Collapsible coolers

Abstract

An expandable and collapsible cooler includes: a base defining a bottom portion of the cooler; an upper rim defining an upper portion of the cooler; and a collapsible cooler wall extending between and attached to said base and said upper rim and surrounding an interior storage space of the cooler. The cooler wall includes a flexible elastomeric membrane that includes a plurality of hinge lines at which the membrane is configured to bend such that the membrane is transitional between a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration. The cooler is transitional between an expanded configuration and a collapsed configuration by bending of the membrane of the cooler wall along the hinge lines. Each configuration is a stable. The membrane includes an outer surface located on the exterior of the cooler and an inner surface located in the interior storage space of the cooler.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]The present application is a U.S. continuation application of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 636,225, filed Dec. 11, 2009, which '225 application is hereby incorporated herein by reference, and which '225 application is a U.S. nonprovisional patent application of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61 / 121,904, filed Dec. 11, 2008, which provisional patent application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, the '225 application published as U.S. patent application publication number 2010 / 0147015, which patent application publication is incorporated herein by reference.COPYRIGHT STATEMENT[0002]All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]In a feature of this aspect of the invention, each membrane is stable.

Problems solved by technology

A drawback to many conventional coolers is that such coolers generally require a large amount of storage space when not used.

Further, such coolers take up relatively large amounts of space whenever they are transported for use.

This is particularly disadvantageous when the coolers are packed into the family car when going on the family vacation at the beach.

Because they are so large and bulky, they tend to consume a large portion of the available space in the car, thereby limiting the other items that can be taken on the vacation.

In addition to being disadvantageous for consumers, such devices also are less desirable to retailers, who have limited shelf space on which to display goods for sale.

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