Patent ID: 8622208

Claim:
A reinforced cup comprising: a conical body which has: an open top end including an outwardly rolled lip, a closed bottom end having a diameter less than the top end, and a tapered wall extending from the bottom end to the top end, said tapered wall having: an outer surface and an inner surface; and a flat reinforcing member affixed around the outer surface of the tapered wall in an overlapping manner, said reinforcing member including a body having: (i) a rigid material layer having an inner surface and an outer surface, and (ii) an adhesive layer which covers substantially the entire inner surface of the material layer, wherein when the rigid material layer resides flat in a first plane prior to being affixed around the outer surface of the tapered wall, the rigid material layer has: (a) a concave edge, (b) a convex edge, wherein a trough of the concave edge is aligned with an apex of the convex edge, (c) a leading edge extending along a first line, (d) a sensing edge configured to be sensed prior to the reinforcing member being affixed around the outer surface of the tapered wall, said leading edge and sensing edge extending between the concave and convex edges of one end of the rigid material layer, (e) a trailing edge extending along a second line which intersects said first line, and (f) an adhesive relief edge preventing the adhesive layer from leaking from the inner surface of the rigid material layer, said trailing edge and said adhesive relief edge extending between the concave and convex edges of an opposite end of the rigid material layer, and said sensing edge and said adhesive relief edge extending substantially parallel to each other; and wherein after being affixed around the outer surface of the tapered wall, the rigid material layer has: (i) the concave edge adjacent to the closed bottom end of the conical body, (ii) the convex edge adjacent to the open top end of the conical body, (iii) the leading edge and the trailing edge extending substantially parallel to each other, and (iv) the sensing edge extending along a third line, and the adhesive relief edge extending along a fourth line which intersects the third line.