I tend to use coffee as a replacement for blood. As a result, the folks at Starbucks, Seattle's Best, Aspen, Carribou, etc. tend to know me by name.

However friendly the folks might be at these various coffee shops, I can't seem to get them to remember to put the lid on the cup so that the hole you drink from is not near the seam of the paper cup.

These ill-fitting lids, when placed so that you're drinking from the same side as the seam generally result in the coffee dribbling from that part of the cup.

Rather than try to retrain coffee shop employees or re-arrange the cup lid myself, I've just gone to wearing coffee-colored shirts.

So, in an effort to bring some color back into my wardrobe, I've invented the self-sealing, heat-shrink, coffee cup lid.

Simply make the lid from a heat shrink plastic that creates a tighter seal around the top of the cup and uses the natural heat from the coffee to tighten.

Now, what did I do with that yellow shirt?
-- zigness, Jun 09 2006

[zigness] if you use coffee for blood, wouldn't that involve an iv and do away with cups altogether?

unfortunately heat-shrink materials tend not to be rigid, and are more expensive than the standard plastic would be.
-- tcarson, Jun 09 2006


Maybe coffee lids could have two holes - then one would be guaranteed to be not on a seam.
-- phundug, Jun 09 2006


[tcarson], heatshrink plastics that are much more rigid that the typical electronic heat-shrink stuff that most people are familiar with are available. Also, all types get even more rigid after the shrinking process.

Regarding cost... I'm just glad that an M-F-D for "too costly" is not applied to the HB. If it were, I'm afraid the site would nearly shut down completely.
-- zigness, Jun 09 2006


If you've invented it, then does that mean it's baked?

I suggest you stop drinking coffee, and drink something like water or juice instead.
-- BJS, Jun 09 2006


Why not just get one of those spill-proof sippy cups we give our toddlers and have them pour your coffee into that?
-- MoreCowbell, Jun 09 2006


oh, not world cup? sorry, oops..

<bows out ungracefully...>
-- po, Jun 09 2006


[boysparks] sp. ...a bloody pain to drink from.

Wouldn't the difficulty in removing and replacing the lid to add extra sugar etc. be annoying?
-- spidermother, Jun 10 2006


A preposition at the end of a sentence! Well, that's the kind of nonsense up with which I won't put.
-- zigness, Jun 10 2006


[bs] Yes, that manages successfully to express awkwardfullness. (Tips hat; withdraws objection).
-- spidermother, Jun 11 2006


actaully....in ways they already do this. Ya see, "Boba Shops" don't use heat shrink lids but rather this cool "plastic attaching" machine which bonds the plastic of the cup with the plastic lid.

It makes drinking boba really cool
-- compatta, Jun 11 2006


Why not bring your own cup?

I mean if you are a true java junkie you have a cup in your hand at all times anyway, so why not have them refill the cup you came in with rather then handing you a fresh one?
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 12 2006


It seems that if someone was to go to the trouble of engineering a new type of lid, then re-engineering the cup without a seam might be one other solution.

i.e. solve the problem at source.
-- Ling, Jun 13 2006



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