1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulator and carrier for beverage containers and more particularly to a multi-layer and collapsible insulative carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Carriers or coolers for beverage containers are especially useful in hot or tropical climates. In earlier designs these coolers included for example, a quilted jacket with a flap. The container fit into the open end of the jacket and the flap was used as a cover. Although the quilted material was of a multi-layer design which included exterior and interior fabric layers with an insulative layer therebetween, there was no attention paid to the resulting condensation inside the jacket and the excess water produced could therefore leak out of the carrier. Furthermore, the insulative layer was frequently inadequate for insulating purposes in extremely hot or tropical climates.
In addition, coolers of this design, although collapsible, failed to provide a carrying case for the container to keep it from getting damaged when not in use. Further, frequently no support bases were provided for these earlier designs so that support for the container was obtained from the beverage container itself. As such, these earlier insulated coolers were susceptible to being easily tipped over, particularly in situations where they were placed on slightly unlevel surfaces.