Patent Application
20240369280
Not Applicable
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The disclosure relates to cooler devices and more particularly pertains to a new cooler device for transporting beverage containers and food items that must be kept cool. The device includes a cooler that has an upper chamber and a lower chamber. The device includes a drawer integrated into the upper chamber and a mesh grill that is spaced upwardly from a bottom of the lower chamber. Ice can be positioned beneath the mesh grill and the food items and beverage containers can be placed on the mesh grill to elevate the food items and the beverage containers above water from the melted ice.
The prior art relates to cooler devices including a variety of portable coolers that each has an adjustable partition for dividing an interior of the portable coolers into sections. In one particular instance the prior art discloses a portable cooler that combines adjustable partitions with receptacles integrated into the portable cooler and a lid of the portable cooler for receiving ice packs. In no instance does the prior art disclose a portable cooler that has an upper chamber that is fluidly discrete with a lower chamber, a drawer integrated into the cooler and a mesh grill disposed in the upper chamber for supporting food objects above water from melted ice.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a cooler that is comprised of a thermally insulating material wherein the cooler is configured to store ice and food items. The cooler has an upper chamber that is fluidly discrete from a lower chamber. The cooler includes a lid and a pair of first latches pivotally coupled to the lid which releasably engages the cooler for retaining the lid in a closed position. A mesh grill is positioned in the upper chamber in the cooler and food items can be placed upon the mesh grill. The mesh grill is spaced upwardly in the upwardly chamber to inhibit the food items from being exposed to water from melted ice. A drawer is slidably integrated into the cooler to contain food items.
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
The cooler 12 includes a lid 40 that is hingedly coupled to the top edge 28 of the outer wall 24. The top edge 28 has a recess 42 extending toward the lower wall 22 and the recess 42 is aligned with the interior surface 38 of the outer wall 24. Furthermore, the recess 42 extends around a full perimeter of the top edge 28. The lid 40 has a lip 44 extending away from a bottom surface 46 of the lid 40; the lip 44 on the lid 40 extends around a full perimeter of the lid 40 and the lip 44 on the lid 40 is offset from an outer surface 48 of the lid 40. The lip 44 on the lid 40 fits into the recess 42 in the top edge 28 of the outer wall 24 when the lid 40 is closed to inhibit thermal communication between an interior of the cooler 12 and ambient air. A rear side 50 of the outer surface 48 of the lid 40 is hingedly coupled to a rear side 52 of the top edge 28 of the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12. The lid 40 has a pair of cup holders 53 each recessed into the lid 40 for holding drinks.
The cooler 12 has a pair of first engaging elements 54 each extending away from the front side 30 of the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 and each of the first engaging elements 54 is aligned with the top edge 28 of the outer wall 24. Each of the first engaging elements 54 includes pair of blocks 56 which are spaced apart from each other and angle toward each other between the top edge 28 of the outer wall 24 and a bottom end 58 of the blocks 56. Indicia 60 are printed on the front side 30 of the outer surface 48 of the lid 40 and the indicia 60 comprise a graduated scale defining a ruler.
The cooler 12 has a drain 62 extending through the outer wall 24 and the drain 62 is in fluid communication with the upper chamber 18 in the cooler 12 to drain 62 water from the upper chamber 18. The drain 62 is actuatable between a closed condition and an open condition. The outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 has a pair of handle wells 64 each extending into a respective one of a first lateral side 66 and a second lateral side 68 of the outer wall 24. The outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 has a pair of wheel wells 70 each recessed into an intersection between the first lateral side 66 of the outer wall 24 and a respective one of a rear side 72 and the front side 30 of the outer wall 24. Continuing, the cooler 12 has a plurality of ridges 74 each extending away from the interior surface 38 of the outer wall 24 and each of the plurality of ridges 74 extends substantially between the top edge 28 of the outer wall 24 and the dividing wall 26.
The plurality of ridges 74 is arranged into a plurality of pairs of ridges 76 and respective ones of the ridges 74 which comprise each of the pairs of ridges 76 is spaced apart from each other. The plurality of pairs of ridges 76 is spaced apart from each other and is evenly distributed between the first lateral side 66 and the second lateral side 68 of the outer wall 24. Furthermore, the plurality of pairs of ridges 76 includes a set of first ridges 78 and a set of second ridges 80. The set of first ridges 78 is disposed on the rear side 72 of the outer wall 24 and the set of second ridges 80 is disposed on the front side 30 of the outer wall 24.
A dividing panel 82 is insertable between respective ones of the set of first ridges 78 and the second ridges 80 for dividing the upper chamber 18 into a first section 84 and a second section 86. The dividing panel 82 can keep beverage containers 88 separated from food items 16. A cutting board 90 is integrated into a top surface of the lid 40 and the cutting board 90 is comprised of a resilient material to facilitate food to be cut or chopped on the cutting board 90.
A pair of first latches 92 is each pivotally coupled to the lid 40 and each of the first latches 92 is disposed on a front side 94 of the outer surface 48 of the lid 40. Each of the first latches 92 has a handle 96 that is distally positioned with respect to a pivot point 98 of the first latches 92 and a ball 100 that is positioned closer to the handle 96 than the pivot point 98. Each of the first latches 92 is positioned between the pair of blocks 56 associated with a respective one of the first engaging elements 54 on the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 when the lid 40 is closed and when the pair of first latches 92 is moved into a locking position; the ball 100 associated with each of the first latches 92 abuts the bottom end 58 of the pair of blocks 56 associated with the respective first engaging element 54 for retaining the lid 40 in a closed position. Each of the first latches 92 is displaced from the pair of blocks 56 associated with the respective first engaging element 54 when the first latches 92 are moved into an unlocked position thereby facilitating the lid 40 to be opened.
A mesh grill 102 is positioned in the upper chamber 18 in the cooler 12 and the food items 16 are placed upon the mesh grill 102. The mesh grill 102 is spaced upwardly in the upward chamber 18 to elevate the food items 16 thereby inhibiting the food items 16 from being exposed to water from melted ice 14. The mesh grill 102 lies on the lip 34 on the dividing wall 26 such that the mesh grill 102 is spaced from the dividing wall 26 to accommodate ice cubes 14 positioned between the mesh grill 102 and the dividing wall 26. In this way the food items 16 in the upper chamber 18 can be kept cold.
A drawer 104 is slidably integrated into the cooler 12 and the drawer 104 can contain food items 16. The drawer 104 is positioned in the lower chamber 20 when the drawer 104 is closed and the drawer 104 slides into the opening 32 in the front side 30 of the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12. A front wall 106 of the drawer 104 lies on a plane that is coplanar with the front side 30 of the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 when the drawer 104 is closed. Additionally, the drawer 104 is comprised of a thermally insulating material to inhibit thermal communication between the food items 16 in the drawer 104 and ambient air when the drawer 104 is closed. The drawer 104 has a pair of second engaging elements 108 each extending away from the front wall 106 of the drawer 104. Each of the second engaging elements 108 includes a pair of blocks 110 which are spaced apart from each other and angle toward each other between an upper edge 112 of the front wall 106 and a bottom end 114 of the blocks 110 associated with the second engaging elements 108.
A pair of second latches 116 is each pivotally coupled to the front side 30 of the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12. Each of the second latches 116 has a handle 118 that is distally positioned with respect to a pivot point 120 of the second latches 116 and a ball 122 that is positioned closer to the handle 118 than the pivot point 120. Each of the second latches 116 is positioned between the pair of blocks 56 associated with a respective one of the second engaging elements 108 on the front wall 106 of the drawer 104 when the drawer 104 is closed and the pair of second latches 116 is moved into a locking position; the ball 122 associated with each of the second latches 116 abuts the bottom end 114 of the pair of blocks 110 associated with the respective second engaging element 108 for retaining the drawer 104 in a closed position. Conversely, each of the second latches 116 is displaced from the pair of blocks 56 associated with the respective second engaging element 108 when the second latches 116 are moved into an unlocked position thereby facilitating the drawer 104 to be opened.
A pair of carrying handles 124 is each pivotally disposed in a respective one of the handle wells 64 in the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 and each of the carrying handles 124 can be gripped for carrying the cooler 12. Each of the carrying handles 124 has a pair of lateral members 126 each pivotally coupled to the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12 and a central member 128 extending between the pair of lateral members 126. The central member 128 of each of the carrying handles 124 can be gripped for carrying the cooler 12. A pair of rollers 130 is each rotatably coupled to the cooler 12 to roll along a support surface 132 for transporting the cooler 12 along the support surface 132. Each of the rollers 130 is positioned in a respective one of the wheel wells 70 in the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12.
A pull handle 134 is pivotally coupled to the cooler 12 and the pull handle 134 can be gripped for rolling the cooler 12 on the pair of rollers 130. The pull handle 134 has a pair of first members 136 that each has a first end 138 which is pivotally attached to the second lateral side 68 of the outer wall 24 of the cooler 12. Each of the first members 136 has a first section 140 which slidably engages a second section 142 such that each of the first members 136 has a telescopically adjustable length. The pull handle 134 has a second member 144 extending between a second end 146 of each of the pair of first members 136 thereby facilitating the second member 144 to be gripped.
In use, ice 14 is poured into the upper chamber 18 such that the ice 14 is positioned beneath the mesh grill 102. The dividing panel 82 can be placed between selected ridges 74 for sequestering beverage containers 88 from food items 16 or the cooler 12 can be employed without the dividing panel 82. The food items 16 and the beverage containers 88 are placed on the mesh grill 102 thereby inhibiting the food items 16 and the beverage containers 88 from coming into contact with water from melted ice 14. In this way the food items 16 are protected from spoiling due to becoming soaked with the water from the melted ice 14. The lid 40 is closed and each of the first latches 92 is moved into the locking position to keep the lid 40 closed. Food items 16 that do not need to be kept cold can be stored in the drawer 104 and each of the second latches 116 can be moved into the locking position to keep the drawer 104 closed. The pull handle 134 can be gripped to roll the cooler 12 on the rollers to transport the cooler 12 or each of the carrying handles 124 can be gripped to carry the cooler 12. The drain 62 can be opened at any time to drain 62 water that collects beneath the mesh grill 102 as the ice 14 melts.
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.
