Coffee-lid conundrum: Designers seek best way to plug the sip hole

TOBY MANTHEY
Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon

December 26, 2004

Craig Anderson and Robert Sanders of Canby have spent three years designing a solution to the sip hole in disposable-coffee-cup lids. They dreamed of something that didn't spill, something that was easily opened and closed while driving.

There is only one problem with that problem: It has been solved already.

Released nationwide early this year, the Solo Traveler Plus lid is at the zenith of current coffee-lid design. The top-notch disposable top has a sip hole with a lever that elegantly slides shut. It was designed for Solo Cup Co. by Metaphase Design Group, a St. Louis, Mo., company specializing in ergonomics and the human hand.

The lid already has won I.D. Magazine's prestigious "Best of Category" award for the publication's 2004 Annual Design Review for industrial design.

All of that hasn't discouraged the Canby duo, who run a machine shop and have sold a few hundred of their CappACup. The CappACup isn't a lid per se, but a plastic arm that clips to your coffee cup and reaches over to cover the sip hole on the lid.

And it's about as sleek as a pocket protector.

More...