The invention relates generally to the cooling and display of beverages and other items and, more particularly, to a disposable cooler beverage bin.
The present invention provides a kit for displaying beverages, and includes a first corrugated fiberboard for supporting a bin within a cavity of the first corrugated fiberboard. A second corrugated fiberboard displays at least one of words, images, and shapes, and is capable of being removably mounted to the first corrugated fiberboard. A third corrugated fiberboard supports the articles placed in the bin, and inserts within the cavity of the first corrugated fiberboard. A fourth corrugated fiberboard receives the articles therein, and comprises a portion of the bin and inserts within the cavity of the first corrugated fiberboard supported by the third corrugated fiberboard and secured by the first corrugated fiberboard. A liner is inserted in the first corrugated fiberboard over the fourth corrugated fiberboard, a portion of the liner extending through the fourth corrugated fiberboard, the third corrugated fiberboard, the second corrugated fiberboard, and the first corrugated fiberboard, allowing a coolant placed within the liner to drain from the bin after cooling the articles.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following discussion, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. Additionally, for the most part, details concerning fiberboard manufacturing, creasing, and cutting and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not considered necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention, and are considered to be within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.
Referring to
Referring now to
As illustrated, the first side wall 111, and the second side wall 113 comprise a pair of opposing side walls foldably attached along a first cooler base crease (“First CBC”) 123 and a second cooler base crease (“Second CBC”) 124 to the front wall 110. The back wall 112 is foldably attached along a third cooler base crease (“Third CBC”) 125 to the first side wall 111 opposite the front wall 110. Finally, the attachment flap 114 foldably attaches to the back wall 112 along a fourth cooler base crease (“Fourth CBC”) 126 opposite the first side wall 111. In the illustrated embodiment, folds are made along each of the First CBC 123, the Second CBC 124, the Third CBC 125, and the Fourth CBC 126 such that the front side of each wall does not face any other wall of the single sheet of corrugated fiberboard. These folds create the box like structure featured prominently in
The back wall bottom formation flap 116 folds away from the front of the corrugated fiberboard sheet of the cooler base 101 along a fifth cooler base crease (“Fifth CBC”) 128 toward the cavity previously formed. In the illustrated embodiment, the back wall bottom formation flap 116 is creased along a sixth cooler base crease (“Sixth CBC”) 129 forming a first portion back wall bottom formation flap 130, and a second portion back wall bottom formation flap 131. An adhesive is applied along the back of the second portion back wall bottom formation flap 131 and secured to the first side wall bottom formation flap 118 along an edge of the first side wall bottom formation flap 118 proximate to the back wall bottom formation flap 116. The first side wall bottom formation flap 118 folds away from the front of the corrugated fiberboard sheet of the cooler base 101 along a seventh cooler base crease (“Seventh CBC”) 132 toward the cavity.
Similarly, the front wall bottom formation flap 120 folds away from the front of the corrugated fiberboard sheet comprising the cooler base 101 along an eighth cooler base crease (“Eighth CBC”) 133 toward the cavity. In the illustrated embodiment, the front wall bottom formation flap 120 is creased along a ninth cooler base crease (“Ninth CBC”) 134 forming a first portion front wall bottom formation flap 135, and a second portion front wall bottom formation flap 136. An adhesive is applied along the back of the second portion front wall bottom formation flap 136 and secured to the second side wall bottom formation flap 122 along an edge of the second side wall bottom formation flap 122 proximate to the front wall bottom formation flap 120. The second side wall bottom formation flap 122 folds away from the front of the corrugated fiberboard sheet of the cooler base 101 along a tenth cooler base crease (“Tenth CBC”) 137 toward the interior previously formed. In the illustrated embodiment, the cooler base 101 folds along the cooler base creases described above between the storage configuration and set-up configuration (illustrated in
In an embodiment, castors may be placed at castor locations 138 illustrated in
In the illustrated embodiment, the back wall bin formation flap 115 folds away from the front of the cooler base 101 along an eleventh cooler base crease 139, and again along a twelfth cooler base crease 140 to form a pocket (not shown) of a thickness of a bin 104 (
The front wall bin formation flap 119 folds away from the front of the cooler base 101 along a fifteenth cooler base crease 149, and again along a sixteenth cooler base crease 150 to form a pocket (not shown) of a thickness of the bin 104 (
Following insertion of a cooler bin support 103 (
The back wall is cut to form a drain flap 155, a first back wall header support 156, and a second back wall header support 157 as indicated in
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, the first back wall header support 156 (
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, each support wall folds up toward the main support wall 301 such that a first bin support edge 318 and a second bin support edge 319 meets the main support wall 301 at main support wall slots 330. The main support wall slots 330 comprise equally sized slots cut into the main support wall 301 as illustrated. Furthermore, the cooler bin support 103 is cut along each cooler bin crease described above as illustrated to form cooler bin support inserts 320. The cooler bin support inserts 320 along each respective bin support edge 318 and 319 insert into the corresponding main support wall slots 330 when the cooler bin support 103 is in the set-up configuration (
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, the first bin side wall 405 comprises a back first bin side wall flap 411, and a front first bin side wall flap 412. The back first bin side wall flap 411 comprises a portion of the first bin side wall 405 proximate to the back bin wall 404 cut as illustrated and crease along fifth bin crease 413. The front first bin side wall flap 412 comprises a portion of the first bin side wall 405 proximate to the front bin wall 403 cut as illustrated and crease along sixth bin crease 414. Similarly, the second bin side wall 406 comprises a back second bin side wall flap 415, and a front second bin side wall flap 416. The back second bin side wall flap 415 comprises a portion of the second bin side wall 406 proximate to the back bin wall 404 cut as illustrated and crease along seventh bin crease 417. The front second bin side wall flap 416 comprises a portion of the second bin side wall 406 proximate to the front bin wall 403 cut as illustrated and creased along eighth bin crease 418.
In the preferred embodiment, the storage configuration of the bin 104 is illustrated as shown in
The system 100 further comprises the liner 501 (
The process of bin set-up is shown in the operative steps illustrated in
At block 604, the bin 104 is constructed as described above with respect to
Next, at block 609, the liner 501 is inserted into the cooler base 101 such that the liner 501 covers the bin 104. Initially, the liner drain 503 is pushed into the bin floor drain 402 allowing the liner basin 502 to cover all exposed areas of the bin 104 and extending above an edge of the cooler base 101. The portion of the liner basin 502 extending above the edge of the cooler base 101 are folded down such that the corners of the cooler base 101 secure the liner basin 502 as indicated at block 610.
At block 611, the liner drain 503 is pulled through the drain flap 155 in the back wall 112 of the cooler base 101. Finally, as indicated at block 612 a coolant, such as ice, is placed in the liner basin 502 and an article, such as cola beverages, is placed in the cooler basin 502 with the coolant allowing for display of the article while the article is kept cool.
It is understood that the present invention may take many forms and embodiments. Accordingly, several variations may be made in the foregoing without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, the size and shape of the each component can be changed to suit the particular needs of the user.
Thus the present invention embodied in the system 100 provides a disposable cooler bin having numerous advantages over prior art beverage bins. For example, the disclosed embodiments provide a cost-effective disposable beverage bin that will last the lifetime of most beverage promotions. In addition, it is space efficient in its transport, allowing many more bins to be shipped or provided to individual resellers by distributors than prior art cooler beverage bins. Furthermore, it is easy for resellers and distributor deliverers to transition from storage to set-up configuration. While the beverage bin will last the lifetime of a promotion, it will begin to decompose shortly thereafter, preventing the reseller from using the distributor provided beverage bin to display and sell products that are not the distributor's. Finally, the disclosed beverage bin is produced from recycled and recyclable materials reducing the waste produced from most prior art cooler beverage bins.
Having thus described the present invention by reference to certain of its preferred embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments disclosed are illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that a wide range of variations, modifications, changes, and substitutions are contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and, in some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features. Many such variations and modifications may be considered obvious and desirable by those skilled in the art based upon a review of the foregoing description of preferred embodiments. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/314,495, filed Mar. 16, 2010, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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495949 | Fear | Apr 1893 | A |
1797451 | Staton | Mar 1931 | A |
4895250 | Schifrin | Jan 1990 | A |
6234351 | Wilcox | May 2001 | B1 |
6629620 | Freeman | Oct 2003 | B1 |
20010040166 | Pietrantoni | Nov 2001 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61314495 | Mar 2010 | US |