Vehicle heating box

Abstract

A heating box for a vehicle for which source of heating is obtained from the coolant used to cool the engine of the vehicle.

Description

PRIOR APPLICATIONS

This invention claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. ______ filed on Apr. 18, 2005.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a heating box for road vehicles.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Currently most vehicles, such as cars or trucks for example, do not have a device that can be used to heat-up items, such as food or water for example. The reason for this might be that previously this need has been overlooked or that it was not practical or feasible to implement a heating box in a vehicle because of the high operating cost.

In this application a heating box for a vehicle that relies on the hot coolant from the engine of its vehicle as its source of heat so that it has almost no operating cost is introduced.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, a heating box for road vehicles that uses the hot coolant of the engine of its vehicle as its heating source.

Objects and Advantages

Besides the objects and advantages of the heating box described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:

• • (a) to provide a heating box that can be used to heat-up food;
  • (b) to provide a heating box that can be used to heat-up water.
  • (c) to provide a heating box that can be used to heat-up comfort devices.
  • (d) to provide an adapter that can be used with the heating box to form a heated cup holder.

Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.

DRAWING FIGURES

In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.

FIG. 1A shows a top view of the heating box

FIG. 1B shows a front view of the heating box

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the heating box where the temperature controlled valve is located at the outlet of the heating box.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of an alternate design for the heating box where no temperature controlled valve is used.

FIG. 4A shows a top view of a cup holder adapter that can be plugged into the heating box.

FIG. 4B shows a front view of a cup holder adapter that can be plugged into the heating box.

FIG. 5A shows a top view of a heating box using a cup holder adapter.

FIG. 5B shows a front view of a heating box using a cup holder adapter.

FIG. 6 shows a heated cup holder as a device on its own.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

1 insulated box

2 hinge

3 cover

4 magnetic seal

5 compartment base

6 heating piping

7 temperature controlled valve

8 flexible hose

9 coupling t-section

10 coupling elbow section

11 cup holder adapter face

12 cup holder adapter tray

13 cup holder heater

14 cup holder heating plate

15 snack box

16 snack box heating plate

DESCRIPTION

General Description

The preferred embodiment of the heating box is shown as a top view in FIG. 1A and as a front view in FIG. 1B. The heating box consists of an insulated box 1 that has four insulated side walls and an insulated back wall. It also has a cover 3 at its front face that is attached using hinges 2, so that insulated box 1 can be opened or closed using cover 3. In order to prevent the heat from insulated box 2 from escaping, the front surface of insulted box 1 is magnetic and cover 2 has magnetic seals 4, which are similar to the magnetic seals used in refrigerators, which can mate with the front surface of insulated box 1. In order to heat insulated box 1, insulated box 1 has a heating piping 6 and a temperature controlled valve 7, which are used to controllably direct hot coolant from the engine coolant piping to the insulated box and then back to the engine coolant piping. At the inlet of the heating box a temperature controlled valve 7 is located, if desired temperature controlled valve 7 can also be placed at the outlet of the heating box as shown in FIG. 2. The outlet of temperature controlled valve 7 is then directed to heating piping 6, which forms a piping system that directs hot coolant at its inlet to a heating coil shaped piping portion, located above the bottom side insulation of insulated box 1 and below a compartment base 5, and then directs the hot coolant out of the heating box. Also in order to connect the engine coolant piping to the heating box, at two locations, portions of the engine coolant piping are removed and then replaced by coupling T-sections 9, which are welded onto the existing piping system. Each coupling T-section 9 has a coupling that can be used to attach a hose for example. The coupling of coupling T-section 9 located closer to the engine is directed to the inlet of the heating box using a flexible hose 8, which should be insulated, and the coupling of coupling T-section 9 located closer to the radiator is connected to the outlet of the heating box using another flexible hose 8.

Furthermore, in order to control the temperature of the heating box, the setting of temperature controlled valve 7 can be adjusted as desired. If the temperature inside the heating box is as hot or hotter than the setting of temperature controlled valve 7, then temperature controlled valve 7 is closed so that the coolant bypasses the heating box; and if the temperature inside the box is lower than the setting of temperature controlled valve 7, then temperature controlled valve 7 allows coolant to enter the heating box. The accuracy in maintaining the heating box at a desired temperature can be increased by increasing the thermal mass of the heating box, by using a water jacket for example, or by reducing the coolant flow to the insulated box.

For better performance, it is recommended that the flow resistance of the in the couplings, flexible hoses, temperature controlled valve, and heating piping is minimized.

Cup Holder Adapter

Several adapters can be inserted into the heating box, such as an adapter that can heat-up and provide water, an adapter that can be used to heat-up the interior of the vehicle, or an adapter that can provide a heated cup holder for example. A design for a heated cup holder adapter is shown as a top view in FIG. 4A and as a front view on FIG. 4B. And a drawing where the cup holder adapter is inserted into the heating box is shown as a top view in FIG. 5A and as a front view in FIG. 5B. The cup holder adapter has two heated cup holders, and a heated snack box that can be used for snacks such as chicken nuggets or onion rings for example. The cup holder adapter consist of a cup holder adapter face 11, which is made out of an insulated material and is large enough so that it can cover the entire opening of the heating box. In order to securely attach the cup holder adapter to the heating box, portions of the back surface of cup holder adapter face 11 have magnets which can mate with the magnets of the front surface of the heating box. On the front surface of cup holder adapter face 11, a cup holder adapter tray 12, which is also made out of an insulated material, is shaped. In cup holder adapter tray 12, two cup holder heaters 13 and a snack box 15 are molded in. Each cup holder heater 13 is made out of a heat conductive material, such as stainless steel, and at the back surface of each cup holder heater 13 a cup holder heating plate 14 is shaped. Snack box 15 is also made out of a heat conductive metal and at its back surface a snack box heating plate 16 is shaped. The cup holder heating plates 14 and the snack box heating plate 16 extend into the interior of the heating box so that heat from the interior of the heating box is conducted to through the cup holder heating plates 14 to the cup holder heaters 13, and through the snack box heating plate 14 to the snack box 15. If more economical, a heated cup holder can be designed as a device on its own, and not as an adaptor for the heating box. One method would be to permanently attach the cup holder adapter face to the heating box. Another method would be by using the same coolant connection described before, and have the hot coolant heat the cup holder heater and the snack box directly so that the heating coil shaped piping portion is not needed.

FIG. 6-7—Alternative Embodiments

An alternate configuration for the heating box is shown in FIG. 3. Here in order to reduce the cost of the heating box, the temperature controlled valve is eliminated, so that the temperature of the heating box can not be adjusted.

Advantage

From the description above, a number of advantages of my heating box become evident:

• • (a) The heating box is heated by the hot coolant from the engine so that it requires less operating cost than other heating devices currently on the market, which most likely rely on electricity.
  • (b) The heating box is designed so that it can accommodate various adapters so that it can be used for other purposes such as a heated cup holder for example.
    Operation

In order to utilize the heating box of this invention, the user simply places the heating box at a convenient spot inside the user's vehicle and then installs it as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, FIG. 2, or FIG. 3. And in order to set the temperature of the heating box to a desired temperature, the user uses the temperature controlled valve. Now when the vehicle is running, the user can use the heating box to heat items, such food, and water for example by placing the items inside the heating box and closing its cover. Also if the user wants to use the heating box for other purposes, such as a heated cup holder for example, the user can plug an adapter into the heating box.

Conclusion, Ramification, Scope

Accordingly, the reader will see that the heating box of this invention provides a heating box that basically operates for free. The heating box can be used to heat-up food for example. Because of its design, many other uses of this heating box are also possible. For example, if a water container adapter is placed into the heating box, the heating box can be used to heat-up water that can then be used to make instant coffee, instant noodles and so forth. Or by using a heated cup holder adapter described in this application, this heating box can also be used to provide a heated cup holder. Furthermore, this heating box can also be used to heat-up comfort devices such as a heater for example.

Furthermore, the heating box has the additional advantages in that

• • it operates more cheaply than currently available heating devices, because it uses the heat from the engine coolant as a source of heat.
  • it is designed so that it can accommodate various adapters for various purposes.

Obviously besides using the hot coolant from an engine to heat-up a box, the hot coolant can be used to heat up an interior heater, a heated cup holder, or a water heater directly.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

Claims

1. A vehicle heating box comprising,

a) an insulated box which has a front opening, said insulated box is designed such that besides food, adapters for other purposes can be inserted into said insulated box

b) a cover which is used to cover and uncover said front opening of said insulated box,

c) a beating coil which is used to beat up said insulated box, said heating coil has an inlet connection and an outlet connection, said inlet connection and said outlet connection are connected to the engine coolant piping system of a vehicle,

wherein said vehicle heating box which is designed such that it can accept said adapters, which allow said vehicle heating box to have multiple functions, is constructed.

2. A cup holder adapter which can be inserted into said vehicle heating box of claim 2, said cup holder adapter has two cup holders and a snack box made out of a heat conductive material which have heating plates that can be inserted into said vehicle box so that heat from said vehicle heating box is conducted to said cup holders and said snack box.

3. Said vehicle heating box of claim 1 wherein a temperature controlled valve is placed either at said inlet connection or said outlet connection of said heating coil.

4. A heated cup holder and snack box for a vehicle comprising,

a) cup holders made out of a heat conductive material,

b) a snack box made out of a heat conductive material,

c) a heating coil which touches a portion of the heat conductive material of said cup holders and a portion of the heat conductive material of said snack box, so that heat from said heating coil is conducted to said cup holders and said snack box, said heating coil has an inlet and outlet connection that is connected to the coolant piping system of said vehicle.