Patent Publication Number: US-2017369227-A1

Title: Beverage sleeve

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/355,655 filed Jun. 28, 2016, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/411,974, filed Oct. 24, 2016, the contents of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
     The present disclosure pertains to a beverage sleeve and a method for manufacturing the same. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Beverage containers, such as cups, bottles, aluminum cans, and the like, that contain cold beverages often produce condensation on the exterior of the container. The condensation may be uncomfortable to the consumer as it tends to make their hand and clothes wet, as well as the condensation drips onto desks, tables and nearby surfaces. Such condensation may even drip onto nearby papers, electronic devices, for example mobile phones, thereby potentially causing damage to such objects. 
     To reduce the formation of condensation, and therefore the negative consequences associated therewith, some expensive beverage containers include a construction having a double walled insulation with an air gap therebetween. However, such construction is a built-in feature which makes it a costly beverage container, and therefore this style is not usable as a single-use solution. A single use solution is disposable (with or without the cup) after the single use and sometimes it is recyclable. To account for condensation, some solutions may include paper or paperboard coasters, such as those used in restaurant settings, or napkins. However, the coasters and/or napkins absorb only small amounts of condensation before the material breaks down and therefore are no longer usable as adequate solutions. 
     There also exist cold beverage insulators in which the beverage containers are inserted to maintain the cold temperature of the beverages contained therein. However, such beverage insulators are generally made of non-absorbent materials, such as leather, neoprene, EVA, polyester, vinyl, canvas, and various open-cell and closed-cell foams, and therefore are ineffective for absorbing the condensation. Such materials also are not environmentally friendly. Further, such beverage insulators generally would not be discarded after a single use, and therefore would not be an ideal solution in settings such as bars, cafes, diners, restaurants, food carts, or wherever else cold drinks may be sold or served. 
     Beverage insulators are also used with hot beverages. In the hot beverage market, light weight cups are used that have limited thermal resistance thus causing excessive heat transfer. As such they can make the human hand hot and potentially burned due to the heat generated from the liquid that is present in the beverage container to the consumer&#39;s hand when holding the beverage container. 
     To reduce the transfer of heat from a hot beverage that is present in a beverage container and to minimize heat transfer to the consumers skin/hand, current solutions include paper sleeves that have configured paperboard to create air pockets/space between the heat being transferred through the cup and the consumer&#39;s hand. Other options are to provide treatments to the paper construction in an attempt to protect a consumer&#39;s skin/hand from the heat that flows through the beverage container. Also, Styrofoam, also known as polystyrene, has been used as an insulator for cups that contain hot beverages. However, polystyrene has been cited as being harmful to the environment and potentially causes respiratory issues. 
     It would be beneficial to provide an improved beverage sleeve that solves the aforementioned problems. It would also be beneficial to provide a unitary beverage sleeve that can keep a consumer&#39;s hand cool when a hot beverage is present in a container, yet keep a consumer&#39;s hand dry when cold beverages are present in the container as they tend to cause surface condensation buildup. It would also be beneficial to provide a unitary beverage sleeve that is universal in design in that it is selectively adjustable to fit multiple sized cups. The disclosed designs will permit store owners to stock a single sku for a beverage sleeve that fits many size cups for use with both hot and cold beverage applications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Referring now to the drawings, illustrative embodiments are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent some embodiments, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated, removed, or partially sectioned to better illustrate and explain the present invention. Further, the embodiments set forth herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limit or restrict the claims to the precise forms and configurations shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description. 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of a beverage container with an improved beverage sleeve positioned around the beverage container; 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  are perspective views of an exemplary beverage sleeve, showing branding opportunities disposed on a surface of the sleeve; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the exemplary beverage sleeve of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , showing the cross sectional layers of the construction of a sleeve; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic flow diagram of an exemplary process for manufacturing the beverage sleeve of  FIGS. 2-4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an alternative beverage sleeve that is universal and can be used with the container shown in  FIG. 1  or with containers of other sizes, showing an expandable gusset feature; 
         FIG. 7  is a simplified cross sectional view of the  FIG. 6  gusseted sleeve; and 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram of a new channel for consumer engagement with a beverage sleeve. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An improved, cost-effective solution for handling condensation formation on the exterior of a beverage container is disclosed. The solution further includes an improved beverage sleeve which keeps the consumer&#39;s hand dry when a cold beverage is used, yet keeps their hand at normal body temperature when a hot beverage is used, so as to generate a positive consumer experience. 
     Another improvement disclosed is a beverage sleeve that is expandable and retractable so that a single sleeve is operable to fit various sized cups. The sleeve may employ an expander feature to permit size adjustment by the consumer at the point of purchase. The expander may be selectively adjustable and have one or multiple folds within the sleeve material so as to allow expansion of the sleeve with the absorption layer continuing to be adjacent to the beverage container. The expander may also utilize a material which could be or not be a pliable adhesive that acts as a hinge to expand the top area of the sleeve. The beverage sleeve may include any number of adjustment pieces having varying sizes and/or shapes. 
     One such beverage sleeve may include a body, when in an open state, defines an opening through which a beverage container is insertable, the body having a plurality of layers. The plurality of layers may include varying combinations of an external layer, an exterior side of which forms an external face upon which graphics are printable; a coating applied to the external layer either before or after graphic indicia are printed, and an additional coating applied to the interior side of the external layer. The coating may form a water barrier and at least one absorbent layer made of an absorbing material, an internal side of the absorbent layer forming an internal face of the body that is configured to be in contact with the beverage container. The beverage sleeve may or may not also include an adhesive layer joining the absorbent layer on an external side and the coated, internal side of the external layer. The water barrier coating may or may not also act as an adhesive between the absorbent layer and the external layer. These layers are run through a lamination process which converts the individual layers into a single composite material that cannot be separated back into the original layers. 
     An exemplary process is disclosed for manufacturing a beverage sleeve, such as that described above. Said improved process may include a manufacturing process, such as a lamination process, where the paper substrate and absorbent layer are run through a production process in which a water barrier coating acts as, inter alia, an adhesive during the production process as the materials are laminated into a single composite material. The process may further include cutting at least one beverage sleeve from the single sheet, folding the at least one beverage sleeve; and joining distal ends of the at least one beverage sleeve to a body of the beverage sleeve to define an opening in which a beverage container is insertable. The process may further include manufacturing a sleeve from the single sheet having an expandable gusset. The beverage sleeve may include any number of adjustment pieces having varying sizes and/or shapes. Hence, the sleeve is universal and operable to be utilized with various beverage devices. 
     Referring now to the figures,  FIG. 1  illustrates a beverage container  50  with a beverage sleeve  10  positioned circumferentially around the beverage container  50 . While  FIG. 1  depicts the beverage container  50  as a cup, it should be appreciated that the beverage sleeve  10  may be used for most beverage containers, including, but not limited to, bottles, cans, and the like, that may have different shapes, sizes, and/or configurations. In addition, while the beverage container  50  is depicted as having a changing diameter, it should be appreciated that the beverage sleeve  10  may also be used for beverage containers having a constant diameter. It should further be appreciated that the beverage sleeve  10  may be used for beverage containers having any regular or irregular cross-sectional shape, including, but not limited to, circular, hour glass, square, or the like. 
     The beverage sleeve  10  generally may be configured to be in pressure contact with the beverage container  50  such that the beverage sleeve  10  may absorb condensation  11  formed on an exterior  13  of the beverage container  50 , as described in more detail hereinafter, and further so that the beverage sleeve  10  does not slide off of the beverage container  50  when not being held in place by a person holding the beverage container  50 . While the beverage sleeve  10  is depicted as being positioned near the top of the beverage container  50 , it should be appreciated that it may be positionable at any location along the beverage container, for example, near the bottom where it may absorb condensation  11  that drips from the top of the beverage container  50 . It should further be appreciated that the beverage sleeve  10  may be sized and configured to cover substantially the entire surface area of the exterior surface of the beverage container  50 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2-4 , the beverage sleeve  10  generally may include a body  12  that, in an open state, defines an opening  34 , as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , through which the beverage container  50  may be inserted. The body  12  may have a top edge  14  and a bottom edge  16  between which an external face  18  and an internal face  20  are defined. One or both of the top and bottom edges  14  and  16  may or may not have multiple curves  15 , which may reduce or minimize the amount of material needed for the body  12 , thereby reducing cost as well as the environmental impact of manufacturing the beverage sleeve  10 . In addition, one or both of the external face  18  and the internal face  20  may be used for advertising and/or branding. 
     The novel beverage sleeve  10  may include a series of branding and immediate consumer engagement opportunities  17  on the external face  18  and internal face  20 . The branding opportunities  17  may include a brand space  28  located on a surface of the external face  18 . A branding opportunity  17  may contemplate designs, words, letters, numbers, graphics, indicia, symbols, patterns, hashtags, QR codes, Touchcodes®, social media, monikers, or any combination thereof. Various materials may be used to implement said opportunities on to the sleeve  10 . For example, ink may be used to print the branding opportunities on the sleeve  10 . This could include metallized, gravure-like pearl effects, velvet texture, embossed texture effects, light diffraction effects, glitter effects, color shifting, scents (rub &amp; release), black light, phosphorescent (glow-in-the-dark), thermochromic (temperature-controlled color changing inks) polyester, electronic conductive and holographic elements. 
     Electronic conductive ink is a substance that results in a printed object now having the ability to conduct electricity. This is created by infusing graphite or other conductive materials into the ink. The electronic conductive ink is used to print an invisible code, called a Touchcode on the sleeve. As a beverage is being consumed, the person can touch their sleeve  10  on any touchscreen such as a mobile device or handheld tablet. A customized software application opens and the consumer immediately engages with the branded content which can be a game, form to provide their contact information or join the customer loyalty program. The activation of the application prompts tracking and data collection. Holographic ink is a nanocrystalline ink which is deposited onto microembossed paper with a varnish. The branding elements printed on the holographic beverage sleeve have a high refractive index that can be experienced in all visible ranges of light. As the beverage is consumed and the sleeve  10  and cup are in motion, the holographic branding effects will occur creating a new consumer experience with a beverage sleeve. 
     The branding opportunity  17  may be located at various locations on the external face  18  and/or internal face  20 . A feature of the present disclosure is that the beverage sleeve  10  has a protection feature that protects the branding opportunity  17  from being destroyed, impaired or the like by the condensation  11  that may tend to accumulate on the surface  13  of the beverage container  50 . The branding opportunity  17  creates a new channel for consumer engagement, analytics, insights and ROI. 
     With reference to  FIG. 4 , the body  12  may be configured such that, in the open state, it defines a set size and/or shape of the opening  34 . In such a configuration, the beverage sleeve  10  may be used only for specific beverage containers  50  having size and/or shapes that correspond to those of the opening  34 . Alternatively, the beverage sleeve  10  may include at least one adjustment member  22 , which could be a fold configuration that is formed as part of the sleeve that permits expansion of the sleeve to varying inside diameters so as to fit beverage containers having various outside diameters. The adjustment member  22  is attached to the body  12  and/or incorporated/formed within the body  12  and it enables a single beverage sleeve  10  to be universal as it can fit different sized and/or shaped beverage containers  50 . While the figures depict the beverage sleeve  10  as having only one adjustment piece  22  located at its distal end, it should be appreciated that the beverage sleeve  10  may include any number of adjustment pieces  22  having varying universal sizes and/or shapes. The adjustment piece  22  may or may not be made of a stretchable non-woven material. Additional materials used to adjust the size of the beverage sleeve will perform expansion, memory, and/or recovery properties which are operable to form to different shape and sized beverage containers. In addition or alternatively, the adjustment member  22  may include any other size adjustment devices and/or mechanisms, including, but not limited to, a reappliable adhesive on an end of the body  12 , tab(s) on one end of the body  12  and a set of corresponding slots on another end of the body  12 , and the like. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2-3 , the body  12  may also include pre-designed perforations, folds or creases  30  that enable the body  12  to be folded or compacted from the open state into a collapsed state, or opened from the collapsed state to the open state without affecting the integrity of the body  12 . Such a feature may enable the beverage sleeve  10  to be stacked for high speed packaging and delivery systems. Further, in a retail setting, such as bars, cafes, diners, restaurants, food carts, or wherever else cold drinks may be sold or served, a large number of beverage sleeves  10  in the collapsed state may be placed in a holding container for consumers and/or servers to easily and quickly grab to place on the beverage container  10  before any significant condensation build up may form. 
     As seen in  FIG. 4 , the body  12  may include multiple layers  32   a - 32   e . An external layer  32   a , which may form the external face  18 , may be made of a material that generally is tear and puncture resistant during a normal usage period of consumption of a single serve cold beverage. The material may include, but is not limited to, recycled, bogus, microembossed, reinforced paper, for example, Kraft like paper either coated one-sided or double-sided with calcium carbonate blended poly-resin. Additional substrates may be used as an alternative to Kraft-like paper such as, but not limited to, tree-free synthetic paper, bamboo, reclaimed sugarcane fiber also known as bagasse. The external facing side of the paper may or may not be coated with a co-polymer in the polyethylene family of thermoplastics. The co-polymer could be EMA (ethyl methyl acrylate) or EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate). Co-polymer coatings produce more of a “grip” feel for the consumer experience when holding the sleeve and beverage container. Thus, the sleeve  10  may have an anti-slip or grip feature to assist the consumer to maintain control of the cup  10 . 
     The material also may be bleached or colored white such that it may support full color printing capabilities, for example, advertising and branding as mentioned above. The material may be bleached white through hydrogen peroxide bleaching which is more environmentally friendly than traditional paper bleaching processes. The material may also contain a three-dimensional structure woven mesh or pattern, including, but not limited to, a diamond-like pattern and/or horizontal pattern of 7-pound white poly scrim, on the side of the layer  32   a  facing the condensation absorption, i.e., opposite the external face  18 . Such a structure may aid in maintaining structural integrity of the beverage sleeve  10  during the normal usage period of consumption and condensation absorption. A coating layer  32   b  may be applied to the reinforced side of the external layer  32   a  to establish a water barrier. The coating layer  32   b  may be made of a poly-starch-based or calcium carbonate poly resin. One potential coating that both provides a water barrier and provides an additional layer of protection and gloss to the external printing of graphics that is environmentally friendly is a calcium carbonate poly resin known as EarthCoating®. 
     The advantages of potentially using a blended polyolefin resin comprised of calcium carbonate and plastic resin provide the following benefits to the converter and consumers of beverage sleeves. First, traditionally 100% polyethylene coatings are poor candidates for repulping due to separating the plastic coating from the paperboard. EarthCoating® can be re-processed throughout the paper recycling stream as if there was no coating at all on the paper. During the paper recycling stream, EarthCoating® fragments into small dense particles that are removed as part of the recycling process. Second, the beverage sleeve  10  can be certified to use the standard recycle symbol due to the properties of EarthCoating® fragmenting during the recycling process. By enhancing recyclability of sleeves, such will reduce the amount of plastic put into the environment. It is estimated that fifty eight billion cups are placed into landfills each year in the U.S. alone and hundreds of thousands of tons of beverage sleeve paper can be recovered resulting in energy savings. Third, the mineralized resin containing calcium carbonate used in EarthCoating® produce a tortuous path for moisture to pass through resulting in better moisture vapor transmission rates (MVTR). Fourth, mineralized resins absorb and dispel heat differently than neat polyolefins, resulting in better heat seal/thermal insulation performance. Five, unlike traditional polyethylene, EarthCoating® provides a high surface energy complete with a typical post-corona dyne level of 4, providing an excellent print surface for high quality graphics. The EarthCoating® may or may not be comprised of 40% calcium carbonate and 60% Low Density Polyethylene. The external and coating layers  32   a  and  32   b  may collectively be referred to as the advertising layer. 
     With continued reference to  FIG. 4 , an absorbent layer  32   d  and a top layer  32   e  may collectively form an absorption layer  32   f . The absorbent layer  32   d  may at least partially include at least one of a thermal bonded airlaid non-woven fabric with cotton, cellulose, pulp, bambasse, bamboo, super absorbent polymers (SAP), and super absorbent fibers (SAF). The thermal bonded airlaid nonwoven materials produce different levels of loft which produce the air pockets that act as a heat transfer barrier. Thus, this construction provides a moisture absorption aspect and a heat transfer aspect, all in one sleeve  10 . The resulting sleeve  10  is universal in that it operates to both: 1) reduce moisture runoff from the exterior surface of a container  50  during cold drink uses when condensation often builds up, as well as 2) maintains a cool to the touch exterior surface during hot beverage uses so that the user does not burn its hand when holding the container  50 . In other words, the improved universal sleeve  10  is useable for both cold and hot drink uses. 
     The absorption layer  32   f  may use bi-component materials as part of the airlaid construction to provide structure to the SAP, SAF, pulp, cellulose and/or cotton. The absorbent layer  32   d  generally may have an appearance similar to a “web” of fibers, and may or may not be visible to the consumer. An exemplary specification of the fabric with cotton may be: (1) basis weight: 70 g/m2; (2) thickness: 1.05 mm; (3) tensile strength (dry) MD: 1000 g/inch; and (4) absorbent capacity: 12 g/g (2 min). It should be appreciated that such specifications are merely exemplary, and that other specifications may be used depending on other factors, including, but not limited to, the particular use of the beverage sleeve  10 , the intended beverage container  50  and the manufacturing process. 
     In regards to branding opportunities that are visible when looking at the inside surface of the sleeve  10 , the airlaid nonwoven material can be run through a production process to emboss the material directly with an image or text for branding on the absorbent layer that lies adjacent to the water barrier and/or adhesive. This production process would occur if the additional layer of the thin absorbent layer  32   e  is not used in production. The side of the absorbent layer that may be embossed is inside the sleeve, visible to the user as they place the beverage sleeve on their beverage container. 
     For additional moisture absorption and temperature barrier, the top layer  32   e  may form the internal face  20  of the beverage sleeve  10 . The top layer  32   e  may be a thin airlaid nonwoven absorbent layer, such as cotton, pulp, cellulose and/or another absorbent material, similar to the absorbent layer  32   d  described above. The material may be able to be punched, for example by a needle as explained in more detail below, to form larger holes. These holes may allow for the condensation to be quickly drawn through the top layer  32   e  to the absorbent layer  32   d . The absorbent layer  32   d  and/or the top layer  32   e  may be sized larger than and wrapped over the other layers  32   a - c  along the top edge  14 , for example by an excess of ¼″. 
     Alternatively, one sheet of material may be folded over towards an upper or lower surface of the sleeve  10 . With the edges of the sleeve folded over the combined layers may be ¼″ thick or more. This may enable the beverage sleeve  10  to absorb larger amounts of condensation toward the top of the beverage container  50 , where more condensation may tend to form, for example, when the beverage container  50  holds ice which tends to float on top of the cold beverage. Folding the material and creating a double layer in certain variable performing sections  23  further adds an additional heat transfer barrier. The variable performing sections  23  may be disposed along a longitudinal direction  25  (see arrow in  FIG. 4  disposed in an up/down direction), where for example, the top section or portion  27  of the sleeve  10  is designed to include a more absorbent aspect or feature, while the lower section or portion  29  of the sleeve  10  is designed to include a lower absorbent aspect or feature. The variably performing sleeve  10  with its variable heat and moisture absorption performance aspects will accommodate an application where ice sits in the top of container  50 , the area likely to yield the most moisture, whereby the absorbent section  27  wicks up moister quicker and more effectively. It will be appreciated that the performance sections  27  and  29  could be inverted with the lower section  29  being more absorbent than the upper section  27 . The absorbency rate is measured in ratio of AR=fluid ounces/square inch of cup surface area. 
     An adhesive layer  32   c  may be provided to combine or adhere the advertising layer and the absorption layer if the water barrier coating does not act as the adhesive as well. The adhesive layer  32   c  may be a water resistant adhesive, including, but not limited to, a non-toxic, acid-free, fast track, permanent bond, multi-purpose spray adhesive. The adhesive layer  32   c  may be used such that it does not bleed through the advertising layer, such that the appearance of any advertising and/or branding on the external face  18  may be maintained. Both the water barrier coating and water resistant adhesive may be used to strengthen moisture vapor transition rates. 
     It should be appreciated that the body  12  may include additional layers not described herein. The resulting beverage sleeve  10  has a sandwich construction with a moisture barrier portion that precludes impairment of the indicia  17  on the beverage sleeve  10 , yet absorbs moisture  11  and slows down the transfer of heat adjacent the surface  13  of the beverage container  50 . This construction minimizes and/or eliminates the pooling of condensation that typically occurs on the side and at the base of the cold beverage container  50 , particularly on warm days with high humidity. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate an alternative sleeve  100  employing some of the similar construction characteristics of sleeve  10 , but now with an improved expansion member  110 . One exemplary embodiment employs a sleeve that has distal ends of the sleeve folded in an accordion style during the diecut and conversion process. Small amounts of a weak adhesive are added to the accordion folds that will break upon pressure of insertion of a beverage container. The adhesive is also placed on the external layer and when folded pressed together. The accordion material is tightly folded and is positioned inside the sleeve. 
     In another embodiment, the expansion member  110  may be unitary with a body  112  of the sleeve  100 , or it could be a separate component. The body  112  of the sleeve  100  includes a layered construction, which become one, unified layer during the lamination process, having potentially similar layers as disclosed in the sleeve  10  described herein. Alternatively, the sleeve  100  may include a body  112  having an advertising layer  114 , an adhesive/water and heatbarrier layer  116 , and possibly an attachment feature  118 , and an expandable member  120 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 7 , the attachment feature  118  could be fixed to one or more portions or sides of the body  112  and it may be integrally formed as part of the body  112 . A purpose of the attachment feature is to provide a transition between the body  112  and the expandable member  120 . The expandable member  120  could consist of its own transition portion and connect directly to the body  112  of the sleeve  100 . The expandable member  120  may also be an extension of the finished material beyond a standard beverage sleeve dimension. In the exemplary illustrations presented, the expandable member  120  may have a series of pleats  122  offset from one another extending in a direction normal to the longitudinal axis  25 . The pleats  122  have an inner portion  124  and an outer portion  126 . The inner portion pleat  124  is part of or engages with the attachment member  118  in a secure form. This secured arrangement assures the expandable member  120  maintains connection with the body  112 . The pleats  122  may be temporarily secured to one another by the application of a non-permanent substance  128  such as an adhesive. The substance  128  does not permanently secure each such pleat together but instead provides a method for a user to selectively expand the sleeve&#39;s circumference at the point of purchase. This is accomplished by sliding a container  50  inside sleeve  100  so as to cause outward expansion of the sleeve  100 . The sleeve continues to outwardly expand until the outside diameter of the container  50  fully engages an inside diameter  130  of the sleeve. At this point the sleeve stops expanding and it rests. 
     The non-permanent substance, such as but not limited to a low contact adhesive,  128  may be applied in varying amounts on each pleat  124  so as to vary performance of the expansion member  110 . For example, the pleat  124  located towards the center of the sleeve  100  may employ  5  or so units of substance  128 . This would cause the adjoining sleeve to tend to not release so easily. By contrast the pleat  126  located at the outer portion of the expandable member  110 , may only have two or so units of non-permanent substance  128 . This arrangement would cause the pleat adjacent thereto to release more quickly as the consumer slides the container  50  within the sleeve  110 . Correspondingly, the pleats between the inner pleat  124  and the outer pleat  126  may have varying amounts of adhesive located on their surface, as is shown in  FIG. 7 . This construction provides an expandable member  110  that expands or releases outwardly in a controlled manner so as to allow enhanced tight grip of the sleeve relative to the container  50 . Such prevents a sleeve from inadvertently expanding too quickly or too much which if that occurs, the sleeve  110  may not properly grip around the circumference of the container  50 . Thus, the sleeve  100  has an expansion control feature  110 ′ which, in part is accomplished by the collection of the arrangement of a plurality of pleats, adjacently aligned, each of which having a desired amount of a substance  128 . The sleeve thus has a selectively adjustable expansion feature that may be consumer controlled at a point of purchase. 
     New Channel Consumer Sleeve System 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a system  200  for a new channel for Consumer Engagement, Analytics, Insights and ROI. The channel is created through the advanced ink and printing capabilities on a beverage sleeve  10  which prompts a consumer to experience branding elements in new methods such as using their mobile device to touch the ink on the beverage sleeve  10  to activate a digital experience or placing their beverage under a black light for branding elements to display such as a winning contest number to enter into a mobile application. The system  200  employs the unique aspects of the sleeves  10 ,  110 , along with opportunities revealed through utilization of the sleeves as a revolutionary consumer engagement tool  201 . The tool  201  will result in generating consumer data  210 , by consumers  212  engaging an experience with the sleeves  10 ,  100 . The data  210  is collected on a server  214  having a computer, computer code, and data storage, which in turns processes algorithms that manipulates, and provides analytics and insights about consumer behavior. This in turn generates trackable ROI to companies and meaningful intelligence. 
     The schematic of  FIG. 7  illustrates one exemplary system  200 , including a sleeve  10 ,  100 , that a consumer  212  may engage with as he or she purchases a cup of coffee from a retail outlet or other venue  220 . It will be appreciated that the system  200  may be employed for other beverages. The sleeve contains indicia  17  that a consumer  212  will associate with the venue  220  during the time the beverage is consumed. As the consumer  212  partakes of the beverage during the relevant time period, commercial impressions and social media experiences will occur  222 . This may transpire by the consumer  202  engaging devices such as a mobile device  202  to send messages, inquire about coupons, and the like. Those messages  224  are transmitted as data packets  210  to a server  214 . The server  214  is operable to compute via code, storage medium and processors, and create output such as intelligence  226 , i.e., ROI and analytics. 
     Companies are always looking for new vehicles to advertise, increase brand awareness and engage with both prospects and clients. On the flip side, companies are interested in selling advertising spots to generate increased revenue streams. For example, college sporting teams need revenue to fund their programs and make improvements. Event personnel want to sell more sponsorships to increase event revenue. Beer and liquor companies want to have their brands visible to consumers that are at the restaurant. Business Partners of Professional Stadiums such as a credit card company or businesses in the city where the stadium is located want to advertise and get their brands in front of the local community. Companies that sponsor business conferences that want brand visibility when competing with other event sponsors and trying to get attention. These conferences can last up to a week with beverages being served 15 hours a day to 175,000 attendees. Music artists want to share their upcoming tour dates, concert goers to follow them on Instagram and Twitter that are attending the concert that night. 
     The water absorbent heat barrier beverage sleeves  10  and  100  offer 360 degree advertising on both the external and internal layer of the sleeve. Impressions  222  of the ads  17  can be calculated of the number of attendees at an event plus the average impressions people see as they view another holding a beverage with a sleeve. When consumers have repeat impressions of the same content or images, they retain and remember the content or images at higher rates. While there is the physical sleeve generating visual impressions and also serves as a solution to a common problem of your hand getting too cold, hot, and/or wet when holding a container—there is also the engagement opportunity with the content and graphics  17  on the beverage sleeve  100 . The content and images can prompt a consumer to engage digitally with the brand, they can engage with fellow consumers in community, polls can be taken on mobile phones, consumers can immediately follow on twitter or post a photo of the event via mobile phones, they can take the physical sleeve into a retail store, restaurant, convenience store and the cashier can redeem the coupon and enter in a coupon code. Content can be shared exponentially with hashtags  17  and @ sign mentions on social media. Touchcodes® printed with electronic conductive ink can tell consumers to touch their phone on the sleeve and activate a mobile app. Glow-in-the-dark ink also known as phosphorescent ink can increase brand visibility at sporting events, concerts, festivals conferences and similar-type events. For example, all beverages at the SuperBowl that are served include a sleeve with phosphorescent ink. When sports fans walk under black lights stationed throughout the stadium, branding illuminates indicating if a fan has won a prize, receive a free beverage or are directed to the next black light station creating a multi-phased experience. 
     New customers can be acquired and also existing customers retained. School events can have parents, students and faculty engage with each other by seeing the digital opportunities on the sleeves. Rewards programs can acquire new members or members can engage and move up to the next level. 
     Consumers can join digital communities for long-term engagement with loyal consumers generating “raving fans” of their brand. This turns into a brand ambassador program where the fans give input to the company to improve products and services. 
     All of this engagement data collected  210  in software as a service platform such as Google Analytics, SAS and other business intelligence platforms, results in analytics that can be analyzed into valuable insight from a new advertising channel that did not exist. Tracking and engagement does not exist on Napkins and Coasters today. This analysis provides big data  210  on the success of the campaigns, delivers insights on future campaign enhancements, consumers engage, leads are generated and post content that can be analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of the demographics and psychographics of the consumer base that attended an event, ate at a restaurant or went to a professional football game. For example, brands that fight to run SuperBowl ads now have a new advertising venue that will generate millions in advertising dollars. The impressions and visibility lasts for hours during the game and multiple beverages are often consumed with the ability to rotate and have multiple advertisers either on one sleeve or sleeves dedicated to one brand but the different brands are rotated throughout the games. 
     This system  200  generates deeper insight into events and venues never delivered before back to companies, schools, colleges, universities, loyal sports fan bases that want to reach these audiences. They better understand who their fans are, who is delighted and why, and who is not delighted and why. 
     This cycle happens for every game, concert, evening at a restaurant, conference and annual event. The data builds over time in analytic software platforms showing trends in consumer behavior and revenue generated post event in incremental sales. This trend data gives companies the ability to predict and automate additional advertising campaigns pre and post event. As email addresses and contact information is collected on the company&#39;s websites, social media properties and the like—companies are building their contact databases once the consumer opts in to receive communications. 
     New “tags” in analytics systems will be developed to track if the referral source of a user visiting a site or mobile landing page from a Touchcode code for example is from a beverage sleeve. 
     Production Process 
     An improved finished roll production process  100  is disclosed. See  FIG. 5 . Two separate rolls of material which may be one roll of paper or similar substrate and one roll of airlaid nonwoven are loaded into the extrusion lamination machine. They are unwound at the unwinding station and rolled through a scanner for thickness measurement; the paper may or may not run through 2 to 4 color printing process because printing can occur during the finished roll production or at the time the finished roll is going through the beverage sleeve die cutting and folding process. If printing of graphics and text is applied during the lamination process producing the finished rolls, or once the paper roll is unwound onto moving cylinders, the paper goes through a corona treatment in preparation for mono or co-extrusion. Corona treatment is a high frequency discharge that increases the adhesion of a plastic surface. Whether a liquid wets a material good or poorly depends primarily on the chemical nature of both the liquid and substrate. Wetting is defined as the ratio between the surface energies of the liquid and substrate. In other words, the paper is pre-heated to open the fibers of the paper prior to extrusion of the coating and lamination process. 
     Next pellets of the water barrier coating, which may also act as an adhesive, are placed in a hopper where the pellets are fed, melted, metered and mixed if there are multiple coatings combined from multiple hoppers; it is then extruded at 550-600 degrees Fahrenheit onto the paper or alternate substrate. 
     Next the absorbent layer is then merged with the paper and the coating acts as the adhesive to adhere two separate materials into one finished roll. The paper then goes through an instant cooling process where the material is wound into a finished roll and moves on to one of two potential steps. (1) The paper is unwound to expose the other side of the paper to apply a LDPE, polyethylene, starch-based, EMA or EVA coating to the side of the paper that is printed to seal the printing already done during the lamination process. Or, it is coated using one of the aforementioned types of coatings in preparation for beverage sleeve converters to print and convert the finished roll into sleeves in hi speed production lines. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , an improved manufacturing process  300  includes processing at least one expansion member  110  from the single sheet so that it is part of the stock for the sleeve. At step  310 , the beverage sleeves  10  may be cut into the desired shape, including but not limited to the multi-curved, straight or single curved top layer  14  and/or bottom layer  16 , and size. At step  312 , graphics  17  for advertising and/or branding purposes may be printed on the non-structural side of the external layer  32   a , i.e., the external face  18 . If no graphics are to be printed, for example, if the beverage sleeves  10  are sold as blank slates to promotional companies, distributors, vendors, and the like, for their own in-house printing, process  300  may skip step  312  and proceed directly to steps  314  and  316  at which the sleeves are folded and the ends are joined. Where the beverage sleeve includes the attachment piece  22 , this may include joining an end of the attachment piece  22  with the free end of the sleeve. 
     Joining of the ends may be achieved by any adhesive, including, but not limited to, glue, tape, water-activated tape and the like, or any other attachment mechanism or devices, including, but not limited to, staples, stitching, corresponding tabs and slots, and the like. It may also include a folding process during the conversion process where one of the ends of a sleeve is folded approximately ½ inch in width adhesive applied only to the edge of the folded portion. At step  318 , the resulting beverage sleeves, in their collapsed states, may be packaged for shipping. This may be done manually or automatically. Process  300  may end after step  318 . 
     With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claims. 
     It will be appreciated that the aforementioned method and devices may be modified to have some components and steps removed, or may have additional components and steps added, all of which are deemed to be within the spirit of the present disclosure. Even though the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that the various modifications and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the claims. The specification and the drawings are to be regarded as an illustrative thought instead of merely restrictive thought. 
     All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those knowledgeable in the technologies described herein unless an explicit indication to the contrary is made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.