During a recent flight, I was offered a plastic coffee cup lid for my paper coffee cup and it struck me as an awkward combination.
In an age of fossil fuel reduction, a separate plastic lid is both ugly and wasteful. What if we could make the paper coffee cup itself include a paper lid that would fold down and cover most of the cup's surface (leaving just a small spot for drinking)?
I made some quick napkin sketches and pocketed the napkin for later Googling. When I came home, I found this:
http://thecompleat.com/
'Awww damn' followed by 'wow cool!' His invention is quite similar to what I had in mind, so I'll consider my own idea baked, but it was so neat I had to share it with the halfbakery community.
Who knows? Maybe he's even a baker! :)-- victor, Jan 11 2013 This is a hyperlink http://thecompleat.com/ [Kansan101, Jan 11 2013] virtual +; nifty.
Too bad: maybe you'll have more luck with the edible muffin umbrella.-- FlyingToaster, Jan 11 2013 Hey Brian, I'm not the inventor, so I'm not promoting my own product here. Just sharing something interesting, so I don't see this as spam.-- victor, Jan 11 2013 Don't agree with [m-f-d] but, you should insert the link at the end of the idea , and just mark the whole thing for expiry. In about a week's time, you can delete it yourself, otherwise, post your own pics of your own scribbles, which might show a worthwhile variation on the one shown in the link. (which I thought was a crap solution incidentally)-- xenzag, Jan 11 2013 Thanks for the real link [Kansan]. Looks like a paper baby-bottle.-- xandram, Jan 11 2013 I don't understand how you drink out of this.-- phundug, Jan 11 2013 A terrible solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Normally, that would do well on the halfbakery but not this time, not this time.-- DIYMatt, Jan 11 2013 Esp. not for two cups of coffee.-- xandram, Jan 11 2013 Looks viable to me. The fold down looks like it's deliberately meant to leave a bit of a spout at the high end.-- MechE, Jan 11 2013 Of course FT's anno inspired the thought of baked goods (cookies, muffins) that have a cup lid shaped/sized ring baked into them, so they form the lid during transport.-- MechE, Jan 11 2013 Toast man I can't believe you didn't turn this idea into bubble gum!-- Brian the Painter, Jan 11 2013 random, halfbakery