A Look Into Fountain Drink Lid Dispensers

Think back to the last time you went to dine at a restaurant that had free refills, aka exposed fountain drinks for your drinking pleasure. Have you ever taken a look at the dispensers? If you remember back to the beginning of the year, I brought this issue up during class. THERE ARE NO GOOD DISPENSERS OUT THERE. Every time I go to a restaurant I get really frustrated and irritated by the fact there are wasted lids everywhere.

Take a look at the picture below. I took this tonight while on my dinner run to Chipotle. This is what you normally see for dispensers. Unfortunately this picture does not have the lids laying around everywhere like they normally are, but an employee had just cleaned up the area. Anyway, there are several problems with these sorts of lid dispenser models.


First, the plastic that is used is extremely thin. Every time you try to pick one up, you get 2 or 3 or 18. However, I do not believe the plastic is the biggest problem with the design. It should be relatively thin so that material costs are minimized and there is not much waste.

Secondly, ALL of the lids are exposed! That means that people have free reign over all of the lids and can contaminate them as they please. Granted, people normally don't sabotage your lid just to sabotage your lid. But how about normal airborne contaminants? What if they happen to sneeze on your soon to be lid?? Gross.

Lastly, there is no way of determining what lid is meant to fit your size cup. "Is this the Large or the Extra Large??" That is normally the thought that goes through my head, but usually I find out that my size is the medium...womp.

What if there was a great mechanical device, free of any sort of electronics that could be sold at a cheap price to restaurants that can help you rid yourself of these common lid problems? This device would need to enclose the rest of the lids, dispense one at a time, and have a visual aid to help you choose the appropriate size with no confusion. I can see McDonald's and Chipotle buying these for every one of their locations. You heard it here (or in class) first. Sketches and patent to come soon...hopefully.