U.S. patent number 3,910,328 [Application Number 05/402,349] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-07 for insulating jacket for drinking utensils.
Invention is credited to Emery Marcoux.
United States Patent |
3,910,328 |
Marcoux |
October 7, 1975 |
Insulating jacket for drinking utensils
Abstract
A jacket of heat insulating material, such as expanded
polystyrene foam, for use with drinking utensils, such as glasses,
cans, bottles or the like, of various shapes and sizes. The jacket
is composed of a bottom having the shape of a regular polygon with
a plurality of side wall elements, each pivotally connected to a
straight edge of the polygonal bottom by a flexible membrane
capable of folding along anyone of several fold lines parallel to
the associated bottom edge, each side wall element being
independent from and overlapping an adjacent side wall element.
Thus, the side wall elements can fit drinking utensils of various
sizes and shapes and there is no solution of continuity at the
surface of the jacket.
Inventors: |
Marcoux; Emery (Montreal,
Quebec, CA) |
Family
ID: |
23591529 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/402,349 |
Filed: |
October 1, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
222/408; 47/72;
220/6; 220/23.91; 215/12.1; 220/903 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
81/3879 (20130101); B65D 23/08 (20130101); B65D
81/3851 (20130101); Y10S 220/903 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
81/38 (20060101); B65D 23/00 (20060101); B65D
23/08 (20060101); B65b 011/48 (); B65d
081/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;215/12R,12A,13R
;150/52R ;229/1.5R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
|
|
121,457 |
|
Apr 1948 |
|
SW |
|
562,841 |
|
May 1957 |
|
IT |
|
361,082 |
|
Jul 1938 |
|
IT |
|
Primary Examiner: Ross; Herbert F.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A jacket for use with drinking utensils and made of heat
insulating material comprising a bottom having the shape of a
regular polygon, a side wall composed of a plurality of separate
side wall elements, each independently hinged to a straight side
edge of said polygonal bottom, each side wall element of an
elongated shape, said side wall elements capable of taking an
inclined as well as a perpendicular position with respect to the
bottom to substantially fit tapered as well as non-tapered drinking
utensils, each side wall element further being of generally
rectangular shape and formed of two longitudinal sections disposed
side by side and offset one with respect to the other across their
thickness, one section only being hinged to the bottom and the
other section laterally extending from said hinged section, said
side wall elements overlapping each other in their upright
condition.
2. A jacket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer section is
hinged to said bottom.
3. A jacket as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inner corner of the
inner section is bevelled, so as to separate said inner section
from an adjacent outer section in flattened condition of the jacket
with the side wall elements lying in substantially flat plane
containing said bottom.
4. A jacket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said side wall elements
are hinged to the respective straight side edges of said bottom by
means of a hinge membrane, which is thin and flexible and capable
of folding along different fold lines parallel to the associated
bottom side edge and increasingly spaced therefrom.
5. A jacket as claimed in claim 4, wherein said hinge membrane is
thinner than said bottom and said side wall elements and is
provided at its inside surface with a plurality of grooves parallel
to said bottom side edge and spaced from one another end defining
said fold lines.
6. A jacket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper and lower
transverse edges of said inner section are rounded and said hinge
membrane is attached to the lower edge of the outer section of the
side wall element.
7. A jacket as claimed in claim 2, made of a single molded piece of
plastic foam.
8. A jacket as claimed in claim 1, wherein said side wall elements
are provided each with at least one groove adapted to register with
the groove of adjacent side wall elements and an elastic band
fitting within said groove and surrounding the jacket to press said
side wall elements radially inwardly towards the center of the
jacket.
9. A jacket as claimed in claim 2, wherein said side wall elements
are provided each with at least one groove adapted to register with
the groove of adjacent side wall elements and an elastic band
fitting within said groove and surrounding the jacket to press said
side wall elements radially inwardly towards the center of the
jacket.
Description
The present invention relates to a drinking utensil jacket or
coaster made of insulating material, such as expanded polystyrene
foam, to isolate the contents of the drinking utensil from the
surrounding ambient temperature conditions, such as to keep cold
drink or a hot drink in cold or hot condition respectively for a
much longer time than would be normal without insulation and which
also prevents the user's hand from contacting the water of
condensation forming on a drinking utensil containing a cold drink
and which prevents dripping of said water condensation on a table
or the like support surface.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a jacket
of the character described, which is so arranged as to fit drinking
utensils of various shapes and sizes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a jacket of the
character described, which normally covers the drinking utensils
without solution of continuity at the jacket surface, despite the
fact that said jacket is arranged to fit various sizes and shapes
of drinking utensils.
Another object of the invention is to provide an insulating jacket
of the character described, which substantially closely fits the
surface of the drinking utensil, thus providing good heat
insulation and which will not slip off the drinking utensil,
because the pressure exerted by the user's hand on the jacket
causes the jacket to be pressed against the utensil surface.
Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of
an insulating jacket of the character described, which can be
stored in flat condition to take up a minimum of room when not used
and which can be stacked in nested condition one jacket within the
other.
Another object of the invention resides in the provision of an
insulating jacket of the character described, which is arranged to
be easily fitted over and removed from drinking utensils of various
sizes and shapes, including beaded cans.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an insulating
jacket of the character described, which can be molded in a one
piece in a shallow mold.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will
become more apparent during the following disclosure and by
referring to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a beer bottle provided with the
jacket in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the jacket in flattened condition;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the jacket in which the side wall
leaves or elements are partially overlapped, so that if the jacket
in this condition was seen in vertical section, it would be flaring
upwardly;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are partial vertical sections, on an enlarged scale,
showing a bottom corner of the jacket in two different positions
taken when a can is completely fitted within the jacket and upon
removal of the can;
FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of the jacket in partially flattened
condition;
FIG. 8 shows the jacket in schematic vertical section assuming
various shapes in accordance with various diameters and shapes of
the drinking utensil used therewith; and
FIG. 9 is a partial vertical section, on an enlarged scale, of a
bottom corner of the jacket showing the hinge membrane.
The jacket in accordance with the invention is generally indicated
at A and is adapted to fit and surround a drinking utensil, such as
a beer bottle B. The jacket is made of heat insulating material,
such as closed cell polystyrene foam, having, for instance, a
density of 4 to 10 pounds per cubic foot, such foam normally having
an insulating property measured by an insulating factor K equal to
about 0.24. The jacket is therefore made of a substantially rigid
material. It is composed of a bottom 1 which has the shape of a
regular polygon, for instance an octogon, as shown in FIG. 3, with
straight side edges 2 equally inclined with respect to one
another.
A plurality of side wall elements 3, which are separate from each
other, are adapted to form the side wall of the jacket. Each side
wall element 3, which is substantially rigid, has a generally
rectangular shape defined by straight longitudinal side edges 4, 5,
an outer transverse edge 6 and an inner transverse edge 7. One
inner corner of each side wall element may be cut off to define a
bevelled edge 8 joining the inner end of side edge 5 with inner
transverse edge 7. The side wall element 3 is composed of two
longitudinal sections, of equal thickness, which are offset with
respect to each other across the thickness of the element. These
two sections are preferably integrally formed, being connected by
an integral bridge 9. Section 10, which is provided with the
bevelled edge 8, has an inner surface 11 which is raised with
respect to inner surface 12 of the other longitudinal section 13 to
an extent equal to the thickness of the sections. The two inner
surfaces 11 and 12 form a radial stop 14. Similarly, the outer
surface of section 10 is recessed with respect to outer surface of
section 13, there being defined a step 17 between these outer
surfaces. All of the side wall elements 3 are of similar shape and
construction and they all have a partially cylindrical shape so as
to define a cylindrical sleeve when the longitudinal side edges 4
and 5 are parallel to one another.
Each side wall element 3 is hinged to the bottom 1 by a thin highly
flexible hinge membrane 18. Each membrane is transversely flat and
connects along a straight edge to the straight side edge 2 of
bottom 1 and also along a straight edge to the inner transverse
edge 7 at the portion thereof corresponding to radially outer
section 13 of the side wall element 3. Each hinge membrane has an
appreciable length and is provided at its inner surface with a
plurality of spaced parallel V-shaped grooves 19, also parallel to
the side edge 2. Thus, the hinge membrane can be folded along
anyone of the grooves 19 or along its junction with bottom 1 or
with side wall element 3. The inner transverse upper and lower edge
portions of side wall element inner section 10 are rounded, as
shown at 20 and 20' in FIGS. 2, 5, 6, and 9. The outer surface of
section 13 is provided with a pair of transverse grooves 21
longitudinally spaced from each other and adapted to receive
elastic bands 22, the grooves 21 being in register from section to
section when the elements 3 are in upright position. Bands 22
completely surround jacket A.
The jacket can take a substantially flat position, as shown in FIG.
3, with all the side wall elements 3 completely opened and lying in
a substantially common plane, which is also the plane of the bottom
1. Thus, the jacket can be easily molded in a substantially flat
shallow mold. The cut-out portions defining the bevelled edge 8
separate one element from an adjacent one. The extent of the bevel
will vary in accordance with the length of the hinge membrane 18
and will entirely disappear if hinge membrane 18 is sufficiently
long. Several jackets can be stacked and shipped in flattened
condition to take up a minimum of room. To set up a jacket, the
side wall elements 3 are pivoted about their respective hinge
membrane 18 with section 10 overlapping the inside surface of the
section 13 of an adjacent side wall element 3, as clearly shown in
FIG. 4. Once the side wall elements are in upright position,
elastic bands 22 are inserted within the registering grooves 21,
all around the jacket, whereby the side edge 5 of one side wall
element will abut against the step 14 of an adjacent side wall
element and, similarly, the side edge 4 of the same side wall
element will abut against the step 17 of the other adjacent element
3. In this condition, the jacket is of tubular cylindrical shape
and has a minimum of diameter, as shown at Aa in FIG. 8.
It will be noted that all of the elements 3 overlap each other and
that the bevelled edges 8 are normaly hidden from view by the outer
section 13 of the adjacent side wall element.
A drinking utensil, such as a beer bottle B, is easily inserted
within the set-up jacket. The bottom of the beer bottle B is simply
pressed against the top rounded edge of the side wall elements 3
which simply open up against the action of elastic bands 22 and
automatically take the diameter of the bottle B or other drinking
utensils. The jacket can fit drinking utensils of various diameters
within a wide range, as shown at Aa, Ab, and Ac in FIG. 8. The
hinge membrane 18 simply folds along one or the other of grooves 19
or at the junction between the membrane and the side element for
the largest diameter, as shown at Ac, and along the junction of the
hinge membrane with the bottom for a minimum diameter.
The transverse curvature of the inner surface of inner section 10
is preferably chosen to fit a cylindrical drinking utensil having a
diameter corresponding to the mean diameter of the jacket A,
mid-way between its minimum and maximum diameters.
Obviously, the jacket can fit drinking utensils having a downwardly
tapering shape, such as a drinking glass, or an upwardly tapering
shape, as shown at Ad and Ae respectively in FIG. 8. For drinking
utensils of larger diameter, it is easy to spread the side walls 3
apart at their top portion to insert the drinking utensil
therein.
When the drinking utensil has a lower bead, such as a can, as shown
at C in FIGS. 5 and 6, the bottom of the can, when pressed against
the jacket bottom 1, has its bead D freely extending within the
space 23 defined by the thin hinge membrane 18, whereby the inner
surface of section 10 can still contact the side surface of the
can. When inserting and removing the can, the bead D simply moves
along the rounded edge 20' 20 and respectively of the inner section
10.
It will be noted that the jacket presents no solution continuity at
its outer surface, that it completely covers the drinking utensil
in the area of the jacket for most sizes of drinking utensils,
except those in the maximum diameter range, because of the
overlapping condition of the side wall elements 3. In the maximum
range of diameters, only small triangularly shaped windows may
appear due to the presence of bevelled edge 8, if any. This
bevelled edge is necessary when the jacket is molded in flat shape,
as shown in FIG. 3. The jackets, when taking the shape Ad of FIG.
8, can be nested one within the other. The jacket cannot slip off
the drinking utensil due to the presence of the elastic bands 22
pressing the side wall elements 3 against the drinking utensil
surface. The user's hand, while holding the jacket also presses the
jacket against the drinking utensil. Because the user's hand cannot
touch the drinking utensil surface while grasping the jacket, he
will not burn himself or get his hand wet due to the presence of
condensation water on the cold bottle surface.
* * * * *