The invention relates to a device for protecting drinks and/or food and the like. In particular the device according to the invention provides protection to drinks and the like standing served in a place subject to external influences. The device thus can offer protection against insects, against wind, drying out, dust, pollutants, etc., against sunshine to keep the drinks and/or food and the like kool, etc.

When the wheather is fine it is very agreable to enjoy drinks, food, icecream, snacks, appetizers and the like in a sunny and/or open place, such as sitting at a table outside on a terras or behind window.

A drawback in that situation is however that the drinks or food rappidly become tepid and unattractive in the sun or infested with insects or covered with dust or sand borne by the wind.

Sometimes it is attempted to avoid this by screening off the glass or plate by means of a newspaper, a menu card, a handbag, or any other object that can provide shade or protection against wind, dust, dryig out, pollutants, insects, etc.

This is not only very unpractical but also very unesthetic.

On the other hand there have been proposed means for providing shadow on food and drinks standing in the sun.

Thus DE 36 34 727 and DE 3641 330 describe mini-umbrellas for that purpose, and WO 94/04060, US 4115939 and US 5058757 disclose devices involving the principle of an umbrella.

CH 574 227 discloses a conic sleeve to be positionned over drinks or food.

DE-G-85 17 810.1 and DE-G-89 13 066.9 disclose a kind of elaborate coasters or beermats which comprise a cardboard screen portion for the drinks positionned thereon.

None of these devices according to the state of the art have shown sufficently satisfactory to gain general application, being too complex, insufficiently efficient or too unpracticle in use.

This invention now aims at providing a solution to the problems disclosed above, which is efficient and nicely fits with the table environment of a terras or garden, while offering at the same time additional advantages and commercial uses.

The invention provides a protection device for drinks and/or food, standing served in a place subject to external influences, which device consists of a non translucent protective shape having an open access on one side (being referred to as the front side) , having surrounding lateral and back walls and a top cover, and being open at the bottom whereas the bottom opening connects with the open access on one side.

Such a device can be placed on a table and the glass with beverage or the plate or dish with a snack, icecream or other food can be positionned under the protective shape through the open access on one side.

Experiments have shown that the temperature of the drinks and food which are thus protected from the sun rises much slower than without the device according to the invention. The temperature difference between a drink standing in the

sun and a drink protected by a device according to the invention can reach already 10 °C after 5-10 minutes.

The protective shape in accordance with the invention is preferably made of plastic material, for reasons of cost, ease of manufacture and durability.

For optimal efficiency of the protective device according to the invention it is particularly desirable that its inner surface be very smooth or glossy, in order not to absorb condensing moisture or to retain dust and other polutants.

According to a further feature of the invention the protective shape can be provided on its outer and/or inner surface with advertisement and/or decoration, preferably on the outer surface.

The protective shapes can also be made from transparent plastic and provided on the inner surface with a film bearing inscriptions and/or decoration directed to the outer side. Possibly the film can be reinforced to the inner side with a layer of insulating foam and/or a layer of aluminum foil.

According to a first, preferred embodiment of the invention, the protective shapes consist of plastics which can be injection moulded, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. Such materials may very suitably comprise fillers such as calcium carbonate and UV stabilisers.

According to a different embodiment of the invention the protective shapes can be manufactured from plastic sheet by moulding, deep drawing and/or bending and possibly welding.

According to this embodiment the protective shape also can be manufactured from sandwish panels of two plastic sheets, possibly with a layer of insulating and/or reflecting material in between.

In accordance with further features of this embodiment of the invention, at least one of the sheets of plastic material, preferably the outer sheet, can consist of transparent plastic sheet. In that case the construction of the device can be such that there is provided advertisement or decoration behind the transparent sheet, or that it is possible to push a card or sheet between the plastic sheets or between the transparent pastic sheet and the insulating and/or reflecting layer, with inscriptions and/or decoration visible through the transparent sheet.

According to still a further feature of the invention the stability of the device can be improved by providing anchoring means (such as suction pads) or weightening along the lower rim of the device.

It is also a preferred feature of the invention that their shape is such that the devices can be stacked in a minimum of space when not in use. This can in particular be well achieved by using shapes with outer dimensions closely fitting into the inner dimensions.

Other features of the invention will be explained hereafter with reference to the examples herebelow and to the attached drawings, without the intention however to limit the scope of the invention as set forth herein and in the accompanying claims, to the details of these examples and drawings.

Thus the specific shapes and sizes of the devices according

to the invention, described in the examples and drawings, are not, in general, essential features of the invention. In particular flat surfaces can be replaced by curced surfaces and vice versa, and angles can be replaced by curves and vice versa. It is also possible to provide for larger or smaller sizes and other proportions of the sizes which are addapted to the shape and size of specific types of drinks and food.

It should be noted however that the embodiment of the invention represented in figure 3 constitutes a preferred shape in accordance with the invention.

In the drawings : figure 1 is an elevation view of a device according to the invention, with a glass of beverage positionned underneath; figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the device according to figure 1. figure 3 is an elevation view of a preferred embodiment of a protective shape according to the invention.

Example 1:

The device according to the invention represented in figure 1 cosists of a protective shape (1) , placed on a table (2) , with a glass with beverage (3) underneath. On one side of the protective shape there is an open access (4) for positioning the drinks and food. The protective shape comprises surrounding walls (5) , (6) , (7) , into three directions and a cover wall (8) to the top, and presents an opening (9) at the bottom which communicates with the open access (4) on one side of the device.

As is shown on figure 2 the device according to the illustrated embodiment of the invention is made of sheet/sheets (10) of transparent plasic which has been moulded and/or curved in a suitable way, and where necessary welded.

In the space between the two plastic sheets (10) there can be intoduced a paper sheet with publicity print, for instance through a split left at the bottom, as in the illustrated embodiment. In order to increase the protection efficiency againt sun rays a layer of insulating foam and/or a layer of reflecting aluminum foil can be provided on the back of this paper sheet or between this paper sheet and the inner sheet of the protective shape.

In the embodiment represented the protective shape has a height of approximately 20 cm., a width of approximately 11 cm. , and a depth of approximately 10 cm.

Example 2

According to another example of the invention the protective shape is realised as an ovoid body with flattened lateral walls and flattened top cover, as shown in figure 3.

The protective shape is manufactured by injection moulding from polypropylene containing an UV stabiliser and calcium carbonate as a filler. The white protective shape is provided on the outer surface with an advertising inscription and decoration, applied by screen printing.

The inner surface of the protective shape is left undecorated to provide a smooth and glossy white surface, thus optimising the cold retention and dust repelling properties of the protective device.

The shape of the device in accordance with this example, as represented in figure 3, is particularly adapted to allow the stacking of the protective shapes in a minimum of space when not in use or when waiting for being used.

Other examples of the invention may consist of any surrounding shapes, with single or double walls, manufactured by injection moulding (single walls) or from sheets of rigid or semi-rigid plastic (single or double walls) .

In case of double wall embodiments, with for instance both walls transparent, the space between the walls can be used to introduce publicity brochures, menu cards and the like, which can be viewed through the outer transparant wall, whereas an aluminum foil may be provided behind the publicity sheet or menu card, towards the inner wall, for optimal reflection of the cold; it is also possible to provide insulating foam (such as "isomo" foam) between the aluminum foil and the sheet or card to optimise insulation from the external conditions.

The stability of the device can be increased by providing the lower rim of the device with weightening, for instance with lead pebbles as used for curtains, or with small succing cups ( ^N succers , in Dutch so called "zuignapjes") , in order to avoid that the protective shape should move or turn over due to the wind or some other movement.

It is further possible to conceive an embodiment with double walls in which a material is introduced in the space between the walls, which can be cooled (frozen) and act as a cold reservoir to even further improve and extend the cooling effect of the device;

It is also possible to replace this cooling material by an insulating gas or by vacuum.