Claims
- 1. A container apparatus for use in combination with an umbrella having an umbrella mast and umbrella canopy, comprising:
a food container having a container top wall, a container side wall and a container bottom wall together defining a container interior, with an umbrella mast passing port, mast engaging means, and a container interior access door; such that the umbrella mast may be inserted into said mast passing port and advanced into the interior of said container and engaged by said mast engaging means, thereby holding the umbrella mast upright relative to said container and such that said container stabilizes the umbrella, which can be opened over said container.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container is insulated against heat transfer between the container interior and the surrounding environment.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container bottom wall is integral with said container side wall.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container top wall is substantially horizontal when said container is upright and thereby functions as a table upon which a user can place food and drink items.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1, additionally comprising a pull handle on said container and at least one wheel rotatably mounted onto said container substantially opposite said pull handle such that said container wheel rolls on the ground as the pull handle is pulled by a user.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container is a substantially rectangular box.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said mast engaging means comprises a mast securing fitting connected to said container bottom wall which includes an annular flange having an upright tubular segment for receiving the lower end of said umbrella mast.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1, additionally comprising a mast retaining tube extending from said mast engaging means to said mast passing port in said container top wall.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1, additionally comprising container stabilizing means for keeping the umbrella from overbalancing said container and causing said container to tip over when said apparatus rests on a granular support surface.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said stabilizing means comprises:
a pointer removably secured to the lower end of said umbrella mast; and a pointer passing port in said container bottom wall for passing said pointer completely through said container such that said pointer projects downwardly out of said container bottom wall and into the granular support surface.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 10, additionally comprising a depth marking line on said mast for indicating a suggested pointer insertion depth when said depth marking line registers with another part of said apparatus.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said pointer comprises a shaft having substantially the same diameter as the umbrella mast and has a pointer lower end which is tapered for lower resistance penetration into the ground.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said pointer has a pointer upper end, and said pointer upper end has an upwardly protruding, axial, externally threaded pointer bolt portion having a smaller diameter than the diameter of the umbrella mast;
and wherein the mast lower end has an internally threaded axial mast bore for threadedly receiving said pointer bolt portion to removably connect said pointer to said umbrella mast.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 10, additionally comprising a port closing door underneath the pointer passing port, so that the pointer passing port can be closed to prevent mast passage.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container top wall comprises a top wall fixed section secured to said container side wall and includes said mast passing port.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said top wall fixed section comprises an elongate diametric strip passing over the middle of said container and connected to said container side wall at opposing points of said container side wall, additionally comprising a container lid defining the remainder of said container top wall and closing said container.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said top wall fixed section is a diametric strip, and wherein first and second said container lids are pivotally secured to opposing sides of said top wall fixed section with hinge means and extend from said top wall fixed section in opposite directions to meet upper end segments of said container side wall, thereby completing said container top wall and closing said container.
- 18. A container and umbrella apparatus, comprising:
an umbrella having an umbrella mast and umbrella canopy; a food container having a container top wall, a container side wall and a container bottom wall together defining a container interior, with an umbrella mast passing port mast engaging means, and a container interior access door; such that the umbrella mast may be inserted into said mast passing port and advanced into the interior of said container and engaged by said mast engaging means, thereby holding the umbrella mast upright relative to said container and such that said container stabilizes the umbrella, which can be opened over said container.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said umbrella mast comprises:
a mast upper segment; and a mast lower segment separate from said mast upper segment, said mast lower segment being tubular and sized such that said mast upper segment telescopingly fits into said mast lower segment to produce any of a variety of overall mast heights as desired by the individual user; a cam lever locking mechanism for releasibly locking said mast upper segment against movement relative to said mast lower segment at the desired telescoping position.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the upper end of said mast lower segment comprises a cam lever opening and wherein cam lever locking mechanism comprises a cam lever having an elongate lever end for gripping and moving by hand and having a cam end perforated by a fulcrum pin port and which fits into said cam lever opening in said mast lower segment and comprises a cam lever pin passing through said mast lower segment upper end, through said cam lever opening and through said fulcrum pin port in said cam lever, such that said cam lever pivots within said cam lever opening and said cam end progressively protrudes into the interior of said mast lower segment to varying degrees as said cam lever is pivoted and thus progressively bears against and grips said mast upper segment.
- 21. A container and umbrella apparatus, comprising:
an umbrella having an umbrella mast and umbrella canopy; a food container having a container top wall, a container side wall and a container bottom wall, with an umbrella mast passing port mast engaging means, and a container interior access door; and container stabilizing means for keeping the umbrella from overbalancing said container and causing said container to tip over when said apparatus rests on a granular support surface, said stabilizing means comprising a pointer connected secured to the lower end of said umbrella mast; and a pointer passing port in said container bottom wall for passing said pointer completely through said container such that said pointer projects downwardly out of said container bottom wall and into the granular support surface; such that the umbrella mast may be inserted into said mast passing port and advanced into the interior of said container and engaged by said mast engaging means, thereby holding the umbrella mast upright relative to said container and such that said container stabilizes the umbrella, which can be opened over said container.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said pointer is integral with said umbrella mast.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said pointer is removably secured to said umbrella mast.
- 24. A container apparatus for use in combination with an umbrella having an umbrella mast and umbrella canopy, comprising:
a food container having a container top wall, a container side wall and a container bottom wall together defining a container interior, with an umbrella mast passing port, mast engaging means, and a container interior access door; a pull handle on said container and at least one wheel rotatably mounted onto said container substantially opposite said pull handle such that said container wheel rolls on the ground as the pull handle is pulled by a user; such that the umbrella mast may be inserted into said mast passing port and advanced into the interior of said container and engaged by said mast engaging means, thereby holding the umbrella mast upright relative to said container and such that said container stabilizes the umbrella, which can be opened over said container.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said container additionally comprises at least one container partition wall dividing the interior of said container into at least two interior regions.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 25, additionally comprising:
an adjustable table structure having a central table structure port through which said mast passes; and releasable mast engaging means.
- 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said mast has a mast lower end and an internally threaded mast axial bore at said mast lower end, wherein said mast engaging means comprises a mast securing fitting connected to said container bottom wall which includes an annular flange having an externally threaded upright tubular segment for screwing into said internally threaded mast axial bore.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 1, additionally comprising a mast retaining tube extending around and upwardly from said mast engaging means at least to said mast passing port in said container top wall.
- 29. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said stabilizing means comprises:
a pointer having a penetrating pointer lower end and having an engaging pointer upper end removably secured to said mast; and a pointer passing port in said container bottom wall for passing said pointer engaging end such that said pointer projects downwardly out of said container bottom wall and into the granular support surface.
- 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said pointer comprises a shaft and wherein said penetrating pointer lower end is tapered for minimized penetration resistance into the granular support surface.
FILING HISTORY
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/317,301 filed on May 24, 1999, and a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/726,189 filed on Nov. 29, 2000.
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09317301 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
09823178 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
Parent |
09726189 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
09823178 |
Apr 2001 |
US |