Patent Application
20180312323
The cooler buddy generally relates to food storage containers and more specifically to floating shelf unit compatible with a food cooler.
From ancient times, people have grown, hunted, raised, or otherwise made food. People often acquired food at one location and seek to transport it to another. In ancient times, people wrapped food in leathers and carried it themselves. Such wrapped food had a limited time until spoiling. People thus transported food short distances. Alternatively, people would preserve, pickle, or salt food for longer duration storage. Such perseveration methods extended the shelf life of food but loaded it with sodium and other preservatives. Food underwent preservation by various methods in various countries. Preservation methods travelled with people as they explored and settled various parts of the world.
In time, railroads arrived. The railroads allowed for prompt transportation of goods for greater distances than ever before. Such goods included various foodstuffs. Once more, food was acquired at one location then shipped as far as the railroads would take it before it spoiled. Foodstuffs began to cross between regions, thanks to the railroads. However, bad weather, strikes, and other hazards still beset rails, and various shipments of foodstuffs spoiled.
Part of the industrial revolution saw the arrival of refrigeration systems of wide variety. Such systems appear on railcars and made them refrigerated, thus allowing railroads to transport foodstuffs nearly across the country. Consumer began to taste foods from places they had never visited previously. A refrigerated railcar brought large quantities of foods to sale locations however, one consumer could not consume a railcar's worth of food. Food retailers broke down railcar shipments into portions suitable for the consumer to purchase. A consumer would then bring the foodstuffs home for consumption.
Though refrigerated by rail and at select retailers, a consumer often brought home foodstuffs that thawed promptly. In select regions of the country, consumers had nearby access to ice. Consumers would collect ice from lakes and ponds during winter then store it in caves insulated by straw. Consumers would then withdraw the ice during the remainder of the year. Consumers used ice chests to carry the ice and to store food placed within it. In some parts of the country, an ice chest became an ice box. Mechanized refrigeration also allowed for refilling of ice chests and usage of natural ice declined.
Moving food in ice chests proved a serious undertaking. Such chests became of heavy construction for durability and retention of insulation. Early insulation included thickened wooden walls, gaps between walls filled with ticking, paper, or other insulator, and the like. Select chests also had chambers for a solid block of ice that cooled an entire chest as it melted.
As sometimes happens, military conflict spurs other developments. World War II saw troops sent to various places around the world. As Napoleon noted, an army travels on its stomach. The military spurred research in food chest construction and insulation. In time, various lighter weight coolers appeared. The coolers have a polymer construction with a closed cell rigid foam core. The coolers have a hollow form and their integral insulation keeps cold food cold for extended periods. Presently, coolers come in a wide variety of forms that one person, or two people can readily carry about, such as from a car to a picnic table.
People once more put various food stuffs and beverages in coolers, often along with ice. This works well for picnics and other gatherings. Wise event planners, mothers, and others who lead such picnics promptly remove food stuffs for cooking while the beverages remain in the melting ice. From time to time, a picnic planner may forget or delay removing foodstuffs from the ice inside of a cooler. Such a picnic planner may find foodstuffs in soggy packaging, or worse, dissolving into the melt water. The melt water may contaminate unpackaged foods, such as fruits and vegetables, or the foodstuff may contaminate the melt water, remaining ice, and the cooler itself. A lucky picnic planner may find packaged food floating between the beverage containers in the melt water and ice.
As previously mentioned, coolers have a wide variety of forms and functions these days. The coolers seek to keep cold food cold and hot food hot. Most do so and have a large chamber within the cooler walls. That large chamber receives foodstuffs, beverage, and ice with little separation between them. Select coolers have a removable tray for items not suitable for dampness or immersion. The removable tray has a sidewall and typically an open top. The open top provides the opportunity for water intrusion by an unwary picnicker.
The prior art includes various devices for containing foods and beverages over the years. The patent to Ray, U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,276 describes a floating tackle box for fishing. This box has at least air cells, 19, 20 upon each end. A further embodiment has air cells, 24, 25, beneath the lid, or top, 11 at its own ends, and air cells 26, 27, in the bottom 12 and the top 11. The air cells have a snug fit at their ends, bottom, and top. The air cells do not appear to extend across the entire front and the back of the box. The air cells in the ends and the top have a tubular prismatic form and adjoin an outer surface.
The patent to Nolte, U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,406 then has a floating server for a swimming pool. The server has an inflatable float B and an inverted, truncated conical container 10. The container has a depressed food chamber shown with ice in
The patent to Magnant, No. 5,787,839 shows a portable pet food container. This container has a generally round shape with a lower compartment for water and an upper compartment for pet food. The upper compartment rests upon the lower compartment and a cover 14 secures the upper compartment to the perimeter of the lower compartment beneath a handle. The lower compartment appears analogous to a cooler and the upper compartment then appears of similar purpose as your invention. The lower compartment has insulation 88 between its outer wall and the liner 23, c. 3 I. 20-26.
The patent to Yamada, U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,641 provides a method to manufacture an insulated spaced wall container. This method inserts a bag 5 into the space between two walls and inflates it with gases of a certain family. The bag then occupies the space between the walls and functions as insulation, c. 4 I. 15-30. Though this patent shows double wall construction, it does not mention buoyancy but rather focuses on insulation capacity.
The patent to LaRose, U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,066 provides a floating cooler. The cooler has a bottom 20 with spaced apart peripheral walls 19, 34 upon the perimeter of the bottom, and at least one lid 12 hingedly connected to a peripheral wall and then closing upon the remaining walls. In
Then the patent to Hasanovic, U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,559 has a cooler chest with an ice surrounded food compartment. The chest has an outer container 20 and an inner container 60 within it. Both containers have lids, 40, 80, and similar curved sidewalls. The outer container has a base with a recessed portion and the inner container fits into that recess. However, the two containers of this patent do not join at their upper edges and do not fully elevate the inner container above the base of the outer container.
The patent to the Roths, U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,436 has a thermal energy storage system such as for food. The system has two nested containers, called panels, with an energy storage material 46 between them. The energy storage material can be refrigerated, frozen, or heated and thus regulate the temperature of the contents in this system. The two containers have a tube between them for admission of the energy storage material.
The second patent to the Roths, U.S. Pat. No. 7,051,550 has the thermal energy storage system again. The '550 patent has similar technology as described above for the first Roth patent.
The third patent to the Roths, U.S. Pat. No. 7,380,412 has another thermal energy storage system but for bowls. A bowl has a generally rounded shape with a bottom having intersecting edges. This patent has similar technology as described above for the other two Roth patents with a heat or cold retaining material. In some embodiments, this patent shows a lid connecting to a main bowl but not a secondary bowl.
The patent to the Picos, U.S. Pat. No. 8,464,891 provides a hot/cold container and lid. This container has inner walls and outer walls upon a bottom plate. Compartments form between the inner walls and the outer walls, as at 109, 129, c. 2 I. 48. This container has a generally prismatic form and solid columns at each corner, c. 2 I. 47-48.
The second patent to the Picos, U.S. Pat. No. 8,813,993 shows again a hot/cold container and lid. This container also has inner walls and outer walls upon a bottom as before with compartments. This container has a generally prismatic form and solid columns at each corner, c. 2 I. 55. These claims specify construction of the container with inner walls and outer walls upon a bottom section with columns at the corner.
A dairy products retailer has the patent to Oberweis, U.S. Pat. No. 8,863,546 for a multiple compartment cooler. The cooler has multiple compartments that stack upon recesses. One or more compartments has vents 117a, see
And, the publication to Hidary, No. 2008/0006642 has a double walled food storage container. This publication though shows double walls 15, 17 spaced apart on the bottom, as at 19, 21. The double walls merge into a top member 25 having a lip 27 to engage a lid 13. This container has a fluid between the two double walls suitable for heating or cooling.
The prior art also showed various double walled containers and connections to their lids. The prior art containers have various forms and constructions and few of them specify that they floats.
Generally, the cooler buddy has a generally rectangular, prismatic form with a lid. The invention floats and self orients upright. The invention has a rectangular lid upon an outer tub of hollow rectangular shape. The lid has a recess and a perimeter depending lip. At each corner, the lid has a tab of thin cross section so a user may start removal of the lid from the outer tub. The outer tub has a base and a perimeter flange spaced above and outward of the base. Inwardly, the invention has its inner pan also of rectangular form but of less depth than the outer tub. The inner pan also has its base and its perimeter flange. The two perimeter flanges join by thermal welding leaving a space between the outer tub and the inner pan. The outer tub and the space cooperate to create displacement sufficient to float the invention when fully loaded with packages. The outer tub and the inner pan are transparent while the lid remains opaque.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. The present invention also includes its center of buoyancy being above its center of gravity, evacuation of air from between the inner pan and the outer tube, and alternatively, introduction of nitrogen in the space between the inner pan and the outer tub. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of the presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
One object of the present invention is to provide a cooler buddy that floats with a shallow draft.
Another object is to provide such a cooler buddy that prevents introduction of water into foodstuffs placed within it.
Another object is to provide such a cooler buddy that self rights.
Another object is to provide such a cooler buddy that fits within existing portable coolers.
Another object is to provide such a cooler buddy that is capable of manufacturing and distribution at a price suitable for the users, customers, supply houses, retailers, distributors, and catalogs.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention.
In referring to the drawings,
The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.
The present art overcomes the prior art limitations by providing a cooler buddy. An preferred embodiment of the present invention appears as shown in
More particularly, for the Cooler Buddy, its center of gravity should be above its center of buoyancy, shown by a distance ybg. Center of buoyancy is the center of gravity for the water volume displaced by an object, here the container, as at V. Center of gravity is from the weight of the container 10 itself plus any cargo, as at I. When the container tips to either side on water, its center of gravity above the center of buoyancy causes the container of the cooler buddy to right itself. This self righting happens when the buoyant force of the tipped container intersects the tipped container's centerline at a point called the metacenter, generally above the container a distance as at hm. The Cooler Buddy of the present invention keeps as much of its sidewalls above water as possible as suggested by the following equation:
Turning to
Placed within the outer tub, the inner pan 40 also has an inverted trapezoidal shape as shown though of lesser width and height than the outer tub. The inner pan has its inner base 41 here shown spaced above the outer base 31. The inner base defines the width of the inner pan at its low point, generally less than that of the outer tub. From the inner base, the inner pan has two spaced apart inner sidewalls 42. The inner sidewalls mutually extend upwardly and outwardly from the inner base at an angle more obtuse than that of the outer tub, that is, the inner endwalls extend outwardly at a greater angle to the inner base than the outer endwalls extend outwardly from the outer base at an angle to the outer base. The inner sidewalls merge with the outer flange 33, previously described. Opposite the outer flange, the inner base extends into its inner sidewalls using inner transitions 44. Each inner transition smoothly and continuously changes position from the flat inner base to the upwardly angled inner sidewalls. The inner pan also has an inner endwall 45 spanning between the two inner sidewalls and extending from the inner base. The inner endwall appears in the foreground in this figure and interiorly of the outer endwall. The inner pan has two inner endwalls mutually extending outwardly from the inner base. Each inner endwall has a generally perpendicular orientation to the two inner sidewalls. The inner pan also has a generally rectangular form that allows it to fit into the outer tub.
Rotating the outer tub,
The inner pan also has its inner base that continues to the inner sidewalls 42 here shown spaced apart and extending upwardly and outwardly from the inner base 41. The two inner endwalls flare outwardly as shown and at a flatter angle than the outer endwalls. The inner base also has inner transitions 44 for a continuous change from the inner base's flat orientation to the angled inner endwalls. Opposite the inner base, the inner pan 40 joins to the outer flange 33 along the inner endwalls 45 and the inner sidewalls 42.
The outer tub has at its outer flange 33 upon the two outer endwalls and the two outer sidewalls. The outer flange has a spacing away from the outer base and generally denotes the top of the outer tub. The outer flange has a construction that receives the inner endwalls and the inner sidewalls into a smooth combined edge upon the upper perimeter of the tub.
Turning the invention,
In an alternate embodiment, the outer flange and the inner flange have an airtight joining. The inner flange 43 extends inwardly from the outer flange to the inner sidewalls 42. The inner sidewalls then descend from the inner flange at a steeper angle than the outer sidewalls and reach the inner base 41. The inner sidewalls utilize the inner transitions 44 to complete their merge with the inner base. The inner sidewalls and inner base have a thickness as do the outer sidewalls and the outer base. In the preferred embodiment, the thickness of the inner sidewalls, inner base, outer sidewalls, and outer base are the same. In an alternate embodiment, the components of the inner pan have a different thickness than those of the outer tub. Preferably, the spacing, the inner flange, and the outer flange cooperate and define a sealed volume within the Cooler Buddy. The spacing 50 may be evacuated to a medium vacuum or at least a low vacuum, that is, below 760 Torr. Alternatively, the spacing may include air within it. Alternatively, the spacing may include an inert gas within it. Alternatively, the spacing may have nitrogen within it, that is, between the inner pan and the outer tub.
Next
The section views of
Turning the invention over,
From the aforementioned description, a cooler buddy has been described. The cooler buddy is uniquely capable of floating under load in water and simultaneously keeping the load dry. The cooler buddy and its various components my be may be manufactured from many materials, including but not limited to, transparent polymers, steel, aluminum, opaque polymers, ferrous and non-ferrous metal foils, their alloys, and composites.
Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments have been described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.
Various operations have been described as multiple discrete operations, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention, however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.
Moreover, in the specification and the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” “third” and the like -when they appear—are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to allow the reader to ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. Therefore, the claims include such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.
This non-provisional application claims priority to pending provisional application No. 62/490,693 filed on Apr. 27, 2017, all of which are owned by the same inventor.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62490693 | Apr 2017 | US |
