DECORATIVE INSULATED BEVERAGE HOLDER

Abstract

The present invention is a novelty or souvenir beverage holder. The beverage holder is made from a husked coconut shell with an opening in the top. A white foam insulating layer on the inside of the coconut shell gives the appearance of a fresh coconut with the coconut flesh still attached to the shell. The insulting layer is shaped and sized to receive a standard beverage container. A mounting bracket or handle may also be attached to the side for mounting on a beach cruiser bicycle, tube railing, or stroller handle. The beverage holder may also have the bottom end of the coconut shell cut flat so the beverage holder can be placed on a table top or other flat surface.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to novelty or souvenir containers. Specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide for a decorative insulated beverage holder made to resemble a coconut with the white coconut meat exposed. The beverage holder may include a mounting bracket attached to the coconut shell to allow the beverage holder to be affixed to bicycle handlebars, tube railing, stroller handle, or vehicle interior. The holder may also have the bottom end flattened to allow it to be placed on a flat surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For some summertime beachgoers, enjoying the sun and scenery is only secondary to looking good, and nothing ruins the sundress and beach cruiser bicycle ensemble like an ugly beverage carrier. Traditional bicycle water bottles with the wire cage holders are purely functional and all too common. And the black plastic cup-holders that attach to handlebars aren't even worthy of a dollar store discount bin. Going without a beverage isn't an option because it would remove the important straw-sipping sidelong glance from the flirtation tool bag. Besides, proper hydration is an important part of staying cool, refreshed, and beautiful. The perfect hydration accessory to round out the look should ideally be brown and hairy while still looking cute.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a bicycle-mountable beverage carrier resembling an un-defleshed coconut. An ideal beverage holder needs to keep a beverage cool, mount securely to bicycle handlebars and look attractive. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be explained and will become obvious to one skilled in the art through the summary of the invention that follows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an insulated beverage holder with an aesthetically pleasing design patterned after an opened coconut.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a decorative insulated beverage holder includes: a husked coconut shell with a primary opening at one end, said primary opening shaped and sized to receive a beverage container; an insulating lining on the inside of said coconut shell extending from the rim of said primary opening and substantially covering the inner wall and bottom of said shell, said insulating lining forming a cavity inside said shell.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the decorative insulated beverage holder further includes a mounting bracket attached to said coconut shell.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the decorative insulated beverage holder further includes a handle attached to said coconut shell.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the decorative insulated beverage holder further includes a secondary opening placed at a portion of said beverage holder opposing said primary opening and extending through from the inside of said cavity to the outside of said shell.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the decorative insulated beverage holder further includes a flattened portion on the bottom end of said beverage holder opposite said primary opening.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the decorative insulated beverage holder further includes a marking on the outside surface of said shell.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the insulating lining is substantially the same color as coconut meat.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the decorative insulated beverage holder further includes a varnish coating on said coconut shell.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the primary opening is circular.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the primary opening is rectangular.

The foregoing summary of the present invention with the preferred embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention. It should be understood and obvious to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention thus described may be further modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the beverage holder, showing the coconut shell, the insulating lining, and the mounting bracket, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of the beverage holder attached to a bicycle handlebar according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the beverage holder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the beverage holder showing a flattened bottom and a handle in place of the mounting bracket, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the beverage holder looking straight down toward the bottom through the opening in the top, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the beverage holder with an alternate primary opening design according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED SPECIFICATION

The present invention generally relates to novelty or souvenir containers. Specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide for a decorative insulated beverage holder made to resemble a coconut with the white coconut meat exposed. The beverage holder may include a mounting bracket attached to the coconut shell to allow the beverage holder to be affixed to bicycle handlebars, tube railing, stroller handle, or vehicle interior. The holder may also have the bottom end flattened to allow it to be placed on a flat surface.

Referring to FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the beverage holder comprises a husked coconut shell 101 with an primary opening 102 cut or formed at one end. The end which is opened or cut away can be any end or side of the coconut. The terms “end or side” are not intended to be absolute terms and may refer to any portion of the coconut from any perspective, point of view, or orientation. For the purposes of this description, the portion of the coconut where the primary opening 102 is formed will be referred to as the top of the beverage holder regardless of whether some other standard of viewing coconuts would call it the bottom or side of the coconut.

A white foam insulating layer 103 is placed on the inner wall of the coconut shell 101. This insulating layer 103 serves to keep a beverage cool, while maintaining the appearance of actual coconut meat. The insulating layer 103 also naturally provides cushioning or shock absorbance. The insulating layer 103 extends from the primary opening 102 at the top of the beverage holder and substantially covers the inner wall of the coconut shell 101, flattening at the bottom to form a support surface roughly perpendicular to the sidewalls of the cavity formed by the insulating layer 103. In a preferred embodiment, the insulating layer 103 forms a cylindrical cavity of substantially the same size and shape of a standard beverage container. In another preferred embodiment, the insulating layer 103 forms a cavity in the shape of a conical frustum to receive a cup. The space between the cavity formed by the insulating layer 103 and the inner wall of the coconut shell 101 may be completely filled with the material of the insulating layer 103 such that the insulating layer 103 is not uniform in thickness throughout, or there may be air gaps between the inner wall of the coconut shell 101 and the insulating layer 103.

Alternatively the insulating layer 103 could be of uniform thickness along the entirety of the inner wall of the coconut shell 101 producing a somewhat semi-spherical cavity for holding the beverage. In this case, the sides of the beverage container would not necessarily lie flush against the insulating layer 103 at all points, but the beverage holder would be able to hold a variety of different shapes and sizes of beverage containers.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the insulating layer 103 is thicker than the coconut shell and white to resemble coconut meat. However, it is possible to use other colors for a further decorative or artistic effect. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that any color could be used for the insulating layer 103. A varnish or lacquer may also be applied to the coconut shell 101 to protect and preserve it or produce an aesthetically pleasing visual effect.

The cavity formed by the insulating layer 103 need not necessarily have a central axis that lines up visually with an apparent central axis of the coconut shell 101. In one embodiment, the central axis of the cavity formed inside the insulating layer 103 is perpendicular to a plane across the primary opening 102 in the coconut shell 101. This produces a natural balanced appearance when a beverage is placed in the cavity, such as that later shown in FIG. 4. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the central axis of the cavity formed inside the insulating layer 103 is not at a right angle to the plane across the primary opening 102 in the coconut shell 101. This produces an aesthetic effect of having the edge of the primary opening 102 rise higher up one side of the beverage than the other as if the primary opening 102 is cut slanted to the side when viewing the beverage upright.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the beverage holder may be personalized, customized, or identified by some kind of marking 104 on the coconut shell 101. For example, “Waikiki” may be painted on the outer wall of the coconut to commemorate a trip to Hawaii. This marking 104 may be the name of a person or place, a slogan or catch phrase, a symbol, a meaningful picture, or any visual mark. The marking 104 may be carved, drawn, engraved, painted, embossed, burned, or attached on the beverage holder. One or ordinary skill in the art would recognize that any method of marking the beverage holder could be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the beverage holder attached to bicycle handlebars. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in order to attach the beverage holder 200 to a bicycle, a mounting bracket 105 may be attached to the coconut shell 101. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this mounting bracket 105 has a clamp with a rounded enclosure for attaching to the handlebar 206 of a bicycle. This same mechanism could be used to attach the beverage holder to a stroller handle, or any rounded bar. Alternatively, another type of mounting bracket 105 could be used to attach the beverage holder to the interior of a vehicle or armrest of a chair. Mounting brackets are common and it is contemplated that any mounting bracket 105 could be used, including but not limited to spring loaded clamps, suction devices, screw-down devices, c-clamps, or hook and loop fasteners. Further, the mounting bracket could be movably or immovably affixed to the beverage holder 200, such that the mounting bracket is either affixed at a specific orientation (e.g., perpendicular to the primary opening 102 as in FIG. 5, parallel with the primary opening 102 as in FIG. 6) or movable between one or more positions. Movably affixed mounting brackets 105 may be moved to various positions and held in a finally selected position, such as by way of a friction fit or by tightening a fastening device, such as a screw, bolt or other fastener. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that any kind of bracket or attaching means could be used for the purpose of attaching the beverage holder to anything that would be convenient or desirable.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the beverage holder showing how the various parts fit together to create the beverage holder. The coconut shell 101 has a primary opening 102 at one end. The primary opening receives the insulating liner 103 which is sized and shaped to hold a beverage 306. The mounting bracket 105 attaches to the coconut shell 101 for securing the beverage holder to a handlebar, chair, vehicle interior, or other convenient location. FIG. 3 is not intended to show a method of construction, but merely to illustrate various components of the invention more clearly.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the beverage holder according to one embodiment of the present invention. The bottom, or the side of the coconut shell 101 on the end opposite the primary opening 102, has a flattened portion 407 to allow the beverage holder to be placed on a surface without rolling or tipping over. Preferably, this flattened portion 407 would be roughly parallel to the plane formed along the opening of the beverage 306 placed in the beverage holder so that the beverage 306 is held substantially upright. However, for aesthetic reasons, it might be desirable to place the flattened portion 407 slightly askew so that the beverage 306 is held at a slant when the beverage holder is placed on a level surface. This flattened portion 407 may or may not be accompanied by a handle 408 attached to the coconut shell 101 for easily lifting the beverage holder to one's mouth for convenient and stylish thirst-quenching.

The beverage 306 rests inside the cavity of the insulating layer 103 slightly protruding from the top of the beverage holder to make it easy to grasp, remove, and replace the beverage 306, thus enabling a utilitarian cuteness that lasts all day long.

FIG. 5 shows the beverage holder looking straight down through the primary opening. The beverage holder may also have a secondary opening 509, formed opposite the primary opening 102. This secondary opening 509 is a hole at the bottom of the beverage holder which passes all the way through the insulating layer 103 to the outside of the coconut shell 101. This hole allows moisture condensation to drain out the bottom of the beverage holder. Preferably this secondary opening 509 would be situated, when the beverage is held upright, at the lowest point of the bottom of the cavity formed by the insulating layer 103. This would prevent excessive buildup of condensation as the force of gravity would quickly pull the liquid toward the hole and out through the bottom of the beverage holder.

FIG. 6 shows a beverage holder with an alternative primary opening design according to one embodiment of the present invention. The primary opening 102 of the beverage holder need not be cut straight and need not be limited to a single plane. For example, the primary opening 102 may be made jagged to look as if the primary opening 102 was created by breaking off a portion of the coconut shell 101. The primary opening 102 may also be rounded, or rectangular, or any shape at all. One or ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the opening 102 may be formed in any shape or orientation for aesthetic or arbitrary reasons.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the coconut shell could be an artificial shell formed from a plastic resin, colored and textured to resemble a coconut. This would provide much of the aesthetic appeal of the present invention with greatly reduced difficulty and cost of manufacturing.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. The invention is capable of myriad modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

Claims

1. A decorative insulated beverage holder comprising:

A husked coconut shell with a primary opening at one end, said primary opening shaped and sized to receive a beverage container;

An insulating lining on the inside of said coconut shell extending from the rim of said primary opening and substantially covering the inner wall and bottom of said shell, said insulating lining forming a cavity inside said shell.

2. The beverage holder of claim 1 further comprising a mounting bracket attached to said coconut shell.

3. The beverage holder of claim 1 further comprising a handle attached to said coconut shell.

4. The beverage holder of claim 1 further comprising a secondary opening placed at a portion of said beverage holder opposing said primary opening and extending through from the inside of said cavity to the outside of said shell.

5. The beverage holder of claim 1 further comprising a flattened portion on the bottom end of said beverage holder opposite said primary opening.

6. The beverage holder of claim 1 further comprising a marking on the outside surface of said shell.

7. The beverage holder of claim 1 wherein the insulating lining is substantially the same color as coconut meat.

8. The beverage holder of claim 1 further comprising a varnish coating on said coconut shell.

9. The beverage holder of claim 1 wherein said primary opening is circular.

10. The beverage holder of claim 1 wherein said primary opening is rectangular.