Foldable insulated bag
A soft sided insulated cooler bag has a base and side panels. The upper edge of the bag has a length that is as great as half the periphery of the bottom panel. The bag can be collapsed to a flat position and then panel folded to a storage position. Retainers are provided to keep the bag in the storage position. The bag has carrying members suitable to allow carriage in a first orientation or a second orientation.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/340,851, filed Jan. 13, 2003, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF INVENTIONThis invention relates to the field of foldable insulated containers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCollapsible insulated containers have been known for some years. They are typically used as containers for carrying cold drinks, and other cool refreshments, but can also be used to keep foods or beverages warm or hot.
Certain sizes and shapes of coolers are better for some purposes than others. Some collapsible coolers can be folded to a collapsed position, but the folding process may tend to require relatively strong hands, since the insulated panels may be of fair thickness and may have a resilience that tends to resist folding. These containers may tend to unfold easily, but tend to be rather more difficult to fold back into the collapsed or storage position.
An example is provided in U.S. Des. Pat. No. 382,771. As shown therein, the front and rear walls remain generally parallel planar orientation while the bottom panel can folded up in half In doing so, the side panels are folded inward to collpase the cooler. This kind of cooler is secured in the folded position (a) by a hook-and-eye fabric strip securement between the overfolded lip of the lid portion of the cooler and the front face of the cooler and (b) by side fastening straps that retain the bottom portions of the front panel relative to the back panel, typically by wrapping at least partially around the back panel and being secured thereto with hook-and-eye strips. Coolers of this nature tend to be generally cubic in shape with rectangular sides forming, typically, a six sided box-shaped structure when unfolded. A cooler of this type may also tend to require more manufacturing steps than a more bag-like cooler, and may therefore be more costly and time consuming to produce.
Rolling up a collapsible cooler, in the manner in which a sleeping bag is sometimes rolled up, may tend not to be particularly satisfactory in all circumstances. Users may tend to roll up the insulated material too tightly, either damaging the material, or tending to give it a permanent set. This tight rolling approach may also tend to favour persons with relatively strong hands.
It may be that a different kind of cooler is desired that may be somewhat more convenient for rapid use, that may be more quickly and easily folded, or that may provide greater ease of manufacture that may tend to pack efficiently for shipment, or that may present a relatively easily displayed product.
It may also be that it would be preferable to have a cooler that folds in a continuous direction, or that folds back and forth, on a folding panel basis rather than in a continuous tight roll like a sleeping bag.
It may also be that it would be preferable to have a foldable cooler that may be carried in a first orientation to suit one type of cargo and in a second orientation to suit a different type of cargo.
There is a need for a foldable insulated container, or bag, that may be more easily constructed than the more box-shaped type of cubic collapsible insulated container, that may tend to require fewer, or simpler, manufacturing steps, or that may tend to provide an easily displayed and relatively convenient insulated container for everyday use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn an aspect of the invention, there is a foldable insulated bag comprising an insulated wall structure defining an insulated space therewithin. The wall structure has a closure member operable to govern access to the insulated space. The wall structure includes a carrying member attached thereto, wherein the carrying member is moveable between a first position for carrying the bag in a first orientation and a second position for carrying the bag in a second orientation. A securement member is attached to the wall structure for engaging the carrying member in the second position. The wall structure, when empty, is movable to a first, flattened position. The wall structure is foldable from the first flattened position to a folded, storage position. The wall structure is securable in the folded, storage position.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the bag has a bottom region and a top region. The carrying member is mounted to the bag near the top region and the securement member is mounted to the bag near the bottom region. In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the securement member is a strap having a proximal end and a distal end, with a first releasable fastening member mounted at the proximal end and a second releasable fastening member mounted at the distal end. The first releasable fastening member is arranged for mating engagement with said second releasable fastening member. In yet another additional feature the first and second releasable fastening members are mating hook-and-eye-fabric strip portions.
In an additional feature of the of the invention, the bag has a length, a breadth and a through thickness. The through thickness is small relative to both the length and the breadth. When the bag is carried in the first orientation the length and breadth are oriented in an up-and-down orientation and when the bag is carried in the second orientation, the length and breadth are oriented in a flat-wise orientation.
In another aspect of the invention, there is a foldable insulated bag comprising an insulated wall structure defining an insulated space therewithin. The wall structure has a closure member operable to govern access to the insulated space. The wall structure has a length, a breadth and through thickness wherein the through thickness is smaller than either the length or the breadth. The wall structure has a face defined by the length and the breadth and the face has an upper margin and a lower margin. A carrying member is secured nearer to the upper margin than to the lower margin for carrying the face in an up-and-down orientation. A securement member is mounted closer to the lower margin than the upper margin and is operable to engage and secure the carrying member for carriage of the face in a flat-wise orientation. The wall structure, when empty, is movable to a first, flattened position. The wall structure is foldable from the first flattened position to a folded storage position and is securable in the folded storage position.
These and other aspects of the invention may be more readily understood with the aid of the illustrative Figures and detailed description included hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSIn the illustrative Figures of an example, or examples, embodying the various aspects of the invention, provided by way of illustration, but not of limitation of the present invention:
The description that follows, and the embodiments described therein, are provided by way of illustration of an example, or examples, of particular embodiments of the principles of the present invention. These examples are provided for the purposes of explanation, and not of limitation, of those principles and of the invention. In the description, like parts are marked throughout the specification and the drawings with the same respective reference numerals. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and in some instances proportions may have been exaggerated in order more clearly to depict certain features of the invention.
For the purposes of this description, the largest panels of the bags herein described are arbitrarily designated as the front and rear sides, faces, or portions of the bag. Similarly, the closure member, or opening of the bag is arbitrarily designated as being at the top, and the base panel is designated as being at the bottom. It should also be understood that, within the normal range of temperatures to which human food and human touch is accustomed, although the term cooler, or cooler container, or cooler bag, may be used, such insulated structures may generally also be used to keep food, beverages, or other objects either warm or hot as well as cool, cold, or frozen.
As seen in the Figures, an example of a portable, collapsible soft sided, insulated wall structure is identified as a foldable cooler tote bag 20. This structure can be referred to as an insulated bag, an insulated container, a cooler, or the like. As shown in
When bag 20 is in use, access to the internal volume, namely internal space 25 thereof, is governed by a closure member 28. In the illustrated example, closure member 28 may be a linear tracked closure device in the nature of a zipper assembly 30 mounted between the upper margins of the side wall panels, namely front and rear panels 22 and 24. Other kinds of closures could be used such as a VELCRO™ hook-and-eye fabric closure, a series of spaced apart snaps, a continuous mating plastic tongue and groove or other device. A relatively robust zipper assembly is preferred, as it may tend to provide a simple, quick, and relatively strong closure.
While bag 20 can be made water-tight by other means, it is preferred to provide a liner 32 shown in
When the bag is not in use, it may tend to be readily foldable. First, the bag is collapsed by lying it flat and folding front sidewall panel 22 near its bottom margin such that base panel 26 lays in a more or less flat orientation relative to the rear sidewall panel, 24, as seen in
When page-folded in the direction of arrow ‘A’, bag 20 will arrive at the folded position shown in
Unfolding may tend to be a similarly uncomplicated and convenient procedure: the retainers 38 & 40 are released, the bag is unfolded and it is ready to accommodate objects that need to stay cool or warm. When unfolded, lifting members in the nature of handles, or straps 46, 48 that extend from the upper regions of the sidewall panels, namely panels 22 and 24, can be grasped to lift bag 20, and may, as illustrated in
Considering the construction of bag 20 in greater detail, reference is made to the developed views of panels 22, 24 and 26 provided in
Insulated base panel 26 is also generally rectangular, having a long dimension measured along long edges 62, 64, and indicated generally as ‘b’, and a short dimension measured along the short, end edges 66, 68, indicated generally as ‘w’. In this embodiment, the half width of the panel is identified as ‘a1’, and is equal to half of ‘w’. The ratio of the half width ‘a1’, to the length ‘b’ may tend to be in the range of less than about 1:2 and greater than about 1:16, or within the narrower range of less than about 2:5 and greater than about 1:8, or within the preferable range of less than about 1:3 and greater than about 1:6. In one particular example the ratio may be about 3¾:11½, in another particular example the ratio may be about 3¾:15½, and in a third particular example the ratio may be about 3¾:17½.
The width ‘w’ of base panel 26 may also be related to the overall height ‘y’ of bag 20 when unfolded. That is, it is preferred that retainer strip 40 on the off-side of base panel 26 mate with retainer element 38 on front panel 22 of bag 20 at a region close to the upper edge 70 of bag 20 generally, to yield a neatly folded bag for efficient packing, shipping and display. To that end, with allowance for a bend radius, it is preferred that the height of bag 20 be within +/−20%, and more preferably within +/−10%, of an integer multiple of the width of base panel 26. It is also preferred that bag 20 be a double or triple folded bag. While bags with a greater number of folds are possible, the benefits of ease of manufacture, ease of folding, and ease of use may not necessarily tend to be as marked for a larger number of folds.
The upper edge, i.e., upper marginal edge 54, of each of the side panels 22 and 24 is longer than the long dimension ‘b’ of the bottom, or base panel 26, such that when the closure member 28 is secured, bag 20 may tend to have an upwardly broadening profile when viewed from the side, and an upwardly narrowing profile when viewed from the end. In the embodiment of
When assembled, front and rear panels 22, 24 are sewn together along their upwardly extending edges 58, 60, the central portions of their bottom edges 56 are sewn to the long sides, or edges 62, 64 of base panel 26, and the end portions are sewn to the half-width portions of end edges 66, 68 of base panel 26. The closure member 28 has the form of zipper assembly 30 as noted above. As shown in
The overall width of the web-like region, or panel formed by zipper assembly 30 is less than, if not significantly less than, the width ‘w’ of panel 26 such that the through thickness of bag 20 at the elevation of closure member 28 is small, if not very small, relative to the length of closure member 28, and relative to the length of upper marginal edge 54. It is preferred that the overall width of the closure member be less than 60% of the width of the base, and, in a particular example, is about half the width. As such, the ratio of through thickness to bag length may be about a2/(2a2+b). This value may typically lie in the range of 1:5 to 1:8 and more narrowly in the range of 1:6 to 1:7½. The closure member is mounted between the upper margins of the side wall panels, namely panels 22 and 24, and, when open, permits at least central portions of those margins to be moved closer together or further apart as may be desired to give access to the enclosed chamber.
The sidewall construction is as shown in
An insulating layer 89 is trapped between the inner and outer webs 82 and 80. Insulating layer 89 may preferably be a closed cell polyurethane foam, but could be an open cell insulating foam, or other type of insulating layer, or it may include more than one insulating layer.
As above, in one embodiment the inner sidewall web member may either be made of a reflective material, such as THERMOFLECT™ sheeting, or may have a reflective surface oriented to face toward objects contained within bag 20. Alternatively, inner web 82 member may be made of a water proof extruded nylon or vinyl sheet, or seamed sheets, to discourage leakage of liquids from bag 20.
Optionally, as shown in
The cross-sectional structure of base panel 26 is generally similar to the cross-sectional structure of the sidewall panels, having an inner wall skin, or panel or web 114 that is of consistent construction to the inner wall sheet or web 82, and an outer wall skin, or web 116 that is of consistent construction to outer web 80. It may be noted that the outer web 80 may not be the same colour as outer web 116, and may not be of the same weave or fabric. It may have a heavier, more wear resistant fabric, or coarser, more wear resistant weave, since base panel 26 may tend to be placed in contact with the ground, or other underlying surface whether a paved roadway, concrete, rocks, earth, flooring, or some other support surface against which it may be expected to be slid, or to rub, in the course of use.
Base panel 26 may also have an insulated layer, 118, captured between webs 114 and 116, the insulated layer being made of an insulated foam, or other suitable heat transfer resistive medium as described above. In addition, base panel 26 has a stiffened form member 120, that may be in the nature of a rectangular, hard plastic sheet 100 of modest thickness located between insulating layer 118 and outer web 116. Sheet 100, in plan view, has dimensions that are the same as, or roughly the same as, dimensions ‘b’ and ‘w’. Form member 120 serves two functions, the first being to provide a stiffened base upon which bag 20 can tend preferentially to stand, and which may tend to aid in discouraging bag 20 from tipping over as easily as it might otherwise do. The second is to provide a forming edge to base 26 by which to pre-determine the fold line, or lines, at which bag 20 will tend to want to bend when being folded up. This may tend to discourage the tight-rolling of bag 20, and to encourage repeatable panel folding to and from the convenient folded form shown in
Form member 120 need not be a continuos monolithic panel. It could be an open frame, or a peripheral member sewn in place to provide a reinforced edge. In one embodiment, even without form member 120, the seaming at the edge of insulated base panel 26 may tend to yield a natural fold location at which bag 20 may tend to prefer to bend or fold. The inclusion of member 120 may tend to strengthen or to enhance this tendency. Modestly sized feet, stand offs, or pads, 102, may optionally be provided to the underside of panel 26. Further, form member 120 may, by itself, tend to have a greater flexural stiffness that the adjacent layer of insulated material, and when taken together the resultant bi-laminar, or possibly multi-layered assembly, has a combined flexural stiffness that may tend to be significantly stiffer than any other portion of bag 20.
Lifting members, or carrying members, in the nature of straps, or web bands 46, 48, are sewn up the outside faces of side wall panels 22 and 24, having their roots at the seamed junction between bottom panel 26 and the side wall panels 22, 24. Each of bands 46, 48 has a central portion 104, 106 that extends upwardly beyond the upper margins of the sidewall panels to provide a grasping, or carrying portion that can be held or place over a user's shoulder, as in
Auxiliary securement straps 50, 52 shown in
In the alternate embodiment of
The adjoining side panels are again taken to be ‘X’ wide, and ‘Y’ high, and to be of the same general insulated construction as side wall panels 22 and 24, as shown, for example, in
The angle β1 of small fold 130, when the bag is folded for storage, will then tend be roughly equal to the bisector of the angle between the extension of the horizontal fold line defined by the edge of base 126 and the mitred edge, namely ½(90−α).
Base panel 126 need not necessarily be a straight sided polygon, as are base panel 26, but could have somewhat rounded, oval or irregular ends. However, in such a case the end fold may tend to be puckered, and may tend not to lie as flat as might otherwise be considered desirable or preferable. However, a straight sided polygon is advantageous, and a square-cornered (i.e., rectangular) end is preferred since it may tend to facilitate manufacture and efficient use of materials and reduced waste cuts.
Bag 20 is a “double fold” bag. That is, base panel 26 is folded flat at a first fold (the offside edge of base panel 26), and then side panels 22 and 24 are bent about the second fold (the nearside edge of base 26). In alternate embodiments, a soft sided, collapsible and foldable insulate single-fold bag could be produced, or a triple-fold, or more, bag could be produced.
An example of a single fold bag 140 is shown in
An example of a triple fold bag 160 is shown in
In the alternate embodiment of
In the examples discussed so far, the upper edge of a bag having rectangular sidewall panels is Li=2(a1)+(bi), whether i is 1 or 2. As shown in
Although the embodiments illustrated and described above are preferred, the principles of the present invention are not limited to these specific examples which are given by way of illustration. It is possible to make other embodiments that employ the principles of the invention and that fall within its spirit and scope of the invention. Since changes in and or additions to the above-described embodiments may be made without departing from the nature, spirit or scope of the invention, the invention is not to be limited to those details, but only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A foldable insulated bag comprising:
- an insulated wall structure, defining an insulated space therewithin;
- said wall structure having a closure member operable to allow access to said insulated space;
- a carrying member attached to said wall structure, said carrying member being moveable between a first position for carrying said bag in a first orientation, and a second position for carriage of said bag in a second orientation;
- a securement member attached to said wall structure, said securement member being operable to engage said carrying member attached to said wall structure in the second position;
- said wall structure, when empty, being movable to a first, flattened position;
- said wall structure being foldable from said first, flattened position to a folded storage position; and
- said wall structure being securable in said folded storage position.
2. The foldable insulated bag of claim 1 wherein said bag has a bottom region and a top region, said carrying member is mounted to said bag near said top region and said securement member is mounted near said bottom region.
3. The bag of claim 2 wherein said securement member is a strap having a proximal end and a distal end, with a first releasable fastening member mounted at the proximal end and a second releasable fastening member mounted at the distal end, said first releasable fastening member arranged for mating engagement with said second releasable fastening member.
4. The bag of claim 3 wherein said first and second releasable fastening members are mating hook-and-eye-fabric strip portions.
5. The bag of claim 1 wherein said bag has a length, a breadth and a through thickness, said through thickness being small relative to both said length and said breadth; in said first orientation said length and breadth are oriented in an up-and-down orientation when carried and, in said second orientation said length and breadth are oriented in a flat-wise orientation when carried.
6. A foldable insulated bag comprising:
- an insulated wall structure, defining an insulated space therewithin;
- said wall structure having a closure member operable to govern access to said insulated space;
- said wall structure having a length, a breadth and through thickness, said through thickness being smaller than either said length or breadth;
- said wall structure having a face defined by said length and said breadth, said face having an upper margin and a lower margin;
- a carrying member secured nearer to said upper margin than to said lower margin, for carrying said face in an up-and-down orientation;
- a securement member mounted closer to said lower margin than said upper margin, operable to engage and secure said carrying member for carriage of said face in a flat-wise orientation;
- said wall structure, when empty, being movable to a first, flattened position;
- said wall structure being foldable from said first flattened position to a folded storage position; and
- said wall structure being securable in said folded storage position.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 6, 2004
Publication Date: Jun 2, 2005
Inventors: Melvin Mogil (Toronto), Christine Vonbun (Toronto)
Application Number: 10/958,660