A heatable sleeve that wraps a cup or bottle
A reusable sleeve that fits around a cup, bottle or can and contains an internal heater and insulation layer. The heater is activated in the sleeve and uses an exothermic chemical crystallization reaction to produce warmth; an enclosure layer sits between the heater and the container surface. Intended users are people who want to warm a non‑insulated drink or keep their hands warm while holding a cold container.
(57) What the patent covered
The main independent claim required a sleeve with (1) an insulation layer, (2) a heating layer that contains a heating means, and (3) an enclosure layer between the heating layer and the beverage‑contacting surface, where the heating means is an exothermic crystallization of a supersaturated solution (a chemical heat pack style reaction).
The distinctive part: Using a built‑in, activatable exothermic crystallization heater inside a sleeve that also has an enclosure layer separating the heater from the container surface.
Novelty 3/5. This is a straightforward improvement on familiar beverage sleeves and chemical hand warmers: insulated koozies and reusable crystallization heat packs were already common, but combining them into a fitted sleeve with a specified enclosure layer was a modestly clever product tweak.
Making it
cut and sew or die‑cut textile/neoprene body, insert or ultrasonically weld a sealed pouch containing a supersaturated solution and a thin barrier film, assemble insulation layer, final sewing/heat‑seal trims and fasteners
Materials: textile or neoprene outer shell (likely neoprene or polyester knit), foil or polymer enclosure layer (barrier film), supersaturated solution in a sealed pouch (e.g., sodium acetate), thin foam or fibrous insulation
Manufacturability 4/5. Requires several simple parts and assembly: a shaped sleeve body (cut and sewn or die‑cut neoprene), a prefilled sealed crystallization pouch from a chemical pack supplier, and insertion/assembly; no precision electronics but reliable sealing of the chemical pouch is important.
Is anyone buying?
We haven't run a demand check on this one yet. Shoppers would likely search for heated cup sleeve, chemical hand warmer koozie, insulated warm beverage sleeve; the links on the right open those searches.
Who buys it: people who want to warm non‑insulated cups or keep hands warm while holding drinks
Before you make it
We didn't find any related continuation or divisional patents still in force, although that doesn't rule out design patents, trademarks or unrelated patents covering the same product.
Practical risks include ensuring the chemical pouch is safely sealed and isolated (leak risk), meeting consumer chemical and burn‑safety expectations, and a crowded market of insulated sleeves and warmers.
Owners occasionally revive lapsed patents (about 1.5% are), and this page is a research lead rather than legal advice, so get a freedom-to-operate opinion before you manufacture anything.