Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02858045 2014-07-31
CUP SLEEVE WITH HANDLE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cup sleeve and, more particularly, to a cup
sleeve that is constructed of cardboard for holding a beverage container and
allows to be
taken by its handles.
Plastic bags are usually used for accommodating beverage cups. Although
plastic bags are convenient for beverage cups and the required cost is low,
they do not
provide the function of heat preservation or thermal insulation and they are
not
biodegradable. Besides, since plastic bags cannot position beverage containers
definitely,
they are easy to tilt or tip over, thereby causing the contents of the
beverage cups to flow
out,
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a cup sleeve that can hold a
beverage container properly and has a pair of handles to facilitate a consumer
to take it
with the beverage container, wherein the cup sleeve is constructed of
cardboard for
meeting the requirement of environmental protection and providing the function
of heat
preservation and thermal insulation. Moreover, the cup sleeve is adequate in
strength,
simple in structure, and can be positioned definitely.
To achieve this, the cup sleeve of the present invention includes two opposing
side walls, two opposing support brackets, and two opposing handles. The two
opposing
side walls, including a first side wall and a second side wall, are formed by
folding a
sheet of paper material in half and joining two lateral edges of the sheet of
paper material
to form an enclosure that has the first side wall and the second side wall.
The enclosure
defines an open top by top edges of the first and second side walls and
defines an open
bottom by bottom edges of the first and second side walls. The two opposing
support
CA 02858045 2016-05-06
brackets include a first support bracket and a second support bracket, which
are
respectively formed at the first and second side walls and between the top and
bottom
edges of the first and second side walls. Each of the two support brackets has
two
spaced-apart legs and one intermediate portion connecting the legs, wherein
each leg is
formed together with an associated side wall at its bottom. The first and
second support
brackets are capable of being folded upwardly about the bottoms of their legs
to extend
above the top edges of the first and second side walls. The two opposing
handles
includes a first handle and a second handle, which are respectively formed at
and
foldable with respect to the first support bracket and the second support
bracket, wherein
each handle is formed together with the intermediate portion of an associated
support
bracket at its bottom and located between the two legs of the associated
support bracket.
The first and second handles are capable of being folded outwardly about their
bottoms
to locate above the first and second support brackets.
In an embodiment, each of the first and second handles includes an opening
therein for ease of taking the cup sleeve. At least one covering portion is
defined
between one support bracket and its associated handle to cover the beverage
container.
The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed
description of illustrative embodiments of this invention described in
connection with
the drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a 3-dimensional view of a cup sleeve according to an embodiment
of the present invention.
2
CA 02858045 2014-07-31
FIG. la shows an enlarged fragmentary view of an upper right corner of the cup
sleeve of FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 shows a front view of the cup sleeve of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the cup sleeve of FIG. I, wherein two flaps
are folded upwardly.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of the cup sleeve of FIG. 3, wherein two handles
are folded outwardly.
FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of the cup sleeve of FIG. 4, wherein two support
brackets are folded upwardly.
FIG 6 shows an application view of the cup sleeve of FIG. 1, wherein a
beverage container is held in the cup sleeve.
FIG. 7 shows an application view of a cup sleeve according to another
embodiment of the present invention, wherein a beverage container is held in
the cup
sleeve.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1 through 7 show a cup sleeve 10 of an embodiment of the present
invention, which includes two opposing side walls including a first side wall
12 and a
second side wall 14, both of which are formed by folding a sheet of paper
material in
half, wherein the first side wall 12 has a free lateral edge 16 whereas the
second wall 14
has a free lateral edge 18, the two free lateral edges 16, 18 being joined
together. The cup
sleeve 10 can hold a beverage container 20, such as a beverage cup, therein.
As shown,
the beverage container 20, being substantially conical in shape, has an upper
portion 22
and a lower portion 24, wherein the upper portion 22 has a diameter greater
than the
lower portion 24 (see FIG. 6). Furthermore, a cap 26 or a plastic diaphragm
can be used
to cover the upper portion 22 of the beverage container 20.
3
CA 02858045 2014-07-31
Preferably, the cup sleeve 10 is constructed of corrugated cardboard, which
includes a flat liner 28 and a corrugated medium 30 (or called fluting medium)
attached
to one side of the flat liner 28 (see FIG la), wherein the corrugated medium
30 can
enhance the structural strength of the cup sleeve 10 and enable the cup sleeve
10 to
provide the function of thermal insulation and heat preservation. In
manufacturing, a
sheet of corrugated cardboard, which has two lateral edges 32, can be folded
in half to
allow the two lateral edges 32 to be joined to form an enclosure which has the
first side
wall 12 and the second side wall 14. The enclosure defines an open top 38 by
top edges
34 of the first and second side walls 12 and 14 and defines an open bottom 40
by bottom
edges 36 of the first and second side walls 12 and 14, wherein the open top 38
has a
dimension greater than the open bottom 40. Furthermore, the open bottom 40 has
a
dimension greater than a dimension of the bottom portion 24 of the beverage
container
20, and the open top 38 has a dimension less than the top portion 22 of the
beverage
container 20, so that the bottom portion 24 of the beverage container 20 can
insert
through the open bottom 40, and the top portion 22 of the beverage container
20 can
project out of the open top 38, so that the beverage container 20 can be
securely
positioned in the cup sleeve 10 (see FIG. 6).
The cup sleeve 10 further includes a first support bracket 42 and a second
support bracket 44 opposing to the first support bracket 42, which are
respectively
formed at the first side wall 12 and the second side wall 14. In this
embodiment, each of
the two support brackets 42, 44, being substantially U-shaped, has two spaced-
apart legs
46 and one intermediate portion 48 connecting the Iegs 46, wherein each leg 46
is
formed together with the associated side wall at its bottom 50. Thus, when the
cup sleeve
10 is in an unused state, the first and second support brackets 42 and 44 are
located
between the open top 38 and the open bottom 40 of the enclosure (see FIG, 1).
When the
cup sleeve 10 is in a used state, the first and second support brackets 42 and
44 are
4
CA 02858045 2014-07-31
capable of being folded upwardly about the bottoms 50 of their legs 46 to
extend above
the top edges 34 of the first and second side walls 12 and 14 (see FIG 5).
The cup sleeve 10 further includes a first handle 52 and a second handle 54
opposing the first handle 52, which are respectively formed at the first
support bracket
42 and the second support bracket 44 between the open top 38 and the open
bottom 40.
In this embodiment, each handle, being rectangular in shape, is formed
together with the
associated support bracket at its bottom 56. The first and second handles 52
and 54 can
be folded outwardly with respect to the first and second support brackets 42
and 44 (see
FIG 4) or can be collapsed to its original position, where they are located
within the first
and second support brackets 42 and 44, between the open top 38 and the open
bottom 40
(see FIG. 1). Furthermore, a substantially U-shaped cut line 60 can be
provided on each
of the first and second handles 52 and 54 to form a flap 62 thereon. Each flap
62 can be
raised or folded upwardly about its bottom to define an opening 58 in each
handle 52, 54.
The openings 58 of the first and second handles 52 and 54 allow a user's
fingers to insert
therethrough for ease of taking the cup sleeve 10 together with the container
20.
Alternatively, each opening 58 can be formed by a rectangular cut in each
handle 52, 54
(see FIG. 7). When the cup sleeve 10 is in an unused state, the first and
second handles
52 and 54 are located within the first and second support brackets 42 and 44
and between
the open top 38 and the open bottom 40. When the cup sleeve 10 is in a used
state, the
first and second handles 52 and 54 are capable of being folded outwardly about
their
bottoms 56 to locate above the first and second support brackets 42 and 44.
The first and second support brackets 42 and 44 and the first and second
handles
52 and 54 are formed by cut lines 64 and fold lines 66 on each of the first
and second
side walls 12 and 14, wherein two of the fold lines 66 are located at the
bottoms 50 of
the legs 46 of each support bracket 42, 44 and thus allow the support bracket
42, 44 to be
folded upwardly. One of the fold lines 66 is located at the bottom 56 of each
handle 52,
5
CA 02858045 2014-07-31
54 and thus allows the handle to be folded outwardly. Furthermore, the cut
lines 64 and
the fold lines 66 on each of the first and second side walls 12 and 14 are
configured such
that two covering portions 68 are defined between the associated support
bracket and the
associated handle, so that when the first and second support brackets 42 and
44 and the
first and second handles 52 and 54 are folded upwardly, the covering portions
68 can be
left to cover the beverage container 20 (see FIG 6). Alternatively, as shown
in FIG. 7, the
covering portions 68 can be removed from the cup sleeve 10; namely, each of
the first
and second handles 52 and 54 can be arranged to adjoin the legs 46 of the
associated
support bracket without a covering portion located therebetween.
FIGS. 3 through 6 show an operation of the cup sleeve 10. In use, firstly, the
two flaps 62 can be folded upwardly (shown by arrow 70 in FIG. 3). Secondly,
the first
and second handles 52 and 54 can be folded outwardly (shown by arrow 72 in
FIG. 4).
Thirdly, the first and second support brackets 42 and 44 can be folded
upwardly (shown
by arrow 74 in FIG. 5). Fourthly, the first and second side walls 12 and 14
can be moved
outwardly to allow the beverage container 20 to be placed between the two side
walls 12,
14, whereby the beverage container 20 can be positioned properly. Finally, the
first and
second handles 52 and 54 can be moved to contact each other, and thus a user's
fingers
can inserted through the openings 58 for ease of taking the cup sleeve 10
together with
the beverage container 20.
In addition to the easy-carrying advantage of the cup sleeve 10, since the cup
sleeve 10 is constructed of cardboard, it can provide the function of thermal
insulation
and heat preservation. Furthermore, the cup sleeve 10 has a structural
strength more than
plastic bags and thus has a longer life span, so that it can be reused and
thus be more
environmentally friendly.
Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific
forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof,
some of which
6
CA 02858045 2014-07-31
forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be
considered in all
respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be
indicated by
the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes
which
come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to
be
embraced therein.
7
