Importance

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Abstract

An elongated blank (10) is used to form a thermally insulated cup (30). The blank includes a pair of spaced apart smooth portions (12, 13) connected by a middle portion (11). The blanks may have chamfered or trimmed comers to reduce the amount of waste on the sheet from which they are cut. The smooth portions are folded on opposite sides of the middle portion. The middle portion is corrugated or otherwise distorted or deformed to create air space. The folded sheet is wound around a mandrel to form a cylinder or conoid. The ends of the smooth portions are joined together, and a bottom closure (14) is attached to form the cup. The finished cup includes a smooth outer shell (12S), a smooth inner shell (13S), and a middle layer (11L) sandwiched therebetween. The middle layer forms many air spaces between the shells to thermally insulate the contents of the cup, and also provide structural strength. The outer shell may have embossing for greater resistance to slippage through one's hands and better insulating properties. The cup can be constructed of paper, which makes it biodegradable and recyclable, and its simple construction method makes it easy and inexpensive to manufacture using standard, conventional machinery. One, two, or all three layers of the cup's sidewall may be rolled over to form a top rim with added rigidity. In an alternative embodiment (FIG. 5A), the starting blank may have the insulating portion (34) at one end instead of the middle, and it is suitably folded so that the insulating layer comes out as a middle layer (FIG. 6A). In another embodiment, the insulating portion (34') may be provided as a separate piece of insulating material. In another embodiment, the starting blank has just two sections (FIG. 7A) and it is similarly folded and wound so that the cup has two layers, an outer deformed layer (34) and an inner smooth layer (32).

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First Claim