U.S. patent application number 14/470735 was filed with the patent office on 2015-08-06 for container.
The applicant listed for this patent is James L. Mazyck, III. Invention is credited to James L. Mazyck, III.
Application Number | 20150217903 14/470735 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53754195 |
Filed Date | 2015-08-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150217903 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mazyck, III; James L. |
August 6, 2015 |
Container
Abstract
A container is disclosed with a container modification in the
form of slanted sides terminating respectively at a bottom residing
within a lower horizontal plane and at a top residing within a
least one higher horizontal plane. The container is further
disclosed to provide containerization, ease of transportation, and
accessibility to its use in working on a slanted roofing surface
wherein the container, by the resultant relocation of its center of
gravity, remains stable on a slanted roofing surface. Further, the
container is disclosed to facilitate use as a receptacle in a toss
game where articles are tossed, from a distance, into such
receptacle. The facilitation results from providing a receptacle
target with a lowered facing rim and a stabilizing effect from the
slanted sides that limits mis-hits from toppling over the
container/receptacle. Other uses are envisioned as well (such as
the typical uses of a bucket) within the realm of the instant
disclosure.
Inventors: |
Mazyck, III; James L.;
(Charleston, SC) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Mazyck, III; James L. |
Charleston |
SC |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
53754195 |
Appl. No.: |
14/470735 |
Filed: |
August 27, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61965487 |
Jan 31, 2014 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/4.01 ;
273/440; 53/467 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B44D 3/12 20130101; E04D
15/07 20130101; A63B 67/06 20130101; B25H 3/00 20130101; A63B
2067/061 20130101; E04D 15/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65D 25/00 20060101
B65D025/00; A63B 67/06 20060101 A63B067/06 |
Claims
1. An improved container defined by a bottom, at least one side
wall, and an open top, wherein the improvement comprises a
horizontal bottom, when at rest, defined by a first perimeter
having at least one side element contacting at least one point on
said first perimeter and a multiple of like said side elements
rising along and upward from like said points on said first
perimeter to form said at least one side wall at an angle no less
than about 10.degree. and no greater than about 85.degree. and said
side elements terminating at a second perimeter lying at points
within at least one plane defined by said side wall angle and
terminating at respective points lying within at least one
horizontal plane.
2. The improved container of claim 1 having a single continuous
side wall producing a circular container.
3. The improved container of claim 1 having four side walls
producing a rectangular walled container.
4. The improved container of claim 3, wherein said rectangular
walled container is in the shape of an equilateral rectangle.
5. The improved container of claim 1 wherein said multiple
horizontal planes of the second perimeter are progressively lower
traveling from one side of said container to an opposing side of
said container.
6. The improved container of claim 2 wherein said second perimeter
is of a shape comprising an area larger than a shape defined by
said first perimeter.
7. The improved container of claim 3 wherein said second perimeter
is of a shape comprising an area larger than a shape defined by
said first perimeter.
8. The improved container of claim 1 wherein said container rests
stably when be placed on a slanted roof.
9. The improved container of claim 2 wherein said container may
receive an article tossed from a direction facing a side of the
container.
10. The improved container of claim 3 wherein said container may
receive an article tossed from a direction facing a side of the
container.
11. The improved container of claim 5 wherein said container may
receive an article tossed from a direction facing a side of the
container.
12. The improved container of claim 1 wherein said angle between
corresponding points along each of said first perimeter and said
second perimeter is from 20.degree. to 85.degree..
13. The improved container of claim 12 wherein said angle between
corresponding points along each of said first perimeter and said
second perimeter is from 40.degree. to 75.degree..
14. The improved container of claim 12 wherein said angle between
corresponding points along each of said first perimeter and said
second perimeter is 65.degree..
15. The improved container of claim 2 wherein an exterior surface
of said bottom is provided with a rough surface.
16. The improved container of claim 3 wherein an exterior surface
of said bottom is provided with a rough surface.
17. The improved container of claim 9 wherein an exterior surface
of said bottom is provided with a rough surface.
18. An improved method for containerizing, transporting and
accessing roofing tools while applying roofing materials to a roof
surface of a building or structure, wherein the improvement
comprises containerizing, transporting and accessing roofing tools
using the container of claim 1.
19. An improved method for containerizing, transporting and
accessing roofing tools while applying roofing materials to a roof
surface of a building or structure, wherein the improvement
comprises containerizing, transporting and accessing roofing tools
using the container of claim 2.
20. An improved toss game involving tossing an article aimed at
landing within a target from a distance away from said target,
wherein the improvement comprises using as said target the
container of claim 1.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention disclosed herein relates to an improved
container for uses in containerizing, transporting and accessing
roofing tools while applying roofing materials to a roof surface of
a building or structure, as well as use in a toss game where the
design of the improved container serves as the receiving object of
the toss game. More particularly, the disclosed improved container
invention as a roofing tool container is made to permit the bucket
to rest on a slanted roofing surface within reach of the roofer to
access readily the tools or materials contained therein to use in
applying the roofing material. In addition to roofing tools, the
container can also be used to carry liquid materials used on a
roof, such as hot tar and paint. Additionally, the improved
container invention is designed beneficially for use in receiving
tossed objects in a tossing game.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] While roofing materials generally are specific to their
purpose and performance requirements on the building or other
structure to which they may be applied, the tools used in their
application are generally the same or similar tools, e.g., hammer
and nails, for other uses in the carpentry trade for erecting and
covering walls and flooring of a building. So, it is natural that
storing (in the garage or other storage location), transporting (to
the worksite) and accessing (during use) such tools during
construction activities has not taken on specialized performance
design requirements specific to roofing. Yet, the working location
and conditions confronted when applying roofing materials on roofs
of a building or other structure are very different from
constructing and applying materials on horizontal and vertical
elements of a building. The typical, fairly dramatic, slanted
nature of roof surfaces that must be covered, usually with multiple
layers of roofing materials, makes containerization, transportation
and accessibility of the necessary tools required for their
application potentially both unsafe and unreliable while on the
roof.
[0005] For example, the typical means for storing, transporting and
accessing carpentry tools on-the-job, while adequate for most
demands of the construction workplace they are not designed to
perform as successfully for roofing applications. Most, if not all
are designed for stability and storage capacity, which generally
requires a uniformly flat bottom surface. Examples of such tool
containment devices are provided in FIGS. 1-3. This works well when
their location for accessibility involves jobs on horizontal or
vertical surfaces. It does not work so well when the location for
accessibility is on a slanted roof. The current state of the art
does not address this particular work situation in the manner of
the disclosed invention container. One temptation to address the
stability problem is to carry the roofing tools to the roof in a
normal flat bottomed carrier (as shown in FIG. 1) and placing
standing nails or nailing a board in the roof along the down-side
portion of the tool carrier to prevent the tool container from
sliding off the roof or tipping over and spilling its contents,
unnecessarily creating nail holes in the roof. Thus, there remains
a need for an article to adequately contain the tools necessary to
transport to a roofing surface worksite and also provide stability
and accessibility of said tools during their use in covering the
roof surface with the required roofing materials. Such standard
prior art tool containment articles are shown in FIGS. 2-4.
[0006] Additionally, most toss games are based on tossing an
article, or object, aimed at landing within a target of drawn
concentric circles within a landing surface (with point values
increasing as the inner circles get smaller) or landing within a
receptacle as the target. In the case where the target is a
receptacle and the receptacle opening lies within a horizontal
plane, the accuracy of the toss is amplified in proportion to the
increase of difficulty determined by the diameter of the receptacle
opening. The greater the difficulty with any game, usually the
greater the frustration on the part of the game participants.
Therefore, it is desirable to adjust the target in a manner to
moderate the difficulty to challenge the players without
eliminating a reasonable degree of success. In the first example of
a toss game, the obvious modification would be to expand the
circular target diameter(s) in relation to the size of the tossed
object. Also, this is the reason most toss games including the
concentric circle scoring method, or multiple holes with different
scoring assignments, within a flat board involve tilting the board
forward by lifting it upward from the back to provide a slanted
landing area and, thereby, achieve a somewhat easier target. In the
case of tossing an object/article into a receptacle, one
modification would be that the plane of the circular opening could
be tilted toward the player to present the target opening in a
favorable angle for a greater degree of success. Tilting a normal
flat bottomed receptacle (e.g., a bucket) would result in the
bucket falling over absent some support under the tilted direction
side or some barrier placed under the tilted direction side, as the
change in the bucket's center of gravity no longer could be
supported by the bottom of the bucket. Of course, once tilted to
rest the weight of the bucket on only an edge (or rim) of the
bottom surface, would require some supporting mechanism or devices,
using a prior art bucket as shown in FIG. 1.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The disclosed invention container/receptacle is designed to
solve the problems presented by the above disclosed applications by
providing a specially designed container with a slanted bottom
(when resting on a slanted surface or when held and carried
upright) to provide an improved roofing tool container and present
an improved toss game receptacle. The description of the specialty
container's bottom as "slanted" is somewhat arbitrary in that once
the bottom is resting on a horizontal surface, it is the sides of
the container that appear to be "slanted." Therefore, this
arbitrary nomenclature is to be understood in this regard when the
term "slanted bottom" is used in reference to the invention of the
"improved container."
[0008] In particular, one preferred embodiment of the invention is
to provide a bucket with a slanted bottom. While different angles
of the bucket bottom slant can be provided to accommodate a range
of degrees of angles to correspond (generally or specifically) to
roof surface angles away from horizontal, angles of slant from
20.degree. to 80.degree. appear to be of most desired use. A more
preferred useful bucket bottom angle is selected from the group of
angles from 40.degree. to 70.degree.. A most preferred bucket
bottom angle to accommodate typical roof slants (or pitches) is
deemed to be 55.degree.. While the "bucket" form of container may
be chosen for the greatest adaptability for containing tools of a
variety of shapes and sizes, the invention includes slanted
bottomed tool containers of any shape or sizes within the scope of
the disclosed invention. Thus, a generally rectangular tool box
provided with a slanted bottom may be constructed and used within
the scope of the disclosed invention, as such would provide the
requirements of containerization, transportation, and accessibility
at the roofing surface worksite by providing the necessary
stability to remain in place on the slanted roofing surface.
[0009] Likewise, a receptacle for use as a target in a toss game
may be of a variety of shapes. The provision of a receptacle of
various shapes provided with a slanted bottom would provide the
desired option of presenting the target opening in a favorable
angle for a greater degree of success. A most preferred shape for
said receptacle opening is the traditional circle. Thus, a circular
bucket with a slanted bottom provides a target receptacle with a
greater chance of success of the tossed object landing in the
receptacle when the bucket opening is tilted in the direction of
the position of the player tossing the article, while at the same
time enhancing the stability of the bucket/receptacle by accounting
for the change in its center of gravity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0010] FIG. 1 shows an example of a typical bucket made of a
plastic or metal material of limited flexibility for durability
when in use. Such a bucket is also typical for that used as a tool
carrier or for a receptacle to receive an article pitched by a
player in a toss game.
[0011] FIG. 2 shows an example of a similarly (to FIG. 1) typical
bucket as a support for an insert (usually made of a durable fabric
material) for carrying carpentry or other tools both outside and
inside the bucket container.
[0012] FIG. 3 shows an example of a tool carrier of a different
shape and construction material.
[0013] FIG. 4 shows a perspective of one preferred embodiment of
the invention improved container as disclosed herein.
[0014] FIG. 5 shows a perspective of the invention improved
container resting on a slanted surface, such as a typical roof
above a residential or commercial construction.
[0015] FIG. 6 shows a perspective of the invention improved
container resting on a horizontal, or flat, surface.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The invention container/receptacle comprising a slanted
bottom as disclosed herein may be of various shapes. The side(s) of
the container/receptacle may be continuous to form a circle or an
oval or a series of ripples of similar or a variety of dimensions
or sizes. Alternatively, the container/receptacle may have distinct
multiple sides in the form of a triangle, a square, a pentagon, a
hexagon, or any number of sides. The distinctive feature of the
container/receptacle is its slanted bottom, which permits its
particular desirability for use in the manners of a roofing tool
container and carrier, as well as a receptacle in a toss game. In
particular, the slanted bottom of the invention
container/receptacle particularly facilitates use when a worker
must deal with a slanted rooftop as a work surface and must have
access to his tools. Likewise, it facilitates such use in a popular
game using the trademark of "Redneck Horseshoes.RTM.," where
plastic bottles, preferably longnecks, are tossed to win points by
landing in a bucket some distance away from the tossing player. In
another version of the game, for play on a concrete or other type
of hard surface, the tossed object can be made of cloth, preferably
in the shape of a longneck bottle, if specific to Redneck
Horseshoes.RTM., and filled with particulate material, such as
beans, corn, or sand. In each case, the slanted bottom portion of
the invention container/receptacle must be reasonably flat (very
near horizontal) to maintain stability during use. Its use as a
tool container resting on a slanted roof changes the center of
gravity from a traditional bucket (or other container without a
slanted bottom), which permits it to remain stable where a
traditional bucket (having its bottom on a plane reasonably
perpendicular to its sides) would tip over and cause the tools to
fall out of the container and possibly off the roof. Similarly, as
a receptacle for a toss game it is more stable and, thus, more
resistant to tipping over when hit at different angles by the
tossed articles as compared to a traditional bucket having a higher
and more centric center of gravity. Any tipping over of the
receptacle bucket between tosses causes an interruption in the game
to halt tosses in order to upright the receptacle.
[0017] The materials used in manufacturing the disclosed invention
improved container should be materials that will withstand
anticipated uses in construction and as a receptacle for thrown
articles made of a variety of materials from relatively soft or
softened (by their packing or packaging) materials up to relatively
hard or hardened materials, ranging from thin but rigid plastics or
metals or thicker less rigid plastics or light weight metal
materials. More particularly, the invention container may be made a
stiff, rigid, or relatively thick plastic or a variety of metals,
such as of aluminum or steel.
[0018] The invention disclosed herein is an improved container
comprising a horizontal bottom (when at rest) defined by a first
perimeter having at least one side element contacting at least one
point on said first perimeter and a number of like said side
elements rising along and upward from like said points on said
first perimeter to form at least one side wall at an angle no less
than about 10.degree. and no greater than about 85.degree. and
terminating at a second perimeter lying at points within at least
one horizontal plane. If the container is single sided (i.e.,
defined by a single, continuous side wall), the container shape
would be circular. If the container comprises three or greater
number of side walls, its shape could range from triangular to
comprising so many sides it approaches just short of circular. Of
course, the container may be single sided and be oval, instead of a
perfect circle. The container top opening is formed when said
second perimeter terminates at points lying within at least one
multiple horizontal plane. The container top may be shaped to
permit one portion of its second perimeter to be formed by a
multiple of the top opening's horizontal planes to be progressively
lower traveling from one side of the container to an opposing side
of said container. The container's top, formed by a second
perimeter, may be larger than its bottom when the top represents an
area larger than a shape defined by the bottom, or the first
perimeter. One embodiment of the invention improved container is
shown in FIG. 4.
[0019] The container's slanted bottom, permitting it to be
stabilized when resting on slanted surface, is provided by the
angle between corresponding points along each of the bottom
perimeter and the top perimeter is from 20.degree. to 85.degree..
More preferably, the angle so described may be between 40.degree.
and 75.degree.. Most preferably, the angle so described is
65.degree.. When the invention container may be held in an upright
position where the top opening lies in a singular horizontal plane,
the described angular side walls will exhibit the appearance of the
bottom being slanted. Thus, when the bottom perimeter lies within a
single horizontal plane, such as when at rest, it is the walls that
appear slanted. This relationship between the invention container's
bottom and top can be appreciated by comparing FIGS. 5 and 6.
[0020] Furthermore, when the container rests on a slanted surface,
such as a building roof, due to the nature of the resultant change
in its center of gravity as well as the nature of a typical
asbestos shingled roof, the container is unlikely either to slide
downward or to tip over when empty or when filled with tools or
other materials. While the container is unlikely to slide along, or
even off, the roof, an embodiment of the invention includes the
application of a rough surface on the exterior surface of the
container bottom. This can be accomplished in various ways. One
application involves merely affixing (including but not to the
exclusion of gluing) sandpaper on the bottom so the sandpaper comes
in contact with the roof's surface. Another method for providing a
rough exterior surface to the invention container bottom is to coat
the bottom with a tacky substance, such as glue, followed by
resting the container bottom on a sand surface or pushing it into a
collection of sand so the sand particles become affixed to the
bottom exterior surface. There are also many other ways that the
exterior bottom rough surface may be achieved that are envisioned
within the scope of the herein disclosed and claimed invention.
[0021] The foregoing descriptions and drawings representing
embodiments of the invention disclosed and claimed herein are
explanatory and illustrative only, and changes in shape, sizes, and
arrangements of parts as well certain details of the illustrated
construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims
without departing from the true spirit of the invention.
[0022] While the present general inventive concept has been
illustrated by description of some embodiments, and while the
illustrative embodiments have been described in detail, it is not
the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the
scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional
modifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art. The
invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the
specific details, representative apparatus and methods, and
illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures
may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or
scope of applicant's general inventive concept.
[0023] It is also noted that numerous variations, modifications,
and additional embodiments are possible, and, accordingly, all such
variations, modifications, and embodiments are to be regarded as
being within the spirit and scope of the present general inventive
concept. For example, regardless of the content of any portion of
this application, unless clearly specified to the contrary, there
is no requirement for the inclusion in any claim herein or of any
application claiming priority hereto of any particular described or
illustrated activity or element, any particular sequence of such
activities, or any particular interrelationship of such elements.
Moreover, any activity can be repeated, any activity can be
performed by multiple entities, and/or any element can be
duplicated. Accordingly, while the present general inventive
concept has been illustrated by description of several embodiments,
it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way
limit the scope of the inventive concept to such descriptions and
illustrations. Instead, the descriptions, drawings, and claims
herein are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as
restrictive, and additional embodiments will readily appear to
those skilled in the art upon reading the above description and
drawings.
* * * * *