US2886084A - Collapsible double wall container - Google Patents

Description

May 12, 1959 D. L. DAVISON 2,886,084

COLLAPSIBLE DOUBLE! WALL CONTAINER Filed July 50, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 11 5:: 5:: E 5:: .k a :5: 3

May 12, 1959 D. L. DAVISON COLLAPSIBLE DOUBLE WALL CONTAINER Filed July so, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 12, 1959 D. L. DAVISON 2,836,084

COLLAPSIBLE DOUBLE WALL CONTAINER Filed July 30, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States PatCntO H My invention is directd'lto a portable container, pref erably one in a cylindrical form, the container-havinga 1;; inner wall and the horizontal portion 19 of the, outer wall ,1 17 are disposed in the same plane, and both are cemented ice la r horizontal portion 19. Both the portion 16 of or otherwise secured to theunder surface of the top por- 5 tion of the container, which top portion is identified genrigid base, a rigid top,and a cylindrical wall structure therebetween. ,The wall struicturelconsists of an inner wall and an outer wall surrounding said inner wall and being in a spaced relation thereto. Disposed between the two walls is a helical spring, the coils of which wind about the axis of the; cylinder, the lower end of the spring bearing against the rigid base of the container, the, upper end of the spring bearingagainst the rigid top thereof. The walls of the container are made of pliable and flexible sheet material and are shaped into accordion-like folds. The space between the outer and the inner wall is adapted to contain airunder normal atmospheric pressure, andserves as a heat-insulating medium. Thus, the container is adapted to serve in the nature of. a thermos; bottle, but has the advantage over ordinary containers of this sort that when empty it may be collapsed to a fraction of itsnormal dimensions, and itwill extend automatically from its collapsed to itstully-expanded position. I- shall now describe my invention with ref erence to the accompanyingdrawings in which 7 Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of normal or expanded position;

Fig. Zis a top view thereof; l Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational view of the container in a collapsed position, taken on line 3-3 ofFig. 2; 1

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational view illustrating Fig 3 in its normal or expanded position. i i l 71 l .Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout {the several views.

The container, which inits'preferredform is cylindrical.

in shape, includes a cup-shaped base 10 including an upright annular wall 11, the latter-being provided, along its upper rim, with an external bead 12. At this point I wish to point out that the base and the top of the container, to which Ishall refer in due course, are preferably made of ,a plastic material of the synthetic resin category.

Mounted upon the base is the lower portion ofgthe inner wall of the container, the inner wall being generally identified by numeral 13. Said lower portion consists of a flat circular member 14 which maybe fused or otherwise secured to the base, specifically, to the central area thereof, so as to leave a free annular space between said inner wall 13 and the wall 11 of the cupshaped base. The wall 13 is creased transversely to its height, as shown by lines 15 and 15a, to form an accordion-like structure. At the upper end said inner wall 13 includes a horizontal annular portion 16 to which I shall refer again.

The outer wall of the container, which wall is generally, identified by numeral 17, has a similar accordion-like structure, but is of a larger diameter so as to enclose said inner Wall 13 in a spaced relation thereto. The lower end of the outer wall includes an annular, inwardly-turned horizontal portion 18 which is cemented or otherwise secured to the base 10.

At the top, the outer wall 17 terminates with an annuerally by numeral 20.

Said top portion includes a circular flat, member 21.

which is of a rigid structure and which is provided with a centrally-located aperture 22 leadingintoa cylindrical spout 23. The spout includes, at its upper end, an ex ternal bead 24. Depending from the marginal portion of. the flat member 21 is an annular skirt 25, the lower por-L tion of which is threaded externally as shown at 26. In skirtis provided at its lower end with a:

addition; the head 27.

At this point I wish to state that the inner wall 13 is to ,be made, preferably, out of such material as silicone elastom er or elastomer-coated fabric, as it isdesirable, that the wall be made out of a material which is flexible;

heat resistant, nontoxic, non-absorbing, odorless, tasteless, and inert to chemical reaction of food items in said the container in its 1*? container. i

. The outer wall 17 may made of a material similar to or identical with that used for the inner wall .13.,

wall, as shown at 28b.

As best shown in Fig; 4, the individual structure of said wall.

slants downwardly and inwardly from said. loop, the two slanting portions meeting at the peak 29. As a result of the employment of said helical spring, thepeak may consist of a continuous sinuous line following the helical turn of the spring itself.

two air vents. Oneof them, 30, serving as an intake vent, is covered by a flap valve 31 which opens inwardly into the space between said walls, and the other vent, 32, 1

is covered by a similar flap valve 33 opening outwardly To complete the description of the container, I will refer to a cap34 which is adapted to fit over the mouth of the spout and to engage the external bead 24 at the top of said spout. Applied over the spout and over the top of the container is a removable cover 35. The cover has the shape of an inverted cup and includes a cylindrical Wall 36 which is threaded inwardly for engagement with the threads 26 of the skirt 25 of the top portion of the container.

I shall now describe the manner in which the container may be used. Itwill be assumed that the container, which is 'to be filled with contents, is in a collapsed condition, as shown in Fig. 3. In this position the accordionshaped walls 13 and 17 are compressed against the base 10 by the top portion 20 till the annular head 27 on the skirt 25 has been brought into an interlocking engagement with the external bead 12 of the base 10.

In said collapsed condition the container-wouldhave the form of a small, compact package consisting, as seen outwardly, of the cover 36 and the base 10. Now, in order to bring the container to its-expanded condition, it

Patented May 12, 1959 loops of the spring bear against the outer Wall 17,from within, keep-y ing said outer wall in a spaced relation to the inner wall. 13 and serving as ribs to guide the folds in the accordion For a better understanding therei of, Iwill refer to a portion 17a of the outer wall} 17,: which portion slats upwardly and inwardly. from the, respective loop of the spring, and to aportion 17b which would-be necessary to disengage the cover from thebase. As the plastic material out of which both the cover and the base are made is sufiiciently flexible and resilient, an upward pull upon'the cover would-sufiice to disengage beadsIZ-and 27, permitting the cover to be disconnected fromsaid'base. I

Upon-disengagement of the cover from the base -10, the coiled spring 28 would push the top portion 20 of the container upwardly to its fully-expanded position, as-

shown in Fig. 4, in which position the top portion would be disposedremotely from said base.

"It will'be understoodthat in the course of the'expansion of the container as above'stated, the flap valve 32 would'open automatically inwardly into the space between the two walls 133 and 1-7, permitting air under atmospheric pressure to be suckedinto said space. Reversely, when the container is to be collapsed, the other flap valve would automatically be opened by pressure of air forced out from said-space between wa lls 13 and 17.

It'will be understood that some changes may be made in thestructure of the container without departing from the inventive concept disclosed herein.

What I, therefore, wish to claim is as follows:

1. A portable container including a base, a top, and an upright accordion-like wall structure of pliable, moistureproof material connected at its lower end to the base and at the upper end'to said top, the wall structure including'an accordion-like inner wall and a similar outer wall' in a spaced relation to said inner wall, coilspring means=in the space between the inner wall and the outer wall, the spring means bearing at the lower end against said base andbearing at the upper end against said top,

the resistance- -of 'the spring means by manual pressure upon the top towards the base. i

2. A portable container including a rigid circular base,

a rigid circular top, and a vertical wall structure mounted on the base and secured at its upper end to the underside of the top, the wallstructure including a cylindrical outer wall of a pliable plastic material, accordion-like in shape, and a similar accordion-like cylindrical inner wall also of pliable plastic material, said inner wall being axially alined with the outer wall but being spaced therefrom, air vent means in said top for passage of air out of or into the space between the outer and the inner walls, a heli cal spring within the last-named space, the spring being loosely coiled around the inner surface of the outer wall and bearing at the lower end against said base and at the upper end against said top, said top beingprovided with a cylindrical spout leading into the interior of the space enclosed by-saidinner wall, the'accordion-like wall structure being adapted to be collapsed against the resistance of said spring by manual pressure upon the top towards the base, a removable cover to fit over the top and adapted to be engaged to the base to keep the container in a collapsed condition.

3. A portable cylindrical container including a cupshaped base, a vertical accordion-like wall structure of pliable liquid-impervious material mounted upon the base and extendingupwardlytherefrom, a top secured to the upper end of the wall structure, said top having the shape of an inverted cup including a downwardly-extending annular skirt which is threaded outwardly, the wall structure including a cylindrical outer wall of a pliable plastic material accordion-like in shape, and a similar accordionlike cylindrical inner wall also of pliable plastic material, said inner wall being axially alined with the outer wall but being spaced therefrom, air vent means in said top for passage 'of air out of or into the space between the outer and the inner walls, a helical spring within the last-named space, the spring being loosely coiled around the inner surface of the outer wall,'and 'bearing at the lower end against said base and at the upperend against said'top, said top being provided with a cylindrical spout leading into the interiorof the space enclosed by said'inner wall, the accordion-like wallstructure being adapted to be collapsed against the resistance of said spring by manual pressure upon the'top towards the base,'a 'removable'cylindrical cover fit over the top, the cover including a vertical annularwall threaded inwardly for engagement with the threaded portion of said skirt, said cover including means-for engagement tothe'baseto keep the "container in its collapsed condition 4. A collapsible container including'a base, arr-accordion-like wall consisting-of an inner wall and an outerwall in "a spacedTelation to the inner wall, both walls being mounted on said base, the walls being made of moistureimpervious material, and a top extending over the spacing between the inner and the outer-wall and secured to both, the top having an air vent for passage of air into or out of the space between the outer wall and the inner'wall and a central aperture leading into the interior of the space enclosed by said inner wall, coiledspring means within the space between the outer wall and the inner wall,the spring'means, at one end, bearing against the base and at the other end bearing against said top to keep 'said' top yieldingly'away from the base, both walls, the inner and the outer, being adapted to be collapsed by manual pressure'upon the top towards the base.

'Refere'nce's'Cited in'the file of this patent UNITED STATES-PATENTS

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