Disposable cup assembly

Claim 1

A disposable cup assembly comprising: an integral vacuum formed thermoplastic thin-walled liner having a sidewall of truncated substantially right circular conical shape and having a closed bottom wall, and an integral vacuum formed thermoplastic thin-walled holder for receiving said liner said holder also having a sidewall of substantially truncated substantially right circular conical shape, said liner and said holder each comprising an interlocking component together constituting releasable interlocking means for retaining a liner in said holder, the sidewall of said liner having a greater angle of convergence with its axis than does the sidewall of said holder, to form a thermally insulative air pocket beneath the level of said interlocking means, the horizontal spacing between the liner sidewall and the holder sidewall increasing with distance beneath the level of said interlocking means through substantially the entire coextension of said liner and said holder so that the rate of heat transfer between said liner and said holder is generally reduced with distance beneath said interlocking means, said horizontal spacing being significantly greater than the thickness of the holder wall throughout substantially the entire coextension of said liner and said holder, said holder terminating at the level of said interlocking means and said liner extending thereabove so that said liner and said holder can be easily separated; said holder has a substantially closed bottom wall and wherein said holder bottom wall is spaced from that of said liner whereby said air pocket surrounds the entire outside surface of said liner beneath the level of said interlocking means, when said holder and said liner are mated, the portion of said liner beneath the level of said interlocking components hangs pendent, fully encompassed by said air pocket and out of contact with said holder, said holder being substantially symmetrical about any plane containing its axis so that a plurality of said holders substantially fully telescopically nest to form a stack.