Bucket insert

An apparatus for converting a standard conventional bucket into a bucket suitable for uses such as by fishermen for storage of bait, tackle, food and other such items. The converted bucket is also advantageously used for picnicing and by hunters and the like. The apparatus comprises a circular, planar base member having perforations along a continuous sector and a solid surface along the remainder thereof. The base member is adapted to receive a plurality of divider panels extending vertically above the base member and a plurality of support legs extending vertically below the base member. The divider panels from cold volume spaces above the perforated portion of the base member for storing food, bait and the like, while the panels form warmer volume spaces above the non-perforated portion of the base member for storing tackle, clothing and the like. The legs permit the base member to extend above ice which cools through the base member perforations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention pertains to a bucket and more specifically, to an 
insert that is adapted to be inserted into a standard bucket or pail and 
to thereby adapt the bucket to advantageous uses such as by fisherman for 
containing and cooling bait, food and other items. 
2. Prior Art 
There are a number of U.S. patents which disclose bucket configurations for 
use by fisherman. By way of example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,137 to Sweet, 
a bait bucket is disclosed having two interior contained buckets, one 
perforated and one solid. The perforated interior bucket is adapted to 
receive live bait in a water environment and the water is allowed to 
surround the enclosed wall interior bucket for cooling its contents which 
may be additional bait or other items. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,845 to Van 
Leeuwen, a fishing bucket is disclosed for containing minnows and which is 
covered by a lid over which is placed a generally crescent-shaped 
container which is adapted for containing food or beverages and over which 
is placed a sub-divided tray having a plurality of compartments containing 
various items of tackle such as hooks, sinkers and the like. A steel lid 
is placed over the tackle tray and is sub-divided into a plurality of 
compartments by means of a plurality of dividers to provide a sealing 
enclosure for the bucket. In addition, a crescent-shaped seat is placed 
over the lid and includes resilient cushioning material. U.S. Pat. No. 
3,958,359 to Doughty discloses a sportman's combination recepticle and ice 
chest, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,525 to McCord discloses a tackle and bait 
carrier. 
Unfortunately, none of the relevant prior art known to the applicant 
discloses an apparatus for use with standard, conventional buckets for 
converting same to advantageous use by fishermen for storing bait and 
other useful items. Furthermore, all such prior art is relatively 
difficult to manufacture and is therefore more costly. By way of example, 
the Sweet disclosure describes a bait bucket which requires a special 
outer bucket configuration as well as two specially manufactured interior 
buckets, one of which is perforated and one of which is not. As a 
consequence thereof, the outer bucket is non-standard and must be 
specially manufactured for the intended purpose and the inner buckets must 
also be specially manufactured and require costly hardware to secure them 
in proper relation to the exterior bucket. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes or substantially reduces the aforementioned 
disadvantages of the prior art by providing a unique insert apparatus for 
a standard bucket to adapt such a bucket to the aforementioned 
advantageous uses such as by a fisherman for storing bait and other items. 
More importantly, the present invention is simple in structure and readily 
manufactured at low cost. In addition, the invention is readily inserted 
into already available low cost standard buckets thereby substantially 
reducing the expense incurred in procuring a fisherman's bucket 
incorporating the present invention as compared to prior art fishermen's 
buckets. 
The present invention comprises an insert having a circular planar member 
forming a base for receiving a plurality of divider panels extending from 
one side thereof and a plurality of leg members extending from the other 
side thereof. The base is perforated preferably along only one or two 
quadrants thereof, to permit the passage therethrough of cool air derived 
from ice over which the base is adapted to be suspended by means of the 
aforementioned leg members. Divider panel members are typically inserted 
into the base from which they extend perpendicularly towards the top of 
the bucket when the apparatus is inserted in such a bucket. These inserted 
panels normally divide the volume within the bucket and above the base 
into four quadrants, two of which include the perforated base portions and 
two of which include base portions which are solid. The two quadrants that 
comprise perforated base portions are particularly suitable for storing 
bait because the base apertures in these quadrants provide passage holes 
through which the bait may be cooled by the ice. The remaining two 
quadrants, which comprise the solid base portions are thus isolated from 
the underlying ice and therefore provide suitable locations for storing 
items preferably kept in a warmer condition such as tackle and the like. 
The invention may be made of a unitary molded plastic assembly or from 
assemblable components of any suitable material and is adapted to conform 
to the interior dimensions of standard size buckets. An optional circular 
lid, comprising a pair of hinge foldable semi-circular portions, may be 
advantageously utilized for closing the top of the bucket above the 
apparatus of the present invention and for providing access to either pair 
of selected quadrants depending upon whether the user wishes to extract 
cooled bait or items stored in a warmer condition. In the preferred 
embodiment disclosed herein, the invention is formed entirely of plastic 
molded members that are designed for interconnection without the use of 
screws, pins or other such hardware which would otherwise complicate 
assembly and increase the cost of manufacture. 
OBJECTS 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an insert 
apparatus for a bucket which substantially reduces or entirely overcomes 
the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an insert 
apparatus for a bucket, the apparatus being compatible with standard, 
readily available buckets and when inserted therein, providing a fisherman 
with a plurality of separated compartments therein at least one of which 
is in direct communication with ice contained within the bucket for the 
purpose of storing bait and at least one of which is isolated from the ice 
to provide means for storing food or other items in a warmer condition. 
It is still an additional object of the present invention to provide an 
insert apparatus for a bucket which is readily compatible with standard 
buckets for converting same to a multiple compartment storage device 
primarily for use by fisherman and which is of substantially reduced 
complexity and cost as compared to prior art apparatus used for the same 
purpose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a bucket 10 of conventional 
cylindrical configuration including a conventional handle device 12 
connected to the upper portion of the side walls of the bucket 10 to 
provide convenient means for transferring the bucket. A foldable lid 14 is 
also illustrated in FIG. 1 and is preferably designed to provide access to 
the interior of the bucket 10 in a particular manner as will be 
hereinafter more fully described. As also seen in FIG. 1, an insert 
apparatus 15 of the present invention is designed to be contained within 
the interior of the bucket and to generally conform to the interior 
dimensions thereof. 
As seen best in FIGS. 2 and 3, the insert apparatus 15 of the present 
invention comprises a base member 16, a set of divider panels 24 and a 
plurality of leg members 26. Base member 16 is a substantially planar, 
circular-shaped member having a plurality of receiving slots 18. In the 
preferred embodiment of the invention there are four such receiving slots 
symmetrically located along the base member and oriented in a radial 
direction thereby dividing the base member 16 into four quadrants. Base 
member 16 also includes a plurality of apertures or colling passages 20 
located on one side of the base member in two adjacent quadrants. It is 
seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 that the other side of base member 16 is free of 
such apertures. 
Also included in base member 16 is a plurality of support leg receiving 
apertures 22, preferably spaced symmetrically around the entire base 
member adjacent the perimeter thereof. Apertures 22 are adapted to receive 
support legs 26 which are affixed therethrough in the manner illustrated 
in FIG. 6. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, each leg support 26 
includes an elongated cylindrical portion 27 and a V-shaped cap member 30. 
Cylindrical portion 27 is inserted through an aperture 22 until cap member 
30, which is larger than the aperture 22, comes in contact with the upper 
surface of base member 16. V-shaped cap member 30 comprises annular groove 
32 which is designed to receive the base member 16 to secure the support 
leg in substantially fixed relation relative to the base member. A 
plurality of support legs 26 extend below the base member to provide 
support of the base member in an elevated position relative to the floor 
of bucket 10. In effect, support legs 26 provide a compartment between the 
base member and the bottom of the bucket in which to store a cooling 
substance such as ice. 
Divider panels 24 may be assembled from a plurality of individual component 
divider panels or from a pair of perpendicularly interconnected double 
panels to form the four quadrants illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. However, 
in the embodiment illustrated herein they are preferably formed from four 
molded plastic structure comprising the four quadrature panels. As seen in 
FIG. 4, each such panel is provided with a substantially planar tab member 
28 extending from the lowermost edge thereof and adapted to be inserted 
through one of the divider receiving slots 18 seen best in FIG. 3. Each 
such tab member is provided with a pair of feet 29 adapted for engagement 
with base member 16 on opposite edges of each receiving slot 18 along the 
narrowed portion thereof as seen best in FIG. 3. It will be understood 
that the relative dimensions of tab members 28 and divider receiving slots 
18 should preferably be sufficiently matched to provide a relatively tight 
fit therebetween which precludes any substantial play after panels 24 are 
installed onto base member 16. 
As seen best in FIG. 4, each panel 24 includes a recessed portion 36 along 
the upper edge and adjacent the intersection with the other panels. The 
four recessed portions 36 of the assembled divider panels 24 are adapted 
to receive a cross-clamp 34 shown best in FIG. 7. Cross-clamp 34 is 
designed to be secured to the top edge of all four divider panels as shown 
in FIGS. 1 and 2 to provide unitary securing means to stabilize the panels 
to one another. 
When the fully assembled insert apparatus of the present invention is 
inserted into a suitable standard bucket 10 as shown in FIG. 1, lid 14 is 
preferably placed in coaxial engagement with the opening of bucket 10 
along the top surface of panels 24 in order to provide a convenient means 
for enclosing the bucket. As seen in FIG. 1, lid 14 is preferably formed 
from a pair of semi-circular members 34 interconnected along a common 
abutting atraight edge 35 which serves as a hinge. This lid permits the 
opening of one semi-circular portion 34 at a time to provide access to a 
pair of selected quadrants depending upon the relative rotational position 
of lid 14 relative to panels 24. A pair of molded handles 38 are integral 
to the respective semi-circular members 34 to provide a convenient means 
for raising each such semi-circular member about hinge edge 36 to obtain 
the aforementioned access. 
It will now be understood that what has been disclosed herein comprises a 
unique insert apparatus for a fisherman's bucket and that is designed to 
be inserted into a conventional cylindrical bucket to adapt it to 
advantageous storage use by fishermen. The apparatus comprises a base 
member having cooling apertures along at least a portion thereof and 
adapted to receive a plurality of panel members for dividing the bucket 
into a plurality of interior separated volumes. The base member is also 
adapted to receive a plurality of support legs for supporting the base 
member and panels in extending relation with respect to the bottom of the 
bucket thereby forming a cylindrical compartment which is adapted to 
receive a cooling medium such as ice. The cooling apertures of the base 
member provide at least one interior separated volume which is in direct 
communication with the underlying cooling medium and is thus preferably 
adapted to receive items such as bait and the like for which indirect 
contact with the cooling medium is desirable. Similarly, the base member 
is also imperforate and thus free of apertures along at least a portion 
thereof to provide at least one interior separated volume which is 
isolated from the cooling medium to provide an interior volume that 
remains in a relatively ambient temperature condition for receiving items 
such as tackle, food and the like that are preferably isolated from the 
cooling medium in a warmer condition. In addition, an optional overlying 
hinged lid is provided for enclosing the bucket with the apparatus of the 
invention included therein and for providing convenient access to one or 
more of the contained volumes provided by the present invention. 
As a result of the teaching herein disclosed, those having skill in the art 
to which the present invention pertains will now understand that various 
additions and modifications may be made to the present invention. By way 
of example, the number of panels may be changed to provide a different 
number of contained volumes within the bucket. Furthermore, the manner in 
which the panels and the support legs interconnect with the base member 
may be readily modified to provide other suitable means for 
interconnection. Accordingly, it will be understood that all such 
modifications and additions are contemplated to be within the scope of the 
invention which is to be limited only by the claims appended hereto.