U.S. patent application number 10/184781 was filed with the patent office on 2003-01-30 for variable volume container having a displaceable access means.
Invention is credited to Allen, Cyndy, Allen, Mark, Woram, Diedre.
Application Number | 20030019875 10/184781 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25057135 |
Filed Date | 2003-01-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030019875 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Woram, Diedre ; et
al. |
January 30, 2003 |
Variable volume container having a displaceable access means
Abstract
A collapsible storage container having a displaceable access
opening for tracking and providing proximate access to said diapers
stored within. Said collapsible container further includes a rigid
non-collapsible portion at the top separated into two separate
portions, the first portion being the top of said collapsible
diaper storage area and the second portion being a discrete
independent separate storage area for containing treated or
medicated diaper wipes. Said second diaper wipe area having its own
separate access area including a hinge and a depression or tab to
access the sheets of said diaper wipes.
Inventors: |
Woram, Diedre; (US) ;
Allen, Cyndy; (Pleasanton, CA) ; Allen, Mark;
(Pleasanton, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Gregory Smith & Associates
Suite 317
3900 Newpark Mall Road
Newark
CA
94560
US
|
Family ID: |
25057135 |
Appl. No.: |
10/184781 |
Filed: |
June 27, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10184781 |
Jun 27, 2002 |
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09759834 |
Jan 10, 2001 |
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6412652 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
220/666 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 81/32 20130101;
B65D 85/07 20180101; B65D 21/086 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/666 |
International
Class: |
B65D 006/08; B65D
006/10 |
Claims
I/We claim:
1. A collapsible container having at least one displaceable access
opening, comprising: a base and perimeter walls disposed about said
base so as to define an interior space, said perimeter walls having
at least one variable pleated portion extending along said
perimeter walls such that the height of said container is
adjustably extendible, at least one of said perimeter walls
including a rigid side wall portion, said at least one rigid
sidewall portion further including an opening to provide a
displaceable access opening to the materials stored within said
collapsible container.
2. The collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising a lid
configured to engage a top of said perimeter walls.
3. The collapsible container of claim 1, wherein said lid comprises
a chamber formed therein.
4. The collapsible container of claim 3, further comprising an
opening in said chamber formed in said lid.
5. A collapsible container comprising: A housing including a first
chamber, said first chamber having an adjustable volume being
defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, and side walls, with each
said side wall including a pleated portion, a first opening
proximate said top wall of said first chamber.
6. The collapsible container of claim 5, wherein said housing
further includes a second chamber defined by a top wall, a bottom
wall, and side walls, an opening formed in said second chamber.
7. The collapsible container of claim 6, wherein said housing
further includes a third chamber.
8. The collapsible container of claim 5, wherein said bottom wall
of said first chamber is moveable relative to said top wall of said
first chamber.
9. The collapsible container of claim 5, wherein said first chamber
is configured for holding diapers.
10. The collapsible container of claim 6, wherein the second
chamber is configured for holding diaper wipes.
11. The collapsible container of claim 5, further including a
second opening in the first chamber for filling the first chamber,
the second opening in the first chamber being closeable.
12. The collapsible container of claim 6, further including a
second opening in the second chamber for filling the second
chamber, the second opening in the second chamber being
closeable.
13. The collapsible container of claim 5, wherein the pleated side
walls of the first chamber include a collapsed configuration, and
tend to return to the collapsed configuration when moved from the
collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration.
14. The collapsible container of claim 5, wherein the first opening
in said first chamber is located in a non-pleated portion of a side
wall.
15. The collapsible container of claim 5, wherein the pleated
portion of each side wall comprises substantially all of each side
wall.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a Divisional of and claims the priority
date of Ser. No. 09/759,834, filed Jan. 10, 2001, entitled:
Variable Height Container Having a Displaceable Access Means for
the Materials Within the Container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to adjustable volume and
collapsible containers and in particular to an adjustable volume
and collapsible container having a displaceable access means for
accessing the stored materials within the container.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Variable height and variable volume containers are well
known in the art:
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,338 is directed to such an adjustable
volume container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,338 teaches a perimeter side
wall that is adjustably extendable to increase or decrease the
volume of the interior space. A removable lid is provided.
[0007] Design Patent No. 342,674 is directed to an ornamental
design for an expandable container.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,213 is directed to a collapsible and
reusable container having a resealable cap.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,236 is directed to a carton with an
opening for a controlled dispensing of materials therein. The
opening reveals the entire side of the stack of materials therein
and would be useful for grabbing and dispensing the entire stack of
materials.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,325 is directed to an apparatus having a
rectangular frame with an inverted y-shaped partition so as to form
two compartments for holding two stacks of diapers each at an
incline.
[0011] While the variable containers of the above-identified patent
references are more or less suitable for their intended purposes,
they are not suitable for storing diapers or other materials inside
while also having a convenient container for medicated or other
suitable wipe sheets to be stored. It is essential to have
convenient access to these wipes to be able to clean the diaper
area of the baby during a diaper change. As such, an adjustable
container such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,338 would
not be suitable, nor all the other containers of the Relevant Art,
because in order to access the contents you must remove the top
from the container and set it down in which case the wipe sheets
would no longer be at a convenient position for access.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a variable height/volume
container with a non-removable lid that has a displaceable access
means for tracking the top height of the materials (such as for
example diapers) contained inside and providing access to same.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Briefly, the present invention is a first variable height
adjustable container having a displaceable access means for
tracking the variable height of the materials contained within the
container and providing access to the same. The container of the
invention further includes a second non-adjustable fixed container
disposed on the top portion of the variable container, said second
fixed container having suitable access openings for both placing
wipe sheet materials therein and dispensing therefrom. The variable
height container includes four side walls, each having pleated
accordion-like longitudinal folds disposed on each of its four
rectangular architecture side walls and a rigid side wall portion
disposed on the top thereof. Said rigid side wall portion has a
rectangular access opening suitable for accessing the contents of
the container. The principal purpose of the invention is to hold
cloth or disposable diapers within the collapsible portion of the
container and the access opening is sized to adequately permit easy
removal of the top diaper contained therein. There is a second
additional rigid container disposed at the top of the rigid top
portion of the variable container, said second rigid container is
suitable for storing single-sheet treated diaper wipe sheets for
use of an individual changing the diaper of a baby. These diaper
wipe sheets are preferably impregnated or otherwise treated with
medicinal or convenient lotion materials and therefore require a
second fully self-contained hermetically sealed storage container
to prevent smearing of the treatment materials. The displaceable
access means of the present invention therefore is disposed in the
side wall of the variable height container directly below the rigid
diaper wipe container and directly above the pleated accordion-like
side walls of this variable height container. This positioning of
the rectangular access means allows this rectangular access means
to be displaceable with the displacement of the variable side walls
of the variable container and further allows it to constantly track
the decreasing height of the diapers or other materials contained
therein so as to provide convenient access to the user of the top
portion of the diaper or other materials contained therein. Loading
of both the diaper wipe sheets and the diapers themselves are
provided by two hinges disposed in the side of the rigid top
portion of said variable container so as to provide access both to
the first lower variable height container and the second upper
rigid container. Said containing means further includes rigid
access tabs disposed upon the opposite side wall from the flexible
hinges so as to provide ease of opening both the top rigid
container and the bottom variable height container for placing
suitable contents therein. The rigid diaper wipe container on the
top further includes either an indentation or a protruding tab
disposed in its uppermost surface and a third lid having an
opposing flexible hinge from the indentation or protruding tab. The
indentation or protruding tab allowing opening of the third access
opening so as to provide ease of access to the diaper wipe sheets
contained therein. The first variable height container and the
second fixed upper container may be formed as a unitary or separate
construction without departing from the teachings of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The invention may be understood and further advantages and
uses thereof more readily apparent, when considered in view of the
following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments, taken
with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a front view of the present variable container
invention constructed according to the teachings of the invention,
illustrating the pleated accordion-like side wall of the variable
container as well as the rigid container portion disposed on top
thereof;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a top view of the variable container constructed
according to the teachings of the invention shown in FIG. 1
illustrating a small rectangular hinged top portion for access to
the rigid container disposed on top; and
[0016] FIG. 3 is a side view of the variable height container
constructed according to the teachings of the invention further
illustrating both a displaceable access means that tracks the
variable height of the container and provides access to the
materials contained therein as well as three flexible hinges and
three rigid opening tabs or levers for opening both the variable
height container portion on the bottom, the rigid diaper wipe
container portion on the top, and a third rectangular hinged
portion at the very top for providing access to the diaper wipe
materials therein.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the
invention shown with the variable volume chamber of the invention
in an extended condition.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the
invention shown with the variable volume chamber of the invention
in a collapsed condition.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a front elevational
view of the adjustable collapsible container 12 constructed
according to the teachings of the invention. Adjustable height
container 12 includes base 14 and an adjustable height perimeter
side wall 16 disposed around the base 14 to define an interior
space where a storable material such as for instance a diaper may
be placed. The perimeter side wall 16 has an adjustable height H
defined as extending between the top portion 18 of perimeter side
wall 16 and the bottom of the container 14. This height H is fully
adjustable and extendable to increase or decrease the interior
volume of the interior space defined by perimeter side wall 16. The
adjustable extension of perimeter side wall 16 is permitted because
side wall 16 has disposed thereon a pleated portion 22 extending
around it. This pleated portion 22 has a plurality of longitudinal
folds that are arranged in an accordion fashion between bottom 14
and top 18 of perimeter side wall 16. Any acceptable material may
be used for pleated portion 22, however, preferably the material
will be flexible but characterized by having a tendency to return
to the folded configuration when expanded, easily cleaned, and
water resistant. FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of an embodiment
of the container 12 with the variable volume chamber of the
invention in an extended condition. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of
an embodiment of the container 12 shown with the variable volume
chamber of the invention in a collapsed condition.
[0020] Top portion 32 of perimeter side wall 16 is made of a rigid
non-extendable material and is divided into three separate top
portions, 34, 36 and 38 respectively. First top portion 34 is
simply a rigid area used as the top of the extendable pliable
pleated area 22 and is used both to store materials therein and as
will be explained later, is used as a dispensing area for the user
to obtain materials out of the extendable storage container below.
Second top portion 36 is a rigid container that is used to store
the pliable treated diaper wipes therein. Third top portion 38 is
also used as a storage area for treated diaper wipes and also as
will be shown later is used as an area in which to access and from
which to retrieve diaper wipes (at the top 42 of container 12 there
is disposed a hinged access door 44 which allow access to the
treated diaper wipe sheet material). The non expandable portions of
the container 12 maybe made of virtually any acceptable material,
however, a tough plastic material is preferred. Both first and
second top portions 34 and 36 have a rigid finger leverage tab 46
and 48 respectively which are used for leveraging open the first
and second top portions of adjustable container 12. In addition,
top hinged access door 44 includes a rigid opening tab 52 which
again is used for prying open top hinged access door 44 in order to
retrieve the treated sheet wipe material. In some embodiments it is
preferred that the container 12 include a carrying means such as a
strap or handle.
[0021] Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a top view of
adjustable container 12 showing the top portion 18 of perimeter
side wall 16 and showing in particular both first and second tab
members 46 and 48 and tab member 52 which are used for opening
adjustable container 12. In addition, there is shown back hinge 62
and top hinge 64 which are used for opening hinged access door 44
and second top portion 38 of adjustable container 12,
respectively.
[0022] Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an elevational side
view of expandable adjustable container 12 illustrating in
particular displaceable access opening 72 which access opening 72
is displaceable to follow the collapse of adjustable container 12
as the amount of diapers contained inside is depleted such that
displaceable and accessible access opening 72 is always proximate
the location of the top diaper of the stored diapers. FIG. 3
further illustrates once again opening tabs 46 and 48 and 52 as
well as back hinges 64, 66 and 68 respectively.
[0023] In operation first lift tab 46 is used to open up the
adjustable bottom portion of container 12 wherein the diapers can
be loaded therein. Second rigid tab 48 can be used to open the
second portion of the rigid top portion of adjustable container 12
to load the wipe sheets therein. Rigid tab 52 can be used to open
the top hinged access door 44 in order to pull out the wipe sheets
for use in dressing and cleaning the baby during a diaper change.
As diapers are removed from displaceable access opening 72 the
adjustable portion 22 of side wall 16 will naturally decrease in
height due to the weight of diaper wipe sheets contained in upper
storage area 32 or otherwise by the user pressing down on upper
storage area 32. As the displaceable access opening 72 decreases in
height H along with the side wall portion 22 of side wall perimeter
16 then the uppermost diaper is always accessible to the fingertips
of the user. Displaceable access means 72 not only tracks the
height of the stored material such as stored diapers, but
displaceable access means 72 also maintains proximate relationship
to the side of the uppermost or topmost stored material within
collapsible storage container 12. Keeping this proximate access to
the top material makes collapsible storage container 12 workable
for always being able to access or dispense the top diaper through
rectangular access opening 72. Access opening 72 only has to be
designed to the correct opening width for whatever size diaper or
other material is stored inside collapsible container 12.
[0024] With respect to the sizes of the materials such as for
instance diapers that are to be stored within expandable container
12, it is to be understood that the optimal dimensional
relationships for the side walls and other parts of the above
described collapsible storage means 12 includes variations in sizes
and materials that would lend collapsible storage means 12 to its
intended use. Although not to be limited hereto, the following
sizes and materials are found to be optimized for multiple sized
diapers such as newborn through adult: the container should
preferably define an area approximately 5 inches by 8 inches for
babies below 2 years of age, approximately 5 inches by 10 inches
for children 2 to 3 years of age, and the container preferably
define an area approximately 8 inches by 10 inches to accommodate
geriatric or adult diaper sizes. Although not to be limited hereto,
it is preferred that the volume of the container be sufficient to
hold at least 4-5 diapers of the appropriate size.
* * * * *