Abstract:
A large self-heating cup having an injected plastic container body ( 1 ) with two cavities, separated by a central overmolded metal wall ( 10 ). The upper cavity ( 32 ) contains the beverage while the lower cavity ( 33 ) is used to contain the heating module, an exothermic reaction without toxic reactants. Said lower cavity ( 33 ) is closed by a plastic base ( 20 ) which is also used to divide this cavity into two chambers by the way of a breakable seal ( 19 ). A solid reactant ( 34 ) is placed above the breakable seal ( 19 ) and a liquid reactant ( 35 ) is inside the plastic base ( 20 ). With the cup in an upside-down position, the user pulls off a protective foil ( 31 ) and pushes the actuator ( 26 ) which pierces the breakable seal ( 19 ) causing the mixing of both reactants and thus generate heat. An effective heat transfer to the beverage is possible by way of the separating metal wall ( 10 ) allowing a quickly elevation of its temperature. 
     A special coating on plastics and a reinforced design authorizing a sterilization stage. The conical outer shape ( 1 ) is compliant with standard accessories like lids and paper sleeves to increase tasting comfort.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a single use self-heating cup intended to contain beverages or soups. 
         [0002]    The field of the invention is the consummation of hot beverage everywhere through a packaging able to heat a liquid and/or solid quickly and safely before consuming it. In particular, the present invention relates to an innovative container body made of bi-material allowing to have all at once, heat-conductive walls and heat-protective walls. 
       2. Description of the Related Art 
       [0003]    The demand for an effective self-heating container of liquid and/or solid consumables is becoming increasingly strong and it&#39;s justified because no manufacturer has responded in full to the problem posed by the consumer society. 
         [0004]    In general, container may have integral or separate insertable modules to heat a beverage or soup. Examples of such self-heating containers with integral thermal modules are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,684, issued to Scudder or more recently U.S. Pat. No. 8,783,244 to Heat Wave Technologies and U.S. Pat. No. 8,944,045 to Fast Drink and examples of a separately insertable module is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,894 to Searle and No. 20,080,271,729 to Kolb. Such containers typically include an outer can or body, in which the food or beverage is sealed and an elongated cavity or chamber which extends into the container body from the bottom end. The cavity is sized to accommodate the thermal module. The thermal module contains two chemical reactants which are stable when separated from one another, but when mixed in response to actuation of the thermal module by a user, produce an exothermic reaction and thereby heat the contents of the container. This elongated cavity functions as both a chamber in which to contain the reaction and a heat-exchanger for transferring to the beverage. The thermal module usually has two chambers, each of which contains one of the chemical reactants, separated by a breakable seal such as metal foil. Typically, one of the reactants is a solid, and the other is a liquid form. Calcium oxide (quicklime or CaO) and water are examples of two reactants known to produce an exothermic reaction to heat the container contents. The bottom of the thermal module is normally closed off by an end-cap, integrating on its outer face an actuator button that a user may depress to initiate the heating. This end-cap typically has a pushrod or similar prong-like member that extends from the actuator button nearly to the breakable seal. Depressing the actuator button forces the prong into the breakable seal, puncturing it and thereby allowing the reactants to mix. 
         [0005]    The heat produced by the resulting exothermic reaction is transferred from the thermal module to the contents of the container body by conduction. Exothermic reactions also typically generate a gas and/or steam, which is allowed to escape through vents in the lower part of the container. When the contents have reached the desired temperature, the user consumes the heated food. 
         [0006]    Deposited container models who are mentioned previously have benefits but also certain drawbacks. For example Scudder, U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,684 which has an interesting volume of beverage, 9.5 fl oz (281 mL) but its heat transfer wall is made of plastic, it&#39;s not effective because it&#39;s weakly heat-conductive, heat time is 5 to 8 minutes and there is an important risk due to the high temperature reached. Fissures or punctures or distortions might appear in the heat transfer wall, such that the reactive product might come into contact with the consumable, making it unfit for consumption. Heat Wave Technologies, U.S. Pat. No. 8,783,244 which uses a heat transfer wall in aluminum. Excellent thermal conductivity of aluminum allows to heat the beverage very quickly, less than 2 minutes but exothermic reaction is also in contact with the outer body of the container, forcing to set up a high quality insulation for not burning user&#39;s hands. Product becomes complex and too expensive to manufacture, so hard to sell it for an average volume of beverage and only one use. Fast Drink, U.S. Pat. No. 8,944,045 which has a good concept, minimal of parts and easy assembly, so a low manufacturing cost but his volume of beverage is limited, 7 fl oz (200 mL) and the user can burn his lips on the top made of steel when he drinks, it&#39;s uncomfortable. 
         [0007]    In other models of containers provided with incorporated heating means have a complex structure demanding complicated and expensive manufacturing processes. For models with insertable modules, there is a high risk to getting burned at its introduction into the container and the user may activate it by mistake. 
         [0008]    In fact, existing self-heating systems have many shortcomings. Consumer demand is to have the largest volume of beverage for the lowest purchase price without the risk of being burnt. Therefore, the ideal product must combine the following key features:
       a powerful heat transfer from reaction chamber to the beverage chamber allowing to heat quickly a large volume of beverage, which requires the use of a high thermal conductivity material,   the thermal module must only heat the beverage and not the container wall, otherwise there is a yield loss and it requires an additional isolation,   a reinforced security around the thermal reaction which reaches over 430° F. (221° C.) in the core, the use of a material which resists to at least double that temperature is required,   it must not change habits of consumers of hot beverages, the use of this self-heating container must be the most similar to that of existing containers without heater,   the manufacturing cost must be low, have a simple design by the way of a minimal of parts and an easy assembly are essential ingredients,       
 
         [0014]    The present invention is directed to improvements in self-heating containers which overcomes the deficiencies of other patents, and that meet the above requirements of the ideal product. Over time, improvement of composite materials and manufacturing process provide new solutions. 
         [0015]    The main difficulty in using plastic material in a self-heating container, other than its heat resistance, is to allow a long shelf life to its contents because gross plastics are permeable to small molecules. 
         [0016]    Also, the shelf life of the nutritional contents can be extended thanks to a sterilization process to be performed on the finished and filled container. Indeed, transmissible agents (such as spores, bacteria and viruses) can be eliminated through sterilization. This is different from disinfection, where only organisms that can cause disease are removed. 
         [0017]    The preferred principle for sterilization is through heat, the autoclave being the most widely used method of achieving it. It&#39;s highly effective and inexpensive. A general cycle is 20 minutes at 250° F. (121° C.) at 200 kPa of pressure, which is sufficient to provide a sterility assurance level. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The present invention relates to an self-heating cup and this method of manufacturing. The word ‘cup’ because this container is made of plastic and this shape is the same as a traditional cup. As for previous patents, the container body is separated in both. The upper cavity of the container is intended for the beverage to be heated and the lower cavity intended for the thermal module. A part of the innovation is to use only three main elements to build the cup. Each element has several functions, their name are ‘container body’, ‘top cover’ and ‘base’. The remaining parts are the solid reagent, the liquid reagent, two protective foils, a breakable seal and a screen. 
         [0019]    An aspect of the present invention relates to manufacturing of the container body, which is made of bi-material thanks to introduction of a metal insert during plastic injection operation. This technology allows to have a highly heat-conductive wall for separating the two cavities, such as aluminum or other metal having a high thermal conductivity characteristic and a peripheral body made of plastic material such as polypropylene (PP) or other composite material which is low heat conductive. The assembly forming a single element. 
         [0020]    The top cover is made in the same plastic as the body and is welded to the upper part of container body for perfect sealing of the upper cavity. The shape of the top cover allows to strengthen the upper part of the cup and to increase the volume of the upper cavity, later in the detailed part, we will see that it helps to increase the shelf life of the nutritional content. A removable member is fixed on the top cover opening for closing the beverage cavity. 
         [0021]    The base is also made in the same plastic as the body and is welded in the lower part of the container body for perfect sealing of the lower cavity. As the top cover, the base has several functions. First, it participates to the cup safety thanks to isolating the whole exothermic reaction inside the metal insert. Second, it serves to contain the liquid reagent such as water or other to start the exothermic reaction when desired by the user. Third, It separates the solid reagent to the liquid reagent thanks to a breakable seal fixed on its upper part. Fourth, it integrates a movable actuator to pierce the breakable seal from the outside of the cup and thus to activate the heater by the mixing of liquid and solid reagents. Fifth, it integrates venting passages to release the pressure inside the thermal module which is generated by the heat. The base has a removable member to protect the activation mechanism from outside during storage of the cup. An air-permeable and heat resistant screen is placed under the solid reactant to prevent the powder of end of reaction to go out through the venting passage and to limit the deformation of the plastic base during heating. 
         [0022]    In another aspect of the present invention, before the beverage filling, the assembled cup receives a special coating on his outer envelop to seal the porosity of the plastic material and thus increasing to the long life of its nutritional contents. Also, this coating will prevent moisture (e.g. steam or water) from entering the beverage chamber when the cup is subject a sterilization process in autoclave. A sealing test may be done before filling the cup to ensure the beverage chamber is airtight. 
         [0023]    The present invention puts emphasis on keeping the beverage safe from the used chemical reagents. The heater cavity has a cylindrical shape but other shapes are possible as long as they are hollow with a closed end for containing the reaction. The base is inserted into this chamber to isolate the reaction. In the case of the use of aluminum alloy to isolate the reaction, this metal resists to at least 2.5 times the heat generated by the exothermic reaction using quicklime and water. Whatever reagents and the material of heater wall which are selected, this invention requires to always have a minimum ratio of 2 between the maximum temperature of thermal module and melting point of the isolated wall to providing an impenetrable barrier between the chemical reactants and the beverage, this ensuring a high level of safety. Also, as the liquid reagent is instantly absorbed and then consumed by the solid reaction, thermal mixture stays in a solid form preventing it from migrating. 
         [0024]    In yet another aspect of the present invention, the outer envelop of the cup is conical to allow an homogeneous heating of the beverage. Indeed the side wall of the heating cylinder is cooler than its upper wall, so the cup bottom heats less, hence the need to have only a small volume of beverage in this area. In return, there is a maximum of beverage over the heating chamber, which leads to use a conical form. This shape allows to adapt existing standard accessories of beverage market such as lids and paper sleeves. Thus, the conical shape of the self-heating cup fully respects what the consumer is accustomed to using and contributes to the good functioning of this technology, it&#39;s an important claim of this patent. 
         [0025]    The technology of the present invention opens up possibility to manufacture self-heating cups with a large volume of beverage thanks to the overmolded metal of the reaction chamber which allows to have an excellent heat transfer and an operational security and a container body made of plastic which is easy forming to desired dimensions and has low thermal conductivity. Thus the standard volume of beverage to be heated is 12 fl oz (355 mL) and the exploitable range is from 3.4 fl oz (100 mL) to 20 fl oz (591 ml) by applying a simple homothety of the design. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the following detailed description of the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0027]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the self-heating cup according to the present invention, 
           [0028]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the self-heating cup equipped with standard accessories of the beverage industry (not included), 
           [0029]      FIG. 3  is a cross-section view of the cup shown in  FIG. 1 , 
           [0030]      FIG. 4  is a cross-section view of the cup in the upside-down position, with the breaking member in active position, 
           [0031]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the elements of the cup, 
           [0032]      FIGS. 6 a  and 6 b    are respectively a cross-section view and a top view of the bi-material container body, 
           [0033]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged view from the circled area denoted A in  FIG. 3  of the welding process between the top cover and the container body, 
           [0034]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged view from the circled area denoted B in  FIG. 3  of the welding process between the base and the container body, 
           [0035]      FIGS. 9 a , 9 b  and 9 c    are respectively a cross-section view, a lower perspective view and upper perspective view of the base, 
           [0036]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart of assembly method of the present invention, 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Structure of the Self-Heating Cup 
       [0037]    As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the present invention has three major elements: container body  1 , top cover  11  and the base  20  and four other parts: an upper protective foil  16 , an lower protective foil  31 , a breakable seal  19  and a screen  17 . 
         [0038]    The container body  1  contains the consumable product in the upper part  32 , and thermal module in the lower part  33 . Both of these parts are separated by a wall of aluminum alloy 10 or other metal with a high thermal conductivity to allow a quick heat transfer from reaction chamber  33  to the beverage  32 . This metal wall  10  has a cylindrical shape but other forms are possible too, closed at his upper end and open to the lower end with a return bend to 90°  9  to maintain it into the plastic, it may have a thickness of 0.3 to 0.8 mm. The container body  1  is obtained by plastic injection, its peculiarity of manufacture, is that injection is done over the bend  9  of aluminum cylinder  10 . This operation is called ‘overmolding’ and together forming a single element. Due to the contact with the beverage  32 , aluminum cylinder  10  is treated ‘Food Contact’ or ‘Food Grade’ either inside the matter or either by application of a food varnish on its outer surface in contact with the beverage before overmolding. The metal cylinder  10  is firmly held in the plastic body  1  thanks to several vertical ribs  8  on the periphery and a plastic buildup along the cylinder  7 . The container body  1  may be made in polypropylene (PP) or other composite material that can support heat of 302° F. (150° C.), and to have ‘Food Contact’ label. The benefit of using a plastic cup is to have a low thermal conductivity to not burn consumer&#39;s hands when they hold the heated cup. The outer shape of container body  1  is conical with an upper edge adapted to receive a standard lid  37  like for a classic cup 8/10/12/16/20 oz without heater. Just below, there is an on-thickness of matter  3  to allow the welding of the top cover  11 , the outer shape is conical and the inner shape is flat  6  for stopping the top cover  11 . Further down, the outer conicity of the container body  1  conforms with a standard paper sleeve  38 , so an angle of 5°±2° to finish on a vertical linear low part  4  of 5 to 10 mm with a connection radius  5  between both curves. The cup thickness is at least 1.5 mm to resist the sterilization pressure. 
         [0039]    The upper part of the container body  1  is closed off by the top cover  11  made up of the same plastics as the body to allow ultrasonic soldering or other welding process between them. The weld between container body  1  and top cover  11  must be airtight. An airtight test can be realized to ensure it. The contact area of soldering is represented by the countersink  6  of container body  1  and the shoulder  13  of top cover  11  which leave parts in the proper location at the end of the soldering process. 
         [0040]    The top cover  11  has a specific shape  14  in agree with the interior shape of standard lids  37 , it allows among other to increase the volume of the beverage chamber  32 . The special shape of top cover  11  and the thickness of more than 2 mm reinforces the upper part of the cup to resist deformation. All features of this top cover  11  allow the cup to pass the sterilization step to extend the shelf life of its nutritional content. Indeed, pressure and temperature of this process could burst it if at least 15% of empty space wasn&#39;t inside the beverage chamber  32  and if the top of the cup deforms, too. The top cover  11  has an opening  12  for accessing the beverage which is closed with an upper protective foil  16  made of a metal and/or of a plastic material of thickness of 0.03 to 0.5 mm. The side of this protective foil  16  in contact with beverage must be in agreement with ‘Food Contact’ label and thermal welded on top cover  11 . The consumer removes this protective foil  16  using a side flap. 
         [0041]    The lower part of container body  1  is closed by the cylindrical base  20  made up of identical plastics as the body to allow ultrasonic soldering or other welding process or glued between them. The contact area of soldering is represented by the countersink  24   b  of container body  1  and the lip  24   a  of base  20 . Said lip will melt and crash during the welding operation by the pressure of the welding head on the face  23 . 
         [0042]    The base  20  serves as a separator between the solid  34  and liquid  35  chemical reagents thanks to a breakable seal  19  and an air-permeable screen  17 . Said breakable seal  19  is made of aluminum or similar material of 0.03 to 0.15 mm thickness which is thermal welded to upper side  30  and side part  22  of the base  20 . The screen  17  is made of fabric, moisture adsorbing material, which is positioned on the breakable seal  19  and with its folded sides on the base  20  to be blocked by the inner diameter of the reaction chamber  33  when the base  20  is inside. The base  20  must be relatively thick to be resistant to the heat due to exothermic reaction. The liquid reagent such as water or other is introduced inside the base  20  and the solid reagent like calcium oxide or other inside the reaction chamber  33  of container body  1 . A breaking member  29  is arranged at the center of the base  20 , said member consists of three members forming a triangle ending in a projecting part, however, many forms are acceptable for this feature. The breaking member  29 , due to its particular shape has a double function, it protects the breakable seal  19  against the weight of the solid reactant  34  in rest position and allows to pierce the breakable seal  19  in activated position. The puncturing action is possible thanks to the elasticity and flexibility of the concave bottom  26  of the plastic base  20  which, by external manually exerted pressure will bend inwards allowing the breaking member  29  to penetrate into the solid reagent chamber  34  by a depth of 5-10 mm. The screen  17  has three or more pre-cut slots  18  allowing the breaking member  29  to pass effortlessly through it. The cup being in the upside-down position (see  FIG. 4 ) when the user activates it, the liquid reactant  35  contained inside the base  20  will rapidly flow by the action of gravity onto the solid reactant  34  inside the reaction chamber  33 . Their mixture produces heat. 
         [0043]    The shoulder  21  on the base  20  reduces the amount of the mixture of solid and liquid reagents in powder form resulting from the reaction, which could be deposit from the inside of reaction chamber  33  onto the screen  17 . Air passage  25  between the reaction chamber  33  and the outside of the cup are placed through the base  20 , which bring air to the chemical reaction and equilibrium atmospheric pressure of the both sides. A lower protective foil  31  made of a metal and/or other material is thermally welded to the base  20  to enclose the activate button  28  and block the venting passages  25 . This welded lower protective foil  31  is “substantially moisture tight” in the sense that it will prevent moisture (e.g. steam or water) from entering reaction chamber  33  when the cup is subject to a sterilization process in autoclave. 
         [0044]    An important particularity of the present invention relates to the cup dilatation during the heating of the beverage. The aluminum cylinder  10  in contact with the reaction chamber  33  in action will be more dilated than the other materials that make up the cup as the body plastic  1 . This will have the effect of strengthening the sealing of the beverage chamber  32  during heating, it&#39;s a safe element of this technology. 
         [0045]    An example of embodiment for heating a beverage of 12 fl oz (355 ml) at 68° F. (20° C.) in using a chemical repartition of 80 g of calcium in granular form from 3 to 8 mm and 25 ml of water. The beverage temperature is increased to 131° F. (55° C.) in less than 3 minutes and the peripheral wall of the cup at 90° F. (32.2° C.) without a paper sleeve. After 50 minutes of waiting in a room at 68° F. (20° C.), the beverage temperature was still be at 104° F. (40° C.). The final temperature of the consumable depends of its initial temperature and the heat maintaining depends on the outdoor temperature. 
         [0046]    In contrast to glass or metal packaging materials, packages made with plastic are permeable at different degrees to small molecules like gases, water vapor, and organic vapor and to other low molecular weight compounds like aromas, flavor, and additives present into food. It&#39;s therefore necessary to apply a special coating of 0.5 to 2 μm thickness on the plastic body  1  to increase the shelf life of its nutritional content. Example of treatment: silicon oxide coated (SIOx), plasma pretreatment, more recently the use of a new polymers nanocomposite based films, or other treatment having the same function. 
         [0047]    Last point, there are various possibilities to display product features on the cup, either to make a pad printing on the container body  1  (peripheral and over it) after coating operation of plastics, either to fix a label  36  on the body  1  or both but more expensive. The pad printing process is more suitable for a single use of the cup, aesthetically and economically. 
       Method of Assembly of the Self-Heating Cup 
       [0048]    The assembly of the present invention is described below from the flowchart of  FIG. 10 , it&#39;s recommended to have two different manufacturing lines in parallel for the manufacturing of the self-heating cup for the most effective and fastest production time. The first line is for preparation of the container body  1  from  10 . 1  to  10 . 5  and the second line is for preparation of the base  20  from  10 . 6  to  10 . 9 . After that, both elements equipped join to finish with a single production line from  10 . 10  to  10 . 15 : 
         [0000]      10 . 1  The top cover  11  is ultrasonic welded or another welding process in the upper part of the container body  1 . A specific support must firmly hold the exterior top wall of the body container  1  during this operation,
 
 10 . 2  The plastic container body  1  equipped with its top cover  11  must receive a special coating of 0.5 to 2 μm thickness to make it impervious to small molecules,
 
 10 . 3  Although the ultrasonic weld is a very reliable process for sealing the beverage chamber  32 , it&#39;s better to make an airtight test to ensure the container quality in serial manufacturing. Thus, defective containers will be discarded,
 
 10 . 4  If pad printing option is chosen to decorate and present the product to the consumer, it&#39;s best to do it before the thermal module is inserted. Pad printing is located on the outer face of the container body  1  and optionally on the upper part of the top cover  11 ,
 
 10 . 5  A predetermined amount of a solid reagent  34  such as calcium oxide or other, which upon contact with liquid reagent  35  such as water or other, will give rise to an exothermic reaction, is placed inside of the reaction chamber  33  of container body  1  in upside-down position,
 
 10 . 6  A protective foil  31  is thermally welded to the underside of the base  20  in plastic to hermetically protect the activating button  28  and venting passages  25 ,
 
 10 . 7  A predetermined amount of liquid reagent  35  such as water or other is poured into the base  20 ,
 
 10 . 8  The breakable seal  19  is thermally welded or bonded on the upper face  30  and lateral face  22  of the base  20  to seal the liquid reagent. The inner face of the breakable seal  19  is supported by the breaking member  29 ,
 
 10 . 9  The air-permeable screen  17  is placed on the breakable seal  19 . Its edges are folded on sides of the base  20 ,
 
 10 . 10  The container body  1  in the upside-down position. The base equipped  20  is inserted into the inner diameter of overmolded cylinder  10  of container body  1  equipped until contact,
 
 10 . 11  The container body  1  is still in the upside-own position. The base  20  is ultrasonic welded or another welding process or glued on the container body  1 . A specific support must firmly hold the lower outer wall of the container body  1  during this operation,
 
 10 . 12  After having returned the container body  1  in normal position as in  FIG. 1 . The desired amount of consumable product such as beverage or soup is poured through the opening  12  of top cover  11 . It&#39;s imperative to leave a minimum of 15% air inside the beverage chamber  32  to avoid the explosion of the cup during sterilization,
 
 10 . 13  An upper protective foil  16  is thermally welded onto the opening  12  of top cover  11 . This operation tightly closes off the beverage chamber  32 ,
 
 10 . 14  In function of the desired shelf life of the food, the finished cup can be sterilized in an autoclave at a temperature and pressure suitable for the characteristics of the product. The sterilization is possible given the thickness of plastic and air volume remaining in each internal chambers,
 
 10 . 15  Optionally, the cup can be finished with the placement of a label  36  on the outside. It&#39;s not necessary to do this operation if a pad printing is already present,
 
       Method of Operation of the Self-Heating Cup 
       [0049]    To use the self-heating cup, it must be in an upside down position. Remove the protective foil  31  by pulling the side tab and throw it in an adequate garbage or possibly insert it inside the cup after the beverage consumed. This action reveals the flexible dome  26  and the central part  28  of base  20 . 
         [0050]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , the flexible dome  26  is pressed by the user, whereby the breaking member  29  moves in an axial direction for puncturing the breakable seal  19 . This allows the liquid reagent  35  contained in the base  20  to flow into the reaction chamber  33 . The liquid reagent  35  is now in contact with the solid reagent  34  initiates an exothermic reaction, for example calcium oxide and water. The user must shake the cup, still in an upside down position, for about 15 seconds to help the mixture of both reactants. Then, stand the cup on a flat surface in a normal use position as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0051]    This reaction causes an important increase of the temperature inside the thermal module, which is transmitted by conduction to the beverage  32 . After 2 to 3 minutes, it&#39;s possible to remove the standard lid  37  to remove the upper protective foil  16  that protects the beverage. Which one must to throw in an adequate garbage or possibly insert it inside the cup after the beverage consumed. The consumer fixes again the standard lid  37  on the cup and starts drinking the beverage. 
         [0052]    At that moment, the beverage has already suffered an elevation of +90° F. (+32.2° C.) in addition on its initial temperature. The performance of this self-heating packaging keeps the hot beverage for 1 hour to +65° F. (+18.3° C.) above its initial temperature. The plastic material of the cup limits the heating of the outer wall, however for added comfort, it&#39;s better to use a paper sleeve  38  to hold the cup. The present invention allows the consumer to regain the same use as a traditional cup with a served hot beverage inside. 
         [0053]    Once the beverage consumed, throw the cup in a recyclable garbage. This invention uses non-toxic chemical reactants and fully recyclable components. 
         [0054]    Obviously, other embodiments and modifications of the present invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of these teachings. Therefore, this invention is to be limited only by the following claims, which include all such other embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawings.