These and other aspects of the invention may be more readily understood with the aid of the illustrative Figures included herein below, and showing of an example, or examples, embodying the various aspects of the invention, provided by way of illustration, but not of limitation of the present invention, and in which:
a shows a isometric view from in front, to one side and above an example of an embodiment of an insulated container according to an aspect of the present invention;
b is an opposite isometric view of the container of
c is a front view of the container of
d is a rear view of the container of
e is a left hand end view of the container of
f is a right hand end view of the container of
g is a top view of the container of
h is a bottom view of the container of
i is a view of the container of
j shows the container of
k shows a detail of wall cross section of the container of
a shows a isometric view of the container of
b is an opposite isometric view of the container of
c is a left hand end view of the container of
d is a right hand end view of the container of
e is a top view of the container of
f is a bottom view of the container of
g shows the container of
a shows an isometric view from in front, above and to one corner of an alternate embodiment of an insulated container to that of
b is an opposite isometric view of the container of
c is a front view of the container of
d is a rear view of the container of
e is a left hand end view of the container of
f is a right hand end view of the container of
g is a top view of the container of
h is a bottom view of the container of
i is a view of the container of
a is an isometric view of the container of
b is another isometric view of the container of
c is a front view of the container of
d is a left hand side view of the container of
e is a right hand side view of the container of
f is a top view of the container of
g is a bottom view of the container of
h is an isometric view of the container of
The description that follows, and the embodiments described therein, are provided by way of illustration of an example, or examples, of particular embodiments of the principles of the present invention. These examples are provided for the purposes of explanation, and not of limitation, of those principles and of the invention. In the description, like parts are marked throughout the specification and the drawings with the same respective reference numerals. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and in some instances proportions may have been exaggerated in order to more clearly depict certain features of the invention.
For the purposes of this description, the largest panels of the bags herein described are arbitrarily designated as the front and rear sides, faces, or portions of the bag. Similarly, the closure member, or opening of the bag is arbitrarily designated as being at the top, and the base panel is designated as being at the bottom.
For the purposes of this description, it may be that a Cartesian frame of reference may be employed. In such a frame of reference, the long, or largest dimension of an object may be considered to extend in the direction of the x-axis, the base of the article, where substantially planar, may be considered to extend in an x-y plane, and the height of the article may be measured in the vertical, or z-direction. The largest panels of the containers described herein may be designated arbitrarily as the front and rear sides, faces, or portions of the container. Similarly, the closure member, or opening of the bag is arbitrarily designated as being at the top, and the base panel is designated as being at the bottom, as these terms may be appropriate for the customary orientation in which the objects may usually be found, sold, or employed, notwithstanding that the objects may be picked up and placed on one side or another from time to time at the user's choice. It should also be understood that, within the normal range of temperatures to which human food and human touch is accustomed, although the term cooler, or cooler container, or cooler bag, may be used, such insulated structures may generally also be used to keep food, beverages, or other objects either warm or hot as well as cool, cold, or frozen.
In this specification reference is made to insulated containers. The adjective “insulated” is intended to be given its usual and normal meaning as understood by persons skilled in the art. It is not intended to encompass single layers, or skins, of conventional webbing materials, such as Nylon™, woven polyester, canvas, cotton, burlap, leather, paper and so on, that are not otherwise indicated as having, or being relied upon to have, particular properties as effective thermal insulators other than in the context of being provided with heat transfer resistant materials or features beyond that of the ordinary sheet materials in and of themselves. Following from Phillips v. AWH Corp., this definition provided in the specification is intended to supplant any dictionary definition, and to prevent interpretation in the US Patent Office (or in any other Patent Office) that strays from the customary and ordinary meaning of the term “insulated” as provided herein.
Similarly, this description may tend to discuss various embodiments of soft-sided containers, as opposed to hard shell containers. In the jargon of the trade, a soft sided cooler, or bag, or container, is one that does not have a substantially rigid, high density exoskeleton (typically a molded shell, e.g., of ABS or polyethylene, or other common types of molded plastic). Rather, a soft-sided container may tend to have, for example, an outer skin, a layer of insulation, and an internal skin, both the internal and external skins being of some kind of webbing, be it a woven fabric, a nylon sheet, or some other membrane. The layer of insulation, which may be a sandwich of various components, is typically a flexible or resilient layer, perhaps of a relatively soft and flexible foam. A soft-sided container may still be a soft-sided container where, as described herein, it may include a substantially rigid liner, or may include one or more battens (which may be of a relatively hard plastic) concealed within the soft sided wall structure more generally, or where hard molded fittings may be used either at a container rim or lip, or to provide a base or a mounting point for wheels, but where the outside of the assembly is predominantly of soft-sided panels. Again, this definition is intended to forestall the US Patent Office, (or any other Patent Offices), from adopting an interpretation of the term “soft-sided” that diverges from the ordinary and customary meaning of the term as understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art in the industry, and as explained herein.
a to 1j and 2a to 2f show an insulated container assembly 20. Insulated container assembly 20 may include a first insulated container portion 22, and a second insulated container portion 24.
First insulated container portion 22 may have the general form of a generally six-sided box, or enclosure, 26, having a first or rear panel 28, and a second, or front panel 30. First panel 28 and second panel 30 may be joined by an insulated wall structure in the nature of a peripheral wall 32 that extends about their respective peripheries and joins them together. To the extent that first panel 28 is of a generally rectangular form, which may in some embodiments have radiused corners as at 34, first panel 28 may have a pair of first and second generally opposed long sides or margins, 36, 38, and first and second generally opposed short sides, or margins, 40, 42. While, in the most general sense, first and second panels 28 and 30 may have generally planar forms, and may be polygons, and may be quadrilaterals, whether of equal or unequal size, or of the same or different profiles or footprints, it may often be convenient for first and second panels 28 and 30 to have substantially the same plan form profile or footprint, and for them to be spaced apart and parallel, such that the normal projection of one may lie upon, or substantially or predominantly upon, the other.
Peripheral wall 32 may include corresponding first and second long side portions 44, 46 and short side portions 48, 50, each of which may have a first or proximal margin joined to the corresponding marginal portion of the periphery of first panel 28, and may extend away from panel 28 to a distal margin such as may form a portion of the rim or periphery 52 with which second panel 30 may cooperate.
The structure thus described may tend to define a thermally insulated internal space, or cavity, or accommodation, indicated generally as 54. Access to accommodation 54 may be obtained by mounting second panel 30 in a movable condition, such that second panel 30 may move between an open condition (
The container assembly 20 may include a securement in the nature of a releasable fitting 60, such as may be operable to retain the closure member, e.g., panel 30, in the closed position. Fitting 60 may be a friction fit, or interference fitting or bead, or lip, which may either be discrete or which may run in a substantially continuous manner about a portion or all of the rim 52 of peripheral wall 32. In one embodiment, fitting 60 may include mating hook and eye attachment fittings (of which one type is sold under the name Velcro™), or it may be in the nature of a tracked fastener, of which one type is a zipper 64. In one embodiment, zipper 64 may extend about those portions of rim 52 not connected by hinge 66, namely the opposite long side margin and the two short side margins. Hinge 66 may be in the nature of a living or fabric hinge or flap, as may be.
Container assembly 20 may include a liner, 70. Liner 70 may be a flexible liner that may be attached about rim 52, and may be on the inside thereof completely within the enclosure. Liner 70 may be a seamless folded liner made of vinyl sheet stock, and may be translucent, or see-through. Liner 70 may be invertible and washable. Liner 70 may be permanently installed, as by sewing around the periphery at rim 52, or it may be removably installed, as by a tracked fastener, such as a zipper, or by Velcro™ 72 as may be. Alternatively, liner 70 may be a “hard body” liner, such as the substantially rigid, liner described below. Second panel 30 may have a retainer 74 mounted on the inside thereof, such as may sometimes be used to hold a coding or heating member, such as a chemical freezer pack or ice pack.
Second insulated container portion 24 may be mounted to the front face of second panel 30 of first insulated container portion 22. It may be that second insulated container portion 24 includes a separate backing wall, or it may be that second panel 30 serves both as the front wall of first insulated container portion 22 and as the back wall of second insulated container portion 24, providing a common insulated wall between them such as may tend to permit the two insulated container portions to be kept at different temperature or humidity condition (or both).
Second insulated container portion 24 may include an insulated wall structure having a main or front panel 76, and a sidewall 78 that may extend about a portion or all of the periphery of main panel 76 and second panel 30. Front panel 76, sidewall 78 and second panel 30 may co-operate to define a second lodgement, enclosure, space, volume, or accommodation 80. Front panel 76 may have a generally rectangular plan form profile or footprint, that may correspond generally to the plan form or profile of second panel 30, whether it be of the same size or be slightly smaller or larger. Sidewall 78 may include a bottom portion 82, and a pair of side portions 84, 86, which may form a generally U-shaped periphery, leaving an opening 88 at one end, that end being arbitrarily designated a top end.
Second insulated container portion 24 may also have a closure member, 90, that is movable between an open and a closed position, and that is thereby operable to govern access to accommodation 80. In one embodiment, closure member 90 may be a lid of flap 92, which may be hingedly attached along a portion of the peripheral margin on second panel 30. It may be that flap 92 extends along or near to one of the short sides of second panel 30. Flap 92 may have two attachment or securement fittings, a first fitting 94 for securing flap 92 when second insulated container portion 24 is in an expanded position, as in
Insulated container assembly 20 may include a lifting member 112 such as may be attached at one or more locations such that when insulated container assembly 20 is suspended from lifting member 112, flap 92 may tend to be uppermost relative to the remainder of second insulated wall portion 24 generally, and bottom portion 82 in particular. As such, when being carried, objects may tend not to fall out of second accommodation 80. In one embodiment, lifting member 112 may have the form of a handle 114 mounted to topmost short side end wall portion 50 of peripheral wall 36. Insulated container assembly 20 may also include a second lifting member, in the nature of a shoulder strap 116 and shoulder strap fittings 118, which may be located near the uppermost end of long side portions 44, 46, such that container assembly 20 may be carried over a user's shoulder.
Alternately or optionally, insulated container assembly 20 may include an auxiliary accommodation 124 mounted externally to accommodations 54 and 80. Auxiliary accommodation 124 may have an insulated wall structure, or may have a non-insulated retaining lodgement, such as may include a base member 126, which, in one embodiment may be rounded in a manner such as to support a round beverage or other container and a web or net 128 with a hemmed upper margin, such as may accommodate a drink bottle, or the like. When not in use, base member 126 may flip up against on of the sidewall portions of peripheral wall 32 more generally. It may be that accommodation 124 is mounted to one of the long side portions of peripheral wall 32, and base member 126 may be oriented to be located closer to bottom portion 82, and the opening or accommodation 124 may be oriented in the upper or uppermost direction, generally toward flap 92.
Insulated container assembly 20 may be a soft sided insulated container assembly, in which the wall structure may typically include an outer layer or skin 130, an internal layer (or layers) of insulating material 132, and an inner layer or skin 134. Insulating material 132 may itself be a sandwich of insulating layers or sub layers, such as a closed cell foam layer, 136, an open cell foam layer 138, and a closed cell foam layer 140. It may be that the outer layer, 130, may tend to be made of a relatively wear resistant material, be is a woven polyester material or some other. The internal layer may be a sheet of Nylon, and may have a reflective inner surface. Optionally, one or more panels may have stiffening battens mounted therein, e.g., it may be desired that first panel 28 or short side end panel 48 be stiffened for suitability as a base upon which to rest insulated container assembly 20, either when resting in the opened position of
Insulated container assembly 20 may also have a third lifting or securing number 144 such as may be mounted to the new or back or base wall, namely panel 28, and which may be in the nature of a cinch strap 146. Cinch strap 146 may be employed releasably to attach container assembly 20 to another object, such as a carrier on a bicycle, sometimes referred to as a rat-trap carrier, or for fastening to a knap sack or to a belt.
When employed as a lunch box, container assembly 20 may stand on short side end face 48, with the second insulated container portion 24 in an upright orientation. At lunchtime, or at such time as required, the beverage (if any) may be removed, and the case may be laid on its back, and the front panel, i.e., second panel 30, opened to provide access to accommodation 54. This arrangement may be facilitated by the placement of the hinge of second panel 30 along one side of panel 30, and the hinge of flap 92 along another side, which may be an adjacent side.
In another embodiment, in
First insulated container portion 222 may have the general form of a generally six-sided box, or enclosure, 226, having a first or bottom panel 228, and a second, or top panel 230. First panel 228 and second panel 230 may be joined by an insulated wall structure in the nature of a peripheral wall 232 that extends about their respective peripheries and joins them together. To the extent that first panel 228 is of a generally rectangular form, which may in some embodiments have radiused corners, first panel 228 may have a pair of first and second generally opposed long sides or margins, 236, 238, and first and second generally opposed short sides, or margins, 240, 242. While, in the most general sense, first and second panels 228 and 230 may have generally planar forms, and may be polygons, and may be quadrilaterals, whether of equal or unequal size, or of the same or different profiles or footprints, it may often be convenient for first and second panels 228 and 230 to have substantially the same plan form profile or footprint, and for them to be spaced apart and parallel, such that the normal projection of one may lie upon, or substantially or predominantly upon, the other.
Peripheral wall 232 may include corresponding first and second long side portions 244, 246 and short side portions 248, 250, each of which may have a first or proximal margin joined to the corresponding marginal portion of the periphery of first panel 228, and may extend away from panel 228 to a distal margin such as may form a portion of the rim or periphery 252 with which second panel 230 may cooperate.
The structure thus described may tend to define a thermally insulated internal space, or cavity, or accommodation, indicated generally as 254. Access to accommodation 254 may be obtained by mounting second panel 230 in a movable condition, such that second panel 230 may move between an open condition and a closed condition with respect to peripheral wall 232, and with respect to accommodation 254 more generally. To this end, second panel 230 may be pivotally or hingedly mounted to peripheral wall 232, and, in particular, may have a long side margin 256 that is hingedly mounted to a corresponding long side margin portion, of back long side portion 246 of peripheral wall 232, such that second panel 230 may swing in the manner of a door, or first closure, operable to govern access to accommodation 254. In this structure, the long or lengthwise overall dimension L may tend to be greater than the breadthwise dimension W. In this embodiment, the depth, D, may be of comparable magnitude to length L measured normal to first and second panels 28, 30. L may tend to be in the range of 5:4 to 3:1 times W, and may tend to be in the range of ⅔ to 3/2 times D. In one embodiment, the ratio of proportions L:W:D may be roughly 2:1:2, (all +/−30%). In a typical embodiment, container assembly 220 may tend to be employed as a beverage cooler and picnic lunch box.
Container assembly 220 may include a securement in the nature of a releasable fitting 260, such as may be operable to retain the closure member, e.g., panel 230, in the closed position. Fitting 260 may be a friction fit, or interference fitting or bead, or lip, which may either be discrete or which may run in a substantially continuous manner about a portion or all of the rim 252 of peripheral wall 232. In one embodiment fitting 260 may include mating hook and eye attachment fittings (of which one type is sold under the name Velcro,™), or it may be in the nature of a tracked fastener, of which one type is a zipper 264. In one embodiment, zipper 264 may extend about those portions of rim 252 not connected by hinge 266, which may be the opposite long side margin and the two short side margins. Hinge 266 may be in the nature of a living or fabric hinge or flap, as may be.
Container assembly 220 may include a liner, 270. Liner 270 may be a flexible liner that may be attached about rim 252, and may be on the inside thereof completely within the enclosure. Liner 270 may be a seamless folded liner made of vinyl sheet stock, and may be translucent, or see-through. Liner 270 may be invertible and washable. Liner 270 may be permanently installed, as by sewing around the periphery at rim 252, or it may be removably installed, as by a tracked fastener, such as a zipper, or by Velcro™ as may be. Alternatively, liner 270 may be a “hard body” liner, and may be substantially rigid. That is, liner 270 may be a molded plastic part, of relatively high density, be it of nylon or some other suitable material, and which may tend to be substantially stiffer than the soft sided insulated wall structure by which it is surrounded. In such a case, liner 270 may serve to discourage crushing of objects carried within first insulated container portion 222, and yet still obtain the benefit of the thermal insulation of the wall blanket, namely that of the walls of first insulated wall portion 222. Further, liner 270 may have a flanged rim, as at 266, that when installed may seat immediately adjacent, and inside, rim 252 of peripheral sidewall 232.
Second insulated container portion 224 may be mounted to the front face of first insulated container portion 222, namely the face of long side wall portion 244. It may be that second insulated container portion 224 includes a separate backing wall, or it may be that sidewall portion 244 serves both as the front wall of first insulated container portion 222 and as the back wall of second insulated container portion 224, providing a common insulated wall between them such as may tend to permit the two insulated container portions to be kept at different temperature or humidity condition (or both).
Second insulated container portion 224 may include an insulated wall structure having a main or front panel 276, and a sidewall 278 that may extend about a portion or all of the periphery of main panel 276 and second or front wall panel 244. Front panel 276, sidewall 278 and second panel 244 may co-operate to define a second lodgement, enclosure, space, volume, or accommodation 280. Front panel 276 may have a generally rectangular plan form profile or footprint, that may correspond generally to the plan form or profile of second panel 244, whether it be of the same size or be slightly smaller or larger. Sidewall 278 may include a bottom portion 282, and a pair of side portions 284, 286, which may form a generally U-shaped periphery, leaving an opening 288 at one end, that end being arbitrarily designated a top end.
Second insulated container portion 224 may also have a closure member, 290, that is movable between an open and a closed position, and that is thereby operable to govern access to accommodation 280. In one embodiment, closure member 290 may be a lid of flap 292, which may be hingedly attached along the upper margin of long side panel 244, generally opposite to the long side hinge. Flap 292 may have two attachment or securement fittings or sets of fittings: a first fitting 294 for securing flap 292 when second insulated container portion 224 is in an expanded position, as shown in
Insulated container assembly 220 may include a lifting member 312 such as may be attached at one or more locations such that when insulated container assembly 220 is suspended from lifting member 312, flap 292 may tend to be uppermost relative to the remainder of second insulated wall portion 224 generally, and bottom portion 282 in particular. As such, when being carried, objects may tend not to fall out of second accommodation 280. In one embodiment, lifting member 312 may have the form of a strap 314 mounted to topmost short side end wall portions 248, 250 of peripheral wall 232. Strap 314 may have a central load spreader pad 316. Each end 318 of strap 314 may be reinforced by a load spreading reinforcement, which may be in the nature of a gusset 320, which may be located near, and may have a margin running along and rooted to, the uppermost end of short side portions 248, 250, such that container assembly 220 may be carried over a user's shoulder. Gusset 320 may have a generally triangular form, and may have an apex 322 that is located asymmetrically relative to short end panel portion 248 or 250. As shown in the phantom portion of
Alternately or optionally, insulated container assembly 220 may include an auxiliary access 324 to accommodation 254 in the nature of a lid or door 326 mounted as an inset in second panel 230. Auxiliary access 324 may have an insulated wall structure, and may include a wing 328, hingedly mounted to the main body of second panel 230. Door 326 may employ a different type of securement from the main closure securement of panel 230. That is, whereas the main closure may employ a zipper e.g. 264, and may work to permit general access to accommodation 254 for loading, or for addition or removal of, for example, ice. Door 326, by contrast, may be rather smaller, and may have a quick release fastener (such as Velcro™ strips), and may be of a size to permit a user to reach in and extract, an individual beverage can, without having to open the who upper portion of the container assembly. Door 326 may be of substantially the same, or predominantly the same construction as the other insulated portions of container assembly 220 more generally. Optionally, insulated container assembly 220 might also include external beverage holders, or auxiliary pockets, or lodgements similar to item 126 above, whether insulated or uninsulated.
As described above in the context of container assembly 20, insulated container assembly 220 may also be a soft sided insulated container assembly, in which the wall structure may typically include an outer layer or skin 130, an internal layer (or layers) of insulating material 132, and an inner layer or skin 134. Insulating material 132 may itself be a sandwich of insulating layers or sub-layers, such as a closed cell foam layer, 136, an open cell foam layer 138, and a closed cell foam layer 140. It may be that the outer layer, 130, may tend to be made of a relatively wear resistant material, be is a woven polyester material or some other. The internal layer may be a sheet of Nylon™, and may have a reflective inner surface. Optionally, one or more panels may have stiffening battens mounted therein, e.g., it may be desired that long side portion first panel 246 or first panel 228 be stiffened for suitability as a base upon which to rest insulated container assembly 220, either when resting in the opened position of or when being carried against a person's hip. In that case, either may include a reinforcement, or stiffener, such as may be identified as stiffening batten 142.
The principles of the present invention are not limited to these specific examples which are given by way of illustration. It is possible to make other embodiments that employ the principles of the invention and that fall within its spirit and scope of the invention. Since changes in and or additions to the above-described embodiments may be made without departing from the nature, spirit or scope of the invention, the invention is not to be limited to those details, but only by the appended claims.