Patent Application
20190101319
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The disclosure and prior art relates to cooler devices and more particularly pertains to a new cooler device for storing food items at a cooled temperature.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that is comprised of a thermally insulating material. A plurality of ice packs is provided and each of the ice packs is selectively frozen. Each of the ice packs is removably positioned in the housing such that each of the ice packs is in thermal communication with the housing. A plurality of drawers is each slidably positioned in the housing for containing food items. Each of the drawers is in thermal communication with the ice packs to cool the food items and the drawers. A door is hingedly coupled to the front side of the housing and the door covers each of the first wells in each of the second wells when the door is closed. A plurality of wheels is each of the wheels is rotatably coupled the housing to roll along a support surface.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of ice packs 30 is provided and each of the ice packs 30 is selectively frozen in a freezer or the like. Each of the ice packs 30 is insertably positioned in an associated one of the second wells 28. Thus, each of the ice packs 30 is in thermal communication with the housing 12 to cool the interior of the housing 12. Each of the ice packs 30 may be re-usable ice packs of any conventional design.
A plurality of drawers 32 is provided and each of the drawers 32 is slidably positioned in the housing 12. Each of the drawers 32 may contain food items such as cans of beverage, frozen meat, vegetables and any other food item commonly stored in a cooler for camping, tailgating and other outdoor 40 activities. Each of the drawers 32 is in thermal communication with the ice packs 30 when the drawers 32 are positioned in the housing 12. In this way the ice packs 30 cool the food items and the drawers 32.
Each of the drawers 32 is slidably positioned in an associated one of the first wells 26. Each of the drawers 32 has a front end 34 and the front end 34 corresponding to each of the drawers 32 has slot 36 therein. The slot 36 corresponding to each of the drawers 32 is gripped for sliding the drawers 32 in and out of the housing 12. Additionally, the front end 34 corresponding to each of the drawers 32 is flush with the front side 14 of the housing 12 when the drawers 32 are slid into the associated first slot 26.
A catch 38 is coupled to the first lateral side 22 of the housing 12 and the catch 38 is aligned with the front side 14. A door 40 is hingedly coupled to the front side 14 of the housing 12 such that the door 40 covers each of the first wells 26 and each of the second wells 28 when the door 40 is closed. The door 40 has a first edge 42 and the first edge 42 is hingedly coupled to an intersection between the front side 14 and the first lateral side 22 of the housing 12.
A lock 44 is slidably coupled to the door 40. The lock 44 releasably engages the catch 38 when the door 40 is closed thereby retaining the door 40 is closed. The door 40 has an outwardly facing surface 46 with respect to the housing 12 and the outwardly facing surface 46 may have a well 48 therein. The lock 44 may include a biasing member 50 that is positioned within the door 40 and a grip 52 that is positioned in the well 48. The biasing member 50 may bias the lock 44 to extend outwardly from the door 40 to engage the catch 38. The grip 52 may be manipulated to urge the lock 44 to disengage the catch 38 for opening the door 40.
A plurality of wheels 54 is provided and each of the wheels 54 is rotatably coupled to the bottom side 20 of the housing 12 to roll along a support surface 56. The support surface 56 may be a floor, the ground and any other horizontal support surface 56. A panel 58 is pivotally coupled to the housing 12. The panel 58 is selectively positioned in a first position having the panel 58 being horizontally oriented to support objects in the convention of a table. The panel 58 is selectively positioned in a second position having the panel 58 extending downwardly on the housing 12. The panel 58 has a first edge 60 and the first edge 60 is pivotally coupled to the housing 12. A line 62 is coupled between the panel 58 and the housing 12 and the line 62 retains the panel 58 in the horizontal orientation when the panel 58 is positioned in the first position.
A pair of handles 64 is provided and each of the handles 64 is coupled to the housing 12. Each of the handles 64 is gripped thereby facilitating the housing 12 to be lifted. Each of the handles 64 is positioned on an associated one of the first lateral side 22 and the second lateral side 24. Each of the handles 64 may comprise an inverted cup for receiving fingers when the handles 64 are gripped.
A tab 66 is coupled to and extends away from the back side 16 of the housing 12. The tab 66 is horizontally oriented and the tab 66 has a first surface 68 and a second surface 70. The tab 66 has an aperture 72 extending through the first surface 68 and the second surface 70. A rod 74 is slidably positioned in the tab 66 and the rod 74 is selectively gripped thereby facilitating the housing 12 to be rolled along the support surface 56. The rod 74 has a first end 76 and a second end 78 and a grip 80 is coupled to the first end 76 of the rod 74. The grip 80 on the rod 74 may be oriented transverse with the rod 74. A stop 82 is coupled to the second end 78 of the rod 74 and the stop 82 abuts the tab 66 such that the stop 82 inhibits the rod 74 from is removed from the tab 66.
In use, each of the ice packs 30 is frozen prior to being positioned in the housing 12 and the frozen ice packs 30 are inserted into the associated second wells 28. Each of the drawers 32 is filled with the food items and the ice packs 30 keep the food items cool. Additionally, the drawers 32 and the ice packs 30 inhibit the food items from being exposed to water resulting from melting ice. Additionally, perishable food items, such as vegetables or the like, are protected from blood from thawing meat or the like. The drawers 32 facilitate easy access to selected food items compared to digging through the contents of a conventional cooler. The door 40 is closed and the housing 12 is transported to a remote location such as a camping site, a tailgate party and any other remote location. The door 40 is opened to access selected drawers 32. Additionally, the panel 58 is selectively positioned in the first position to function as a table.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
