Patent Application
20070252328
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to a portable amusement apparatus. Particularly, the present invention relates to a portable amusement apparatus having a container and a lid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable amusement apparatus having a lid including a game playing portion and a game piece receiving portion. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a portable amusement apparatus having an engaging structure to selectively adapt the portable amusement apparatus to an existing container and/or lid.
Individuals traveling or experiencing outdoor activities may find it desirable or even necessary to take with them a portable cooler for their convenience while they're traveling or enjoying the activities. Portable coolers are well known in the art. Generally, the portable coolers receive a quantity of ice for cooling items placed in the coolers and a mating lid is provided to thermally insulate and seal the cooler. The lid might be hinged or simply mated with the cooler in a snap-on configuration. Additionally, the upper surface of the lid might contain holding areas for receiving articles such as: beverages as an added convenience for individuals.
In addition, individuals also like to entertain by playing different types of amusement games such as playing cards, tile games like dominoes and/or board games just to cite some examples. In the case of tile games like dominoes, individuals usually use a portable table to support the dominoes while they are playing the game. The portable table might be specially adapted to play dominoes and usually consist of a table with four legs, wherein the legs could alternatively be removable.
Therefore, in order to enjoy the outdoor activities individuals must carry both the portable cooler and the domino table causing an inconvenience in terms of cargo space availability and weight to be carried by individuals. There have been prior attempts in the art to solve the abovementioned problems. However, they all fail to solve the problems in an efficient and economical way. Thus, there is a need for a portable cooler that incorporates a game playing structure in a lightweight, economical and convenient way.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by providing a lightweight portable cooler comprising an amusement apparatus conveniently incorporated into a lid.
To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, the present invention, briefly described, provides a portable amusement apparatus comprising a support member having an upper surface and a lower surface; a receiving portion located adjacent with respect to said upper surface; and an engaging portion located adjacent with respect to said lower surface.
Advantageously, in accordance with the present invention, the portable amusement apparatus has a defined inner and outer portion. A game playing portion and game piece receiving portions are also provided with respect to the inner portion to allow at least one individual to preferably play a tile game such as but not limited to dominoes.
In another aspect of the invention, the inner portion also includes an interchangeable removable surface. The surface might selectively comprise visual indicia selected from the group comprising at least one of a game board, a logo, a flag, a picture, an illustration, alphanumeric characters or a combination thereof. In addition, a storage area is provided for storing articles such as but not limited to: game pieces and personal belongings.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the portable amusement apparatus has an engaging portion to selectively engage with a portable cooler either directly or indirectly through an adapting portion. In another embodiment of the invention the engaging portion is selectively adapted to engage with a portable cooler's existing lid either directly or indirectly through an adapting portion. In still another aspect of the invention, the portable amusement apparatus comprises a container's lid.
Advantageously, in accordance with the present invention, the portable amusement apparatus is made of at least one of but not limited to: a non-cellular material, a thermal insulating material, and a magnetic material. In an embodiment of the invention, the portable amusement apparatus is at least partially hollow and/or at least partially translucent.
In still another aspect of the invention, the portable amusement apparatus further comprises at least one of: a handle, a beverage holding portion, a wheel, a side access portion, or a combination thereof.
Advantageously, in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the portable amusement apparatus is selectively adapted to be reversible with respect to an upper surface of a portable cooler.
The preferred embodiments of the invention will herein after be described in conjunction with the included drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the invention, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which:
This specification and the accompanying figures disclose the preferred embodiment as example of the invention. The drawings illustrated in the figures are not to scale and are only intended to serve as illustrating examples of the invention. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment illustrated. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Referring now to
In an embodiment of the invention, the game playing portion 7 comprises an interchangeable removable surface (not shown). The removable surface further comprises visual indicia selected from the group comprising at least one of: a game board, a logo, a flag, a picture, an illustration, alphanumeric characters or a combination thereof. It should be understood that any other type of visual indicia could be additionally used. The removable surface could also be reversible so that different visual indicia are provided on each side of the removable surface and/or a plurality of removable surfaces could also be selectively interchanged. Moreover, the dimensions of said removable surface could correspond to the overall dimensions of said upper surface 3, or alternatively could be selectively configured to be smaller than said upper surface 3. Furthermore, said removable surface is removably secured to said upper portion 3 by any suitable non-permanent easily removable securing means such as but not limited to: non-permanent adhesive, snap fit, pressure fit, quick-release fit or fasteners. The removable surface could be additionally configured to be adapted as a removable lid to provide access to a storage area (not shown) inside said support member 2. However, it is also envisioned by this invention to alternatively or in combination provide access to said storage area with respect to said lower surface 4. A storage area could be provided by configuring said support member 2 to be at least partially hollow, thus allowing an inner section of said support member 2 to serve as a storage area.
In
As used herein, the term engaging portion is generally used to define a structure that allows a support member to be removably attached or mated to another part or member. The term is used to encompass either a single-piece structure or a multi-part structure allowing a support member to be removably attached to another part or member.
The portable amusement apparatus of the invention is made of at least one of: a non-cellular material, a thermal insulating material or a combination thereof. Preferably, said portable amusement apparatus of the invention is made of at least one of: plastic, fiberglass or a combination thereof. However, any lightweight and durable material, preferably with adequate buoyant properties could be alternatively used. In an embodiment of the invention, the support member is at least partially hollow to provide a dual purpose feature. First, the hollow volume inside said support member could be used as a storage area as previously mentioned in the specification. Second, the hollow volume inside said support member in combination with the construction material provides a buoyant portable amusement apparatus. Additionally, said support member could be made at least partially of a translucent material to facilitate the view of the cooler's interior content without removing the support member from the portable cooler. In another embodiment of the invention, the support member alternatively comprises at least partially of a magnetic material selected from the group comprising at least one of but not limited to: iron, nickel, cobalt, Alnico, ceramics, or a combination thereof to allow the game pieces to be magnetically secured with respect to the game playing portion and/or the game piece receiving portion. In a more specific embodiment, the removable surface could comprise at least partially of a magnetic material.
The portable amusement apparatus in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a handle (not shown) and preferably a retractable handle adjacent to said portable cooler. Moreover, it comprises at least one beverage holding element that could be permanently or removably secured to the portable cooler. Furthermore, in another aspect of the invention, the portable amusement apparatus comprises at least one wheel connected for rotational movement with respect to said portable cooler. Additionally, an access portion could be provided on at least one side surface of the portable cooler to easily access the interior portion of said cooler without removing the support member from the upper surface of said cooler. The access portion is selected from the group comprising at least one of: a sliding door, a hinged door, a removable door, a zippered door, or a combination thereof. In another embodiment of the invention, the upper surface and the lower surface of said support member are selectively adapted to interchangeably mate in a reversibly mating relationship with respect to an upper surface of said portable cooler. Advantageously, the lower surface could be primarily used as a “virtual” upper surface and provide for example a plurality of beverage holding portions. When an individual desires to play a game, he/she simply reverses the support member, so that the upper surface now can be used as a “normal” upper surface along with the game playing and game piece receiving portions.
This specification and the accompanying figures disclose the preferred embodiment as example of the invention. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment illustrated. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention from the accompanying claims.
