Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Cup Lock

 Beverage cup stability
  (+27)(+27)(+27)
(+27) 		  [vote for,
against]

Earlier this week my husband drove his favorite car down to his favorite barrista to buy a few lattes for some overseas guests who wanted the real Seattle coffee experience.

Whether through throttle exuberance or other cause, one of the lattes flipped out of the cardboard carrier and a half pint of coffee flowed into the carpet.

I propose adding slotted cutouts, cam lock style, to the bottom rim of the cup and making trays that can accept the cutouts, so that the cup can then be simply twisted in and out to lock and unlock the cup from the tray.

I've drawn an example of the cup (link, below) and have noticed that I have an obvious error in the drawing. Can you tell me what it is?

—bristolz, Jan 23 2006

Cup lock concept drawing http://bz.pair.com/fun/cuplk.html
[~20Kb image] [bristolz, Jan 23 2006]

Threaded Beer Can Threaded_20Beer_20Cans
Similar solution for similar problem. Interesting contrast. [Jinbish, Jan 31 2006]

[link]






       depends!   

       no feckin' lid.
—po, Jan 23 2006
   

       No tray.
—wagster, Jan 23 2006
   

       Cup is far to big to hold a double espresso?... no... wait.... is it that clockwise is generally fix and anticlockwise release? Do you need to flip your image?
—st3f, Jan 23 2006
   

       Oh yeah - I think you might be right [st3f].
—wagster, Jan 23 2006
   

       Either that or it's that the image is shaking too much. [drinks another espresso]
—st3f, Jan 23 2006
   

       It's so obvious, it's incredible.   

       Tan and purple do not, and will never, go together.
—nth, Jan 23 2006
   

       Thought it might be an idea for converting the handle of a cup into a sort of padlock hasp, that would clamp it unto something, and stop some thieving, borrowing nurk, from either thieving it or borrowing it - think I might make one of these for myself ( by the way Lattes are sooooo 20 c )   

       Would like idea even more if the cups locked unto the tray, but would not unlock, and the unsuspecting got soaked in hot frothy milk trying to untwist them, or even had to drink them still attached to the tray - why am I like this ? +
—xenzag, Jan 23 2006
   

       Yes, the twist direction is the one I'm thinking of, [st3f]. I notice [Druze] mentioned arrow direction but the arrow direction is correct given the orientation of the slots in the cup base.   

       I didn't want to draw the tray and thought it wasn't necessary to as looking at the cup tells you what the tray looks like, at least the lock part.   

       Purple and tan work very well together, [Nth]. I mean, in limited settings.
—bristolz, Jan 23 2006
   

       Alternatively coffee places could serve coffee in a disposable version of those infants' cups which don't spill when they're inverted (the cups, not (always) the infants) - they use a similar model to non-spill inkwells and children's bubble-mixture containers. Having said that, I like the idea of a universal cup lock mount in cars and elsewhere - bicycle handlebars, office desks, church pews, public transport, cinema seat armrests, balcony railings, hats, etc.
—hippo, Jan 24 2006
   

       Purple and tan aren't two colors I'd readily put together. Especially a de saturated purple and a warm tan. Sort of an uncomfortable/sickly combination. Wonder if it's anything to do with an association. Bruising on your skin?   

       Good idea though.
—linc, Jan 29 2006
   

       +'s good.   

       What's wrong with being left-handed? I think you just drew a picture of a passenger-side cup, or a driver's side cup in the EU.
—lurch, Jan 30 2006
   

       I noticed the colour scheme and thought it gave it a very fifties sweet shop sort of look.
—crash, Jan 30 2006
   

       In general, you twist clockwise to lock, and counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise) to unlock.   

       ?
—xrayTed, Jan 30 2006
   

       these would be ideal for beer at the cricket too.
—neilp, Jan 30 2006
   

       I don't like coffee. Will it work for hot chocolate?
—Jinbish, Jan 30 2006
   

       The arrow shouldn't be hovering in mid air?
—Cuit_au_Four, Jan 30 2006
   

       A carton of coffee, Mr. Tindale?   

       And the color combination, as [crash] noted, is intended to be cheap and corny. It's in the tradition of those horrid paper towel patterns.   

       I wonder how many paper towel pattern designers there are working worldwide.
—bristolz, Jan 30 2006
   

       I think you'll find that's an upside [UB].
—wagster, Jan 31 2006
   

       This is a brilliant idea.
—shapu, Jan 31 2006
   
      
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