The invention relates to portable coolers for canned drinks as especially used for outdoor and travel applications.
Portable coolers are known in a variety of forms. Some of them have one or more compartments for canned drinks and a separate ice compartment that may also be a general-purpose compartment. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,269,156, 5,509,279, and 6,862,896. Others are specialized for drinks, including canned or bottled drinks. See for examples U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,904, 6,065,303, 6,360,558, and 6,598,419.
The invention is explained in following description in view of the drawings that show:
The present inventor invented and designed a portable canned drink cooler and dispenser that is more compact for a given can capacity than prior coolers, more efficient in cooling, convenient to use, and less expensive to produce.
An elevator plate 40 may be slidably mounted in the inner chamber 28 by means of elevator tracks 30 formed in the inner wall 24 of the tube 20. Slide bars 42 on the elevator plate 40 engage these tracks 30 slidably. The tracks 30 and slide bars 42 may be diametrically opposed as shown. A cord 44 may be attached to each slide bar 42, and may pass through guide holes 38 in a front cap 35 of the tube 20. These cords 44 may be pulled from the front of the tube 20 to move the elevator 40, which slides the drink cans 50 toward the front access opening 29 of the inner chamber 28. The front cap 35 may have a central hole 39 with the same diameter as the inner chamber 28, so the cans 50 will extend out of the front cap 35 when the elevator cords 44 are pulled through the holes 38 in the front cap 35 as shown in
A releasable rope lock 45 may join and clamp the cords 44 together outside of the front cap 35. If desired, the cords 44 may be pulled through this rope lock as cans 50 are dispensed, to hold the remaining cans 50 closer to the front cap 38. Alternately, the cords 44 may be replaced with solid or hollow rods of any suitable material and any suitable cross-section such as a round cross-section, and the rope lock 45 may be replaced with a handle attached to the front ends of the rods.
A carrying cover 52 may enclose the tube 20. It may have a carrying strap or handle 54 and a front cover 56 on a flexible hinge 60. The front cover 56 may have an insulating plug 57 that fits the central hole 39 of the tube front cap 35, and may have a closure strap 58 with fastening means such as Velcro®.
The tube 20 of the cooler, including the outer wall 22, the inner wall 24, the webbing 26, the longitudinal thermal chambers 23, and the elevator tracks 30, may be formed of a single extrusion of a material such as polyvinylchloride for example. This is a very inexpensive manufacturing process, with no assembly needed for the tube parts. Alternately, the tube 20′ of
This portable canned drink cooler and dispenser provides a compact carrying form that easily fits in narrow spaces, such as the floor of a car behind the front seats. It provides efficient cooling because the coolant 48 closely and evenly surrounds each can 50, has convective as well as conductive heat transfer. Convenient can dispensing may be provided via the elevator device 40.
While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the invention herein. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application claims benefit of the Aug. 10, 2006, filing date of U.S. provisional application 60/821,966.
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6598419 | Tago | Jul 2003 | B1 |
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6925834 | Fuchs | Aug 2005 | B2 |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20080034782 A1 | Feb 2008 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60821966 | Aug 2006 | US |