COOLING PANEL
A panel includes a sheet of heat-shrinkable polymer material and a packet coupled to the sheet. The packet contains a reactant that is activated in response to the sheet shrinking.
The present invention relates to articles for cooling temperature-sensitive items, and more particularly to articles that experience an endothermic reaction when heated to a predetermined temperature.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMany portable electronic devices can be adversely affected by heat. When electronic devices are stored in high heat environments, such as the interior of an automobile on a hot day, they may suffer significant damage that compromises the functionality of the device as well as any stored data.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention provides, in one aspect, a panel including a sheet of heat-shrinkable polymer material and a packet coupled to the sheet. The packet contains a reactant that is activated in response to the sheet shrinking.
The invention provides, in another aspect, a container including a compartment in which a temperature-sensitive item is receivable and a panel in thermal communication with the compartment. The panel includes a sheet of heat-shrinkable polymer material and a packet coupled to the sheet. The packet contains a reactant that is activated in response to the sheet shrinking The reactant undergoes an endothermic reaction when activated to remove heat from the compartment.
Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONBefore assembling the cooling panel 10, each of the sheets 14, 18 is uniaxially stretched to impart direction or orientation in the polymer chains. The sheets 14, 18 are oriented so that the stretched direction of the first sheet 14 is generally perpendicular to the stretched direction of the second sheet 18. A radio frequency (RF) or other suitable welding process is used to create weld spots 22 that permanently bond the sheets 14, 18 at evenly-spaced intervals.
With reference to
NH4NO3(8)+Heat→NH4+(aq)+NO3−(aq).
This reaction cools the panel 10 and its surroundings. In other embodiments, the second reactant 34 can be any other substance suitable for producing an endothermic reaction when mixed with water. For example, the second reactant 34 may include calcium ammonium nitrate or urea. Alternatively, the first reactant 30 may include any other liquid or gel, and the second reactant 34 may include any other substance suitable for producing an endothermic reaction when mixed with the first reactant 30.
With reference to
In operation, the cooling panel 10 begins shrinking from its inactivated state shown in
Should the container 50 with the enclosed device be exposed to a high temperature (e.g., in a closed vehicle) that might otherwise damage or cause the device to malfunction, the one or more cooling panels 10 in the container 50 may be activated in the manner described above to thereby cool the compartment 54 and the device. Once activated, the one or more cooling panels 10 can be removed and replaced with new, inactivated cooling panels 10.
Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1. A panel comprising:
- a sheet of heat-shrinkable polymer material; and
- a packet coupled to the sheet, the packet containing a reactant that is activated in response to the sheet shrinking.
2. The panel of claim 1, wherein the reactant undergoes an endothermic reaction when activated.
3. The panel of claim 1, wherein the reactant is a first reactant, and the packet further contains a second reactant that mixes with the first reactant in response to the sheet shrinking.
4. The panel of claim 3, wherein the first reactant includes a liquid and the second reactant is contained within a frangible capsule immersed within the liquid.
5. The panel of claim 4, wherein the capsule is ruptured in response to the sheet shrinking.
6. The panel of claim 4, wherein the first reactant includes water and the second reactant includes ammonium nitrate.
7. The panel of claim 1, wherein the packet is one of a plurality of packets coupled to the sheet, each of the packets containing the reactant.
8. The panel of claim 1, wherein the sheet is configured to shrink when exposed to a temperature greater than or equal to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. The panel of claim 1, wherein the sheet includes at least two layers of the heat-shrinkable polymer material, and wherein the packet is located between the layers.
10. The panel of claim 9, wherein the layers are interconnected by a plurality of weld spots located at spaced intervals.
11. The panel of claim 10, wherein the layers form undulations between adjacent weld spots when the sheet shrinks.
12. The panel of claim 10, wherein the packet includes opposite first and second ends that are interconnected to the layers by a first and a second of the weld spots, respectively.
13. A container comprising:
- a compartment in which a temperature-sensitive item is receivable; and
- a panel in thermal communication with the compartment, the panel including a sheet of heat-shrinkable polymer material, and a packet coupled to the sheet, the packet containing a reactant that is activated in response to the sheet shrinking,
- wherein the reactant undergoes an endothermic reaction when activated to remove heat from the compartment.
14. The container of claim 13, wherein the reactant is a first reactant, and wherein packet further contains a second reactant that mixes with the first reactant in response to the sheet shrinking.
15. The container of claim 13, wherein the first reactant includes water and the second reactant includes ammonium nitrate contained within a frangible capsule immersed within the water, and wherein the capsule is ruptured to mix the first and second reactants in response to the sheet shrinking.
16. The container of claim 13, wherein the packet is one of a plurality of packets coupled to the sheet, each of the packets containing the at least one reactant.
17. The container of claim 13, wherein the sheet is configured to shrink when exposed to a temperature greater than or equal to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
18. The container of claim 13, wherein the sheet includes at least two layers of the heat-shrinkable polymer material, and wherein the packet is located between the layers.
19. The container of claim 18, wherein the layers are interconnected by a plurality of weld spots located at spaced intervals, and wherein the layers form undulations between adjacent weld spots when the sheet shrinks.
20. The container of claim 19, wherein the packet includes opposite first and second ends that are interconnected to the layers by a first and a second of the weld spots, respectively.
Type: Application
Filed: May 2, 2014
Publication Date: Nov 5, 2015
Inventor: Benjamin C. Knudsen (Mineola, NY)
Application Number: 14/268,086