Cooler with automatic product height adjustment mechanism

Abstract

A cooler has an upright housing with a sidewall. A product compartment disposed in the housing has a floor and a sidewall that is attached to the floor forming a watertight compartment and to the housing sidewall. Disposed in the product compartment is a product platform that is movable vertically relative to the floor and adapted to hold a plurality of product containers disposed within the product compartment. A telescoping pole has upper and lower end portions and is disposed in the product compartment between the product platform and the floor. A spring coiled about the telescoping pole and disposed between the floor and the product platform exerts an upward force on the product platform to maintain product containers on the product platform at a constant height as product containers are removed from the platform.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention pertains generally to coolers, and, more particularly, to a product height adjustment mechanism for a cooler for food and beverage containers and the like.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Both stationary and movable coolers are widely used for cooling food items and beverages. Ice is often used in movable coolers because ice is readily available, cools effectively and allows the cooler to be used at almost any location. Being useable at almost any location is an attribute because space is almost always at a premium in a retail environment. A problem when cooling beverages in a movable cooler with ice, however, is that the ice melts creating liquid water, which causes ice it, contacts to melt faster and allows some containers to sink into water. Ice in contact with water can melt twice as fast as ice in contact with air requiring the ice to need attending more often which is not desirable.[0003]When containers sink into the water, ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a cooler with a stable platform for holding ice and containers, and a telescoping pole to keep the platform upright and prevent tilting. The pole has a first coil spring and can adjust its height as ice melts and containers are removed, keeping the platform at a constant height. The telescoping pole also has an intermediate pole section that can slide into the upper and lower pole sections, and a second coil spring to push it upward as containers are removed. This design makes the cooler more compact and saves space. The technical effects of this invention are a stable platform and a stable temperature for the contents, as well as a compact design that saves space in the cooler.

Problems solved by technology

A problem when cooling beverages in a movable cooler with ice, however, is that the ice melts creating liquid water, which causes ice it, contacts to melt faster and allows some containers to sink into water.

Ice in contact with water can melt twice as fast as ice in contact with air requiring the ice to need attending more often which is not desirable.

When containers sink into the water, consumers often get a wet hand trying to retrieve a beverage container from the icy mixture, which is unpleasant to say the least.

Also, in some localities, health codes may not permit such standing water.

While a drain solves the standing water and wet hand problems, it creates a problem with the height of the product in the cooler.

As water is removed, the height of ice and beverage containers in the cooler drops causing the consumer to work harder to retrieve a product container.

Another problem with ice filled coolers is that as beverage containers are removed, the fluid level drops causing remaining containers to sit lower in the cooler.

The protruding post or pole reduces the space available for product, which is unfortunate, since product space is at a premium.

Additionally, a protruding pole or post interfere with the arrangement of the ice and containers.

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