Coffee cup travel lid

Claim 1

A lid for a disposable coffee cup, useful in place for drinking coffee while the user is moving as while riding in a vehicle, said lid having a continuous rim adapted to grip the upper rim of a disposable coffee cup and a top closing surface, said top closing surface including a vent formation between said continuous rim and the center point of said surface, and including a liquid port on the opposite side of said center point of said surface, said liquid port being adapted to allow liquid to be dispensed from said cup with said lid in place, said vent formation being disposed sufficiently away from said center point in the direction opposite of said liquid port to prevent spillage therethrough during dispensing of coffee from said liquid port, said vent formation being defined by a side wall projecting outwardly from said top closing surface and by a top wall having a vent hole therein, the top surface of said top wall being spaced below the top surface of said rim, said lid with said liquid port and vent formation being configured and adapted to be compactly stacked with other lids of identical form for shipment and dispensing, the improvement wherein said liquid port is an expansible coffee sipping port element shaped and positioned to be received by the mouth, said expansible port element being sized and shaped to provide a conduit means from within said cup to said mouth to enable gradual flow of coffee therethrough without spillage upon tipping of the coffee cup to which it is attached, said lid, in the condition supplied to the server of coffee, having said expansible sipping port element in vertically collapsed configuration with the upper end thereof disposed below the upper edge of said continuous rim, and said sipping port element in said collapsed position providing clearance sufficient to enable said lid to be compactly stacked with other lids of identical form for shipment and dispensing, the top surface of said sipping port element in said collapsed position being in the same plane as the top surface of said top wall of said vent formation, said expansible sipping port element being constructed to respond to an outward pulling action to extend above said rim to a position exposed for contact with the mouth, enabling coffee to be sipped therefrom upon tipping of said cup.