Consumers of hot beverages such as coffee and tea have historically been offered one of two options to drink a hot beverage “on the go” as opposed to drinking the hot beverage at home, at the office or in a restaurant. The first option is a disposable cup, which is typically discarded following consumption of the hot beverage and, as such, creates waste. The second option is a reusable travel tumbler which, while reducing the waste produced by the consumer, necessitates that the consumer carry the tumbler following the consumption of the hot beverage. Consumers typically select the use of a reusable travel tumbler based on their concern of the impact of disposable cup waste on the environment, of the greater perceived material integrity of a reusable tumbler as compared to a disposable cup, and of the costs related to continually restocking disposable cups. The inconvenience of carrying the tumbler post-consumption is often times ameliorated by the consumer storing this bulky item in their automobile following consumption. Consumers who do not have use of an automobile on a daily basis, such as urban residents, city commuters, and university students have been less likely to utilize a reusable travel tumbler because of the need to store and transport the reusable tumbler on their person or in a briefcase or small bag they may be carrying following consumption.
Currently there are very limited options available to the consumer who does not utilize an automobile on a daily basis but wishes to use a reusable tumbler for daily drinking of hot beverages. While the consumer may utilize a traditional travel tumbler, this bulky drinking container would need to be carried by the consumer on his person following consumption of the beverage. While there exists on the market some collapsible flexible material-based containers which would allow the consumer to store the drinking vessel in a more compact fashion following consumption of the beverage, such products either exhibit a bulky handle, or otherwise do not provide appropriate insulation to prevent the consumer's hand from experiencing excessive heat radiation from the hot beverage. Many of these products exhibit crevices that are difficult to clean, so that old beverages remain stored in the container after repeated cleaning cycles, and new beverages take on a dissatisfying taste or smell from the old residue. Furthermore, traditional travel tumblers do not ensure that any residual liquid remaining within a flexible material-based container will not leak out once the flexible material-based container is compressed.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds