiment, an included angle between the two catches of each of the two positioning units is less than 60 degrees.

In an embodiment, the two catches of each of the two positioning units are parallel.

In an embodiment, the can lid further includes a plurality of engaging sheets, wherein an end of each of the engaging sheets is connected to an inside of the surrounding wall; an opposite end of each of the engaging sheets extends in a direction away from the inside of the surrounding wall; each of the engaging sheets is disposed between the two catches of one of the two positioning units.

In an embodiment, an end of each of the two catches is connected to the lid surface; another end of each of the two catches extends in a direction away from the lid surface.

In an embodiment, each of the two positioning units includes two convex bases; each of the two convex bases is formed by protruding from the lid surface of the lid plate in a direction away from the lid surface; an interval is provided between two side walls of the two convex bases; the two catches are respectively connected to the two side walls of the two convex bases correspondingly; an end of each of the two catches is connected to the side wall of one of the two convex bases; another end of each of the two catches extends in a direction away from the side wall of the corresponding convex base; the two catches and the two convex bases jointly form the passage.

With the aforementioned design, through a plurality of positioning portions being disposed, a plurality of combining positions could be provided to assemble the tableware. In other words, when the tableware is assembled, the combining positions are provided to be selectively combined with the tableware. In this way, a time taken by positioning and aligning could decrease, so that the assembly efficiency and the assembly yield could be enhanced efficiently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the can lid and the container according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the can lid according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is another top view of the can lid according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the can lid according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the can lid according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the can lid shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the can lid according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the can lid according to still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the can lid according to the still another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A can lid 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 and is disposed in an opening of a container 2 to close the opening of the container 2. As shown in FIG. 2, a tableware 3 is detachably connected to the can lid 1. In the current embodiment, the tableware 3 is a spoon 3 which is foldable as an example. In other embodiments, the tableware 3 could be all kinds of the tableware which could be used to get food, such as spoons or forks.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the can lid 1 includes a lid body 10 and a plurality of positioning portions, wherein the lid body 10 includes a lid plate 12 and a surrounding wall 14. The surrounding wall 14 surrounds an outer peripheral edge of the lid plate 12. The positioning portions are disposed on a lid surface 12a of an inside of the lid plate 12. Each of the positioning portions includes two positioning units 20, wherein the two positioning units 20 are disposed by facing each other and respectively form a passage 201 at a position of the positioning units 20 near the surrounding wall 14 correspondingly. The two passages 201 communicate with each other to form a combining position which is adapted to be engaged with the tableware 3.

A plurality of reference lines L is defined. Each of the reference lines L correspondingly passes through the two passages 201 of one of the positioning portions. The reference lines L are coplanar and intersect at one point. In the current embodiment, there are two positioning portions as an example, namely two combining positions. As shown in FIG. 2, an included angle between two of the reference lines L which are adjacent are 90 degrees. In this way, when the tableware 3 is assembled, a front end of the spoon 3 penetrates one of the passages 201 including the passage 201 on the top (referring to FIG. 1), the passage 201 on the left (referring to FIG. 3), the passage 201 on the bottom, and the passage 201 on the right, so that four positions are provided to assemble the tableware 3 and a time taken by positioning and aligning is lessened, thereby achieving the effect of enhancing an assembly efficiency and an assembly yield. In other embodiments, an included angle θ between two of the reference lines L being adjacent could be approximately 90 degrees, which could also achieve the aforementioned effect.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, each of the combining positions along one of the reference lines L that is corresponding sequentially has a first passage section L1, an open section L2, and a second passage section L3. The two positioning units 20 of each of the positioning portions are respectively disposed on the first passage section L1 and the second passage section L3. The open section L2 of one of the combining positions communicates with the open section L2 of the other combining positions. Each of the positioning units 20 includes two catches 22. An end of each of the catches 22 is connected to the lid surface 12a, and another end of each of the catches 22 extends in a direction away from the lid surface 12a. The two catches 22 of each of the positioning units 20 face each other and jointly form one passage 201. A minimum interval D1 between the two ends of the two catches 22 which are connected to the lid surface 12a is greater than a minimum interval D2 between two free ends of the two catches 22. The two catches 22 of each of the positioning units 20 are parallel. The catches 22 could be elastic sheets made of materials, such as plastic, paper, charcoal, plants, bioplastic, coffee grounds, gluten-free and eco-friendly materials, and starch-based polymers.

In this way, when the tableware 3 is assembled, the front end of the spoon 3 could penetrate one of the passages 201, including the passage 201 between the two catches 22 on the top (referring to FIG. 1), the passage 201 between the two catches 22 on the left (referring to FIG. 3), the passage 201 between the two catches 22 on the bottom, and the passage 201 between the two catches 22 on the right, so that the time taken by positioning and aligning could be lessened, thereby achieving the effect of enhancing the assembly efficiency and the assembly yield. Additionally, through the minimum interval D1 between the two ends of the two catches 22 which are connected to the lid surface 12a being greater than the minimum interval D2 between the two free ends of the two catches 22, the tableware 3 could be firmly disposed in each of the combining positions.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the current embodiment, each of the catches 22 includes a first section 22a, a second section 22b, and a third section 22c sequentially connected. Two opposite ends of the first section 22a are respectively connected to the surrounding wall 14 and the second section 22b. A side of the first section 22a away from the lid surface 12a tilts from a connection between the end of the first section 22a and the surrounding wall 14 to a connection between the opposite end of the first section 22a and the second section 22b. A height of the second section 22b is less than a height of the first section 22a and is less than a height of the third section 22c, wherein the height of the second section 22b, the height of the first section 22a and the height of the third section 22c are distances from the lid surface 12a to side edges away from the lid surface 12a in a direction perpendicular to the lid surface 12a. In this way, through each of the catches 22 being connected to the surrounding wall 14 and the lid surface 12a, an overall structure strength of the can lid 1 could be enhanced. In an automatic process of clamping, the can lid 1 could keep a fixed shape without deforming easily, so that the problem of a poor performance of positioning and aligning the components and dropping during clamping could be relieved. Additionally, because each of the catches 22 could efficiently enhance the overall structure strength of the can lid 1, the surrounding wall 14 or the lid plate 12 could be made thinner as an example, so that an effect of saving material and lowering the cost could be achieved by thinning. Moreover, by the height of the second section 22b being less than the height of the first section 22a and being less than the height of the third section 22c, the effect of saving material and lowering the cost could also be achieved.

In the current embodiment, the can lid 1 further includes a plurality of engaging sheets 24. An end of each of the engaging sheets 24 is connected to an inside of the surrounding wall 14. An opposite end of each of the engaging sheets 24 extends in a direction away from the inside of the surrounding wall 14. Each of the engaging sheets 24 is disposed between the two catches 22 of one of the positioning units 20. In this way, as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, as the tableware 3 is disposed in one of the combining positions, a front end of the tableware 3 and a tail end of the tableware 3 are respectively clamped between the engaging sheets 24 and the lid surface 12a of the can lid 1, which could boost a stability of the tableware 3 being disposed in each of the combining positions.

More specifically, in the current embodiment, two positioning portions are provided as an example. In other embodiments, more than two positioning portions could be provided. For example, the can lid 1 includes three positioning portions as shown in FIG. 4. Each of the reference lines L correspondingly passes through the two passages 201 of one of the positioning portions. An included angle θ1 between two of the reference lines L being adjacent is 60 degrees. An included angle θ2 between the two catches 22 of each of the positioning units 20 is less than or equal to 60 degrees. In this way, when the tableware 3 is assembled, six positions could be provided for a user to choose how the tableware 3 is engaged with the lid surface 12a, which enhances the assembly efficiency and the assembly yield.

In the current embodiment, each of the positioning units 20 includes two catches 22 as an example. In other embodiments, each of the positioning units 20 could be provided in other configurations. For example, referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, each of the positioning units 20 includes not only two catches 22 but also two convex bases 26. Each of the convex bases 26 is formed by protruding from the lid surface 12a of the lid plate 12 in the direction away from the lid surface 12a. A surface of the lid plate 12 being opposite to the lid surface 12a is correspondingly dented. An interval D3 is provided between two side walls 261 of the two convex bases 26 that face each other. The two catches 22 are respectively connected to the two side walls 261 of the two convex bases 26 correspondingly. An end of each of the catches 22 is connected to one of the side walls 261 of one of the convex bases 26. Another end of each of the catches 22 extends in a direction away from the corresponding side wall 261 of the corresponding convex base 26. The two catches 22 and the two convex bases 26 jointly form the passage 201.

In this way, when the tableware 3 is assembled, the front end of the spoon 3 penetrates one of the passages 201, including the passage 201 on the top, the passage 201 on the left, the passage 201 on the bottom, and the passage 201 right the right, so that the time taken by positioning and aligning could be lessened. Thus, the effect of enhancing the assembly efficiency and the assembly yield could be achieved, and the stability of the tableware 3 being disposed in each of the combining positions could be boosted.

In other embodiments, each of the positioning units 20 could only include two convex bases 26. In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 7, each of the convex bases 26 has almost the same structure as each of the convex bases 26 of the aforementioned embodiments, except that each of the positioning units 20 is not provided with the two catches 22 of the aforementioned embodiments, each of the convex bases 26 is gradually indented from a top of each of the convex bases 26 to a bottom of each of the convex bases 26, and two of the convex bases 26 being adjacent have two inclined surfaces, which face each other, between the two convex bases 26. In this way, the passage 201 could also be formed between the two adjacent convex bases 26 for the spoon 3 to penetrate.

In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the two catches 22 of each of the positioning units 20 are parallelly disposed. In practice, the two catches 22 of each of the positioning units 20 could be disposed without being parallel as illustrated in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. A free end 22d of each of the catches 22 has an inclined angle. In this way, when the tableware 3 is assembled, the front end of the spoon 3 could also penetrate one of the passages 201, including the passage 201 on the top, the passage 201 on the left, the passage 201 on the bottom, and the passage 201 on the right, so that the time taken by positioning and aligning could be lessened and hence the assembly efficiency and the assembly yield could be enhanced. The inclined angle of the free end 22d of each of the catches 22 could be engaged with a surface of the front end of the spoon 3, which could also limit a swinging position of the tail end of the spoon 3 and avoid the tail end of the spoon 3 from detaching from the engaging sheet 24, thereby boosting the stability of the tableware 3 being disposed in each of the combining positions. Additionally, each of the catches 22 includes a first section 22a and a second section 22b sequentially connected to the first section 22a as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Two opposite ends of the first section 22a are respectively connected to the surrounding wall 14 and the second section 22b. A side of the first section 22a away from the lid surface 12a tilts from the connection between the end of the first section 22a and the surrounding wall 14 to the connection between the opposite end of the first section 22a and the second section 22. A height of the second section 22b is less than a height of the first section 22a, wherein the height of the second section 22b and the height of the first section 22a are distances from the lid surface 12a to side edges away from the lid surface 12a in the direction perpendicular to the lid surface 12a. The effect of saving material and lowering the cost could be achieved.

With the aforementioned design, through the plurality of positioning portions being disposed, the plurality of combining positions could be provided for assembling the tableware. In other words, when the tableware is assembled, the combining positions could be provided to selectively combine with the tableware. In this way, the time taken by positioning and aligning could be lessened and the assembly efficiency and the assembly yield could be enhanced.

It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.