Coolable container
A coolable container comprises a base and a wall or walls, depending on the container shape, upstanding from and surrounding the base, the base and/or wall(s) being hollow so as to provide a cavity therein with the cavity containing a freezable material.
This application claims priority to the United Kingdom Patent Application Serial No.0316878.8, filed on Jul. 18, 2003 in the British Patent Office.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coolable container which is particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for use with food and/or drink.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the purposes of the invention is to provide a container in which food and/or drink can be placed to keep cool and fresh. Various types of container are currently available ranging from vacuum type flasks and foam insulated containers to plain containers in which can be placed, in addition to the food and/or drink, ice or other frozen blocks. Some containers in this latter category may be provided with pockets to receive the ice or other frozen blocks and keep them away from the food and/or drink to be stored in the container.
Containers of the vacuum flask or foam insulated type are reasonably good at maintaining their contents at their original temperature, whether cold or hot, but they cannot contribute to any lowering effect of the temperature of the contents.
On the other hand, containers using insertable ice or other frozen blocks can reduce the temperature of the contents of the container but they suffer from a number disadvantages. Using these blocks reduces the storage space of the container and, in most cases, cooling from the blocks is uneven, leaving warm spots. Also, in order to use these containers successfully, it is necessary to place the blocks in the freezer for a considerable time and this can lead either to the blocks being forgotten altogether or the blocks being frozen insufficiently for the length of time for which the container will be in use. Food or drink kept for too long a period in conditions which are too warm tend to spoil and, if eaten, can cause food poisoning which, in the worst scenario, can be fatal.
The present invention seeks to provide a coolable container in which the above problems are significantly reduced or obviated.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the invention, there is provided a coolable container comprising a base and a wall or walls, depending on the container shape, upstanding from and surrounding the base, the base and/or wall(s) being hollow so as to provide a cavity therein with the cavity containing a freezable material.
Either the base is hollow and the wall or walls are solid or both the base and the wall(s) are hollow.
The base may be full of the freezable material while the wall(s) may be filled or only partly filled with the freezable material.
The container may be provided with a lid and the lid may be hollow and filled with freezable material.
The base and/or the wall(s) may be formed with three skins so as to form an inner and an outer cavity, the inner cavity containing freezable material while the outer cavity contains a vacuum.
Alternatively, the base may be formed with three skins and the wall(s) may be formed with two skins, the base having both a freezable material cavity and a vacuum cavity and the wall(s) having only a vacuum cavity.
The container may have a lid formed with three skins so as to provide inner and outer cavities therein, the inner cavity having freezable material therein and the outer cavity containing vacuum.
The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring firstly to
The side walls 5, in this embodiment, are solid and at their upper ends are provided with a rib 11 on which can be seated a lid 13 so as to close and seal the container.
The base 3 of the container 1 is hollow so as to form a sealed cavity 7 which is filled with a suitable freezable material 9 such as a suitable freezable gel.
In order to use the container, the whole container 1, including the lid 13, is placed inside a freezer and left there for a suitable time to allow the freezable material 9 in the cavity 7 to freeze. Once this has happened, the container can then be removed from the freezer and is ready to receive its desired contents.
Once the contents have been used, the container can be washed in the usual way and the container can be returned to the freezer for re-freezing of the freezable material 9.
There are a number of different solutions to the problem. These will now be discussed.
A second embodiment of the container 1 is shown in
To even further increase the cooling capacity of the container 1, the entire cavities 7 in the walls 5 can be filled with the freezable material 9. this arrangement is shown in the embodiment of
A still further improvement can be made by surrounding the entire container 1 with a vacuum. This is shown in the embodiment of
All of the embodiments described will normally use the lid 13 to shut off the container. This may be a plain lid as shown in
It will be appreciated that additions to and modifications of the above described coolable containers are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, instead of the rectangular shape of the container, the container could be of any other suitable shape such as square, circular and oval. The container could be rendered more suitable for containing drinks by having either an elongated upright cylindrical form or be of a lidded jug shape.
If the containers are made to be stackable one on top of the other, then a plurality of containers could be stacked needing only one lid for all the stacked containers.
While the container has been shown with what amounts to a single cavity stretching, where applicable through the base and walls, separate cavities could be formed in each of the walls and the base.
It should also be borne in mind that various combinations of the features described may be used. For example, in the embodiment of
While the invention has been described as mainly suitable for food and drink, the container could be used for any other things that require to be kept cold such as medicines.
Claims
1. A coolable container comprising a base and a wall or walls, depending on the container shape, upstanding from and surrounding said base, said base and/or said wall(s) being hollow so as to define a cavity therein with said cavity containing a freezable material.
2. A container as claimed claim 1, wherein said container is provided with a lid.
3. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base is hollow defining a cavity and said wall or walls are solid.
4. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein both said base and said wall(s) are hollow and define a cavity or cavities.
5. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein said base is full of the freezable material while said wall(s) are only partly filled with said freezable material.
6. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein both said base and said wall(s) are filled with said freezable material.
7 A container as claimed claim 5, wherein said container is provided with a lid.
8. A container as claimed in claim 7, wherein said lid is hollow and is filled with freezable material.
9. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base and/or said wall(s) are formed with three skins so as to form an inner and an outer cavity, said inner cavity containing freezable material while said outer cavity contains a vacuum.
10 A container as claimed claim 9, wherein said container is provided with a lid.
11. A container as claimed in claim 9, wherein said container has a lid formed with three skins so as to provide inner and outer cavities therein, said inner cavity having freezable material therein and said outer cavity containing vacuum.
12. A container as claimed in claim 9, wherein said base is formed with three skins and said wall(s) being formed with two skins, said base having both a freezable material cavity and a vacuum cavity and said wall(s) having only a vacuum cavity.
13. A container as claimed in claim 9, wherein said container has a lid which is hollow defining a cavity containing vacuum.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 16, 2004
Publication Date: Jan 20, 2005
Inventor: Alan Letton (Sutton)
Application Number: 10/892,855