Abstract:
An insulated beverage holder is made of a bodily flexible foam material having a sleeve for receiving a beverage container and a lid. The lid is attached to the sleeve and is movable from a position covering the open top of a beverage container to a position away from the sleeve. The sleeve may be folded into a stowed position inside the lid. Fasteners are provided to keep the folded sleeve inside the lid and provide a compact decorative package.

Description:
This invention relates to an insulated beverage holder and, more particularly, to such a device which has a lid and which may be folded up for transport or storage. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Insulated beverage holders are well known in the art for receiving beverage cans or bottles and insulating the contents thereof from rapid temperature change. The standard insulated beverage holder of the prior art is made of a bodily flexible foam material with a fabric covering and has a circular bottom wall connected to a cylindrical side wall. The standard insulated beverage holder occupies somewhat more than the volume of the container which it is designed to hold, thereby making it inconvenient to ship, display for sale or store between uses. When empty, the standard insulated beverage holder will stand upright and neither tip over nor will the cylindrical side wall collapse or flex from its own weight. 
     The standard insulated beverage holder has an open top so the top of the container therein is exposed. There is accordingly considerable heat loss through the exposed top of the container. In addition, openings in the top of the container allow entry of dust, insects and the like. Thus, bees or the like are attracted to sweet liquids in the container and are known to fly into the openings of containers held in standard insulated beverage holders to the consternation of a person drinking from the container. In very dusty situations, a close inspection of the container contents will ruin one&#39;s inclination to drink from the container. 
     Of some interest relative to this invention are the disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,905,511; 4,194,627; 4,648,525; 4,875,577; 5,048,734; 5,169,025; 5,186,350; 5,261,554; 5,740,940; 5,740,951; 5,765,712 and 5,845,806. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In this invention, an insulated beverage holder includes a cylindrical sleeve for receiving a beverage container and a lid. The lid is pivoted to move from a position covering the top of a container received in the holder and a position away from the container top. The lid does double duty and provides a receptacle where the holder sleeve is folded up and stowed during transport, display and non-use. Suitable releasable fasteners, such as hook-and-loop fasteners, secure the sleeve in the lid in the stowed position and secure the sleeve in a position where it does not flop over toward the container top when the user is drinking from the container. 
     It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide an improved insulated beverage holder. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide an improved insulated beverage holder having a lid. 
     A further object of this invention is to provide an improved insulated beverage holder where a lid provides a receptacle for temporarily receiving the holder sleeve during transport, display and/or non-use. 
     These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more fully apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an insulated beverage holder of this invention, showing a lid in an offset position allowing a user to drink from a container, certain parts being broken a or clarity of illustration; 
     FIG. 2 is another isometric view of the insulated beverage holder of this invention showing a container received in the holder and a lid covering the container; 
     FIG. 3 is another isometric view of the insulated beverage holder of this invention showing the holder sleeve in a partially folded up position, about to be inserted into the lid; and 
     FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the insulated beverage holder of this invention in a stowed position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-4, an insulated beverage holder  10  of this invention comprises, as major components, a sleeve  12  for receiving a conventional beverage container  14  and a lid  16  for selectively covering the top of the beverage container  14 . The insulated beverage holder  10  is made of any suitable material such as a foam having a fabric covering on the inside and out. Such materials are well known in the art and are commercially available. 
     The sleeve  12  is of cylindrical shape having a bottom wall  18  and a cylindrical side wall  20  of a size to fit snugly over the outside of the beverage container  14 , which is typically a standard sized can but which may be a bottle, large sized can or the like. It will be seen that the lid  16  is coaxial with the sleeve  12  in the protected configuration of the lid, as shown in FIG.  2 . The sleeve  12  is of a conventional height to expose an upper portion  22  of the beverage container  14 , as shown in FIG. 1, so the user can easily drink from the container  14 . For purposes more fully explained hereinafter, the bottom wall  18  is quite flexible relative to the side wall  20 . To this end, the bottom wall  18  is slit along part of the junction with the side wall  20  along slots  24 , leaving a pair of diametrically opposed connecting areas  26 . A device with this type bottom is well known in the prior art and is often referred to as a caddy as opposed to a holder. 
     The lid  16  includes a flat section  28  and a lip  30  which is cylindrical to match the size and shape of the sleeve  12  so it easily fits over the upper portion  22  of the beverage container  14  thereby minimizing heat loss from the beverage container  14 , preventing bees and the like from entering the container  14  through the opening  32  in the top wall  34  thereof and keeping airborne dust, pollen and the like from entering the container opening  32 . 
     The lid  16  is connected to the sleeve  12  by a flap  36  connected in any suitable manner to the sleeve side wall  20 , as by a hook-and-loop patch  38  secured to the side wall  20 , by one or more rows of stitching (not shown) or the like. The lid  16  has an additional purpose which is to provide a receptacle for the sleeve  12  when the beverage holder  10  is not in use. To this end, the lip  30  of the lid  16  is somewhat deeper than might be expected because the lid  16  houses the sleeve  12 , in a folded up configuration, as shown in FIG.  4 . The flap  36  may be cut from the same stock as the lip  16  or may be sewn or otherwise attached to the lip  16  in any suitable manner. The flap  36  preferably includes a generally circular section to close the opening in the lid  16  as shown best in FIG.  4 . 
     Because the lid  16  houses the sleeve  12  in the configuration shown in FIG. 4, it is desirable to secure the flap  36  in a stowed position of the sleeve  12 . To this end, the flap  36  provides a tab  40  having a suitable fastener  42  for connection to a mating fastener  44  on the outside of the lip  16 , as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Although the fasteners  42 ,  44  may be of any suitable type, a conventional hook-and-loop type arrangement is preferred. It will be seen from FIG. 4 that the flap  36  closes the lip  16 , in the stowed position of the sleeve  12 , thereby preventing movement of the sleeve  12  out of the lid  16 . Preferably, but not necessarily, the flap  36  is of the same size as the opening of the lid lip  16  so the sleeve  12  is concealed in the stowed configuration of FIG.  4 . 
     Because the flap  36  is easily pivoted on the sleeve  12 , there is some tendency for the flap  36  to oscillate toward and away from the user when drinking from the container  14 , which can be distracting. If this is considered a problem, the flap  36  can be partially immobilized by providing a second set of fasteners  46 ,  48  on the lip  30  and on the flap  36 . In the offset position of the lid, as when drinking from the container, the tab  40  is folded against the lid  16  and a fastener  52  on the tab  40  is connected to the fastener  48 . The lid  16  is folded downwardly so the fasteners  42 ,  46  connect. Because the fastener  48  spans the fold  50  or pivot axis of the flap  36 , there is much less of a tendency of the flap  36  to pivot with the fasteners  46 ,  48  connected together. In addition, by placing the tab  40  between the lid lip  30  and the cylindrical sidewall  20 , the tab  40  is out of the way. Although the fasteners  46 ,  48  may be of any suitable type, a conventional hook-and-loop type fastener is preferred. 
     Use of the insulated beverage container  10  should now be apparent. From the stowed position of FIG. 4, the tab  40  is disconnected from the lip  30  by separating the fasteners  42 ,  44 . By pulling on the flap  36 , the sleeve  12  is withdrawn from inside the lid  16 . The sleeve  12  may be opened and the beverage container  14  inserted therein. The lid  16  may be placed over the upper portion  22  of the beverage container  10  to prevent dust, bees and the like from entering the container opening  32 . When it is desired to drink from the container  14 , the lid  16  is pivoted to the offset position shown in FIG.  1 . If the lid  16  tends to flap too much to suit the user, the lid  16  may be partially immobilized by connecting the fasteners  48 ,  52  and then the fasteners  42 ,  46 . In the alternative, the lid  16  may be connected directly to the flap  36  by joining the fasteners  46 ,  48  thereby leaving the tab  40  to dangle. 
     To stow the beverage container  10 , the sleeve  12  is folded as shown in FIG. 3 so the side wall  20  is creased down the middle and then folded end-over-end as suggested by the arrow  54  in FIG. 3 so the sleeve  12  is easily folded up to fit inside the lid  16 . The flap  36  is folded over the opening to the lid  16  and the tab  40  connects to the fastener  44  as shown in FIG. 4 to provide a stowed or non-use configuration. 
     Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.