1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable tubular beverage coolers, and more particularly to a portable iceless multiple can cooler.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable tubular beverage coolers are known in the prior art for their ease in handling, convenience in transport for outdoor activities and keeping bottled or canned beverages at a cool temperature for drinking. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,806 issued to Ring Aug. 2, 1966 teaches a tubular dispensing storage carrier for canned beverages having a tubular body of insulation made of expanded polystyrene beads. A hard and strong jacketing material such as cardboard, plastic or metal surrounds the relatively soft insulating tube. The end caps are formed of an insulation disk and a protective end cap of a hard material. A spring is provided within the storage carrier to dispense the bottles one at a time. Ring requires a strap over the end caps to prevent the spring from pushing the caps off the ends of the storage carrier.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,409 issued May 14, 1985 to Hobbs, Jr. et al. a spring is also used as a dispensing mechanism. The tubular cooler of Hobbs, Jr. et al. is formed of connectable container sections. Each container section is formed with a chamber for a refrigerant such as propylene glycol. The container sections must be placed in a refrigerator to reduce the temperature of the refrigerant. While in U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,890 issued Dec. 28, 1993 to Penxa, the container sections are injection molded and the chambers are provided with a conventional refrigerant gel. However, Penxa requires a plurality of elongated flaccid member for receiving the beverage containers for manual insertion and withdrawal from the tubular container sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,474 issued Mar. 25, 1986 to Peterson teaches a thermally insulated tubular holder for a single beverage can. A thermally insulated holder is provided in the form of two identical mating halves comprised of closed cell foam of a resilient polymer such as neoprene. A refrigerant container is placed in the bottom of each half for cooling the beverage when the halves of the holder are placed over the can.
The U.S. Design Patent No. 302,775 issued Aug. 15, 1989 to Sinoff et al. teaches a tubular shaped beverage tote bag having end caps that are hinged to the main bag body and closed by zippers. A non-adjustable strap is provided for carrying the tote bag.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus an iceless multiple can cooler solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The iceless multiple can cooler of the present invention is provided in the form of an elongated inner plastic tube having an inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of a twelve-ounce beverage can for easy insertion and removal of beverage cans. The tube is closed at the bottom by a plastic disk sealed by adhesive or other suitable means onto the bottom end of the tube. To seal the cans in the tube, a removable plastic cup shaped plug is inserted into the upper end of the tube. Six to seven cold beverage cans can be held within the inner plastic tube. Six cold cans may be inserted into the tube and be further chilled by a gel filled ice pack in the shape of a twelve-ounce beverage can. The ice pack is inserted within the plastic tube among the other cans. Insulation from the ambient temperature is provided in the form of a very dense closed cell plastic foam material that is buoyant in water. An elongated tube formed of the foam material is adhered by adhesive or other suitable means to the outer wall of the inner plastic tube. The foam tube is about two inches thick between inner and outer diameters. A two-inch thick disk of foam material is provide inside the plastic cup-shaped plug and a two inch thick disk of foam material is adhered to the bottom of the inner plastic tube and the bottom of the foam tube. A portion of the foam tube surrounds the top portion of the plastic plug. To transport the iceless multiple can cooler a tubular tote bag is provided. The tote bag includes an adjustable padded shoulder strap, a zippered storage pocket with a waterproof liner, and a hinged zippered access cover.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an iceless multiple can cooler that conveniently chills six twelve-ounce cans of beverage.
It is another object of the invention to provide an iceless multiple can cooler that can float in water.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an iceless can cooler that is light weight an easy to carry by hikers, sports fans, boater, canoeists, bikers, cyclists, golfers, campers, contractors and the like.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an iceless multiple can cooler with a tote bag with a zippered pocket having a waterproof lining for carrying additional accessories.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The present invention is an iceless multiple can cooler 50, which, referring to the drawing
Six to seven cold cans 30 can be held within the inner plastic tube 51. To seal the cans 30 in the tube 51, a plastic end cap 52, preferably formed PVC is provided. As best seen in
A loop of any suitable material is secured to the cap 52 to form a strap 56 to aid in the removal of cap 52 from the tube 51. A screw 58 is passed through the hole of a washer 57, then through an aperture in the strap 56 and finally through an aperture in the center of the top of cap 52. A nut 58 inside the cap 52 is tightened onto the screw 58 to secure the strap 56 to cap 52.
The cold beverage cans 30 may be further chilled within tube 51 by a gel filled ice pack 31 provided in the shape of a twelve-ounce beverage can. When using the frozen ice pack 31, only six cold beverage cans 30 can be placed within tube 51. The ice pack 31 is inserted within the plastic tube 51 among the cans 30.
To insulate inner tube 51 and the cans 30 from the ambient temperature, insulation is provided in the form of a relatively firm, very dense closed cell plastic foam material that is buoyant in water. Referring to
To transport the iceless multiple can cooler a cylindrical tote bag 80 is provided. See
Tote bag 80 is also provided with a storage pocket 85 having a waterproof liner, a zipper 86 for closing storage pocket 85, and a hinged access cover 83 with a zipper 84 closing the top of tote bag 80.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/513,191, filed Oct. 23, 2003.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60513191 | Oct 2003 | US |