The invention herein pertains to containers for the storage of fluids, pellets, or granular materials generally, and particularly pertains to an apparatus for and a method of storing potable fluids such as water within a container that, when no longer holding water therein, can be interconnected with other containers for the construction of small and larger structures.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the most valuable resource on Earth is not oil or gold, but water. Fresh, clean water suitable for human consumption (i.e. potable), to say nothing of water for cooking, cleaning, and the like, is a commodity that the “haves” are stockpiling in increasing supply while the “have-nots” are seeking with increasing desperation. Of the many issues facing those who wish to provide those in need with fresh water, the simple logistics of transporting the liquid from its source to those in need are among the most challenging. Water needs to be maintained in a clean environment during transportation, or it is useless upon arrival without expensive or time-consuming procedures, so it is commonplace to transport water within closed containers. These containers become exceedingly heavy when loaded, so their shipment is necessarily complex and expensive. Further, once the water arrives at its destination, the people who need it most must either use it at the delivery site (unlikely) or transport it in smaller vessels back to their homes, further decreasing the likelihood that the water will be used as needed. Last but not least, the containers themselves must either be discarded, leading to significant environmental waste, or transported back in the manner from which they came, further increasing the transportation cost of this potentially life-saving exercise.
To make matters even worse, many of the poorest nations on Earth suffer from inadequate building materials, leading to substandard housing and structurally deficient structures. Many of the same logistics and cost challenges face entities who would otherwise be willing to provide building materials to the less fortunate. Thus, in view of the problems and disadvantages associated with prior art water storage vessels, and further in view of the need for building materials in many of the same locations, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a fluid storage vessel that is easy to manufacture and simple to use.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a polymeric water storage vessel that defines a substantially hollow interior therein, sized and shaped for the receipt and retention of potable water.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a fluid packaging container defining at least one protrusion formed on the exterior surface thereof, and at least one recess formed in the exterior thereof, the protrusion sized and shaped to nest within the recess and the recess sized and shaped to receive substantially all of the protrusion therein.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a fluid packaging container including a handle defined on the exterior surface thereof for ergonomic holding of the packaging container while containing fluid such as potable water therein.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a fluid packaging container further defining a channel formed in the exterior surface thereof, the channel sized and shaped to receive substantially all of the handle therein.
It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a fluid packaging container defining a plurality of protrusions formed on the exterior surface thereof, and a plurality of recesses formed in the exterior thereof, the protrusions sized and shaped to nest within different ones of the recesses and the recesses sized and shaped to receive substantially all of different ones of the protrusions therein.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a fluid, pellet, or granular material packaging container that can house a variety of potable (i.e. water, milk, juice, soda, and other non-carbonated beverages), edible (salt, sugar, flour, syrup, beans, and rice), and non-potable (oil, gasoline, paint, rubber, and paint thinner) materials therein, and thereafter utilize the packaging container to assemble a structure.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide a method of forming a structure comprising the steps of providing a plurality of fluid packaging containers, each of the containers defining at least one protrusion and at least one recess, and engaging the plurality of fluid packaging containers together to assemble a structure. Non-limiting examples of such structures include homes, garages, playhouses, treehouses, dog houses, pool houses, observation towers, and the like.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing a generally hollow, cube-shaped fluid container formed out of a polymeric material for the storage of a variety of items, particularly, clean, potable fluids such as water, milk, juice, or the like therein. Each container defines two square-shaped protrusions extending from different ones of the exterior surface of the container, and two similarly sized and shaped recesses formed in separate exterior surfaces of the container. The protrusion extensions form a small shoulder that is insertable into the recesses to form a firm mechanical engagement therebetween. Each container also defines a cylindrical handle and a spout and respectively a correspondingly sized and shaped channel and notch in an exterior surface, such that the handle and spout are insertable within the respective channel and notch to establish another point of mechanical attachment. In use, the containers are emptied of their contained substances and mechanically engaged with one another, protrusions inserted within recesses and handles/spouts positioned within channels/notches, and in this matter sizable structures such as the walls of a house can be formed from the containers after their role as fluid packaging containers is fulfilled.
For a better understanding of the invention and its operation, turning now to the drawings,
As demonstrated at least in
Preferred packaging container 10 defines a plurality (i.e. one or more) of faces with a protrusion defined thereon. As best seen in
Preferred packaging container 10 defines a plurality (i.e. one or more) of faces with a recess defined therein. As best seen in
As noted previously, preferred fluid packaging container 10 defines spout 18 in top surface 11. In one intended use, two or more packaging containers may be mechanically engaged together to form a structure. While protrusions 20 have been described herein as substantially square, other geometries of such a projection may be advantageous, for example a rectangle, and therefore are within the scope of the instant invention. Additionally, or in the alternative, it may be advantageous to vary the orientation of packaging containers in the assembly of a structure. Therefore, the preferred embodiment of packaging container 10 includes notch 24 (
A method of forming a structure utilizing packaging containers 10 previously used to transport consumable or non-consumable fluids, pellets, or granularized materials is also included. The method includes forming a packaging container of the type described above out of a material such as rubber, thermoplastic, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PET, HDPE, LDPE, and the like) or any other non-absorbent material in a commercial process, such as blow molding. Several packaging containers 10 are provided and filled with a desired fluid such as water, milk, juice, soda, or the like to a specified volume, either predetermined or predicated on the internal volume of packaging container 10, for example 1 liter, 6 liters, or 1 gallon, or other desirable volumes, and thereafter sealed. The packaging containers are transported to a destination, ideally proximal to the population who requested the fluids and/or materials and distributed accordingly. The contents are maintained within the packaging containers 10 until such time as they are removed from the respective containers via spout 18. The containers once emptied may be assembled to faun a structure such as a wall or roof Additionally, or in the alternative, the containers 10 may be refilled, for example with dirt, concrete, or any other material, to increase their structural stability as well as their insulative utility (so-called “R value”). Specifically, one or more projections 20 of a first packaging container 10 can be aligned with the recesses 22 of a second packaging container 10 and mechanically engaged with one another such that the two packaging containers 10 are releasably attached side by side (or front to back) relative to one another. Preferably, shoulders 21 of the first packaging container 10 are received within, and mechanically engage with fingers 23 to form the described engagement. Additionally, or in the alternative, spout 18 of the first container 10 is received within notch 24 of an adjacent packaging container 10 to permit vertical stacking for the formation of larger structures. Additionally, or in the alternative, handle 17 of the first container 10 is received within channel 25 of an adjacent packaging container 10, further facilitating the substantially flush mating of numerous packaging containers 10 together to form the desired structure(s). This utility of interlocking packaging containers 10 after disgorging the materials stored and/or transported therein is considered beneficial, as it is an environmentally superior alternative to provide building blocks to create much needed structures, such as housing, versus discarding the vessels once emptied.
The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.
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6006935 | Driver | Dec 1999 | A |
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20070246488 | Cash | Oct 2007 | A1 |
20120325866 | Lee | Dec 2012 | A1 |