Abstrict The invention is basically a cooler that has been designed to eliminate
the problems of what to do with the beer, pop or other beverage
cans after they are empty. In the preferred embodiment of the invention
an individual who has drank his beverage can from the cooler section
of the invention just places his can in the crusher section of the
invention and closes the lid. This crushes the can which falls with
the help of gravity into a bin for storages. The bin can be emptied
later so the individual can dispose of his can in an environmentally
sound way. The invention has a cooler section which is a thermally
insulated box like structure with a thermally insulated lid. Integrally
attached to the cooler section is a can crusher section which is
rectangular with a semi-circular bottom. The section has a ram that
is attached to the lid of the can crusher section such that when
the lid is closed the ram crushes the can against the end of the
can crusher section. When the can has been crushed, the can drops
into a bin also integrally attached to the can crusher section and
the cooler section. This bin has a door for removing the crushed
cans.
Claims What is claimed is:
1. An environmentally designed portable cooler comprising:
a. a thermally insulated container with a lid; and,
b. a manual powered means for crushing cans attached to the thermally
insulated container; and,
c. a means for storing said cans once crushed by the means for
crushing, said means for storage is attached to the means for crushing
and the thermally insulated container; and,
d. said cooler is adapted to be portable.
2. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 1 wherein a can
once crushed by the means for crushing falls into the means for
storing of the crushed cans.
3. A environmentally designed cooler as in claim 2 wherein:
a. the storages means is a bin that is integral attached to the
means for crushing and the insulated container whereby when a can
is crushed by the means for crushing it will fall through an opening
in the means for crushing and into the bin.
4. A environmentally designed cooler as in claim 3 wherein:
a. a door with a bottom that is attached to the bin so that when
open the bin can be emptied.
5. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 4 wherein:
a. the bottom of the door is located on one side above the bottom
of the cooler whereby if the crushed can leaked out some of the
contents, the content will not easily seep out the door.
6. An environmentally designed cooler comprising:
a. a thermally insulated container with a lid; and,
b. a means for crushing cans attached to the thermally insulated
container comprising;
1. a rectangular shaped housing integrally attached to the thermally
insulated container; and,
2. a semi-circular bottom attached to the rectangle housing with
two ends; and,
3. an opening in the semi-circular bottom; and,
4. a ram adapted to be slideably fit within the semi-circular bottom;
and,
5. an attaching piece that is integrally attachable to the ram;
and,
6. a cover that is hingably attached to the attaching piece and
hingeably attached to one end of the rectangle housing; and,
c. a means for storing said cans when crushed by the means for
crushing, said means for storage is attached to the means for crushing
and the thermally insulated container; and,
d. whereby a can placed between the ram and the housing, on the
end of the housing with the opening and the cover is closed forcing
the ram to crush the can against the side of the housing and whereby
the ram is designed to crush the can down to a point that the crushed
can will fall through the opening and into the means for storing.
7. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 6 wherein:
a. the means for crushing has been reinforced by an extra plate
on the end of the rectangular housing that is opposite the end that
the cover attaches to.
8. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 7 wherein:
a the cover is reinforced by an extra plate to which the attaching
piece is hingeably attached.
9. An environmentally designed portable cooler comprising:
a. a thermally insulated container with a lid; and,
b. a means for crushing cans attached to the thermally insulated
container; and,
c. a manual means for powering the means for crushing cans that
is portable; and,
d. a means for storing said cans once crushed by the means for
crushing, said means for storing is attached to the means for crushing
and the thermally insulated container; and,
e. said cooler is adapted to be portable.
10. An environmentally designed portable cooler as in claim 9 wherein:
a. a can once crushed by the means for crushing falls into the
means for storing the crushed cans.
11. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 9 wherein:
a. the storage means is a bin that is integrally attached to the
means for crushing and the insulated container whereby when a can
is crushed by the means for crushing it falls through an opening
in the means for crushing and into the bin.
12. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 11 wherein:
a. a door with a bottom that is attached to the bin so that when
open, the bin can be emptied.
13. An environmentally designed cooler as in claim 11 wherein:
a. the bottom of the door is located on one side above the bottom
of the cooler whereby if a crushed can leaks out some of it contents,
the contents will not easily seep out of the door.
Description FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a cooler and more particularly to an improved
cooler that helps with waste disposal by crushing cans after use
and storing the crushed cans.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One of the major problems that humans face at the end of the twentieth
century is the disposal of litter. One of the big contributor to
this problem are beer, pop or other beverage cans. One of the objects
of this invention is to create a cooler that makes it easier to
dispose of pop, beer, or other beverage cans.
Up to this time in history coolers or ice chests have been basically
designed to keep the contents within them either hot or cold. The
basic ice chest is a box like structure with insulation around the
sides, bottom and lid. The users of the coolers usually place pop,
beer or other items they wish to keep cool along with ice in the
cooler. A individual usually uses a cooler on boating trips, poolside
picnics, sporting outing, fishing, or hunting. In these situations
once one has used a can of pop, beer, or other beverage from within
the cooler there is usually no place to dispose of the can in an
environmentally sound matter. Thus, the inventor has designed his
invention to make it easier for individuals using the cooler to
properly dispose of their cans of pop, beer or other beverages in
an environmentally sound matter. Further, to carry these cans of
pop or beer back to a suitable disposable site is difficult due
to the volume of the pop and beer cans. Thus, it is a further objective
of the invention to lessen the volume of the pop, beer or other
beverage cans for easier storage and disposal.
The features that achieve these objectives are that the inventor
has attached a can crusher and a storage bin to the cooler. The
advantage of this design is that an individual once through with
his pop cans can easily place the can in the crusher and close the
crusher's lid. This is all that is needed to be done to store the
can in a crushed condition until the individual has found an environmentally
sound way to dispose of the crushed cans. This makes it easy for
an individual to dispose of the cans of pop, beer or other beverages
with out littering the environment. Further it achieves this goal
with a compact easy to use unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is basically a cooler that has been designed to eliminate
the problems of what to do with the beer, pop or other beverage
cans after they are empty. In the preferred embodiment of the invention
an individual who has drunk his beverage can from the cooler section
of the invention just places his can in the crusher section of the
invention and closes the lid. This crushes the can which falls with
the help of gravity into a bin for storage. The bin can be emptied
later so the individual can dispose of his can in an environmentally
sound way. The invention has a cooler section which is a thermally
insulated box like structure with a thermally insulated lid. Integrally
attached to the cooler section is a can crusher section which is
rectangular with a semi-circular bottom. The section has a ram that
is attached to the lid of the can crusher section such that when
the lid is closed the ram crushes the can against the end of the
can crusher section. When the can has been crushed, the can drops
into a bin also integrally attached to the can crusher section and
the cooler section. This bin has a door for removing the crushed
cans.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention with the lid for
the cooler and the lid for the can crusher open.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the invention with the lid for the cooler
and the lid for the can crusher open.
FIG. 3 is a cut away side view of the invention.
FIG. 4 is an end view of the invention with the can crusher area
cut away and the door closed.
FIG. 5 is the view similar to FIG. 4 only in this figure the door
is open.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The invention contains and outer shell 10 that in the preferred
embodiment is box like. However, the outer shell could take other
shapes that are known in the art for coolers. The outer shell 10
is open at the top. The outer shell has two lids 12 and 14. Lid
12 fits over the cooler section 16 of the invention. Lid 14 fits
over and is an integral part of the can crusher section 18 of the
invention. Lids 12 and 14 are rotatably attached to the outer shell
10 by hinges 20 and 22 in the preferred embodiment. The lids 12
and 14 could be attached by other means known in the art for rotatably
attaching lids to shells.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the invention with the lids open. The cooler
section 16 of the invention is a large opening with sides and a
bottom. The cooler section 16 is designed for the storage of ice,
pop, beer and other beverage cans.
The can crusher section 18 of the cooler is the rectangular housing
formed by the outer shell and one side of the cooler section. FIG.
2 shows that shape of the opening for the can crusher section is
rectangular. FIG. 3 shows a cut away view of the side of the can
crusher which shows that the crusher's bottom 30 is semi-circular
in construction. The semi-circular piece 30 shown in FIG. 2 only
covers a portion of the rectangular opening. There is an opening
42 on one end. FIG. 1 and 3 shows a semi-circular shape ram 30 that
is attached to a bar S2. The ram 30 and the bar 32 are hinged together.
The ram 30 is slidably mounted within the semi-circular bottom 26.
The bar 82 is hingeably attached to the lid 14 of the can crusher.
In the preferred embodiment the lid 14 has been reinforced by a
plate 38 on which the bar 32 is hingeably attached. Also at the
end of the can crusher section 18 opposite from where the can crusher
lid 14 is attached, the outer shell 10 has been reinforced by a
plate 40.
In operation the lid 16 is opened and a can is placed on the semi-circular
bottom 26 between the ram 30 and the outer shell reenforcing plate
40. The lid 14 is then closed. The closing action forces the bar
82 to move the ram 30 towards the outer shells reinforcing plate
40 This action crushes the cans against the outer shell's reinforcing
plate 40 as shown in FIG. 2. The can is crushed and the ram 30 moves
just past the end of the semi-circular bottom 26. When the lid is
again opened and the pressure of the ram 30 is taken from the crushed
can, the crushed can, which is now smaller than the opening 42 between
the semi-circular bottom and the outer shell's reinforcement plate
40 drops downward due to gravity into bin 44 below bottom of the
cooler as shown in FIG. 3. Bin 44 lies between the cooler section
and the can crusher section and the outer shell of the invention.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 shows the working of the door on the bin 44.
FIG. 4 shows that in the outer shell on the side of the can crusher
there is a door 48 and a door handle 50. When the door handle 50
is moved clockwise the door 48 slides upward as shown in FIG. 5.
When an individual wishes to remove the crushed cans from the bin
44 he opens the door 48 and dumps the cans. The door 48 is located
a little above the bottom of the shell 10. This is done so that
liquid which may remain in the discarded can and would leak out
into the bin would not seep out the door 48.
The sides, bottom and lid of the cooler section are all formed
out of thermal insulated plastic The cooler section 16 could actually
be formed out of wood or metal as long as the bottom, sides, and
lid are insulated to keep the items within either cold or hot as
the owner wishes. The can crusher section 18 and the bin 44 do not
need to be insulated.
Changes in modification in the specifically described embodiments
can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention
which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended
claims. |