EXPANDABLE COOLER SLEEVE

Abstract

A sleeve for encircling a conventional ice chest provides opposed panels for supporting indicia. The first end of each of the panels are interconnected with a first expandable member and the second end of each of the panels are interconnected with a second expandable member. Upon mounting of the sleeve on the ice chest, the expandable members are expanded and subsequently contract about the ice chest to retain the sleeve in place. Openings in the first and second expandable members accommodate pass through of handles attached to the ice chest. Because of the first and second expandable members, the sleeve can be mounted on ice chests of different girth and yet be retained in place.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention relates to and claims priority to a provisional patent application entitled “A PROTECTIVE AND DECORATIVE WRAP AND/OR SLEEVE FOR SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE ICE CHEST”, filed Dec. 3, 2008, assigned Ser. No. 61/119,642, illustrating and describing an invention made by the present inventors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to sleeves for ice chests and, more particularly, to sleeves adaptable to ice chests of different girths.

2. Description of Related Prior Art

Ice chests in the past were generally constructed of two open ended boxes nested one within the other with thermal insulating material therebetween. A lid of single or double walled construction was hingedly attached to the box. Any indicia appearing on the ice chest was usually either of a generic nature touting the company that was the source of the ice chest or simply a trade name in the form of a word and/or logo under which the ice chest is sold. Any other indicia had to be applied by the ultimate user and was usually in the form of a painted representation. Furthermore, any indicia appearing on the ice chest had little, if any, thermal insulating value.

With the advent of fabrication of objects from plastic material advances in technology permitted the fabrication of double-walled ice chests made entirely of plastic material. Such double-walled construction was used both for the open ended box and the hingedly attached lid. Thermal insulating material usually was deposited between the double walls of the open ended box and of the lid. In some situations, the air space between the double-walled construction is used as thermal insulation.

Because molds were used to form the components of the ice chest, two nested open ended boxes forming the double-walled construction were tapered to accommodate removal from molds. Thus, the girth at the upper end of the ice chest was greater than the girth at the bottom of the ice chest. The resulting shape of the ice chest resembled an inverted truncated pyramid usually rectangular cross-section.

Except for any trade names, logos or trademarks of the manufacturer of an ice chest, no other indicia was normally found on an ice chest of plastic material. Consequently, any indicia appearing on the ice chest would have to be created and applied by the ultimate user. Furthermore, the above-described external configuration of an ice chest militated against commercial development of indicia-bearing items extending about an ice chest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A sleeve for encircling a conventional ice chest of metal or plastic construction includes a pair of opposed panels interconnected at their respective ends by expandable members, which may be in the form of a sheet material, a mesh or elastic cords. Conventional ice chests are commercially available in various sizes. Through the use of expandable members, the sleeve can be expanded to encircle an ice chest and thereafter the expandable members will contract to cause gripping of the sleeve about the ice chest. Preferable, the panels are of material that will support indicia to convey any message or affiliation personal to the ultimate user.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an expandable sleeve for use about an ice chest.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve for use about an ice chest which will support indicia reflective of the ultimate user's affiliation with a sport.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve usable with ice chests having different girths.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve having expandable members for contractingly engaging the body of an ice chest.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve for an ice chest which has thermal insulating properties.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve detachably attachable about an ice chest.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve for an ice chest of flexible material to enhance conformance with the external surface of the ice chest.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ice chest having a sleeve mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sleeve;

FIGS. 3 is an end view of the sleeve illustrating an expandable member;

FIGS. 4 is a top view of the sleeve;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a sleeve;

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the expandable member;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the alternate embodiment of the expandable member mounted on an ice chest;

FIG. 8 illustrates a further embodiment of the expandable member; and

FIG. 9 illustrates the further embodiment of the expandable member adjacent an ice chest.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional ice chest 10, which is usually manufactured from plastic material. The ice chest includes an open ended box 12 having a hingedly attached lid 14. A hand grip 16 may be incorporated in the lid to facilitate opening and closing the lid. Usually, a pair of pivotally attached handles, of which handle 18 is shown, are attached to opposed ends of ice chest 10.

As particularly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sleeve 20 includes opposed panels 22, 24 generally dimensionally commensurate with the long side of ice chest 10. A pair of expandable members 26, 28 interconnect corresponding ends of panels 22, 24, as illustrated. Panel 26 includes an opening 30 for accommodating pass through of handle 18. A similar opening 31 is disposed in expandable member 28 to accommodate the other handle extending from ice chest 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, expandable member 26 (and expandable member 28) may be manufactured of a stretchable elastic mesh material that can be stretched to accommodate, with panels 22, 24, the girth of ice chest 10 and maintain panels 22, 24 adjacent corresponding sides of the ice chest. As shown in FIG. 1, corner 21 of sleeve 20 can be pulled away from the ice chest due to the elasticity of the expandable member. In this way, the sleeve can be mounted upon and dismounted from an ice chest.

A conventional ice chest is tapered from top to bottom. As particularly illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, panels 22, 24 are similarly tapered to correspond with the taper of the sides of the ice chest. With such tapered panels 22, 24, the likelihood that these panels will lie flat against the corresponding sides of the ice chest is enhanced.

As particularly illustrated in FIG. 2, panels 22, 24 may be decorated with indicia. Such indicia may include logos and wording relating to a sports team. Thus, at an event in which such sports team is participating, ice chest 10 will clearly announce the affiliation of the owner with his/her sports team. Additionally, such affiliation may be particularly appreciated at tailgate parties and the like.

Various materials may be employed from which panels 22, 24 are constructed. It has been learned that neoprene sheet material is imprintable and will retain any indicia printed thereon through normal wear and tear. Additionally, the neoprene sheet material has certain thermal insulating properties to enhance the functionality of the ice chest. It is to be understood that other sheet material, whether man-made or natural, may be incorporated for panels 22, 24.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown an alternative embodiment for the expandable members. Herein, the expandable member consists of a plurality of elastic cords interconnecting the ends of panels 22, 24. As shown in FIG. 7, elastic cord 32 extends from the top edge of panels 22, 24 to retain the top edges adjacent sidewalls 40, 42 of the ice chest. Elastic cord 38 serves a similar function with respect to the lower corners of panels 22, 24. By having elastic cord 34 disposed beneath handle 18, use of the handle is not impeded. Elastic cord 36 serves the further function of retaining panels 22, 24 adjacent sidewalls 40, 42 of the ice chest.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is shown a yet further embodiment of the expandable member interconnecting panels 22, 24. Herein, the expandable member may be an elastic fabric 44, such as the type sold under the trademark Spandex. Like the elastic mesh shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, elastic fabric 44 is attached to the ends of panels 22, 24. An opening 46 is disposed within the elastic fabric to accommodate handle 18 of the ice chest and a similar opening is in the elastic fabric at the other end of the ice chest. Because elastic fabric 44 is attached to the full length of the ends of panels 22, 24, the upper and lower corners of the panels are retained firmly against the underlying sidewalls of the ice chest.

Claims

1. A sleeve for encircling an ice chest having a pivotally mounted handle at each end, said sleeve comprising in combination:

a) a first panel adapted for placement adjacent one side of the ice chest;

b) a second panel adapted for placement adjacent another side of the ice chest;

c) a first expandable member adapted for placement adjacent one end of the ice chest and interconnecting an end of each of said first and second panels; and

d) a second expandable member adapted for placement adjacent another end of the ice chast and interconnecting another end of each of said first and second panels.

2. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 including a first opening disposed in said first expandable member for accommodating pass through of one of the handles and a second opening disposed in said second expandable member for accommodating pass through of another of the handles.

3. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein the ice chest includes a pivotally mounted lid and wherein said first and second panels and said first and second members extend from the bottom of the ice chest to a location beneath the lid.

4. The sleeve as set forth in claim 3 including a first opening disposed in said first expandable member for accommodating pass through of one of the handles and a second opening disposed in said second expandable member for accommodating pass through of another of the handles.

5. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second panels of said sleeve are responsive to application of indicia thereon.

6. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second panels of said sleeve are responsive to appliques mounted thereon.

7. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second panels of said sleeve are responsive to imprinting of logos and alpha numeric symbols.

8. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second panels are of neoprene sheet material.

9. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second expandable members are of elastic sheet material.

10. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second expandable members are of elastic cords.

11. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first and second panels are trapezoid shaped in platform.

12. The sleeve as set forth in claim 1 including indicia disposed on said first and second panels.