Patent Application
20180014675
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The disclosure and prior art relates to containers and more particularly pertains to a new container for maintaining food and beverages in a cold state.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a tube and a shell. The tube has an inner sidewall and an outer sidewall. A bottom is coupled to the inner sidewall proximate to a lower end of the tube. The shell has an inner wall and an outer wall. The shell has a top that is open and complementary to the lower end of the tube. A first coupler that is coupled proximate to the lower end of the tube and a second coupler that is coupled proximate to the top of the shell are positioned to couple the shell to the tube. A cavity defined by the inner wall is positioned to fill with water to freeze into ice. A reservoir defined by the inner sidewall and the bottom is configured to position items, such as food and beverages. The ice maintains the item in a cold state.
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 shell 14 has an inner wall 28 and an outer wall 30 that define an interior space 32. The inner wall 28 defines a cavity 34. The shell 14 has a top 36 that is complementary to the lower end 24 of the tube 12. The top 36 is open.
A first coupler 38 is coupled to the lower end 24 of the tube 12. A second coupler 40 is coupled proximate to the top 36 of the shell 14. The second coupler 40 is complementary to the first coupler 38. The second coupler 40 is positioned to couple to the first coupler 38 to couple the shell 14 to the tube 12. The shell 14 and the bottom 22 of the tube 12 define a chamber 42. In one embodiment, the second coupler 40 comprises male threads 44. The male threads 44 are positioned to couple to female threads 46 positioned on the tube 12.
In one embodiment, a refrigerant 48 is positioned in and occupies both the internal space 20 and the interior space 32. In another embodiment, the refrigerant 48 is liquid. In yet another embodiment, the refrigerant 48 is gelatinous.
In one embodiment, the refrigerant 48 comprises hydroxyethyl cellulose. In another embodiment, the refrigerant 48 comprises sodium polyacrylate. In yet another embodiment, the refrigerant 48 comprises vinyl coated silica gel.
In one embodiment, a handle 50 is coupled to the outer sidewall 18. The handle 50 is positioned on the tube 12 and is configured to insert one or more fingers of a hand of a user. In another embodiment, the handle 50 comprises a pair of extenders 52 and a rod 54. Each extender 52 is coupled to and extends substantially perpendicularly from the outer sidewall 18. The rod 54 is coupled to and extends between the extenders 52 distal from the outer sidewall 18, defining a slot 56. In one embodiment, the rod 54 is arcuate.
The present invention also anticipates that the tube 12 comprises food storage and serving containers, such as plates, bowls and lunch boxes.
In use, the cavity 34 of the shell 14 is positioned to fill with water. The shell 14 and the tube 12 are configured to position in a freezer, such that the refrigerant 48 and the water positioned in the cavity 34 are frozen. The second coupler 40 is positioned to couple to the first coupler 38 to couple the shell 14 to the tube 12. The ice that is positioned in the cavity 34 is contained in the chamber 42 defined by the shell 14 and the bottom 22 of the tube 12. The reservoir 26 is configured to position items, such as food and beverages. The refrigerant 48 and the ice maintain the items positioned in the reservoir 26 in a cold state.
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.
