WO2002087994A1

WO2002087994A1 - Insulating holder for beverage container

Info

Publication number: WO2002087994A1
Application number: PCT/GB2002/001964
Authority: WO
Inventors: Adrian Mark Weintroub; Jeremy Neil Weintroub
Original assignee: Adrian Mark Weintroub; Jeremy Neil Weintroub
Priority date: 2001-05-01
Filing date: 2002-04-30
Publication date: 2002-11-07
Also published as: GB0110610D0

Abstract

A holder (200) for holding a beverage container (10) comprises a sleeve, formed from sleeve forming portions (3), having a plurality of container engaging members (1) and (8), which engaging members are inwardly foldable to a position between a container and the sleeve when a container is held within the holder. The holder preferably comprises spacing means for spacing the engaging members from (a) the sleeve and/or (b) a container held within the holder, which preferably comprise embossed portions (2) of the engaging members. The engaging members preferably comprise cut-away sections (4). Also disclosed is a blank (100) for forming such a holder.

Description

_INSULATING HOLDER FOR BEVERAGE CONTAINER

The present invention relates to a holder for holding a beverage container. Conventionally, hot beverages such as tea and coffee are sold by establishments, such as takeaway food outlets and coffee bars, in disposable polystyrene cups to insulate the consumer's hands from the hot beverage, and provide a degree of thermal insulation for the beverage. However, polystyrene cups are non-biodegradable and their disposal can be environmentally damaging.

Less expensive and/or less environmentally damaging alternatives have been proposed. Typically, these devices comprise an insulating sleeve into which a relatively inexpensive disposable cup can be placed, for example a paper or polyethylene cup, the sleeve having corrugated, honeycombed or fluted areas for insulating the consumer' s hands from the cup.

For example, US patent number 5 205 473 discloses a recyclable corrugated beverage container holder having fluting structures for containing insulating air, and US patent number 5 842 633 discloses a holder for a beverage cup comprising a band of corrugated material having oppositely extending slots adjacent the ends of the band which facilitate the assembly of the holder in use.

However, there are a number of disadvantages associated with the use of such holders. One such disadvantage is that corrugated and composite materials tend to be expensive to produce. For example, the average price per unit area of corrugated cardboard is nearly twice that of solid board cardboard.

Another disadvantage of holders which derive their insulating properties from corrugation is the limited degree of decoration that can be printed on the surface of the holder. In this respect, cup holders are increasingly viewed as a valuable advertising medium, for example for attracting a target demographic, such as young professional people, who comprise a large proportion of the take-away beverage market. However, the quality of printing on conventional corrugated cardboard cup holders tends to be relatively poor, due to its compression between heavy rollers during the printing process, which causes lateral movement of the fluted layer relative to the surface liner. In a four-colour press in which inks are overlayed, such movement severely reduces image resolution. In addition, the linear areas where the surface liner is adhered to the fluted layer tend to absorb more ink than the intervening areas, thus giving an undesirable "striped" surface effect. Solutions to this problem simply further increase the cost of what is a throw away item.

The present invention seeks to provide a holder for holding a beverage container which can overcome the aforementioned disadvantages. According to the present invention there is provided a holder for holding a beverage container, which holder comprises a sleeve having a plurality of container engaging members, which engaging members are inwardly foldable to a position between a container and the sleeve when a container is held within the holder. The holder may in principle have any number of engaging members, although the width of the holder in question will limit the number of engaging members in practice. Conveniently, the holder may have two, three or four engaging members, preferably four. The engaging members may be substantially identical, or may be different, for example of differing widths.

The present invention can thus provide a holder whereby, in use, there is no direct contact between a beverage container held within the holder and the sleeve in the area of the inwardly folded engaging members. The holder can be configured to hold a conventional frusto-conical container, for example a 12 oz paper cup, to insulate the outside surface of the cup from the consumer' s hands . The depth of the holder can be variable; the holder may extend over the entire depth of the cup, or merely the portion of the cup which is intended to be held by the consumer. The engaging members can be formed integrally with the sleeve for ease of manufacture. Preferably, the holder comprises spacing means for spacing the engaging members from a) the sleeve and/or b) a container held within the holder. The spacing means allow for air gaps between the container and the engaging members, and/or the engaging members and the sleeve. The air in the air gaps helps provide an insulating layer to reduce heat loss from the beverage by conduction.

Conveniently, the engaging members comprise the spacing means. In this way, the engaging members themselves assist in creating air gaps. Preferably, the spacing means comprise embossed portions of the sleeve and/or engaging members. More preferably, at. least one engaging member has at least one embossed portion. Preferably, at least one engaging member has a cut-away section. Such cut-away sections also help to create air gaps to aid insulation.

The outer surface of the sleeve may comprise printed matter. The present invention can thus provide a holder which is much more attractive for advertising purposes than conventional holders, in particular when the holder of the present invention is made from solid board cardboard.

In addition, the ' sleeve may comprise temperature sensitive material which is capable of providing a user with information concerning the temperature of a beverage contained within a container held with the holder. For example, the temperature sensitive material may change colour with temperature.

The holder of the present invention is conveniently frusto-conical.

The present invention also provides a blank for forming a holder according to the present invention, as described hereinabove. The holder of the present invention may be formed from the blank as is conventional, i.e. by fixing opposite sides of the blank together to form the sleeve. The engaging members may be inwardly folded either prior to or after forming the sleeve from the blank.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a blank of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows the blank shown in Figure 1 with the container engaging members inwardly folded; Figures 3a and 3b show respective side views of a holder formed from the blank shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 shows the holder shown in Figures 3a and 3b in use with a container held therein;

Figure 5 shows an alternative holder of the present invention in use with a container held therein; and

Figure 6 shows a plan view of an alternative blank according to the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, a blank 100 of the present invention is formed from a planar sheet of solid board cardboard, and comprises three broad container engaging members 1, a fourth narrow container engaging member 8, and sleeve forming portions 3. The engaging members 1 and 8 are shown in Figure 1 in an unfolded position. The three broad engaging members 1 have a cut-away section 4, for helping to create insulating air gaps between a container held within a holder formed from the blank 100 in use and the sleeve of the so-formed holder. The fourth engaging member 8 is narrow so as to facilitate formation of a holder from the blank 100, as is described hereinbelow.

The engaging members 1 and 8 also comprise spacing means in the form of embossed sections 2. The embossed sections 2 are formed on the side of the blank 100 viewed in Figure 1, so as to be between the engaging members 1 and 8 and the sleeve forming portions 3 when the engaging members 1 and 8 are folded inwardly, as shown in Figure 2. The embossed sections 2 help to form an insulating air gap between the engaging members 1 and 8 and the sleeve forming portions 3. Additionally or alternatively, the embossed sections may be formed on the other side of the engaging members 1 and 8, i.e. so as to be directly between the engaging portions 1 and 8 and a container in use, and/or on the sleeve forming portions 3.

In this embodiment, the engaging members 1 and 8 meet the sleeve forming portions 3 at an oblique angle, and have a lug 9 on each side adjacent the sleeve forming portion 3. The lugs 9 help maintain air gaps between the engaging members 1 and 8 and a container held within a holder formed from the blank 100 in use. Engaging member crease lines 5 are formed in the blank 100, along which the engaging members 1 and 8 may be inwardly folded. The blank 100 also comprises sleeve crease lines 6 along which the sleeve forming portions 3 may be folded so as to form the sleeve. The blank 100 is shown in Figure 2 with the engaging members 1 and 8 folded inwardly.

A holder 200 of the present invention formed from the blank 100 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is shown in Figures 3a and 3b, and is prepared from the blank 100 as follows. As shown in Figure 2, the engaging members 1 and 8 are folded inwardly along engaging member crease lines 5. The sleeve forming portions 3 are then folded along sleeve crease lines 6 such that side edge 7 may be fixed, for example by gluing, to the 5 corresponding opposing edge of the furthest sleeve forming portion 3 adjacent the fourth narrow engaging member 8, to thereby form a sleeve, with the engaging members 1 and 8 positioned within the sleeve. The fourth engaging member 8 is narrow so as not to overlap with the opposing engaging

10 member 1 adjacent fixing side 7 when forming the sleeve. Alternatively, the engaging members 1 and 8 may be folded inwardly along engaging member crease lines 5 after the sleeve forming portions are folded along sleeve crease lines 6, as is convenient. Thus, a holder 200 is formed from the blank

15 100, as shown in Figures 3a and 3b. In Figures 3a and 3b the holder 200 is shown as being frusto-conical, with a sleeve crease line 6 facing the viewer in Figure 3a, and in Figure 3b with the central sleeve forming portion 3 of the blank 100 facing the viewer.

20 The holder 200 shown in Figures 3a and 3b is shown in use in Figure 4, holding a circular cross-section beverage container 10. Two of the engaging members 1 are shown in dotted lines. The container 10 is held between the engaging members 1 and 8, which are spaced from the sleeve (formed from

25 the sleeve forming portions 3) by the embossed sections 2, to help insulation of the container 10. The air gaps created by the cut-away sections 4 also create insulating air gaps, as discussed hereinabove. The holder 200 is designed so as to extend substantially the entire depth of the container 10.

30 An alternative embodiment of a holder 300 of the present invention is shown in Figure 5. The holder 300 is substantially identical to that shown in Figure 4, but is designed so as to extend only partially along the depth of the container 10.

An alternative blank 400 of the present invention is shown in Figure 6. The blank 400 is substantially identical to the blank 100 shown in Figures 1 and 2, with the exception of the absence of lugs 9. In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the engaging members 1 and 8 meet the sleeve forming portions 3 at an acute angle. The acutely angled portions 20 help maintain air gaps between the engaging members 1 and 8 and a container held within a holder formed from the blank 100 in use, and thus additional lugs 9 are not required with this embodiment .

In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the blanks 100 and 400 and the holders 200 and 300 will have printed material on the outer surface of the sleeve. It will be understood that the embodiments illustrated describe the invention only for the purposes of illustration. In practice, the invention may be applied to many different configurations, the detailed embodiments being straightforward for those skilled in the art to implement.

Claims

1. A holder for holding a beverage container, which holder comprises a sleeve having a plurality of container engaging members, which engaging members are inwardly foldable to a position between a container and the sleeve when a container is held within the holder.

2. A holder according to claim 1 wherein the holder comprises spacing means for spacing the engaging members from a) the sleeve and/or b) a container held within the holder.

3. A holder according to claim 2 wherein the engaging members comprise the spacing means.

4. A holder according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the spacing means comprise embossed portions of the sleeve and/or engaging members .

5. A holder according to claim 4 wherein at least one engaging member has at least one embossed portion.

6. A holder according to any preceding claim wherein at least one engaging member has a cut-away section.

7. A holder according to any preceding claim wherein the outer surface of the sleeve comprises printed matter.

8. A holder according to any preceding claim made from solid board cardboard.

9. A holder according to any preceding claim wherein the sleeve comprises temperature sensitive material which is capable of providing a user with information concerning the temperature of a beverage contained within a container held within the holder.

10. A holder according to any preceding claim wherein the sleeve is frusto-conical .

11. A blank for forming a holder according to any preceding claim.

12. A blank according to claim 9 substantially as shown in Figures 1 and 2 or 6.