Abstract:
The invention is an impact-resistant elastomeric or silicone sleeve for use on breakable containers such as glass cups, glass bottles, or other any such containers. The components of this protective sleeve or encasing can be used on an adult drinking glass, glass water bottles, glass containers, a glass baby bottle, foods preserved in glass containers, and other industrial or personal uses. The sleeve will serve as protection and shock absorption protecting the breakable containers during use.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This device refers to the field of protective sleeves on containers in more particularity breakable containers. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Glass and ceramic containers are one of the best and safest containers to be used in storage as they do not contaminate what is being stored. The issue with glass containers is that they are commonly perceived as fragile and breakable. Often, when glass gets broken it can also become a health hazard with the sharp shards and tiny glass particles that are difficult to completely dispose. 
         [0003]    To address these issues with glass containers, many containers are made of a plastic. But this increases the exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol S (BPS) and other potential replacement alternatives. BPA has been linked to possible reproductive and developmental problems as well as increased risk of multiple cancers and adverse endocrine function. Additionally, BPA replacements such as BPS have been proven to be hormone disrupters and endocrine disrupters. Some effects of estrogenic chemicals from BPA-free plastic result in increased rates of some breast, ovarian, testicular and prostate cancer; altered prostate, testicular and sperm function, aggressive behavior, altered learning abilities, altered rates of growth, and altered uterine, ovarian and breast functions. Additionally, BPA and BPA replacements leach from the container and to the substance or liquid. The estrogenic (EA) and androgenic (AA) chemicals are released and are then consumed. When the EA or AA comes into contact with food or drink, the result may have adverse effects on the human endocrine system and lead to adverse health effects. 
         [0004]    Additionally, with the rise of plastic bottles, many liquids and foods are coming into contact with plastics that leach EA and AA, through plastic containers and the linings of canned food. 
         [0005]    Also, many of today&#39;s pharmaceuticals are stored in glass breakable bottles. These can be worth hundreds to thousands of dollars in a simple vial that can easily be broken by dropping it. 
         [0006]    There remains room for improvement in the art. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    This proposed device is an impact resistant tubular, protective sleeve or encasing for breakable containers or fragile objects. 
         [0008]    The current invention is a protective sleeve made of a structural material that functions as a protective layer for breakable containers; wherein the casing is constructed as a tubular body with at least one opening in order to receive a container. The sleeve will be comprised of silicone, rubber, or an elastomeric material. The material may be translucent, transparent, or opaque. The protective sleeve may be made with a translucent or transparent material in order to allow for visualization of the contents in the container 
         [0009]    In one embodiment, the invention will include one opening to allow the sleeve to pass a container through and will have a smaller opening on the bottom of the protective sleeve but will not allow the container to pass through the sleeve. 
         [0010]    In another embodiment, the sleeve will have an opening and another opening to allow the sleeve to go around the container, and pass through the container. However, it will be elastic and have the ability to cling to the container without easily falling off. The sleeve will include multiple raised domes to allow the product to act as a shock absorber if the container is dropped. 
         [0011]    In other embodiments, the protective sleeve will have a raised logo, emblem, shape, lettering, pattern or design that also serve as shock absorbers, grips, and aesthetic purposes. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    Without restricting the full scope of this invention, the preferred form of this invention is illustrated in the following drawings in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows the sleeve as a single piece with the emblem; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows an alternative embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a top view with the raised surfaces. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0016]    There are a number of significant design features and improvements incorporated within the invention. 
         [0017]    The current invention is a protective sleeve, protective cover, protective sleeve or encasing  1  that is an elastic, solid, tubular object with protuberances  30  and/or raised designs  20  that act as shock absorbers that may be used on any container as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0018]    The protective encasing allows the glass or other breakable products to be used with a protective sleeve  1  that does not come into contact with contents of the container such as medicine, food or drink. This allows users to use glass or ceramic, which has been proven to be safe from EA and AA leaching, and have breakage protection for the container and for the consumer. The protective sleeve  1  will allow any container  70  to have protection and shock absorption. Containers  70  that are easily broken, cracked, or crushed can be used with the protective sleeve to provide protection and encasing to prevent chips, cracks, breaks, and crushing greatly increasing the safety of the users. 
         [0019]    The protective sleeve  1  can be made into any color, whether translucent, transparent or opaque. Where the protective sleeve is made of translucent or transparent material it would allow for visualization of the contents. 
         [0020]    In the preferred embodiment, the protective sleeve  1  will be comprised silicone or of an elastomeric material. In some embodiments, the inner surface of the protective sleeve  1  would have a coating that assists in the application and removal of the container  70  from the sleeve  1  or a coating to deter from microbial growth such as Microban. 
         [0021]    The protective sleeve  1  may include both a first end  40  and a second end  45 , wherein the first  45  and second ends  45  are separated by a tubular body  50 . The first end  40  would be open and is where the container  70  would first be entered. 
         [0022]    In one embodiment such as the one shown in  FIG. 1 , the protective sleeve  1  includes an extended elongated body  50  with a first opening positioned at a first end  40  of the tubular body. In this embodiment, the elongated body  50  may have a plurality of slits  91  parallel to the body  50 . This can be a single slit  91  or multiple slits. The slits  91  allow the user to see the contents of the container  70  for a translucent container  70 . It also makes it easier to place the elongated body  50  version over the container  70  as it reduces the tension strength. The second end  45  may have a second opening or may be solid enclosing the diameter of second end  45 . If there is a hole in the second end  45  it is smaller than the diameter of the container  70  to ensure the container  70  does not pass through. 
         [0023]    Another embodiment is shown in  FIG. 2 , where the protective sleeve  1  is more like a protective band  90  where the second side is a second opening configured such that a container  70  may be able to pass through the second opening for protection of side walls of the container  70  or glass, such as a wine glass or bottle and provides protection for sides when the sides of a wine glass or bottle comes into contact with a hard surface, which would normally cause the container to break. Additionally, another protective sleeve  95  can be used along with the protective band  90  to provide more protection along the bottom of a container  70 . This protective sleeve  95  is placed on the bottom of the container  70  and has a tubular body with an open first end and a second end  45  that may have a second opening or may be solid enclosing the diameter of second end  45 . If there is a hole in the second end  45  it is smaller than the diameter of the container  70  to ensure the container  70  does not pass through. 
         [0024]    The protective sleeve  1  can have a plurality of raised designs  20  or protuberances  30  or raised surfaces for shock absorption as shown in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 . The raised designs  20  can be designed to be any logo, emblem, lettering or design allowing marketing and branding words or design to be used for both marketing and for protection of the container. The protuberances  30 , raised designs  20  and/or raised surfaces serve as shock absorbers and may be placed at any location around the protective sleeve  1  to reduce the frequency of breakage. The protuberances  30  can be both on the outside of the sleeve  1  and on the inside based on the amount of protection desired. 
         [0025]    The thickness of the walls of the protective sleeve  1  will depend on the size of the sleeve  1  and the amount of protection desired while still maintaining its elasticity. 
         [0026]    The protective sleeve  1  can be made into any desired shape such as a tube, hexagon, triangle, pyramid, square, rectangle, cube, cone, cylinder shape, or the like. And thus the protective sleeve  1  may be configured for fitting any suitable container, such as a tube, hexagon, triangle, pyramid, square, rectangle, cube, cone, cylinder shape shaped container, or the like, and may be of regular or irregular dimensions, so as to fit a variety of bottles and jars. 
         [0027]    The dimensions of the sleeve  1  may vary depending on the container it is designed to protect and is not limited in size. Additionally, the thickness of the sleeve  1  may vary but is not limited. The protective sleeve may be used on any existing container from any manufacturer, and can be utilized on any existing container where protection is desired. Additionally, use of the protective sleeve  1  can be used on but not limited to personal use, industrial, household, athletic and/or shipping or transportation use. 
         [0028]    In certain embodiments, the protective sleeve  1  is adaptable to hold or contain any container to provide protection and prevent the container from breaking when the container is dropped or when the container comes into contact with a hard surface. The protective sleeve  1  will protect the bottle or glass from breaking. It makes the glass resistant to breaking. It helps the user to prevent breakage of the glass when the bottle or glass tips over or is dropped. It allows the glass bottle or glass to have a protective casing and become resistant to breaking. 
         [0029]    The protective sleeve  1  can be used for pharmaceutical bottles/vials and Wine/liquor bottles. With these types of containers the loss due to breakage can be thousands of dollars or more. 
       Advantages 
       [0030]    The protective sleeve allows for consumers to be used on glass containers that are commonly perceived as fragile in order to decrease the exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol S (BPS) and other potential replacement alternatives. 
         [0031]    The protective sleeve seeks to allow glass or other breakable products to be used with breakage protection that does not come into contact with the food or drink. This allows users to use glass or ceramic, which has been proven to be safe from EA and AA leaching, while having breakage protection for the container and for the consumer. The protective sleeve will allow for any container to have protection and shock absorption. Containers that are easily broken, cracked, or crushed can be used with the protective sleeve to provide protection and encasing to prevent chips, cracks, breaks, and crushing. Often, when glass gets broken it can also become a health hazard with the sharp shards and tiny glass particles that are difficult to completely dispose. 
         [0032]    Additionally, with the rise of plastic bottles, many liquids and foods are coming into contact with plastics that leach EA and AA, through plastic containers and the linings of canned food. This product would allow manufacturers and industries to utilize glass again and have protection of their product. The protective casing does protect against accidental drops, tips, and contact with hard surfaces. 
         [0033]    As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. 
         [0034]    With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
         [0035]    Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur by those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.