Abstract:
A reversible ice chest is shown having oppositely arranged, hinged lids. The lids allow the ice chest to be open and filled from either of two opposite directions. This allows a user to, for example, place drinks to be cooled on top of ice in a half filled chest. The chest would then be turned upside down, thereby covering the drinks with ice. The drinks could be accessed through the lid which is now facing up toward the user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A. Field of the Invention: 
   The present invention relates to the design of an ice chest or cooler which has oppositely arranged lids on the bottom and top portions thereof to allow the chest to be reversed or flipped in use. 
   B. Description of the Prior Art 
   There are a large number of prior art patents on various ice chest and cooler designs. There are also various packing designs in the prior art which feature oppositely arranged lids. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,535, shows an improved latch mechanism for a double compartmented box which prevents the simultaneous opening of both sides of the box, thereby preventing the accidental spilling of the contents of one side while the other is being used. The box in question does not appear to be used as an ice chest, however. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,136, shows a compartmented container for holding small items such as paper clips, stamps and the like, which could be flipped or reversed in use. However, the primary purpose of the container is to allow a convenient display of items in a store. The trays or compartments are relatively shallow and would not conveniently hold iced beverages or the like. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,199, shows a portable insulated carrier for cylindrical drink containers, such as soft drinks. Because of its reversible nature, it allows a last in, first out type of operation in use. However, because of its cylindrical nature, the device shown in the &#39;199 reference allows only a single soft drink can to be added or dispensed at one time. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,869, shows a bait container which features oppositely arranged lids. The design is, in effect, an upside down worm can which allows a means for getting the worms to the upper part of the can or container when the fishermen desires to reach for a worm by simply reversing the can orientation. The can is not used as a cooler or ice chest and, in fact, features air openings which would facilitate heat transfer though the material of the container. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,823, shows a more complicated worm container which again features oppositely arranged removable lids. Again, the device is not used as a cooler or ice chest. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,084, shows a reversible lid container for holding wet baby diapers. Although the container has oppositely arranged lids, the central compartment is partitioned in such a way that it could not be used to load ice, drinks, or the like from either side of the partition. 
   Despite the above advances in the art, a need exists for an improved ice chest or cooler design which would allow the cooler to be flipped or reversed in use. 
   A need exists for such a design which would not require extensive changes to the manufacturing process or tooling for manufacturing conventional ice chests. 
   A need exist for such a design which would be simple in design and economical to manufacture. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved ice chest or cooler which has oppositely arranged lids on the bottom and top portions thereof to allow the chest to be “reversed” or flipped in use. Because the ice chest body can be reversed or flipped in position, it is easier to cover items such as soft drink cans with ice. For example, if the body of the ice chest is half full of ice, a user would cover the exposed ice with drink cans. The lid would be closed and the ice chest would then be flipped upside down. The oppositely arranged lid could then be opened to allow easy access to the covered cans. 
   The improved ice chest of the invention includes a thermally insulated body having an exterior and an initially open interior which defines a top opening and a bottom opening for the body. The chest has a primary lid which is movable between an open and a closed position with respect to a selected one of the top and bottom openings. A latch is provided for holding the primary lid in the closed position. A secondary lid is movable between an open position and a closed position with respect to the other respective one of the top and bottom openings. The secondary lid also has an additional latch for holding the secondary lid in the closed position. A pair of oppositely arranged carrying handles are located on the exterior of the body, each carrying handle being slidably positionable between either of two carrying positions, depending upon whether the primary or the secondary lid is oriented in an upright position. 
   In one embodiment, the ice chest exterior is polygonally shaped being comprised of two pairs of opposing sides, and wherein a carrying handle is located on either of two of a selected pair of opposing sides of the ice chest. Each handle is preferably made up of a longitudinal bracket and a clasp which is free to slide upwardly and downwardly within the bracket. A drain fitting can be located on each of two vertically displaced locations on a selected sidewall or sidewalls of the chest so that one drain fitting is always conveniently located for draining the contents of the chest. The primary and secondary lids can conveniently be hingedly connected to the ice chest body proximate the top and bottom openings, respectively, thereof. Preferably, the secondary lid, which is oriented downwardly for carrying, is formed of a relatively heavier duty construction than the primary lid. Each of the primary and secondary lids has an associated circumferential seal or seal region which forms sealing contact between the lid and the ice chest body when the respective lid is moved to the closed position. The secondary lid seal is preferably of more robust construction than the primary lid seal since again, it will normally be oriented downwardly and carry the majority of the weight of the contents of the ice chest. In the preferred embodiment, the exterior of the ice chest is provided with marking indicia which indicates the current orientation of the primary and secondary lids. 
   The reversible ice chest is used by first partially filling the interior of the ice chest body with ice or other cooling media. The items to be cooled are then placed on top of the ice in the interior of the chest. The orientation of the ice chest body is then reversed so that the lid which was previously oriented upward is now oriented downward and the ice in the chest interior is now covering the items to be cooled. The items being cooled can be accessed by opening the now upwardly oriented lid. 
   The user of the chest can also choose to add additional items to be cooled to the interior of the ice chest. In that case, the orientation of the ice chest is then reversed so that the new items are covered with ice. The items being cooled can then be accessed through the opposite lid of the ice chest. 
   Additional objects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description which follows. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the improved ice chest of the invention showing the oppositely arranged, reversible lids in the open position and showing one of the reversible handles thereof. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the improved ice chest of  FIG. 1  with the lids in the partly open position. 
       FIG. 3  is a partial sectional view of the primary lid of the ice chest, taken along lines III-III in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a partial sectional view of the secondary lid taken along lines IV-IV in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 5  is a partial sectional view of another embodiment of either the primary or secondary lid of the ice chest, showing the slope of the lid interior surface. 
       FIG. 6  is a front elevational view of the ice chest of the invention showing the marking indicia thereon. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Turning now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a reversible ice chest of the invention designated generally as  11 . The ice chest includes a thermally insulated body  13  having an exterior  15  and an initially open interior  17  which define a top opening  19  and bottom opening  21  ( FIG. 2 ) for the body. The particular ice chest  11  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is intended to be exemplary of the invention. However, as will be apparent from the discussion which follows, the ice chest could take a number of different shapes, sizes and configurations. In any event, the body  13  will be thermally insulated in order to maintain the chest interior temperature relatively constant when a cooling medium, such as ice, is placed within the chest interior  17 . 
   In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the ice chest  11  is polygonally (rectangularly) shaped being comprised of two pairs of opposing sides  23 ,  25  and  27 ,  29 , respectively. As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , a primary lid  31  is movable between an open position (shown in  FIG. 1 ) and a closed position (shown in  FIG. 5 ) with respect to a selected one of the top and bottom openings,  19 ,  21 , respectively. A conventional latch and clasp  33 ,  35  are provided for holding the primary lid  31  in the closed position. 
   A secondary lid  37  is similarly movable between an open position (shown in  FIG. 1 ) and a closed position with respect to the other respective one of the top and bottom openings, in this case, bottom opening  21 . An additional latch and clasp  39 ,  41  ( FIG. 2 ) are provided for holding the secondary lid  37  in the closed position. 
   As shown in  FIG. 6 , a pair of oppositely arranged carrying handles  43 ,  45  are located on the exterior  15  of the ice chest body  30 . Each carrying handle  43 ,  45  is slidably positionable between either of two carrying positions, depending upon whether the primary or secondary lid  31 ,  37  is oriented in the upright position (generally shown in  FIG. 6 ). Preferably, each handle assembly  43 ,  35  is comprised of a longitudinal bracket  47  and a clasp  49  which is free to slide upwardly and downwardly within the bracket. Other reversible handle arrangements may also be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
   As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , a drain fitting  30 ,  32  can be located on each of two vertically displaced locations on a selected sidewall or sidewalls  23 ,  25  of the chest so that one drain fitting is always conveniently located for draining the contents of the chest. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the drain fittings  30 ,  32  are on the opposing sidewalls  23 ,  25 . However, the fittings could, as easily, be located in the same sidewall, e.g., sidewall  23 , at spaced vertical locations or could be placed in the lids  31 ,  37 , themselves. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 6 , two connecting hinges  51 ,  53 , are provided along one of the longitudinal edges  55  of the secondary lid  37  for providing a hinged connection. Because the ice chest  11  is typically carried in the upright position illustrated in  FIG. 5  of the drawings, the secondary lid  37  is typically formed of a relatively heavier duty construction than the primary lid. By “heavier duty construction” is meant that the lid may be thicker in dimension, more thoroughly insulated or insulated, with a higher quality type of insulation than the primary lid  31 . Thus, with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the thickness “d 2 ” is greater than the thickness “d 1 ”. The more robust construction of the secondary lid  37  might also be provided in other ways, for example by the choice of insulating material for the lid body or the particular construction style of the lid body. 
   Each of the primary and secondary lids  31 ,  37  has an associated circumferential seal region (shown as  57  in  FIG. 1 ) which forms sealing contact between the respective lid and the respective opening of the ice chest body when the respective lid is moved to the closed position. The seal region can comprise a seal ring in a groove, such as O-ring seals  58  and  60  in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , and can be formed, for example, from a suitable elastomer such as a suitable or natural synthetic rubber. Once again, because the primary lid  31  will not typically be bearing the weight of the chest contents during transport, the circumferential seal ring  58  can typically be of less robust construction than the secondary lid seal ring  60 . The circumferential seal region  57  can also assume other forms than that of a seal ring in a groove. For example, the seal region  57  might be formed in the lid body as a part of the plastic extrusion or injection molding process and constitute an integral part of the lid. It is only necessary that the seal region  57  form a mating seal with the ice chest body to retain cooling and prevent leaking. 
     FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of the invention in which either or both of the primary and secondary lids is formed with a sloping interior surface  24 . By making the lid cross-sectional thickness “d 3 ” decrease on the drain side, less liquid will be retained in the chest interior upon opening the fitting and draining the chest contents. In  FIG. 5 , the sloping lid  22  is provided with a drain fitting  26  adjacent the outer lid edge  28 . 
   In order that the user of the chest be able to determine the proper orientation for transport, some sort of marking indicia ( 59  in  FIG. 3 ) is provided on the chest exterior which indicates the correct orientation of the primary and secondary lids  31 ,  37 . In the example shown, the mouths of the fish in the pattern are oriented upwardly. 
   In use, an ice chest is provided as previously described. The ice chest is first flipped upside down from the carrying position shown if  FIG. 5 . The interior  17  of the chest is partly filled with ice or another cooling medium. The item or items to be cooled are then placed on top of the level of the ice within the chest interior. The primary lid  31  is then closed and latched using the latch components  33 ,  35 . The orientation of the ice chest body  13  would then be reversed or “flipped” so that the primary lid  31  which was previously oriented downward is now oriented upward. The reversible of the chest contents causes the ice in the chest interior to now cover thoroughly the items to be cooled. The ice chest can then be transported in the carrying position shown in  FIG. 5 . A user can access the item or items by opening the primary lid  37  which is oriented upwardly. 
   At some point, it may be necessary to add additional ice or items to the chest. The additional items can be added to the interior of the chest in the previous orientation. The orientation of the chest would then again be reversed so that the new items are covered with ice. The items can then be accessed through the opposite lid of the ice chest in the manner exactly reversed of that previously described. 
   An invention has been provided with several advantages. The ice chest of the invention is relatively simple in design and economical to manufacture without requiring drastic changes from traditional manufacturing techniques. Although the ice chest of the invention does involve the addition of an extra hinged lid, one of the lid, seal and latch structures can be formed of less robust construction than the other since the ice chest will typically always be transported in one particular orientation. Because the “top” lid does not bear the weight of the ice and chest contents, it can be formed of a less robust construction. The real structure of the primary lid can also be of less robust construction. External marking indicia on the chest indicates the correct orientation to the user for transport. 
   While the invention has been shown in only one of its forms, it is not thus limited but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.