Abstract:
A storage container has two sections of horizontally moving asymmetrical accordion pleats to change the size of the container. A mating container cover having three sections hinged together to adjust the cover to fit the container. The container and cover expand and contract horizontally to adjust the size of the container and the container opening to allow for different shapes, sizes, and volumes of food or other matter stored therein. Each accordion pleat has a pair of accordion walls hinged together of two different widths which lock together.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/141,654, filed on May, 31, 2005 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/388,518 filed Mar.  24 ,  2006 . 
     
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable.  
       THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0003]     Not Applicable.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0005]     The present invention relates to collapsible storage containers and particularly to a horizontally expansible and collapsible plastic food storage container comprising a container bottom having horizontally moving asymmetrical accordion pleats and a container cover having hinged folding overlapping parts to adjust the length to fit the bottom, whereby the container may be horizontally expanded or contracted to adjust the size of the container and the size and shape of the container opening and the cover correspondingly adjusting to fit the container opening to allow for different sizes, shapes, and volumes of food or other matter stored therein.  
         [0006]     2. Description of Related Art including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98  
         [0007]     Variable volume containers are well known, including vertically moving accordion or bellow-type collapsible walls with non-transformable covers resting on top of the prior art containers which expand and contract vertically to change the volume of the container for storing varying quantities of liquid with minimal air and minimal size of overall container for the amount of contents with the cover attachable to a non-changeable opening.  
         [0008]     Often in a refrigerator or other storage compartments there is a problem with fitting everything in that requires storage. Adjusting the horizontal size of containers to fit is just as important as and often more important than adjusting vertical size of containers. Prior art patents do not adequately address the problem. None of the prior art devices provide a horizontally shape and size transformable container opening and correspondingly changeable cover to accommodate variously sized and shaped items to be placed in the container for storage.  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,338, issued Jun. 15, 1999 to Miller, is for an adjustable container for providing a storage container whose volume may be adjusted to suit the size and amount of items held therein. The inventive device includes a base with a perimeter side wall extending around the base outer perimeter to define an interior space. The perimeter side wall has a height (defined between the terminal edge of the perimeter side wall and the base) which is adjustably extendible to increase or decrease the volume of the interior space. A removable lid is provided for substantially covering the opening into the interior space.  
         [0010]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,413, issued Dec. 17, 1996 to Jung, is for a pleated plastic container which is foldable and stored in a minimum space. The container comprises a foldable container body having a bottom protrusion, a mouth for being closed by a plug and for being fittingly engaged with said bottom protrusion, an outwardly directed concave recess formed at a neck portion of said mouth, and a lateral protrusion formed on the periphery of said bottom protrusion for fittingly engaging with said concave recess.  
         [0011]     U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,293, issued Jan. 31, 1967 to Santelli, shows an accordian pleated bottle with interlocking pleats to lock in place at different heights of the bottle.  
         [0012]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,130, issued Aug. 31, 1993 to Osbakk, provides a compressible body comprising a container and a flexible annular wall member, and the container, in turn, includes a cylindrical side wall and a prestressed locking member. The side wall of the container forms an upper edge and defines a cylindrical space having a given circumference, and the locking member of the container is mounted on the upper edge of the side wall and is inherently biased radially inwardly toward a position inward of that given circumference. The wall member of the bottle is mounted inside the container of the bottle, and that wall member has extended and compressed positions. In the extended position, the wall member extends upward from the container; and in the compressed position, the wall member is at least substantially contained within the container and the upper portion of the wall member is below the locking member of the container. Moreover, when the wall member is compressed into its compressed position, the locking member moves radially inwardly, due to is inherent resiliency, to a locking position in which the locking member extends directly over the upper portion of the wall member and locks that wall member inside the container.  
         [0013]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,129, issued Nov. 12, 1996 to Nagata et al., describes a container formed for a liquid. In order to reduce a volume of the container for a liquid after use thereof, a bellows portion is provided at an axial direction portion of a container main body. A lid member is removed, and liquid within the container for a liquid is discharged from an opening portion. The bellows portion is contracted so that head space can be adjusted and so that a volume of the container main body can be reduced. Further, because the head space can be adjusted, an interior of the container for a liquid is always substantially filled with the liquid so that oxidation of the liquid can be prevented. When the liquid is poured, the bellows portion automatically expands and contracts so that the liquid flows quickly and so that little air is drawn in. Further, if a certain amount or more of the liquid in the interior is discharged, the volume can be reduced, and a volume-reduced state can be maintained by tightly screwing the lid member. When the bellows portion is expanded, the container for a liquid is easy to hold as there are convex and concave portions at the bellows portion.  
         [0014]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,815, issued Aug. 22, 2000 to Mazda, describes a contraction-controlled bellows container (1) is disclosed, which can retain half or fully contracted configurations of the bellows ridges (2) whose upper walls (21) and/or lower walls (22) have at least one circumferential indentation (3) adjacent the corresponding outer hinges (23) and/or inner hinges (24). The indentations utilize the pressure applied onto the container effectively and get depressed further into the corresponding bellows ridges prior to the corresponding portions of the other walls, reducing the total pressure requirement. The indentations bring together the walls in which the indentations are provided into the bellows ridges (2). These walls are gradually turned in shape to lose their shape restoration thanks to their generally protruding configuration. Adjustment of the sizes of the indentations makes it possible to selectively contract the bellows ridges.  
         [0015]     U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,877, issued Mar. 02, 1963 to Gash, provides a collapsible container with corrugations in the walls.  
         [0016]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,652, issued Jul. 02, 2002 to Woram et al., discloses 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.  
         [0017]     U.S. Pat. No. D342,674, issued Dec. 28, 1993 to Schollen et al., is a design for an expansible container with accordion pleat sides.  
         [0018]     What is needed is a size-changeable storage container with a size-changeable container opening, and mating size-changeable cover to expand and contract horizontally to change the storage space inside to optimize the interior space and minimize the exterior size of the container to accommodate various quantities of food or other substances inside the container while taking up the least amount of horizontal storage space by the container and with a minimal amount of air inside the container in contact with the food or other substances.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     An object of the present invention is to provide two series of horizontally acting pleats to form a pair of bellows sections sandwiching a center section of a horizontally size and shape changeable storage container with a size and shape changeable container opening and a mating size and shape changeable cover with three hinged folding overlapping components adjustable in length, which both expand and contract horizontally to change the opening to accommodate variously sized and shaped objects and change the storage space inside to optimize the interior space and minimize the exterior size of the container to accommodate various quantities of food or other substances inside the container while taking up the least amount of horizontal storage space by the container and with a minimal amount of air inside the container in contact with the food or other substances.  
         [0020]     Another related object of the present invention is to provide accordion pleats in the container, each accordion pleat having a different width pair of accordion walls hinged together so that upon compression each of the accordion pleats is separately collapsible with the wider width wall of each of the pleats forcing the narrower width wall to snap backward internally overlapping the adjacent accordion wall, thereby collapsing the accordion pleat and locking the accordion pleat in a closed position and shortening the horizontal length of the container by the difference in width between the expanded accordion pleat and the contracted accordion pleat.  
         [0021]     A related object of the present invention is to provide a container bottom two narrow non-expanding end sections adjacent to two accordion sections which sandwich a larger non-expanding center section so that each of the accordion sections may be fully extended or fully collapsed and three sections of the cover hinged together may be extended out fully to cover a fully extending container bottom and a first cover end folded over the center cover section to cover the container bottom with one accordion section collapsed and a second cover end folded over both the center cover section and the first end cover section to cover the container bottom with both accordion sections collapsed.  
         [0022]     In brief, a plastic food storage container comprises a container bottom having a pair of sections of horizontally acting individually asymmetrical locking accordion pleats whereby the container may be horizontally expanded or collapsed to adjust the size and shape of the container and the size and shape of the container opening. The size and shape changeable cover has three hinged overlapping parts which fold over each other to change the cover shape and size to match the container.  
         [0023]     The horizontally acting accordion pleats of the container each have a different width pair of accordion walls hinged together by a living hinge so that upon compression each of the accordion pleats is separately contracted snapping into a closed position and upon pulling apart expanded snapping into an open position thereby shortening and lengthening the horizontal length of the container.  
         [0024]     All of the accordion pleats in each section are expanded fully or contracted fully to alter the shape and size of the container bottom to be fully open, one-third closed or two-thirds closed. Each end of the cover pivots over the center portion of the cover independently so that one end pivoted over the center creates a cover shortened by one third and both ends folded over the center of the cover shortens the cover by two thirds, thereby mating with the three different configurations of the container bottom.  
         [0025]     An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a storage container which expands and contracts horizontally.  
         [0026]     Another advantage of the present invention is that it can receive and retain various desired volumes and various desired size and shape objects based on the size and shape of the container bottom and container cover.  
         [0027]     A further advantage of the present invention is that the container can lock into any desired length and the cover can convert into three desired lengths to mate with and seal the container bottom fully opened, one third closed and two thirds closed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0028]     These and other details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings:  
         [0029]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of the storage container bottom and cover both fully expanded horizontally with the cover aligned to mount on the container bottom;  
         [0030]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the storage container bottom and cover of  FIG. 1  with the right accordion pleats fully contracted and the left accordion pleats fully expanded so that the container bottom is contracted by one third of its horizontal length and the container cover with the right end pivoted over the center section so that the cover is contracted by one third of its length to mate with the contracted container bottom and the cover is aligned for placement on the container bottom;  
         [0031]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of the storage container bottom and cover of  FIG. 1  with both the right and left accordion pleats fully contracted so that the container bottom is contracted by two thirds of its horizontal length and the container cover with both the right and left end pivoted over the center section so that the cover is contracted by two thirds of its length to mate with the contracted container bottom and the cover is aligned for placement on the container bottom;  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the contracted storage container bottom and contracted container cover of  FIG. 3  with the cover secured to the container bottom with the end clamps from the container bottom engaging the hinged portions now forming the ends of the contracted cover. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0033]     In  FIGS. 1-3 , a transformable storage device  20  changes the size and shape of a container  30 , a container opening  40 , and a mating container cover  10  in a horizontal direction.  
         [0034]     A storage container  30  comprising a container center section  21 C comprising a non-expanding center section bottom  28  and two non-expanding center section side walls  23 C interconnected to the center section bottom and rising vertically therefrom. The two center section side walls  23 C are spaced apart to form an opening at the tops of the side walls communicating with a storage space between the two center section side walls and the center section bottom  28 .  
         [0035]     The storage container  30  further comprises at least one container accordion section, and preferably two container accordion sections  27 A and  27 B, attached to the center section  23 C with one on each side of the center section  23 C. The accordion sections each comprise an accordion bottom  18  attached to the center section bottom  28  and two spaced accordion side walls  19  each attached to one of the center section walls, the accordion bottom and accordion side walls formed of a series of container accordion pleats expansible and contractible in a horizontal direction to transform the horizontal size and shape of the storage container and horizontal size and shape of a top opening  40  in the storage container to accommodate a variety of sizes and shapes of external items through the top opening into the storage container for storage therein.  
         [0036]     The storage container further comprises two opposing container end sections  21 A and  21 B each comprising an end section bottom  38 A and  38 B connected to the adjacent accordion bottom  18 A and  18 B, an end wall  39 A and  39 B connected to the end section bottom  38 A and  38 B, and two end side walls  23 A and  23 B connected to the end section bottom  38 A and  38 B and end section end wall  39 A and  39 B and to the accordion side walls  19 A and  19 B to form a storage container  20  transformable in horizontal size and shape from a first fully extended position, as in  FIG. 1 , to a second contracted position reduced by a third of the horizontal length, as in  FIG. 2 , and to a third contracted position reduced by two thirds of the horizontal length, as in  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0037]     A container cover  10  comprises a non-expanding cover center section  11 C and at least one, preferably two, cover end sections  11 A and  11 B hinged to the center section with an air sealed hinge  15  connection so that the end sections  11 A and  11 B are reversibly pivotable between a first extended position, as in  FIG. 1 , both aligned with the center cover section  11 C to form a fully elongated container cover to mate with and cover the storage container in the first fully extended position of  FIG. 1 , a second shortened position, as in  FIG. 2 , with one of the cover end sections  11 B pivoted on top of the center cover section  11 C to form a contracted container cover shortened in horizontal length by one third to mate with and cover the storage container  30  in the second contracted position of  FIG. 2 , and a third shortened position, as in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , with both of the cover end sections  11 A and  11 B pivoted on top of the center cover section  11 C to form a contracted container cover shortened in horizontal length by two thirds to mate with and cover the storage container  30  in the third contracted position of  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0038]     A groove  16  around the edges  12  of the cover  10  snaps onto a top edge  22  of the container to seal the container shut in the fully extended position, as in  FIG. 1 . In either contracted position the cover center portion grooves engage the top edge of the container center section and end clamps  31  from the container bottom engage the hinges  15  now forming the ends of the contracted cover to secure and seal the ends of the contracted container cover onto the contracted container bottom. Each end clamp  31  comprises a protruding ridge  35  from the end of the container bottom with an arm  33  pivotally connected to the protruding ridge  35  by a clamp living hinge  34 . On the end of the arm is a hook  32  which engages the hinge  15  to clamp down the end of the contracted contaner cove, as shown in  FIG. 4 . The arm  33  may be specifically structured for each end or may telescope to engage the end of the extended container cover of  FIG. 1  or a single pivoted cover end section  11 B folded onto the cover center section  11 C or a cover end section  11 A pivoted over both the cover center section  11 C and the other cover end section  11 B, as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0039]     In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , each of the container accordion pleats  25 A- 25 C comprises a first container accordion wall  25 A and a second container accordion wall  25 B both pivotally connected to a narrow connecting accordion wall  25 C. The first container accordion wall  25 A is wider than the second container accordion wall  25 B so that upon compression, each of the container accordion pleats is separately collapsible with the first container accordion wall  25 A of each of the pleats forcing the second container accordion wall  25 B to snap backward internally overlapping the adjacent first container accordion wall, thereby collapsing the container accordion pleat and locking the container accordion pleat in a closed position and shortening a horizontal length of the container by a difference in width between the expanded container accordion pleat and the contracted container accordion pleat.  
         [0040]     The container bottom  30  is expansible and contractible to any desired length in increments of the difference in width of each of the container accordion pleats  25 A- 25 C between the expanded position, as shown in  FIG. 1 , and the fully contracted position, as shown in  FIG. 3 , and changing the number of container accordion pleats changes the size of contraction and expansion of the container.  
         [0041]     The parts are preferably fabricated of synthetic material by a molding process producing living hinges between the walls of the accordion pleats.  
         [0042]     It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.