Patent Application
20060086745
The present invention relates generally to methods and products for providing advertising content on beverage insulating sleeves.
Historically, coffee and other hot beverages have been sold in restaurants, cafes, diners, and other general food service venues. These venues usually served the hot beverages in reusable glass or ceramic containers made of thermally insulative materials. However, over the past twenty years, specialty beverage shops, such as Starbucks have insinuated themselves into most American cities. As these specialty beverage shops also sell cold beverages, the practice has developed of using general purpose disposable cups and providing insulating coffee sleeves for hot beverages.
At the same time, there has been a shift in how products are advertised. Diminished viewer interest and the advent of digital video recording technologies that enable viewers to skip commercials have caused media companies to seek alternative channels for advertising. Media companies such as Britevision Media of San Francisco, Calif. have distributed advertising content printed on coffee sleeves. However, current implementations are limited in their capacity to present visual content. What is needed is an improved mechanism for displaying content on beverage sleeves.
A beverage sleeve is configured to provide insulation for a user of a beverage container holding warm or cold beverages. The beverage sleeve encircles a beverage container and provides insulation against heat transferred through the surface of the container. In some embodiments, the sleeve is coated with a layer of thermochromatic ink. When heat is absorbed through the surface of a beverage container, it causes the thermochromatic ink to change its light response, thus causing an advertisement to be displayed on the surface of the sleeve. The designs for these advertisements can be received from a vendor of the product or service advertised. The sleeves are then shipped to venues in which beverages are sold for use with said beverages.
The sleeve 100 additionally includes two coupling portions 126 and 128 that can be coupled together to form an encircling sleeve for holding a cup. In one embodiment, the coupling portions 124 and 126 are secured through an adhesive. The beverage sleeve 100 can be folded flat for easy storage and restored to a closed shape by applying pressure to the pleats 122, 123, 124, 125.
While in the present embodiment the above sleeve is used for illustrative purposes, any other type of sleeve construction can be used. For example, the sleeve can have multiple layers, corrugated surfaces, different fastening methods, a different material composition, and any number of other variations.
In the present embodiment the sleeve 100 includes a graphical advertisements, but in alternate embodiments, text advertisement can be used as well. The advertisement 310 is displayed when a layer of thermochromatic ink on the beverage sleeve 100 is heated to an activation temperature by heat received through the surface of the beverage container. When the activation temperature is reached, the absorption/reflection characteristics of the ink are changed, thus causing the advertisement 310 to be displayed
In
Additionally, while in the present embodiment, the thermochromatic ink layer has an activation temperature that is above room temperature, in alternate embodiments, the thermochromatic ink can transition at cold temperatures. For example, in one embodiment, the thermochromatic ink can be in its “nondisplay” state when warm and then transition below the activation temperature when a cold beverage is accepted, causing it to enter its “display” state and show an advertisement.
Furthermore, while in the present embodiment the advertisement is revealed by the color change, in alternate embodiments the transition can cause an already-visible advertisement to change color or to create a motion effect.
The layer of thermochromatic ink comprises one or more thermochromatic inks that have been arranged to display graphics or text when the ink is heated to an activation temperature. The inks can comprise any substance that can be configured to modify its light responsiveness when the appropriate activation temperature is reached. In one embodiment, the ink comprises an encapsulated leuco dye and is manufactured by Chromatic Technologies Inc. (CTI) of Colorado Springs, Colo. Characteristics of some thermochromatic inks are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,591,255 and 5,997,849, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
In some embodiments, the layer of ink is thicker than 0.001-0.0015 inches so as to insure opacity. In some embodiments, a lower contrast between colors of the inks that comprise the layer 515 can make necessary a higher thickness for the layer 515.
In step 610 the sleeves are cut. This step entails separating the sleeves from a larger body of paper or other sleeve material. In step 612, the sleeves are embossed. This step installs a pattern of bumps or grooves on the surface of the body. In one embodiment, the embossing is ornamental. In an alternate embodiment, the embossing is configured to allow for better heat dispersal, thus allowing sleeves to better insulate against heat from the beverage container. In one embodiment, the embossing is performed by a rotary embossing device so as the reduce a potential for damage to the ink layer.
In the present embodiment, the sleeves are embossed and cut consecutively using a rotary embossing die cutter, but in alternate embodiments, the sleeves can be embossed and cut at different times and by different devices.
In step 615 the flat bodies are refrigerated. The refrigeration periods can vary, but in one embodiment last 3-5 hours. The refrigeration temperatures can also vary, but in one embodiment are approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The refrigeration process causes the thermochromatic inks to shift to their nondisplay state and remain in that state until heated to an activation temperature.
In step 620 the sleeves are glued. This step entails adhering the two connective ends of the body to form a sleeve. The sleeves can then be stored flat and shipped or distributed. While in the present embodiment, the embossing, cutting, printing, refrigerating, and gluing steps are performed in the order disclosed above, in alternate embodiments, the process can be performed in a different order.
In step 710 the design for the sleeve is printed on the sleeves. In step 715 the sleeves are manufactured. Steps 710 and 715 are preferably performed in the manner described with respect to
Other features, aspects and objects of the invention can be obtained from a review of the figures and the claims. It is to be understood that other embodiments of the invention can be developed and fall within the spirit and scope of the invention and claims.
The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalence.
