Lid assembly for a beverage container

Abstract

A lid assembly for a beverage container includes a lid housing, a seal arm, a trigger button, and a pin, which are configured such that, upon pivoting the trigger button about a button hinge, a cam finger presses the pin radially against a lever arm and actuates the seal arm by pivoting the seal arm downwardly from the sealed position to the open position. The pin may be a vent pin having an inner vent seal disposed on in inner side of a lid housing and an outer vent seal disposed on an outer side of the lid housing.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A handled lid assembly for a beverage container, the handled lid assembly comprising:
 a lid housing having a top cover and a peripheral skirt extending downwardly, away from an outer periphery of the top cover, a drink aperture extends from an interior side to an exterior side of the lid housing, a vent aperture extends from an interior side to an exterior side of the lid housing, and a pin aperture extends radially from an interior side of the lid housing to an exterior side of the lid housing;   a seal arm coupled to the lid housing with a seal arm hinge disposed on the interior side and the seal arm being configured to pivot between a sealed position that seals the drink aperture on the interior side and an open position that opens the drink aperture, the seal arm including a lever arm;   a handle having a trigger button pivotably connected to the lid housing with a button hinge and a cam finger disposed on the exterior side of the lid housing; and   a pin slidably disposed in the pin aperture in the peripheral skirt, the pin extending radially from the cam finger of the trigger button to the lever arm of the seal arm,   wherein upon pivoting the trigger button about the button hinge, the cam finger presses the pin radially towards the drink aperture, the pin opening the vent aperture and pressing against the lever arm, which actuates the seal arm by pivoting the seal arm downwardly from the sealed position to the open position to open the drink aperture, the vent aperture opening before the drink aperture to pre-vent gases from the interior side of the lid housing to the exterior side of the lid housing.   
     
     
         2 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the pin allows gases to escape through the vent aperture when the pin is in an intermediate position. 
     
     
         3 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the pin includes an inner vent seal disposed on an inner side of the lid housing and an outer vent seal disposed on an outer side of the lid housing, the pin being movable in a radial direction, wherein the inner vent seal seals the pin aperture when the pin is displaced radially outwardly through the pin aperture, and wherein the outer seal seals the pin aperture seals the pin aperture when the pin is displaced radially inwardly through the pin aperture, and wherein the inner vent seal and the outer vent seal do not seal the pin aperture in the intermediate position. 
     
     
         4 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the vent aperture forms a portion of a vent path. 
     
     
         5 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising a seal bore extending radially outwardly from the pin aperture, the outer vent seal being disposed inside the seal bore, the outer vent seal further comprising a wiper seal that slidingly engages the inner peripheral surface of the seal bore to form a seal between the outer vent seal and the peripheral inner surface of the seal bore. 
     
     
         6 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the vent aperture opens into the seal bore between the wiper seal and the vent pin aperture. 
     
     
         7 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the button hinge is located radially outwardly from the outer periphery of the peripheral skirt. 
     
     
         8 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the button hinge is located at the outer periphery of the top cover. 
     
     
         9 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the trigger button is disposed along a top surface of the handle. 
     
     
         10 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 9 , further comprising a button lock configured to selectively prevent the trigger button from actuating the seal arm. 
     
     
         11 . A lid assembly for a beverage container, the lid assembly comprising:
 a lid housing having a drink aperture that extends from an interior side to an exterior side of the lid housing, a vent aperture that extends from the interior side to the exterior side of the lid housing, and a vent pin aperture that extends from the interior side to the exterior side of the lid housing;   a seal arm coupled to the lid housing with a seal arm hinge disposed on the interior side and the seal arm being configured to pivot between a sealed position that seals the drink aperture on the interior side and an open position that opens the drink aperture;   a trigger button connected to the lid housing and disposed on the exterior side of the lid housing, wherein the trigger button is configured to actuate the seal arm from the sealed position to the open position; and   a vent pin slidably disposed in the vent pin aperture that allows gases to escape through the vent aperture when the pin is in an intermediate position,   wherein the trigger button is configured to displace the vent pin radially inwardly when the trigger is actuated and to permit return displacement of the vent pin outwardly when the trigger is released, and   wherein the vent pin includes an inner vent seal disposed on in inner side of the lid housing and an outer vent seal disposed on an outer side of the lid housing, wherein the inner vent seal seals the vent pin aperture when the vent pin is displaced outwardly through the vent pin aperture, and wherein the outer seal seals the vent pin aperture when the vent pin is displaced inwardly through the vent pin aperture, and wherein the inner vent seal and the outer vent seal do not seal the vent pin aperture in the intermediate position so that gases from an interior side of the lid housing may be pre-vented to an exterior side of the lid housing before the seal arm opens the drink aperture.   
     
     
         12 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the vent aperture forms a portion of a vent path; and
 a seal bore extends outwardly from the vent pin aperture,   the outer vent seal being disposed inside the seal bore; and the outer vent seal comprising a wiper seal that slidingly engages an inner peripheral surface of the seal bore to form a seal between the outer vent seal and the peripheral inner surface of the seal bore.   
     
     
         13 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the vent aperture opens into the seal bore between the wiper seal and the vent pin aperture. 
     
     
         14 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the trigger button moves up and down to actuate the seal arm from the sealed position to the open position. 
     
     
         15 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the trigger button moves radially to actuate the seal arm from the sealed position to the open position. 
     
     
         16 . The handled lid assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the trigger button pivots up and down to actuate the seal arm from the sealed position to the open position. 
     
     
         17 . A lid assembly for a beverage container, the lid assembly comprising:
 a lid housing;   a vent pin aperture formed in the lid housing;   a vent pin disposed in the vent pin aperture, the vent pin being configured to actuate a seal assembly that opens and closes a drink aperture formed in the lid housing;   wherein the vent pin includes a main body having a first pin end and a second pin end, the first pin end being disposed on an exterior side of the lid housing, and the second pin end being disposed on an interior side of the lid housing, an outer vent seal being disposed on the main body proximate the first pin end on an exterior side of the lid housing, and an inner vent seal being disposed on the main body proximate the second pin end on an interior side of the lid housing, and   wherein the inner vent seal seals the vent pin aperture when the vent pin is displaced outwardly through the vent pin aperture, and the outer vent seal seals the vent pin aperture when the vent pin is displaced inwardly through the vent pin aperture.