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US 5,848,735 AGranted
Water cooler assembly having injection-moldable shell and joint therein
AssigneeKel-Jac Engineering and Plastic Sales, Inc.
InventorsJohn W. Eddy, Kelley S. Needham, Jeffrey L. Harlan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shell for a water cooler has two side sections and a front section. The side sections slide-connect with the front section and lock in place at corner joints, thereby forming an essentially one-piece shell. The shell may be economically fabricated with only two molds (one for the side sections and one for the front section) and with only the slide-connect step.
Claims18
A shell for a domestic water cooler, which comprises:
- (a) an elongate vertical front panel having left and right side edge portions that are substantially parallel to each other,
- (b) elongate left and right vertical side panels,
- each of said side panels having front and rear edge portions that are substantially parallel to each other, and
- (c) first and second corner joints to connect said front edge portions of said left and right side panels respectively to said left and right side edge portions of said front panel to cause said front panel and said side panels to be related to each other in U-shaped relationship as viewed in a horizontal plane,
- characterized in that said first corner joint is a slide joint that requires said front edge portion of said left side panel to slide longitudinally relative to said left edge portion of said front panel for at least the great majority of the length of said front panel in order to form said first corner joint, and
- further characterized in that said second corner joint is a slide joint that requires said front edge portion of said right side panel to slide longitudinally relative to said right edge portion of said front panel for at least the great majority of the length of said front panel in order to form said second corner joint.
3 more elements
In a domestic water cooler, a shell assembly adapted to be assembled with a water-cooler frame, said shell assembly comprising:
- (a) a first panel,
- (b) a second panel,
- said first and second panels being adapted to be parts of a shell of an assembled water cooler, and being adapted when thus parts of the assembled water cooler to be in a predetermined angular relationship to each other,
- (c) first joint means provided at one edge of said first panel, and
- (d) second joint means provided at one edge of said second panel,
- said first and second joint means being adapted to connect to each other, to join said first and second panels together, when said panels are at a second angular relationship to each other that is substantially different from said predetermined angular relationship, said first and second joint means having a crack therebetween that separates said first panel from said second panel,
- said first and second panels and said first and second joint means being such that said crack is substantial in width when said panels are at said second angular relationship, and is very small in width when said panels are at said predetermined angular relationship,
- whereby the panels when parts of the assembled water cooler are simulative of a unitary shell.
5 more elements
A water cooler shell, comprising:
- (a) a front panel section,
- (b) a right panel side section,
- (c) a left panel side section, and
- (d) first and second joint means to form joints between said front panel section and each of said right and left panel side sections,
- each of said first and second joint means comprising a tongue-in-groove connection between said front panel section and one of said panel side sections,
- each of said first and second joint means further comprising means to prevent the tongue portion and the groove portion of said tongue-in-groove connection from separating from each other, said means to prevent separation including contacting regions, one of which is on said front panel section, and the other of which is on said one of said panel side sections, and both of which are not in said tongue-in-groove connection.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.